DIY big tank project!

[Mantis147]

Im getting a tank made for our reception in work and need a little help.
The tank is going to be very large 8ft long x 2.5ft high x 3ft (poss 4ft wide depending on price) wide and will have a 5x2x2 sump. My question is what kind of heater do you need for a tank this size approx 2500lts and what skimmer would you recommend?:D I was thinking of putting 2x Ocean Runner 6500's in the sump to circulate the water and 2 or 3 tunze streams in the display tank.

Any advice would be a great help!

[MR Teee]

wow Nice sounding tank.

Heater wise, you will be better off going for a titanium heater setup. schego would be the name to google, I would have thought 3 or so of the 600W ones to be sure, depending on how well the climate is controlled int he reception.

A more cost effective solution might be a heat exchanger plumbed into the central heating for the offices.

Skimmer wise, you are looking at a couple of Aquamendic 5000 twins, or a deltec 1003.

2 ocean runners sound fine for the tank - sump circulation. But its gonna need some decent plumbing to get the 13000ltr/hr around.
I would have thought a sequence 10k would have been the better option TBH.

In tank circulation wise 4X6200 would be a start. If you go for 4ft wide you might want to look at 3x6300.

How much live rock are you planning on adding?
Have you costed this out? I would have thought the bill is going to approach £30k.

What are you plannning on stocking?
What method of filtration are you going for? DSB? Berlin?

A tank of that size is going to need some serious thought put into it. Have you had any experience of big tanks before?

[Mantis147]

wow Nice sounding tank.

Heater wise, you will be better off going for a titanium heater setup. schego would be the name to google, I would have thought 3 or so of the 600W ones to be sure, depending on how well the climate is controlled int he reception.

A more cost effective solution might be a heat exchanger plumbed into the central heating for the offices.

Skimmer wise, you are looking at a couple of Aquamendic 5000 twins, or a deltec 1003.

2 ocean runners sound fine for the tank - sump circulation. But its gonna need some decent plumbing to get the 13000ltr/hr around.
I would have thought a sequence 10k would have been the better option TBH.

In tank circulation wise 4X6200 would be a start. If you go for 4ft wide you might want to look at 3x6300.

How much live rock are you planning on adding?
Have you costed this out? I would have thought the bill is going to approach £30k.

What are you plannning on stocking?
What method of filtration are you going for? DSB? Berlin?

A tank of that size is going to need some serious thought put into it. Have you had any experience of big tanks before?

Thanks for the info Mr Tee, I will look those heaters up but the reception is quite warm anyway so hopefully might help a stable temp.

Not really sure what a sequence 10k is for the circulation is have you anymore info on this?

Filtration not really sure yet, but probably the berlin method with macro algae growing in the sump. Stocking will probably be fish & live rock to start then maybe a few softies etc.

I know a lot of LR is needed but havent worked the total amount out yet.

I personally havent had anything near this size but doing as much research as possible to find the best methods & equipment to use:)

[MR Teee]

Sorry mate,

Sequence 10k is a pump that looks like this

http://www.mdminc.com/images/seqhomebanner.jpg

You plumb it in outside the sump. The 10k refers to 10,000ltr/hr, the output at zero head for the pump.

If the reception is warm throughout the night, you may be able to save a bit on the heating of the tank. Looking at it though that will be the cheapest part.

I would have thought 300kg of rock to start. Or 15 boxes!

What about lighting, are you going to go with halides for depth of tank?

[Mantis147]

Sorry mate,

Sequence 10k is a pump that looks like this

http://www.mdminc.com/images/seqhomebanner.jpg

You plumb it in outside the sump. The 10k refers to 10,000ltr/hr, the output at zero head for the pump.

If the reception is warm throughout the night, you may be able to save a bit on the heating of the tank. Looking at it though that will be the cheapest part.

I would have thought 300kg of rock to start. Or 15 boxes!

What about lighting, are you going to go with halides for depth of tank?

Thanks for the link thats great!

Yeah about 300kgs but will need to shop around for that.

We are looking to get halides about 250watt but would 3 do? I dont think the unit will be long enough will it?

[Mantis147]

The tank is quite cheap ive been quoted a custom build with 8Lx2.5Hx3W display tank, cabinet and 5x2x2 sump for £1860 just need to add weirs & holes to be drilled.

[MR Teee]

I would go for a couple of twin 250W giessman units.

The length of the unit is irrelevant, its the spread of the light that you are more interested in.

