Dream tank recommendations needed

[The Reef Guy]

Hi everyone!

I have been out of the hobby due to work/travel conflicts for about 7 years but things have changed and life goes on.. The great news is that we are planning to build a new house hopefully this spring and I am going to get my dream tank built in...

I am planning a 450 gallon acrylic tank (reef with fish and dsb). We are building an open span design home (steel floor joists over the basement) and the tank will be on the main floor supported by steel floor joists.. I don't think we will have to do any additional engineering but have it on my list of questions for when the blueprints are finalized.

Here's where I would appreciate some help... since I have been out of touch for so long, I have felt a little lost the past few days as I have been surfing the net for forums, product info etc. There have been a lot of changes in the industry!! What I would like is for you to give me recommendations on equipment and suppliers for my system and help me plan it out. If you will help me plan it, I promise to post pictures and reports regularly once we actually start putting it together..

So here's the component list and sources:
450 gallon acrylic tank from ?? (30" x 96" x 36")
1200 pounds Southdown Tropical Playsand (currently stacked in the garage. boy am I glad I bought that pallet of sand in 2002!!)

Lights?
Chiller?
Pumps?
Controllers?
Everything else?


My sincere thanks in advance for the help!! BTW I am in Idaho Falls, Idaho if any of you are close by!!

Shawn

[charlie]

Hey Shawn,

450 gallon acrylic tank from ?? (30" x 96" x 36")

Is that 96"L x 36"W x 30"H????? Either way, if it is 30H or 36H, you are looking at some serious lighting, depending on what you are going to keep!! There is a guy in Nampa, ID. Not real far from you that is really a good guy, and knows his stuff. His name is Kim, and he runs this place down there.
http://www.jensaltwaterhaven.com/

I have known this guy for about 5-6 years now, and he is currently helping me find some digital ballasts for my 300 gallon. Give him a jingle and tell him what you are thinking about, I am sure he can help out.
I am about 420 miles from you, a 7-8 hr drive, up in the Northwest corner of Montana.
Give this guy a call!!!!!

This is a heck of a project, I suggest you start drawing plans on paper!!! It took me a year to plan my first effort at my 300, and it is worth the trouble. Do you have the tank now, or is someone building it for you? If it was me, I would go with glass, but that is just personal preference.

[MacRobotics]

I too am working on my dream tank in Idaho Falls. About 500 gallon acrylic. Wife wouldn't let me re-header the wall to put in one longer than 62 inches, so mine is 62Lx44Wx42H.
Currently in the process of trying to get the base life (bacteria, algae, benthic creatures, cleanup-snails, etc.) balanced, before adding the interesting stuff.

I'd be glad to discuss how I have set things up, and would be interested to know how yours is coming along.

Not a lot of local source for reef items in IF. I usually make a trip to SLC to get livestock back when I was dealing with a measly 55 Gallon set-up (Adey style eco-system LR + fish).

If you want to swap info, email me at KCoble "at" curtisswright "dot" com.

[Steve McKay]

I second the motion on glass,in a few years you won't like what you see.Millions of small scratches,just from trying to keep it clean.Ask others that have them.Charlie's a good man and experienced reef keeper listen to him.And good luck with your project.Photos required.

[MacRobotics]

I was looking at glass for my setup too, for just the same reason (micro scratching over time). But when I did the engineering calculations for a glass panel 6 ft by 4 ft high (approximate size of my front glass), the width was such that the front panel itself weighed about 300 pounds. The whole tank would have to have been assembled in-place, and with that weight, would have been a major hassle. So I had a custom acrylic tank made and installed before the basement was done (it won't fit through any doors!).

[charlie]

What were you planning on using for lights on this monster?

[Parrothead]

when the Jaguars leave jax for Los Angles, he's gonna get one of the big stadium lamps, Monster is right, w/min. amount of live rock in there, we are talking 6000 + lbs, 3 tons, omg. Gotta see the build thread on this baby.

Tanks,
Robert

[MacRobotics]

Don't know if you were talking to Shawn, me or both (Sorry Shawn, didn't mean to hijack your thread).

Mine is about 6500 pounds filled - 400 lb of base rock, about 100 lb of live on top, about 600 lb of crushed coral + aragonite sand. 2000 W. of lighting (after plenem + deep sand, etc. water depth is about 30 inches). High-light requiring corals will be put at the top of the rock stack, about 10 inches deep.

Lighting is 15 5' VHO bulbs (5 ballasts) placed on a raisable/lowerable rack that moves down to within 1" of the aquarium top. The bulbs pretty much cover the entire surface of the aquarium.

[Parrothead]

Both, I never pictured a tank that size, seen Charlie's 300 pics, and saw an empty 300 at one of my lfs's but nothing this size, they must be incredible.

Tanks,
Robert

P.S. Used to live in Nampa in the early 70's, miss the state so much, the wife and I have been talking about moving there in the next couple of years. What's it like now?