Our New 800 gallon tank! So excited

[Wendy Rodgers]

Wht a beautiful tank! Your husband is quite a fabricator. I dig the use of the 2x2 stake pockets for mounting the removable walking board. The large corner gussets are a nice touch as I see a lot of steel stands dont have them. I am impressed by your tank and his fabrication skills. Welcome to r2r. I look forward to watching the progress.

When I was building the stand my favorite quote was... "more steel!"

And ty for the compliment... Im not a welder by trade, I own a large company with lots of trucks, ect. And do all repairs myself... you learn how to weld real fast!

Best- Steve

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Um, WOW!

Looks like you ditched the Neptune 1/2" flow meter couplers and connected them strait to schedule 80 NPT threaded valves and couplers? Any issue crossing the NPT and British Pipe threads on the Neptune stuff? I can't stand the white British Pipe thread couplers on Neptune's 1/2" flow meters since they don't tighten down at all! I taped the heck out of mine and just had one start leaking after about a year even so.

I have no leaks... and they went on smooth... have zero leaks with them.... i did use the gray gorilla thread tape i think its called... used it on anything with threads as its thicker. Stuff works great, and it matches my fittings.

Best- Steve

 

[wangspeed]

Wow. Amazing looking build. What kind of corals are you keeping? Seems a little under lit for acros.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Was reading your thread (it’s neat) was curious how you placed the lights. (Have seen the pictures) nicely built. Have thought about shading and depth reduction? I think you said your tank is 30 tall (mine is 34) but with the puck design did you find the critical angel for placement, or use a par meter to adjust accordingly. (Par meter is much faster the math longer but doesn’t lie

 

[willyd33]

Nice build!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Wow. Amazing looking build. What kind of corals are you keeping? Seems a little under lit for acros.

I will be keeping a little bit of everything.... my lfs has a tank just like mine but 1 ft narrow and 2 feet longer with 13 of the same lights... fully stocked with 99% acros and his tank looks great. Im starting with 9 and have room on rack to place more if need be.

My issue isnt light as much as its Wendy picking every coral she thinks is pretty and fish... and saying.... lets try it! Ha!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

I will be keeping a little bit of everything.... my lfs has a tank just like mine but 1 ft narrow and 2 feet longer with 13 of the same lights... fully stocked with 99% acros and his tank looks great. Im starting with 9 and have room on rack to place more if need be.

My issue isnt light as much as its Wendy picking every coral she thinks is pretty and fish... and saying.... lets try it! Ha!

Ha! So not true! But if it needs a home..well.

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Nice build!

Thank you! Just got the salinity and temp right tonight... adding a case of dr tims bacteria thursday....

Tuning and more tuning right now.

 

[SPR1968]

Thats absolutely beautiful and thanks for sharing all the pictures with us!

And welcome to R2R as well it’s great to have you with us!

 

[Peach02]

Looks awesome, welcome to R2R can't wait to see the progression

 

[Tumey]

Welcome to R2R Wendy & Steve! I can imagine how excited you must be. Awesome build! I’m jealous.

Tumey

 

[JDowns]

Wow!

Your mixing station holds more water than any tank I will ever have!

LOL!

That’s more water than most bomb shelters

 

[Ron Reefman]

Steve and Wendy, that is without a doubt one of, if not the most well thought out and well built, HUGE tank and system I have ever seen in a private home! I bet I drive cars that cost less than that system! LOL!

Welcome to R2R. Best of luck with everything and please keep us posted as things move forward.

 

[Big G]

Welcome to R2R! When do the tours start?
So now I'm looking at my welder with a big grin on my face. . . .
What an inspirational build. Awesome!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Steve and Wendy, that is without a doubt one of, if not the most well thought out and well built, HUGE tank and system I have ever seen in a private home! I bet I drive cars that cost less than that system! LOL!

Welcome to R2R. Best of luck with everything and please keep us posted as things move forward.

Thank you Ron for the kind words!

I really tried to think of everything that one would need in advance as on my prior system I didn't do nearly as well. Adding plumbing in at a later date isnt as pretty usually as we all know.
As to the size of the tank i wanted a tank that didnt look small in the room as this is the main living space of the home. The room is 60ft long and 16ft wide the kitchen with bar stools on one side and a large living room on the other and of course my couch seat is closet to tank... go figure! Ha!

As to cost, id say with everything including water station im 35-40k into this project. After wrapping stand and doing the hood, the main bulk of cost will be completed and I can relax on cost worries... lol as we are not rich by no means and have 5 children that come after hockey and fish! (Just kidding) we named the tank Big Blue ... and it comes straight from our other passion which is hockey. We are huge tampa bay lightning fans and i must say missing the last game before the all star break to plumb the tank was tough!

 

[HairyGary]

WOW! Looks great and very well thought out! Are you sticking the four Gyres on one end? Following along and looking for to the updates!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Welcome to R2R! When do the tours start?
So now I'm looking at my welder with a big grin on my face. . . .
What an inspirational build. Awesome!

Lol on tours! Funny you say that as we have joked that its 1$ a tour without food or drinks!

As to the welder... I own a small machine shop(not my living) per say in my garage from a bridgeport mill, lathe, tig, plasma, welder..ect... and I used every tool in my garage to do this build.
When we purchased the home 2 years ago we had a 450 gallon tank that had to be left behind as the new home needed major renovations (that i did myself). So all the tools i bought to do the reno came in handy for the plumbing and electrical as well. Its amazing how one collects tools over the years just from doing project to project!

Best- Steve

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

WOW! Looks great and very well thought out! Are you sticking the four Gyres on one end? Following along and looking for to the updates!

Yes! Yes i am as im really hoping to not put any pump on my 5 ft veiwing panel from the front as its the first panel you see when walking into the room.
Plus its a bb tank so not worried about sand kicking up. I did add a sanded area in front for the wrasses will have an area though... well protected by rock.

Best- Steve

 

[A$AP-Reefer]

this tank is like my dream tank, I would have to build my bed over it if I had gotten this since I am in a small apartment lol ! I salute you #myIdol! the aquascaping I would do to this tank would be insane!

 

[Wendy Rodgers]

Heres a couple shots of the front veiwing panel. All the other rock work is not finished and is just laying in tank.