The Atlantis reef room!

Atlantis_Reef

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Hello. Well this has been a long time coming! My fish room the Atlantis!
This is a Long way of being completed or even started as I'm in the process of moving house with in the next few weeks.

Intro

So I've been out of the game for 4 years. This was due to a life threatening situation happening that stopped me from being able to look after my tank, this In turn made me give up the hobby due to the fact of getting me better and thinking of the fish and corals health to be kept tip top. Now that I am better and I can use my left hand again and have built up some strength I am feeling ready and excited to start again!
So I've been keeping fish since I was 11 and started marine at 17. I'm now 32 almost 33 jeez I'm getting old!

The Plan
The Room will consist in my Garage, this will be turned into a proper room once the main tank is in.
The room will have wall heating to help make cheaper cost on heating the tanks.
Once the room has the walls heated and electric sockets sorted around in locations.
My aim is to run these tanks as best as possible with the cheapest thought process.
the room will be a dark painted room with LED strips on the top to add a little light on ceiling, I want the tanks to light the room up as such through the glass.

The Main Tank

At the minute I have been give a price for an acrylic tank for an 8ft long 4ft wide and 1.6ft high tank. however i am now most likely going to change the size to 8ft x 5ft x 1.6ft i'm looking to make a lagoon/shallow reef for my main display. P.s i am open to offers on acrylic builders if you are out there. the price was very reasonable for the 8x4x1.6.
under the main tank will be a 4ft sump with 3 chambers chamber one will be for receiving the water and for the skimmer to inside into the second chamber will be for all my reactors ie carbon and calcium reactors including dose pumps too. the 3rd chamber will be for water to then drop down into the Refugium.
The refugium will be another 4ft tank but will only have 2 chambers, inside here I will be to grow Chaetomorpha and pods of all kinds to benefit the main display, the second chamber will be for the return.
Inside the main tank will be a collection of fish TBA the rock work will be made into 3 separate islands. islands will have different corals on them. So island one softies island 2 LPS and island 3 possibly SPS but I am not confident with SPS.
the biggest thing with this tank is no water changing. that is right. everything will be aimed at keeping PO4 down and NO3.
Inside the tank for pumps i am planning on the maxispect Gyre 350FX x 4-6 of them.
lighting again maxispect is taking my heart away from pacific sun and kessils.

The Quarantine Tanks
I will be having 8-12 tanks for this. yes you heard right lol, however if i can get my hands on a a long tank with dividers i will take that option lol.
the plan with the QT is to remove an chance of parasites. 6-8 tanks will be copper based tanks that will house the fish 2-4 will be for corals inverts and live rock. all new stock will be purchased after week 11 after the first additional live stock is purchased, ie so if i buy on week one 10 tangs for the copper tanks at week 10 the fish will be added to the main display. and new additions will be added to the copper tanks. this will also be happening for the coral, inverts and live rock tanks. they will be spending 12 weeks in QT with no added stock. If anything gets added it will be reset to a week 1.

I am planning on setting up another QT for fish like wrasses that can't take coper as much as the other fish. this will be diluted cupramin or is there a wrasse/angel fish safe copper med out there yet? i am pretty sure i got wind of a conversation of one a couple weeks back but I was unsure.

my weaknesses

Plumbing is one i'm never confident on this, i want to find ways and understandings on the plumbing side to make mine more efficient. I understand glueing the pipes etc but it is planning out and having it connect to things. i am hoping people on here can help me with plumbing in visual explanations.

SPS coral. i think this is most of us but i never had good enough set ups way back when to keep these alive nor the understanding with research i have been enlightened a little.

Impulse buying! ha don't tell me you are all not like this!

Corner cutting. this will not be happening on this build at all. it all has to be done right.


where else can you find me?
I am on Instagram as Saltwater_Fish_Atlantis_Reef
I have also set up a Youtube account which has nothing on it yet. this will be to show my documentation on what i am doing how the fish are doing. (yes corals and inverts too)


well thank you all for reading this. I hope to hear from you all soon and i hope to get advice help and little fish friends.

P.S i Have my 4th little fry due in September so all guns are blaze once i move in July estimation of July 12th 2019.​
 
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Atlantis_Reef

Atlantis_Reef

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Thanks , well I moved in my new house on Saturday. I’m already in process on looking for a builder who can help convert my garage. (Garage Door will be last so I’ll be just doing the inside of the room for now. I’ll upload pics. I used to use photobucket but it seems they now have a limit of 250 and I pad that over 1,000 photos
 
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Atlantis_Reef

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This is the room so it is 8ft 8inch width and 17ft 6inch going from back to front.

