preview of 800 g tank in 3 rooms

[FishTruck]

Here is the house I am building for my new reef tank. The tank will be 140 inches long by 48 inches wide and 30 inches tall. About 870 gallons I guess. View-able from the living room, breakfast nook, and a "library" with a hidden door - to confound those who notice a room when they look through the tank.

What LEDs are you guys using for your monster tanks? I have just FOUR radions Gen 2 over my current 300, which I like. I would probably need 8 of them for this tank, plus another 2 to 4 in the grow-out tank going in the basement.

 

[d2mini]

Way to commit, soldier!!!

This should be epic. Following.

Radions or Mitras for lighting.

 

[dantimdad]

This will be incredible!

Love the hidden room idea.

I will be following this for sure.

 

[FishTruck]

This idea was born from a the "in wall loophole". When your better half points out that large reef tanks tend to crowd a room up - you can use the "in wall loophole" - which - by definition puts the tank in the wall, and therefore, not crowding any room whatsoever. Now, if you build a wall that is four feet thick - you have some serious options. I was able to get this past not only my wife, but also the real boss, our interior designer.

Kidding aside, our friend and designer helped me with the dimensions and came up with some cladding ideas for the cabinet / wall, which I think will be unique - and will coordinate with the surrounding decor. Putting this in the control of our designer - has done a great deal to alleviate stress.

 

[FishTruck]

Improvements from my old setup.
1. better access. The cabinet / wall will have access panels all the way around. On the left side will be a maintenance closet.
2. less pumps. As a peninsula, the returns will be on the left, with penductors and 3 or 4 max-spect Gyres - running with only ONE turbine each. I find them MUCH easier to break down and maintain this way. And, the velocity of flow seems higher when only one turbine is attached. I am hoping to push enough water across the top to create a gyre type flow, so that I don't have to put any pumps on the far side. Old school life reef skimmer - one simple old school pump that can last 10 years. If I need to, I will suspend another gyre mid tank. No pumps on the glass - if I can help it.
3. Glass tank with magnet access all the way around. Scraping coralline will hopefully be much easier versus my current acrylic tank.
4. Adjustable aquascaping. I am going to build a network of rock "islands". Each one can be pulled out of the tank if it gets overgrown with mushrooms, mojanos, montipora, whatever. By perhaps changing one or two islands per year, I can keep the aquascaping fresh and fun - and trial and error until I get it right. Also, no rocks more than 12 inches tall. Got to be disciplined and leave room for the corals to grow.
5. Separate grow out area. I lose so many frags in my current display and I throw away so much coral! I need to end this waste.
6. Hidden returns. The tank is 140 inches long. I will frame 128 inches for viewing, giving me 12 inches of "out of view" area for the returns and gyres.

If any of you were doing it over with your monster tanks... what would you do differently?

 

[RobertP]

Oh wow look, a basement....we just don't have many of those in these parts! My wife and I are also building but a little farther along...they should be drying it in next week. The rain has played hell with the framers this year. While my new tank will only be a 300 gal I insisted that the place we put the tank will back up to a wall to the garage. This way it will hold her car but will still be a big fish room! They are insulating the garage as well so heat should not be an issue. Nothing in the house but the tank so should have much less noise and smell...smell was the only thing my wife hated...every time I cleaned out the skimmer.

Agree on the rocks. I had too many rocks in my old tank and they were all connected. I am going minimal rocks in the tank but plan to keep a 100 gal plastic tank connected with rocks and maybe a small amount of sand. Most likely will keep it covered but we will see. With fewer rocks in the tank it should be easier to pick up broken corals.
Since it is a new house I do not want any holes below the water line if I can help it. That's the reason my 15 year old tank is staying in the garage as a grow out tank.

Look forward to seeing your progress!

 

[Heuey51]

This is epic happy to follow along

 

[FernandesReef]

Following....can’t wait!!

 

[Thaxxx]

Following.
Who's building your tank?

 

[Dsnakes]

Awesome! That will be so cool.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Should be amazing!