For something a bit more visual, how about 400w halides at one end 250Win the middle and 150W at the end. Get a light gradient going down the length of the tank.

[Tangman]

Hi Mantis with a tank that size i would go for a heat exchanger, do you have a Central Heating boiler in the building as you can couple this up to a heat exchanger with a 3 way zoning valve. Scooby UK has just had one fitted on his 7 x 3 x2.5 tank and he is chuffed to bits with it. He bought it from Justin at Aquarius in Feathestone who are RC sponsors. HTH. Eric :D

[trik]

Hi Mantis if you need 300KG of live rock i can get it to you for £140 a 25KG box if any use to you. HTH

[Mantis147]

Thanks for the info guys very helpful, I will look into the heat exchange it sounds a very good idea believe it or not the business washes truck roadbarrels daily so has massive boiler systems that run 24/7 so its well worth me looking into. Mr Tee like the light idea will have a think about that also and trik very good price on th LR will let you know.

I will keep you updated on the progress hopefully we might get the tank ordered tomorrow:D

P.S Its all good sorting this stuff out when your not paying, should get a free salt & RO water for years to come now!!!

[pavlo]

The method of heating will depend on ambient temperature, is the office heated at night? Is it well insulated? If it isn't then I reckon you'll want at least 1500 watts of heaters. If the office is heated 24hr then a couple of 300 watters will manage.

The heat exchanger is a neat idea but with MH lighting, you wont need it during the day and for it to be any use at night you will need to run the boiler 24/7 which may work out quite expensive.

[Mantis147]

The method of heating will depend on ambient temperature, is the office heated at night? Is it well insulated? If it isn't then I reckon you'll want at least 1500 watts of heaters. If the office is heated 24hr then a couple of 300 watters will manage.

The heat exchanger is a neat idea but with MH lighting, you wont need it during the day and for it to be any use at night you will need to run the boiler 24/7 which may work out quite expensive.


The reception is well heated & insulated through out the day but I dont think its heated out of office hours:( But I will check on this, if its not I will just have to go with heaters the business will be paying for it anyway so I dont think they will be too bothered.

[Mantis147]

Has anyone got any contacts for tank builders as im having trouble getting hold of the company that gave me the original quote?

[brian waller]

Im getting a tank made for our reception in work and need a little help.
The tank is going to be very large 8ft long x 2.5ft high x 3ft (poss 4ft wide depending on price) wide and will have a 5x2x2 sump. My question is what kind of heater do you need for a tank this size approx 2500lts and what skimmer would you recommend?:D I was thinking of putting 2x Ocean Runner 6500's in the sump to circulate the water and 2 or 3 tunze streams in the display tank.

Any advice would be a great help!

hi manis147,tank price seems very dear, i just bought a 6x2x2 with a 5.7x20 x15 sump for only 300 pounds,if you pm me i can let you have the phone no,also you can run with out lr as in my new tank not one ounce of lr is in it ,also 3 pond pumps could return your sump water & also do your water movement all at the same time,by bouncing your return water of the front of your tank ,cut out powerheads, waveboxs etc clutting up your tank ,this method works ,i us it all the time.



brian.

[moorish]

i would go for heat exchanger as already stated.the aqua medic 6500 tend to be a little noisy,i would go for 2 sequence pumps just 95w each compared to some others.you would need a deltec 1003 as stated.you would need between 12 and 15 boxes of live rock which should be enough.derek

[Mantis147]

Do the sequence pumps link to the piping similar to the 6500?

[Guest]

gonna watch this thread with great interest hope we get plenty of pictures as it pans out hope it all goes to plan mantis
cheers john

[MR Teee]

Do the sequence pumps link to the piping similar to the 6500?

In terms of hard piping and 1" +2" unions then yes. These sort of pumps need to be hard plumbed in order to run reliably. Too much pressure for soft flexible piping.

[Mantis147]

Well guys the tank is ordered its coming on Friday final size is 8ft long x 2.6ft high x 3ft wide:D Its going to be built on site, so thats me doing no work friday!! Mr Tee I am going to be using 50mm Rigid piping but was just unsure how the sequence pumps attatch to it? When the tank is built Im then going to go through the equipment needed:)

[Tetley]

Well guys the tank is ordered its coming on Friday final size is 8ft long x 2.6ft high x 3ft wide:D Its going to be built on site, so thats me doing no work friday!! Mr Tee I am going to be using 50mm Rigid piping but was just unsure how the sequence pumps attatch to it? When the tank is built Im then going to go through the equipment needed:)

Good luck, what a project to be involved with, very nice. :) :)

[Mantis147]

Any recommendations on skimmers for around 2500lts?