E98A97BF-55E3-460A-B280-32D0465F298C.jpeg 631A892A-EB50-419C-9D86-1AB2B824A5E7.jpeg
 
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Atlantis_Reef

Atlantis_Reef

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Ok so change of plan the 8ft x 5ft x 2ft is now going to have to be 8ft x 4ft x 2ft. The company here in the uk building my tank (acrylic) have stated they can’t do
The extra foot unless I find a way to pick it up my self via my own courier.. so I’ve gone with the 4ft option as it is still a great size. I should be getting the room done (assessed) to be done this week. And have electrics all sorted ASAP. The garage is now being cleaned out and should only have a my motorbike left in there today! On another side it looks like my new born son is due any day now and we just been told my little fry has to be induced so fingers crossed I can get the vitals done this week in prep for the builders and electricians.
 
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Atlantis_Reef

Atlantis_Reef

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So the plans:For this week.
I’m trying to find a rail like this for my lighting, anyone know of anyone in the uk who builds these, hook me up!

E4321388-1653-4886-B28B-358581D03E5F.jpeg
 
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Atlantis_Reef

Atlantis_Reef

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Okay so we are a few months later and had to stop and take a detour. However we getting back on the train. The acrylic tank is being prepped now to be made! Finally!!! It’s taken ages. With university finishing up and my wife being very supportive and involved with the tank it seems we should have the tank and stand soon (can not say when due to arrive yet due to covid 19) but we have got done tanks in just bare at the minute. So next stages is creating my rock work. Thankfully I still got my old rock from my previous tank back in 2014. All natural too.
however need to buy some Marco rock and a few pieces of live to seed it all. Next step looks like to pvc panned the garage walls before the tank arrives. My fish list is like1,000 fish at the minute my wife wants a puffer. Not sure what one to get for her yet. (Deal breaker for me getting the tank) hopefully all is well in these dreadful times.
 
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Atlantis_Reef

Atlantis_Reef

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okay so we had to meassure the room today and found it is not dang 17ft long.. it is 23ft long. so buying the pvc walls will cost more than it should but it will be worth it. however the company building my tank is holding fire at the minute to help build for the NHS (medical teams in the UK)
we are n ow starting to create a must have list. so each of my family have picked a fish.
my wife wants a Desjardini
my oldest son wants an achillies tang
my daughter wants a yellow tang
my not so youngest now there is a new one wants a flame angel
me well the list i have is about 2,000 fish long.. we all know this is not possible but I really wish it was, however if i had to pick pyramid butterfly schooling will be amazing.
Fish List wish list

Tangs
Purple Tang.
Yellow Tang
Desjardini
Achilles
ocean Tang
Bariene
Blue Tang
Dussumieri
Fowleri
Mustard/whitespotted Tang
powder blue Tang
White Bar Tang
Clown Tang
Mata Tang
Orange Shoulder
mimic Tang
Sohal
Convict Tang
Chevron Tang
Blond Naso
Naso Vlamingii
Scopas Tang
Gem Tang
Black Tang

Butterfly
Singular Bannerfish
Pyramid
Yellow Head

Dwarf Angels
Flame Angel
Bicolor Angel
Coral Beauty

Large Angels
Majestic Angel
Queen Angel
Annularis Angel
French Angel
Scribble Angel
Emperor Angel
Swallow Tail Angel

Trigger
Bluethoat pair
Clown Trigger
Red Tail
Picasso

FoxFace/RabbitFish
Bluespotted Rabbitfish
Gold Spotted Rabbitfish
Two Barred Rabbitfish
Foxface onespot
Foxface Lo

Puffer
Dog Face
Porcupine
Stars and Stripes
Immaculatus puffer

Wrasse
Banana
Bird
Bluehead
pinkface
Flame Fairy
Naoko's Fairy
Tamarin Redtail

So as you can see this is just a list we are stuck on right now. my wife wants a puffer in the tank she thinks they are cute.
what would your plans be with the list, what to remove what to keep.
This list is for the biggest tank focus at the minute and not the reef tanks.
thank you all for you input so far as stated nothing is set in stone on what fish we are having this is just a sample of what we narrowed down at the minute. thanks all for staying in with us it does mean a lot!

