View Full Version : Pingu goes for a dip in a 10fter
The new tank is up and running and I thought I take so much from this site it maybe next to give a little back. Here is my progress to date, it is by far finished. Electrics, reactors tunze powerheads, aquascaping (more LR required) corals (in frag system awaiting moving), tank backing and cabinets making all yet to be done. Any advice on these gladly recieved!
Hi all
Thought I would post a few pics of my progress to date. When I visit RS Nigel always comments ' I bet you didn't think you were going to build this when you started marines'. He is so right and maybe if I had known how much hard work was involved I may not ever have started it!
The tank is 114x27x27. The width was dictated by the space I had to work with whilst the depth was a small arm length restriction :grin021 Length of tank was just short of 10ft to allow my hands enough room to work the sides of the tank.
The tank was built onsite by Keith at Windsor Aquatics, nice bloke and amazing how it comes together so quick. The stand was built by a fellow reefer who just happened to be a welder (thank you Wayne!) and it looked something like this....
http://www.reeftalk.co.uk/gallery/files/1/4/6/Picture3002a.JPG
Now I am no expert on piping a ten foot tank so I read every tank build thread ever and spoke to the boys in the know. After a bit of hard work the missus was knackered so I thought I would take a picture of it....
http://www.reeftalk.co.uk/gallery/files/1/4/6/Picture3015a.JPG
This pic here shows the closed loop system powered by a sequence 10000 and the pipes I installed to power the reactors (carbon, phosphate etc). All the pipework is on two seperate systems, one for the closed loop and one for the returns, taps, skimmer etc powered by an AG8 11000 pump. As you can imagine these pumps are noisey so are housed outside in a tidy B&Q plastic tool shed thingy (eventually I will loook to build that wet room I tell everyone about!). The chiller also sits outside in the same box thingy.
Now, my poor little RO unit took a battering over the passed few weeks (as did my wallet) but I perservered and roughly two weeks ago salted up. All live rock came from my existing 5ft tank (she did me proud) and stuff I had lying around in my frag system. As you can see I have run out of LR though! meaning all aquascaping had to stop :mad:
The skimmer working the tank is an Deltec AP1004 and is a mean peice of kit.
http://www.reeftalk.co.uk/gallery/files/1/4/6/Picture3016a.JPG
It is a fair old size though and sits next to the Jetsream 2 calcium reactor which I only powered up tonight.
Flow comes from the closed loop system and 2 x 6100 1 x 6200 tunze pumps although all are not in the tank yet.
As I mentioned this is a work in progress and I am therefore missing backing for the tank and any type of cupboard decoration. Most of my corals are still in my frag system awaiting placement but that can not be done until I get the aquascaping finished. Here is a pic I took tonight, lots more work to do!
http://www.reeftalk.co.uk/gallery/files/1/4/6/Picture3028a.JPG
Any pointers good or bad welcome! More pics to come as it all comes together.
Chris
The Reef Master
02-10-07, 21:52
Very nice Chris
Regards
Michael.:thumbsup:
looks really good mate, i think ive been looking forward to seeing this tank come together nearly as much as you have! give me a shout if you need a hand with anything, ive got a snorkel here if you want it? you could do a couple of lengths
Hi,
Looks great :worship: , I wouldn't add too much life rock anymore though. Too much tanks seem to be stuffed with 100's of kg of the stuff, leaving little space for the fish to swim and the corals to grow....
But hey; that's my opinion :D !
Looking good :thumbsup: a stack of rock to hide that overflow box in the corner and I think that will look great IMO, great progress in a short space of time, probably weeks, months even years of planning though :):)
MarineManMercer
02-10-07, 22:26
Wow pingu i do mind you having the 5ft tank before.What a step up and looking great.Keep us posted on this as it looks great and a m8 of mine has also went for a much bigger system and it will really help him with designing his closed loop etc.I agree with not adding too much more lr apart from the overflow box.
:thumbsup: :applause: Trevor
Looks great :thumbsup: I'm with the posts above, the "island" of LR looks really good as is, some more LR to hide the wier is all i'd add, but i'm sure it's gonna be an awesome tank either way.