[MR Teee]

oooooh biggies!!!!

Deltecs with more than one pump:D 702, 902, 1003 (in order of preference, and cost)

Aquamedic 5000 twins (seem to be hard to get hold of)

H&S are good skimmers, again any with more than one pump

For the Ultimate, and for me to be your biggest fan a Bubbleking external, made by Royal exclusiv, either the 400 ext or for total skimming porn the 500 ext.

I would not be considering any others TBH.










Well apart from one of these custom made jobbies from the states. Can you afford the shipping though?? as they would be dirt cheap with the exchange rate as it is.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r5/adambirkitt/IMG_2220.jpg


http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r5/adambirkitt/IMG_2224.jpg

[Mantis147]

Thanks Mr Teee! Made me laugh "total skimming porn"!!!:D

[MR Teee]

Us technical advisors are sad like that!

[Tangman]

Us technical advisors are sad like that!
Your MR TEEE not sad:D :D Eric

[Mantis147]

Here's the new tank!! Just about fits under the stairs in the reception:D

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f347/mantis147/2007-03-03_115017_tank_1.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f347/mantis147/2007-03-03_115043_tank_2.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f347/mantis147/2007-03-03_115111_tank_3.jpg

[MR Teee]

Thatss hhhhhuuuugggeeeee!!!!!

Have you got any of the equipment yet?

[Mantis147]

Nope not yet, pricing bits at the moment should get a bit further later this week!:D

[Tangman]

Hi Mantis that looks one huge tank m8 and i am sure it will look stunning when its stocked up. I have one little crititism thouh is the stand strong enough as it only looks like 3x2 frame work with boards on. Was it made by a tank builder or a normal cabinet maker. I have just made a 4x4x3 tank and my legs on the stand are 6 inch square with 6x3 brace bars going from leg to leg, maybe a bit OTT but better safe than sorry. HTH. Eric

[Mantis147]

It was made by a tank maker and they also make the cabinets, I thought that at first but he assures me its well strong enough;)

[callum_parsons]

thast a bit of a monster tank

[Tangman]

It was made by a tank maker and they also make the cabinets, I thought that at first but he assures me its well strong enough;)
Thats fine then it usually is strong enough its just that it shows up different on a pic. Is that where its staying or are you putting it somewhere else, as you have no polstyrene under the glass yet:D Eric

[Mantis147]

The base of the tank is 1 inch thick so do think we need polystyrene. I know it looks a bit tight where it is but it needs the space behind it to work and put a skimmer if we get a tall one:)

[MR Teee]

You will need polystyrene!! Even a minute imperfection in the surface of the wood will create a pressure point on the glass. It may be 1 inch thick, but think of the weight of the water above it!!

For the sake of a tenner on polystyrene .... well make you own mind up, but I hope they have good insurance.

If you want an experts view PM windsor-aquatic on here or via his website, I am pretty sure he will tell you the same.

[Tom2006]

That is a great looking tank and cabinet, in fact it looks like you could have a sauna in the cabinet as well ;) :D

[Mantis147]

You will need polystyrene!! Even a minute imperfection in the surface of the wood will create a pressure point on the glass. It may be 1 inch thick, but think of the weight of the water above it!!

For the sake of a tenner on polystyrene .... well make you own mind up, but I hope they have good insurance.

If you want an experts view PM windsor-aquatic on here or via his website, I am pretty sure he will tell you the same.

They built the tank onsite so with them being professional tank builders why would they not put it polystyrene under it then?:confused: I suppose I could slide a sheet under it if required.

[Tangman]

Hi Mantis you wll need some polystyrene under the glass, as if a grain of sand is under the glass and you fill it up with water it will crack. You can buy 8x4 sheets from builder merchants and most will cut it to size as well. HTH. Eric:)

[course-its-reefsafe]

Spanking project :D

Just a comment, if you're using MH, so the tanks obviously open-topped, I think it may be worth fixing something on the underside of those stairs so that nothing from peoples feet can flick into the tank.

It'd only take small metal fragments from peoples shoes to kill any SPS corals, or mud laden with pesticide to possibly kill the fish.

Just a thought anyway :)


Cheers

Chris :)

[course-its-reefsafe]

Forgot to add, definately as posts above on the polysterene.

