3rd in TOTY 2007
After many, many months of reading about everyone elses tanks... I am finally bored enough to have started my own
This tank has been in the making since December 2005. It was finally wet on the 3rd of June 2006... and received its first fish (a bicolour blenny) on the 30th July 2006...
Some Preliminary Details:
The Tank:
- 800x800x800mm cube, 12mm standard float glass, strapped only on outer top and bottom edges (no cross bracing) and vertically on corners.
- Offset internal weir box. Twin DN40 outlets, single DN25 return - all on back wall. Uses a syphon (and durso backup) overflow design.
- Black silicon joints, clear silicon second bead / vertical strapping
- Sourced from Paul at Morley Aquariums (who also made my last 4x2x2 which incidentally is still going strong after over 10 years of faithful service). Edit: Rodd sold my old tank to an unsuspecting FW keeper in March 2007 to help fund his system.
- Took 4 guys and a spotter to get it up my stairs - 112kg...
The Stand:
- DIY Pine and ply stand
- 800x800x810mm in size (Don't ask me how I screwed up by 10mm... I just can't answer that one!)
- 20mm medium density polystyrene foam under the tank
- No bracing at base of stand design
- Finished stand is more or less flush with tank on all sides
- Outside was triple coated in a low-gloss exterior grade acrylic - in charcoal. This included the visible foam under the tank.
- Inside was triple coated in a full gloss enamel - white.
The Equipment:
- Lighting: Aquamedic NG60 - 250W w/ 4x24W T5 actinics and integrated 2 channel timer/relay (Thanks Morley Aquariums and DIY upgrade)
- Return Pump: Eheim 1262 (Thanks APW)
- In Tank Flow: Tunze TS24 kit (Thanks Fish-R-Us Bunbury)
- Skimmer #1: Tunze DOC 9020 (Thanks Fish-R-Us Bunbury) - Decommissioned 23rd April 2008
- Skimmer #2: ATB Conical 'Nano B' with Eheim 1260 needlewheel upgrade (Thanks Aquarium Technik Burian)
- Fresh Water Topup: Tunze Osmolator (Thanks PADC)
- Calcium Reactor: Korallin C3001 w/ Tunze CO2 regulator and DIY second stage reactor (Thanks Reef Online / Fish-R-Us Bunbury)
- Sump: Glass custom design to suit stand/skimmers - 96L (Thanks Fish-R-Us Bunbury)
- DIY Phosphate and Activated Carbon 'Fluidised Bed Styled' Filters
- Pod Factory (others like to call these nitrate factories): Eheim Pro3 Cannister - Decommissioned 5th December 2006
- Heaters #1 and #2: Jager 250W - 2 Off (Thanks APW) - Decommissioned 19th April 2008
- Heater #3: Schego Titanium 300W w/ Ranco dual stage temperature controller (Thanks Seame.com & RancoETC.com)
- Ozone Generator: Sander C50 w/ Schego air pump (Thanks aquaristic.net)
The Guts:
- Substrate: 100kg (150mm main tank DSB) of 'Limesand' - Under 0.85mm diameter crushed shell and coral fragments. (Thanks Cooks Industrial Minerals) - Decommissioned 12th Sept 2009
- Substrate: Bare Bottom!
- Live Rock (seed): First few kgs were Angelfish Rock (Thanks Fish-R-Us Bunbury)
- Live Sand (seed): 5kg (Thanks Ocean Reefs)
- Live Rock (main): 60kg premium rock - direct pickup from Oceanarium in Quinns Rocks. This is awesome rock... absolutely covered in an assortment of coral and critters...
23rd July 2006: First Rocks
From the left:
From the front:
From the right:
Phew... what an effort. No wonder I had delayed starting one of these for so long
(The skeleton is still a vivid purple...):
)