Keep the updates coming:applause:
Rod
Thats looks great with that amount of LR in it :applause:
Hi guys thanks for the comments, very encouraging.
With the regards the LR I think the picture looks a little deceiving, you are all right I have never been fond of crammed tanks with LR but what you see when standing in front of the tank is a lot less than that it looks in the pic.
Remember under that island of rock is a large hidden outlet for the closed loop system leaving a very fish friendly rock structure and the rock doesn't touch the back glass to allow the tunze to circulate better.
You rightly mention the weir box needs covering but remember there are two weir boxs the other being out of shot. Both need covering but this will be done with minimum LR required. I do intend to have a zoa fountain on the left side but that is about it.
Thinking of a black back round colour as I have this on one of my other setups and I think it gives a nice contrast, what say you?
Chris
Very nice mate !!
One day , when i am rich and have a big house , i'm gonna have the mutha of all tanks !! :rolleyes:
Love the 'big tank' threads !!
:thanks:
what a welcome surprise, at this hour there's hardly anyone about on here to talk to so it's nice to read up on the members tank threads and things, great to come in from the cold, fix myself a coffee and lose myself for 10 minutes in your fish tank. nice photos and a great write up so far, looking forward to the next installment, cheers :)
why did you go for the jetstream 2 pingu? im setting up an 10foot also that is going to be 2ft by 2ft and was thinking that the jetstream 1 would be enough for an sps dominated tank.
why did you go for the jetstream 2 pingu? im setting up an 10foot also that is going to be 2ft by 2ft and was thinking that the jetstream 1 would be enough for an sps dominated tank.
I think for the extra money from a 1 to a 2 on this size tank you would want to build in a bit of spare capacity. Plus as good as all the things I have read about the jetstreams, the recommendation on the 1 is UP to 3000ltrs?
And we all know about the differences between suppliers recommended usage and real life :laugh:
Looks great mate, do you have a stock list? or proposed stock list??
Looking good! :D
Your family will soon learn to run away when they see you with that skimmer cup; I have exactly the same skimmer and the cup STINKS when I clean it out, smells like a rabbit being gutted :sick: :yucky: :laugh: ! Very good skimmers though ;)
Tank looks gorgeous just as it is! Simple = nice :) (for me anyway)
why did you go for the jetstream 2 pingu? im setting up an 10foot also that is going to be 2ft by 2ft and was thinking that the jetstream 1 would be enough for an sps dominated tank.
Tbh it was a no brainer for me mate, it was from a tank breakdown and therefore made sense. That said I do not think I would have opted for the smaller one even if I had bought brand new due to future proofing the system e.g. I intend to build an extension or a conservatory (to keep the wife happy) with a built on wet room. This wet room will house my frag system and therefore increase capacity.
Thanks for the kind comments so far, great to hear people's views. When I pull my finger out and add more I will add to the thread.
Chris
Aquascape look great in there... lots of room not imposing as it can somtimes ber. Its lovely.
Background color; a mix of oceanblue and some nicely cut-out black foamplates....!? The ones you see a lot in sweetwater-tanks. They purple up easy and you can just stick your frags right in there....
Regards, Shiva.
fireproofcujo
03-10-07, 18:13
Looks good enough to scuba in Pingu :worship:
disco_dave
03-10-07, 18:41
Tank looks really well.....a 10 footer...:dribble:...keep posting the pics would love to see more. Keep up the good work, nice one mate :D
Chris,
the tank is looking good.. good see it up finally running with some life in it. I would go with black as well for the background, should provide you with some nice contrast.
Keep up the work, it's paying off now since you have something to look at other than empty glass.
Chris has put alot of work into the tank.. the couple of times I've been over he's either been chasing the flying pink elephants when welding all the pipe together from the glue fumes...and was pumping water into the last trip where he ran just shy by about 200ltrs... just wait till that water meter bill comes in...
cheers,
Joe
wow thats huge! id never keep my kids out of that :p
Sye Davies
05-10-07, 08:08
well well you have been a busy boy:)
looks very nice chris, top work:thumbsup:
for what its worth i say black for the background......i will definatly use black for my next tank.
throw a roll of that aquarium background behind it, blue on the one side and black on the other. you can switch it around and see what looks best. not sure if you can get it for your tank height and it will cost but i painted mine black when i got it then decided it was to dark and you couldnt make out all the caves in the rockwork so i scrubbed it all off and went for blue, took ages!
any more progress on the tank?
