Tank Journal Archive

[Dynamic]

Well, after buying a house and barely having any money to play with anymore, this is going to be a very slow, bit by bit process. Between the house repayments, and the wedding in Feb, I am pretty much going to be dead broke. Then, I know she is going to want to have a little !@#$ running around soon, so that is even more money away from this.

But, I have faith. Because of my job, I can get my hands on a lot of useful things for a fraction of the cost. This is a really good thing, as this project is going to be huge.

What I hope to achieve is a completely automatic marine tank. The ONLY maintenance it will have will be to clean it once a while. Feeding, water changes, water top ups, and everything else will be done via a PLC. Most of the equiptment will be stored in the shed, with hoses and cables running back to the tank.

The way I can think of doing this, is over time to post up plans, logics, etc. I will also slowly start purchasing parts. This is going to be a huge task, as the tank itself will be custom. I will also be making the tank myself.

Introduction:​

Reefing Since: 2011​

System Objectives: To create a fully automatic aquarium that is visually stunning.​

Type of reef: Mixed​

Display System:​

Initial Fill Date: TBA​

Display Tank Dimensions: 10ft x 2.5ft x 3ft​

Display Lighting: TBA​

Stand: TBA​

Hood or Rimless: TBA​

Sump Design: TBA​

Filtration: TBA​

Support systems:​

NSW or ASW: ASW​

Display Water circulation: TBA​

Return Pump: TBA​

Skimmer: TBA​

Evaporation Top Up: Automatic​

Chemical additions:​

Calcium Addition: TBA​

Alkilinity Addition: TBA​

Magnesium Addition: TBA​

Prodibiotics Addition: TBA​

Coral Food Addition: TBA​

 

[MTG]

Cant wait to see this progress over the years. :drool

 

[Dynamic]

Wait till I start ordering stuff. I am not going to use things made for tanks. It will be industrial pumps and stuff, since I need to buy stuff like that for work anyway. I am pretty thrilled over this :D

 

[VaultBoy]

this sounds like a lot of fun! I cant wait to see the gear you order for it..

What do you do for work if you dont mind me asking? sounds interesting.

 

[Dynamic]

I am a Maintenance Fitter dude :D

 

[Dynamic]

Well, after dads old tank sat under the house for the last 26 years, I took it out to see if it will still hold water - it does. This is going to be the sump for the tank.

 

[jashay]

yea bro!!! you are the man!!!

this is going to be pearler, I want you to start now hahahaha

 

[Dynamic]

Next step is to get my hands on another 4ft tank. This will be my the setups refugium and automatic water change system.

Wait until the Mrs. finds out I am going to put all of the piping and tubing through the living room wall straight into the shed.

 

[Tang]

Can I talk you out of 3' tall?

 

[MTG]

Can I talk you out of 3' tall?

Agree with that 3 foot tall will be a pita to light. maybe 2 tall or 2.5 tall and 3 wide :)

 

[jashay]

if it is going into a wall is there any reason that lighting couldnt be put down the two ends of the tank to help increase the amount of area lit? the depth would be a slight prob but really it wouldnt be much more than 2.5 would it? I know the lighting bill would be a small fortune running a lot of halide but they should be strong enough to punch through 3 foot depth? also if the corals are planned well the full lux wouldnt have to penetrate 3 foot deep either, if it got full penetration at 2 foot (which is a fairly common size) and was getting at least 50-60% penetration at 3 foot surely with the right corals this would be enough? there is a 4 foot deep tank at my LFS (approx. 5ft L x 4 ft D x 2ft W) and he is running two MH at either end (on top) with a bank of 2, 4 tube T5s and this pretty much penetrates fully to easy 3 foot depth with enough light the corals are always happy and open, im pretty sure he even has a fairly large heliofungia at the bottom that is always fully open :D ( i beleive its heliofungia). I found with mine that it is really happy at the bottom 5 inches. if I moved it it might be happier but I am one of those people that figure if its open, happy then all good :D it feeds no probs so :D

 

[Tang]

If you are willing you to pay the electricity bill to light a 3 foot deep tank, that's fine.

However, the main issue will be things like maintenance, reaching the bottom etc.

Width is more important in saltwater tanks, leave the height for the freshies!

 

[Dynamic]

I see...

I was only going to make it 3ft high because I think it will look awesome. I think I will also harness the suns energy to light the tank during the day, which hopefully will cut down bills. Thoughts?

 

[DavidS]

I see...

I was only going to make it 3ft high because I think it will look awesome. I think I will also harness the suns energy to light the tank during the day, which hopefully will cut down bills. Thoughts?

I've seen some pics of good setups doing this - I think it was Dr DBW on RTAW has pics up on that forum of his setup with that. Looks pretty good if you've got your own place to do this kind of thing.

 

[MagicJ]

I think you also need to consider the practicalities of a 3ft deep tank. Mine is 2ft deep and I struggle to reach the bottom to move corals, clean the glass etc - now my stand is fairly high, but I am fairly tall, and I couldn't imagine the difficulties if it was any deeper.

You don't want to make the tank a chore - you need to make working in the tank as easy as possible :).

Personally, I don't think I would ever have a tank deeper than 2ft unless it was going to be low to the ground.

 

[Tang]

My main thoughts were not to do with lighting or energy costs, moreso with maintenance.

To make the tank viewable you will have to make the stand a good 1100mm or taller. Add in 900mm of tank and you have 2 metres of height!! It will be massive PITA, trust me. I work on tanks 3 foot deep, there's a reason customers pay me to do it!

 

[Dynamic]

hmmmm, fair enough. I will think it over, maybe I can come up with a way to make maintenance easier.

 

[Tang]

Start eating your greens!!

 

[MTG]

and invest in a ladder and snorkle :D

 

[Jonny Glover]

1.8 tall is the best. Problem with 3' tall tanks is that the light gets dispersed thorugh the water so much that alot of par is lost and it's a pain to clean like tangy boy said... Really 2 foot high tank if your tank is 3 foot wide. you only want more height to compensate for viewing the width.