A
Anonymous
Guest
Time to start writing up the new tank. After a few delays at the manufacturer’s end it’s finally shipped and will be delivered on Monday.
The Tank – A custom made signature series 40 gallon tank from Ocean Image (http://www.oceanimage.net/). The tank measures 20” x 25” x 19”, with the rear five and half inches taken up by a built-in rear sump. The glass is starphire, the trim is stainless steel and black silicone is used throughout. The stand is also custom from OIA as well.
Lighting – 24” Outer Orbit Fixture with 1 150w 10K HQI halide, 2 65w PC actinics and 4 LED moonlights (http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... ct=CU01040).
Skimming – Right now I’ll be using an AquaC Remora skimmer, but I’m considering instead upgrading to a Deltec MC500. It seems like it would fit in the rear sump. The remora was purchased when I was intending on only setting up a 26 gallon bow front, but that idea got scrapped when I realized I couldn’t fit the Outer Orbit fixture on that tank.
Return & Current – A Mag 9 pump is used for the return from the rear sump compartment, fed into a couple of returns hooked up with an SCWD current alternator. A pair of maxijet 600s and a pair of maxijet 900s provide additional water movement, hooked up to a red sea wavemaster pro. It’s a –lot- of current.
Live Rock – I’ll be ordering a box of Marshall island rock from Premium Aquatics. Going to be using only about ¾ of a pound per gallon. Aquascape is intended to run primarily from the rear left corner towards the front right corner, with a small spur branching towards the front left corner. A small island will be set up in the back right corner, separate and behind the main rock formation. While the tank is not wide, it has great front-to-back depth (a full 20”) and I intend to take advantage of that.
Substrate – Ocean Image supplied me with a sheet of ¼” white HDPE, which will sit on the bottom of the tank. On top of that will be a rubble zone, pieces of live rock rubble (golf ball to soft ball size), loosely poured around the rock structure.
Planned Livestock – I plan to pick up a number of different color frags of acropora millepora as the main focus of the tank. There will be some softies as well (xenia, various polyps) but I want to avoid both the “wall of rock” look and the “fruit stand” look, and one of the ways I hope to achieve that is my limiting the numbers of species represented in the tank. I’d rather have just a handful of coral species represented and let them grow to dominate the tank.
I’m going to try the tank with no hermit crabs. I’d like to avoid using any of the snail killers this time out.
Fish selection is very much up in the air. I’m thinking maybe a small group of glass cardinals. When it comes to the fish I’m open to suggestions, bearing in mind this is a 40 gallon tank with no sand and with a whole lot of flow.
Other Issues – It’s entirely possible I may end up moving sometime over the next two years, so one of the design goals behind this set up was to create a tank that could be moved with a minimum of fuss. No real substrate, the rock rubble can easily be bagged and transported. Minimal live rock. The HDPE bottom sheet can be bagged for transport to preserve any softies that colonize it. Simple equipment, no overflows, no external sump.
***
Well, that’s it for the overview. Tank will come Monday, I’ll post some pics once it’s here. Also, for the record, Len doesn’t really have a tank. It’s just a dirty, dirty lie.
The Tank – A custom made signature series 40 gallon tank from Ocean Image (http://www.oceanimage.net/). The tank measures 20” x 25” x 19”, with the rear five and half inches taken up by a built-in rear sump. The glass is starphire, the trim is stainless steel and black silicone is used throughout. The stand is also custom from OIA as well.
Lighting – 24” Outer Orbit Fixture with 1 150w 10K HQI halide, 2 65w PC actinics and 4 LED moonlights (http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... ct=CU01040).
Skimming – Right now I’ll be using an AquaC Remora skimmer, but I’m considering instead upgrading to a Deltec MC500. It seems like it would fit in the rear sump. The remora was purchased when I was intending on only setting up a 26 gallon bow front, but that idea got scrapped when I realized I couldn’t fit the Outer Orbit fixture on that tank.
Return & Current – A Mag 9 pump is used for the return from the rear sump compartment, fed into a couple of returns hooked up with an SCWD current alternator. A pair of maxijet 600s and a pair of maxijet 900s provide additional water movement, hooked up to a red sea wavemaster pro. It’s a –lot- of current.
Live Rock – I’ll be ordering a box of Marshall island rock from Premium Aquatics. Going to be using only about ¾ of a pound per gallon. Aquascape is intended to run primarily from the rear left corner towards the front right corner, with a small spur branching towards the front left corner. A small island will be set up in the back right corner, separate and behind the main rock formation. While the tank is not wide, it has great front-to-back depth (a full 20”) and I intend to take advantage of that.
Substrate – Ocean Image supplied me with a sheet of ¼” white HDPE, which will sit on the bottom of the tank. On top of that will be a rubble zone, pieces of live rock rubble (golf ball to soft ball size), loosely poured around the rock structure.
Planned Livestock – I plan to pick up a number of different color frags of acropora millepora as the main focus of the tank. There will be some softies as well (xenia, various polyps) but I want to avoid both the “wall of rock” look and the “fruit stand” look, and one of the ways I hope to achieve that is my limiting the numbers of species represented in the tank. I’d rather have just a handful of coral species represented and let them grow to dominate the tank.
I’m going to try the tank with no hermit crabs. I’d like to avoid using any of the snail killers this time out.
Fish selection is very much up in the air. I’m thinking maybe a small group of glass cardinals. When it comes to the fish I’m open to suggestions, bearing in mind this is a 40 gallon tank with no sand and with a whole lot of flow.
Other Issues – It’s entirely possible I may end up moving sometime over the next two years, so one of the design goals behind this set up was to create a tank that could be moved with a minimum of fuss. No real substrate, the rock rubble can easily be bagged and transported. Minimal live rock. The HDPE bottom sheet can be bagged for transport to preserve any softies that colonize it. Simple equipment, no overflows, no external sump.
***
Well, that’s it for the overview. Tank will come Monday, I’ll post some pics once it’s here. Also, for the record, Len doesn’t really have a tank. It’s just a dirty, dirty lie.
