[npaden]

Well, it has been a while since I updated everyone on the progress of my upgrade to my new 415 gallon reef tank and it is starting to actually come together so I thought I would post some pics.

The tank dimensions are 122"X28"X28" and the sump is a standard 6' 135 gallon. The skimmer and reactor were custom made by Andy (Myreef).

I've just moved over several fish and some LPS corals and will be moving over the rest of my livestock once I get in a batch of peppermint shrimp to eat the aipistasia now that I have the flamehawk in the 415 so he won't eat all the peppermints before they eat the aipistasia!

I'm really getting excited and hopefully the summer full of work getting this sucker set up and running will pay off here as I get my final items transferred over hopefully within the next month or so.

Oh well, There are some pics of moving the tank in and some pics of the plumbing set up on my website already, but I haven't got the rest of the pics organized into a page yet so I'll just paste them in here.

Here is a recent pic of the whole setup from the front. I'm just burning 2 - 400W Iwasaki's and 4 - 110W actinic VHO's in this pic - I'm moving 2 more 400W Iwasaki's over from my 120 when I shut it down.



Here is a pic from my hallway that shows how the tank and stand blends in with the rest of my house.



Here is a pic of the guts of the system before I got the stand finished out.



I added 2 more 65W LOA's on the refugium, but one of them has already burned out!

Oh well, just thought I would update everyone on my progress as I'm nearing completion. Thanks for all the help and suggestions, comments, etc. along the way.

FWIW, Nathan

[organicreefer]

npadedn,
beautiful,did you do the stand exterior youreself?i like the log/river rock look to go with the rest of youre place.very nice

[thezookeeper]

Nathan, your work has paid off and will continue to pay off. Beautiful work/idea to incorporate the rock look into the stand. Now...all I have to say is gimme. :P

LOVE the house too.


Joanne

[scubadude]

I have a few things to comment on!

First off I as well as others love the atmosphere in your whole house! The stone trimming around the stand is different and refreshing! and second off what are your final plans as far as lighting? it seems to me that a 122" length would require much more MH's then 4 but from the looks of it the 2 that you have in the pics seem to distribute well to half the tank! What made you decide to mount the bulbs and the reflectors perpendicular to the tank? is that better distrubution? What are your plans for inhabitants? lots of SPS? a mix of everything? and lastly what is your turnover rate and equipment used for it?....Thanx

[FishTechie]

Beautiful!! is the center of the sandbed staying low like that or was the return too low... looks cool either way!

[npaden]

Thanks for the comments guys. I put plywood on the steel framework and made the doors. I hired a mason to actually put the stone on the plywood. (The same mason I hired to do the fireplace)

Originally the sand bed got the big low spot in the middle because of the water flow, but I've changed the flow around now so it doesn't blow it all away now. I kind of like it now though and will probably keep it that way.

Scubadude,

I've always heard the rule of thumb was 1 MH per 2' of tank length. If I followed that guideline I should have 5 MH instead of 4. I only had 2 MH on my 6' 120 gallon tank and thought it worked well so I felt that I could just go with 4 on the 10' tank. I left a little more space on the ends of the tank so I can put some lower light stuff on the ends of the tank if the 400's are to bright. Placing the lights perpendicular does spread the light more evenly as well as using the spiderlight reflectors.

As far as circulation, I'm using 2 Ampmaster 3000's - one on a closed loop and as my return pump. I'm going to add a couple 960 gph Gemini powerheads on a wavemaker to help with random currents as well along with the 3 - 1" sea swirls I'm using. I have a plumbing page set up on my site if you want to check it out.

Inhabitants will mainly be LPS and clams in a lagoonal type setting on the left side of the tank moving to SPS on the right side with increased water flow on the right side.

Thanks for the comments. I'll keep everyone updated on my progress.

FWIW, Nathan

[reefhead]

sweet matching tank and fireplace


enjoy,
joe

[BigLar]

Awsome house!!!

[adron420]

Great job, I love the stand

[BlueWater]

whoa... all I can say is "Holy $#!T". That is one of the coolest tanks
I have ever seen. I don't even know what 1/2 the stuff under the tank
is. Not that hard-core. (yet) =) Still have my 10 gallon mini reef.

May I ask how much an approximate cost for this whole gig was?
Can't wait to see the close-up pics.

[FishKid]

Nathan,
I hate you very very very very very very ....... Much!!! I can only hope that I land a job good enough to own a house and tank that nice! After seeing that pic, I feel poor! what are your plans for Livestock?????

[organicreefer]

nathan ,
did you add the wood corner molding to youre tank?i have the same thing on my setup!i stuck mine on with silicone about a year and a half ago and the are still there.im thinking about doing it to the new tank im setting up,but im not sure yet.i like the sandbed too,something different..