 

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You’ll love the desjardini tang. Had to get rid of mine as it was outgrowing my 180. Beautiful fish. The yellowhead is nice too. Have one at the qt place waiting to be shipped. You are going to have a great time with the footprint of the tank,!
How’s the baby?
Jim
 
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Atlantis_Reef

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yeah we had one a few years back got massive! had to give it away as it was not happy in the 5ft tank (had to down grade due to my 9ft split) :(
my wife thinks they are beautiful and the most fun fish for her is the french angel and a puffer.
(baby) he's sat on my lap at the moment trying to help me type on my keyboard.
but he's loving fish videos of peoples tanks, he just sits there staring at them. could be a potential fish keeper ;)
never had a yellowhead so you will have to let me know how it goes. only butterfly i had was a copperband he was awesome. however i am against now owning a copperband but have found others out there that look like a copperbands.
this will be the biggest volume of water i have owned for sure. everyone is being so kind and helpful getting me back into the hobby with helpful tips tricks and what i need ie skimmer help on what size i need. next is getting the right heater.. now that will be a pain in mybackside i just know it. i have however purchased 3 lights, in the middle is a slightly damaged (some damaged blues but still work) TMC luminair 1200, and two"popular Gro Led" from Germany which intrested me for the cheapness and adjust ability for the fish.
 
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JMM744

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Here is my answer to a copperband. It’s a highfin and a great fish. It’s with all the other butterflies and is aggressive enough to get its share of food. Eats flakes too.
As for heating I would look at the use of your hot water heater to do it. There are a couple threads on it but the one I think of is AlexG’s plywood build. It’s in the monster tanks section, like yours is.
09F2C861-AEFF-44F5-B230-2D785D8019E0.jpeg
 
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Atlantis_Reef

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Here is my answer to a copperband. It’s a highfin and a great fish. It’s with all the other butterflies and is aggressive enough to get its share of food. Eats flakes too.
As for heating I would look at the use of your hot water heater to do it. There are a couple threads on it but the one I think of is AlexG’s plywood build. It’s in the monster tanks section, like yours is.
09F2C861-AEFF-44F5-B230-2D785D8019E0.jpeg
Beautiful looks a cutie! I was looking at something like the marginalis as well I have been told they are also greedy. So many beautiful butterfly’s

91617023-CD2F-4E85-88D8-B8404D7EA655.jpeg
 

JMM744

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Beautiful looks a cutie! I was looking at something like the marginalis as well I have been told they are also greedy. So many beautiful butterfly’s

91617023-CD2F-4E85-88D8-B8404D7EA655.jpeg
I have not really heard much about them other then that they do better then the common Copperband. Beautiful fish for sure.
 
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Atlantis_Reef

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Update 27 of April 2020

"The Acrylic Tank" has now been purchased with the stand!!!!!!!!!!!!!, This has been quoted a week for it to be crafted and ready, I am expecting delays due to COVID-19 out break here.
Items purchased this week

skimmer:
SKIMZ SK254 SICCE PSK1200X2

Return pump:
TMC Reef Pump 12,000 DC


Powerheads
Maxspect Gyre XF-350 (double Package)

Lights
Popular grow LED x2
TMC luminair 1200

side equipment
Marco Rock 60kg
Dr tim's marine kick start
AquaForest sea salt 22KG x 4
Heaters
acrylic cleaning items
Tropic marin sea salt 4kg
food clips

right now it's killing me seeing the money drain out.. i am very grateful my partner is very supportive of all this.
next purchase's tomorrow are the sump and PVC panels for my walls for at least where the main tank will be so it will be prepped and ready for it's placement. however everything is coming in and starting to get excited
 
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Atlantis_Reef

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Here is a few play around ideas, so I’m
Thinking territory vs open swim space (only Marco was used on this, my dead live rock was not touched yet. I am thinking of hiding and how to reduce any aggression for tangs, angels and the like. I’ve got a lot of room to play with so will be interesting on my ideas I guess.

72ED79A1-19AA-44B7-B2D9-37C8BE598EB3.jpeg 1E670BC8-F40F-467F-9244-0811577F6AF6.jpeg 3F99DCF3-0AB3-466F-8857-BD1AC583B435.jpeg 385B3530-1F13-42B0-BA02-2E8A3D3CE4F4.jpeg 5E2BE474-B5FC-420E-AB63-318E333B6DA0.jpeg
 
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Atlantis_Reef

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okay so i am looking at heaters, for this shear volume what heaters do people use? i am looknig at two 1200w heater but they look... not reliable..
 

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