Peeko's 540gallon

[Pko9876]

To open my story, I will admit that I am probably one of the younger and more inexperienced aquarists to approach the challenge of a tank this size. I am very lucky to have a business that supports my hobbies and a community that has such a large output of information and passion. I have kept small aquariums since a pretty young age, and my father has kept saltwater since before I was born. I started my first saltwater aquarium and reef at 18. I am 24 now, and I ordered this aquarium when I was 23.

This aquarium is 96" x 48" x 27" tall. If I did it again, I might sacrifice depth for 3 to 6 more inches of height. It will be an sps reef stocked with a couple tangs, a fair few anthias, and a ton of wrasses. The system will include 2 frag tanks tied in, a 150gal rubbermaid stock tank as a sump, and some of the nicest equipment I could find to support the life of my pets. This aquarium has already been in place for nearly a year and has been slow going but I'm starting to ramp up production in my fish room and make things happen, so I thought I'd try to make a meager offer back to so many threads that gave me so much inspiration and wonder.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Great build, following this 4 sure

 

[Peace River]

Awesome! I’m looking forward to enjoying the adventure as you fill this tank and then watching it mature!

 

[chefjpaul]

Wow. Very sexy tank.

I personally like more depth than height. Love the dimensions. Looking forward to this.

 

[Peace River]

[...]
This aquarium is 96" x 48" x 27" tall. If I did it again, I might sacrifice depth for 3 to 6 more inches of height.

You say this now and I am wondering if you will change your mind once you begin aquascaping and then begin maintaining it! I'm sure you know based on your experience, but tall tanks can be a challenge to work in.

 

[Pko9876]

You say this now and I am wondering if you will change your mind once you begin aquascaping and then begin maintaining it! I'm sure you know based on your experience, but tall tanks can be a challenge to work in.

My previous tank was 27" and I tried to keep it linear. Logic and the length of my arm said it would work. The tank is aquascaped for the most part, I've got a fair few updates to post yet. I might be mistaken, it just feels like a few inches more of height would make it more grand. I try to cut the second guessing because everytime I time I think I'm gonna move a rock I point out to myself that the stocking is going to make a world of difference.

 

[Pko9876]

Wow. Very sexy tank.

I personally like more depth than height. Love the dimensions. Looking forward to this.

I am very excited about the depth, my favorite view is from the short side down the long tunnel into the darkness of the ocean and 4 feet is turning out to be more incredible than I hoped

 

[Pko9876]

Great build, following this 4 sure

Awesome! I’m looking forward to enjoying the adventure as you fill this tank and then watching it mature!

Thanks guys, I hope it lives up to my goals and provides as much enjoyment to everyone else as for me

 

[SPR1968]

That looks like it going to be a stunning system and thanks for sharing the pictures, and keep them coming!

And welcome to R2R as well by the way

 

[Pko9876]

I bought this house in april of 2018 which, looking back, seems like an eternity ago. I knew I wanted to build a tank, but I didn't know how big to go. I spent a lot of time and took a lot of my girlfriends attention asking "is this too far to stick out? What about this?" Its hard to tell, but the tank about 7 feet from the door to the garage, and when you come inside from the garage and turn right, you are in the dining area. My fish room IS larger than the dining area by about double. I decided how much space I would need for the equipment and how little I could get away with for dining space, and started framing in the front of the room.

Removing some of the popcorn where the framing would stand and in the fish room

I also threw some 6000k LEDs in the ceiling. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this, so I learned a lot of lessons along the way. Despite that, the wall was erected and is an immovable force.

 

[Pko9876]

I started the wall with some reasonable lead time but of course I didnt finish until the night before. The back side didnt need to look good, but I did get some mud on the drywall and painted after minimal sanding. I cut out the rear of the house (which was a patio that the previous owner had walled in) since the windows were not quite wide enough. It took me a long time to find someone to move the tank, but they were extremely careful and planned every step of the way. Their normal job involves way heavier equipment, but it was impressive nonetheless. Despite that, the tank came in the house backwards because of simple miscommunications. They managed to turn it around in the room and get it up on the stand in position.

 

[Pko9876]

This is my current progress. The tank is not my only project, so it was delayed quite a bit. I have begun some plumbing. I am waiting on another order for some more fittings and piping in order to complete the system, the tank has been scaped for quite a while, and I'm still considering changes before I add any real level of stocking. Most of my other projects are completed or waiting so now I can focus a bit more.

 

[fuelman]

very nice sir. that's going to be one beautiful set up.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Love the build thread but hows it going.. Who made the tank?

 

[Pko9876]

Love the build thread but hows it going.. Who made the tank?

Slow going for me on the build still. Hoping to make some good progress this week and have the sump and skimmer running 24/7.

Miracles Aquariums in canada made the aquarium and stand and they did an excellent job at what I believe was a reasonable cost and would happily do business with them again.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I thought it was miracle. I got a quotes from them..Given the external glass overflow, freight, and stand miracle quote would save me almost 50% compared to others. Did you stand come with leveling feet?

 

[Pko9876]

I thought it was miracle. I got a quotes from them..Given the external glass overflow, freight, and stand miracle quote would save me almost 50% compared to others. Did you stand come with leveling feet?

It did come with leveling feet. I'm extremely happy with the external overflows they built for me as well.

 

[Ashish Patel]

So no livestock yet? I plan on running the tank without light for few months to cure the rock and establish biodiversity but it easier said than done. But then again I see now why larger system take awhile to get going... Cost factor is so high that we like to invest it in over the course of time.

 

[Ashish Patel]

This is the dimensions I am getting

84"X36"X30T

 

[Pko9876]

So no livestock yet? I plan on running the tank without light for few months to cure the rock and establish biodiversity but it easier said than done. But then again I see now why larger system take awhile to get going... Cost factor is so high that we like to invest it in over the course of time.

I've had a clown pair in the tank for about a year with lights over it as well. Just recently added some pods. Hopefully I make some good progress and get some fish in quarantine in the next month.