Looking forward to it

 

[xaflatoonx]

Awesome setup.

 

[FishTruck]

Thanks for the encouragement!!!

First bump in the road. They poured cement over the drain in the fish room. D'OH!

Hopefully, they can cut it out without busting the radiant heat coils. Also, I might have to have the floor pitched toward the drain... right? Clearly, the guys who poured the cement were not thinking about that.

Following.
Who's building your tank?

Lifetime Aquariums is building the tank. Hopefully, to arrive in 4 to 6 weeks.

I like the overflows and compact aluminum frame. Being able to push the waterline as high as possible will help maximize the utility of 30 inch depth. My current tank creates about four inches of useless reaching distance between the canopy frame (.75 inches), Euorbrace (1.25 inches thick), and unnecessarily low water line (2 inches). So, compared to my current 30 inch deep tank... I am trying to reduce the reaching distance by 3 inches while increasing the swimming room for my fish. Clever - right!

I'll also be sure to seal the inside of my new canopy with white pond armor, which will repel splashes and spray, and should help spread out the light by reflection.

Here is a picture of the clever overflows. They'll mount an external box on the backside of the tank... where I will install a "beananimal" overflow. So... no plumbing below the water-line.

 

[Behnken]

This is going tobe epic!

 

[Mariette]

I’ll be of absolutely no use to you but I’d love to see your progress. What kinda fish are you planning to get?

 

[Captain Quint]

Sweet! This gonna be one for the books.

Please keep the pics rolling in.

 

[FishTruck]

I’ll be of absolutely no use to you but I’d love to see your progress. What kinda fish are you planning to get?

I like fish that can thrive on foraging, flake, and pellets with only occasional frozen treats and NORI - and I like to stick to smallish and medium sized fish. I try to make a tank that can last one month with no active intervention - so finicky eaters and fragile fish are a no go.

From my current tank: 1 big yellow tang, 1 white tail tang, 1 fat melunuras wrasse, 1 fat sassy tomatoe clown (she bites me - and might get lost during the transfer) 1 snowflank clown, 1 flame angel, two square spot anthias, four Pajama Cardinals, lawnmower blenny, unknown number of assorted damsels.

New fish list: 2 more yellow tangs, one NASO tang, one magnificent foxface, two more dwarf angels, three more female squareback anthias, four more Pajama Cardinals. The kids want an epaulettes shark which wont will fit my requirements. But, if it comes down to that or a puppy.... I might change my tune. Also, I will probably try a couple of little males to mate up with my clowns.

 

[Mariette]

I like fish that can thrive on foraging, flake, and pellets with only occasional frozen treats and NORI - and I like to stick to smallish and medium sized fish. I try to make a tank that can last one month with no active intervention - so finicky eaters and fragile fish are a no go.

From my current tank: 1 big yellow tang, 1 white tail tang, 1 fat melunuras wrasse, 1 fat sassy tomatoe clown (she bites me - and might get lost during the transfer) 1 snowflank clown, 1 flame angel, two square spot anthias, four Pajama Cardinals, lawnmower blenny, unknown number of assorted damsels.

New fish list: 2 more yellow tangs, one NASO tang, one magnificent foxface, two more dwarf angels, three more female squareback anthias, four more Pajama Cardinals. The kids want an epaulettes shark which wont will fit my requirements. But, if it comes down to that or a puppy.... I might change my tune. Also, I will probably try a couple of little males to mate up with my clowns.

Ooohhh nice. Any timeline in mind? I’ve got a 55 g and am considering an upgrade to maybe a 100. Let me live vicariously through your build hahaha

 

[McPuff]

Looks and sounds terrific so far!!

 

[FishTruck]

Some progress. The stand is built, getting caulked and waterproofed. Simple overbuilt 2 x 6 construction. A pad comes with the glass tank, which will go between the plywood and the aluminum frame.

The tank comes in 48 hours. I'll probably do a fill test. Better the tank explodes now then later...

Oh, yea... and the house has a floor, walls and some windows.

The hidden "library" is to the left, living room to the right, access closet in the back.