My tank came without poly as they wanted to charge extra for it, otherwise they assume you want to source your own.

A few Years ago I had a timber topped brick stand custom built for a FO setup, I insisted that the base was completely level so it wouldn't stress the glass. I didn't know about the importance of polysterene then, but I soon found out when the front pane of glass unstuck itself because of the pressure :(

Cheers

Chris :)

[MR Teee]

They built the tank onsite so with them being professional tank builders why would they not put it polystyrene under it then?:confused: I suppose I could slide a sheet under it if required.

Did you ask then though? As Chris said perhaps they assumed you were going to do it.

Perhaps they didn't have any with them or forgot to buy it before coming, could be a hundred reasons.

As Eric said Wicks do 8'x4' sheets or smaller ones if you can't handle that size easily.

[Mantis147]

Thanks for the info! the only problem now is how to lift it up to put the polystyrene under:confused:

[course-its-reefsafe]

With plenty of helping hands :D

Seriously, if you get a few people on it it should be quite easy. Those glass sucker/carrier things with the handles are apparently superb when lifting tanks (although I've never used them).

Cheers

Chris :)

[mrc]

Lee its going to be great IM not envious but id look better in my home looking forward to seeing finished Ill drop in then and let you run me through all the tech side as im useless

[Mantis147]

No probs MRC!;)

[stevieh]

have you got the polystyrene under the tank yet, and how far are you with this project. update please with pics.:) Stevie

[Mantis147]

Still sorting the pipework & lighting out at the moment, should have it all ordered tomorrow:) will update shortly.

[TerraC]

that looks a great project. especially good when someone else is footing the bill :D Wish I could get our lot to fund one. Hard enough getting a box of paperclips ;)

[Mantis147]

Yeah it is quite cool Just hate chasing him to pay for stuff need £1500 for the next bill lighting, pumps & piping!

[stevieh]

hi mantis just wondering how far you are with this project,and how about some photo's stevie

[Mantis147]

Guess what guys!! Finally been given the cash for the plumbing & pumps to get it going!!! Yipeee!!!

[Tangman]

He must have a cash flow problem taking all that time, but at least you can get on with it. Get the pics up and lets see how your doing. Twiggy:D:D

[Mantis147]

Definately not a cash flow problem just cant get him to sit down!:D

[Mantis147]

Right Pipework & return pumps ordered. Will have to speak to James to price up Salt & Live Rock as will be needing this in the next couple of weeks.:D Not sure how much we need but salt around 60kgs and live rock about 150kgs!

[Tangman]

Right Pipework & return pumps ordered. Will have to speak to James to price up Salt & Live Rock as will be needing this in the next couple of weeks.:D Not sure how much we need but salt around 60kgs and live rock about 150kgs!
Hi Macca has got some really good rock in at present and at a good price as well. I think you will need more than 150kg more like 250kg for a tank that size, also 60kg of salt wont be enough either as a 25kg bucket makes about 160 gallon of water. HTH Twiggy:D:D

[Mantis147]

Yeah not certain on amounts at the moment 150kgs would be a decent amount to get it going though. Is there a calulator anywhere to figure out salt amounts Twiggy?

Also i need to figure out how much displacement i need in the sump incase it all fires back down. the main tank is 8ft long 3ft frt to back 2.5ft high.

[Tangman]

Yeah not certain on amounts at the moment 150kgs would be a decent amount to get it going though. Is there a calulator anywhere to figure out salt amounts Twiggy?

Also i need to figure out how much displacement i need in the sump incase it all fires back down. the main tank is 8ft long 3ft frt to back 2.5ft high.
Hi the size in gallons can be worked out by timesing the length x bredth x height and dividing by 277 that will get you the gallons of the tank. You need 1 KG of rock for 2 gallon of water, there is a calculater for salt mixing but i just keep making it up till its right. You need to do a dummy run with tap water to make sure that if power goes off you have enough room in the sump for the water out of tank. There is no hard and fast rules as to what depth is jut to make sure that it will not overflow. HTH Twiggy:D:D

[Mantis147]

Yeah im going to do a tap water run first to make sure its correct!

[JAYJT29]

Hi Mantis, i well recommend MACCA's LR, i got some a few weeks back, spot on rock at a spot on price ;):D
Jay

[screwloose]

who did you use for the tank making bud ?

[Mantis147]

a non sponsor made it.:D