Swimmingwiththefishes
06-10-07, 01:35
Looks good enough to scuba in Pingu :worship:
Only if you start the dive swimming into the current and let it take you back to your entery point!:laugh:
Alan
fireproofcujo
06-10-07, 02:54
Only if you start the dive swimming into the current and let it take you back to your entery point!:laugh:
Alan
I'm a dwarf so it would take me much longer than the average person to do a length :laugh:
I think for the extra money from a 1 to a 2 on this size tank you would want to build in a bit of spare capacity. Plus as good as all the things I have read about the jetstreams, the recommendation on the 1 is UP to 3000ltrs?
And we all know about the differences between suppliers recommended usage and real life :laugh:
Thanks for the advice,
my tank capacity should be about 1500, with nothing in except water so after sand, rocks, corals it should come down to at least 1200l?? (maybe less)
and if my sump and dsb in total give about another 700l(at the most) the total would be about 1900l.
So if its rated for 3000l that shouldnt be enough for me?
Hey Chris, It looks awesome! :applause: Whats the overall system capacity?
Hey Chris, It looks awesome! :applause: Whats the overall system capacity?
Alot.. and his water meter is spinning like a top.. never seen a water meter start smoking till Chris started making his RO water... :laugh:
Hi all
Thanks for all the kind words. Luke system capacity roughly 2000litres.
I though a little update was in order, apologise for the delay work sux.
But I am VERY impressed with my new setup, algae bloom came and went although pics are show algae it has all gone now. I purposely let it grow so it could eat up the silicates in the water, this it seemed to do a treat and just died back over a week or two to nothing. The whole process was about 5 weeks but I did nothing but sit and watch.
Added a black background and placed corals, not all in their final resting place but a fair few.....
http://www.reeftalk.co.uk/gallery/files/1/4/6/DSC_0636a.JPG
As you can see the hair algae is bad at the back but that is NOTHING like it used to be and has since now gone (pic about 1 week old).
A little rockwork on each side and I added another Tunze 6100 for water movement bringing it up to 42X turnover. One or two corals took a turn for the worse during the algae period but seem to be making a recovery.
Added a YT and a Lippy Tang which are both settling in well, given them a bit of time before my existing sailfin and powder blue join them
All electrics done and tank settling well. Here a few of my fav shots todate...
Copperband policing photography
http://www.reeftalk.co.uk/gallery/files/1/4/6/DSC_0591a.JPG
Orange and purple acan showing it's orange side...
http://www.reeftalk.co.uk/gallery/files/1/4/6/DSC_0585a.JPG
Lobo...
http://www.reeftalk.co.uk/gallery/files/1/4/6/DSC_0676a.JPG
To do....
Awaiting the cabinet etc ... this could take some time.
Corals need moving and growing out. New corals to be added as and when I find them.
Few fish on order.
Top up tank to be built to fit the space I have.
Lots lots more than I can think of right now.
Chris
fireproofcujo
12-11-07, 21:28
Great pic of the copperband Chris i really like that fish :thumbsup: tank is really starting to get there now :applause:
MarineManMercer
12-11-07, 23:05
Great job m8,,tank looking really well
The tank looks superb mate
fireproofcujo
18-02-08, 02:14
Well let me be the first to comment after the meet last night :cool:
What a corker of a tank simply stunning it's a shame we can't do 3D images of our tanks on here as this tank is much better in the raw flesh :dribble: . Fish all look very happy and a great mixture of corals bursting with colour :thanks: for allowing me and others the pleasure of seeing your tank and your hospitality was second to none :applause: Chris.
The write up is not just positive because Chris plied me with copious amounts of alcohol either :whistling:
SpongeBobSquarePants
18-02-08, 08:00
Wheres the pictures then :D
S
am I the only one who can't see the photos?
Wheres the pictures then :D
S
I guess not :D
Halfsleeve
18-02-08, 08:20
No piccy's for me too :(
No piccy's for me too :(
nor me :(
fireproofcujo
18-02-08, 14:40
Chris is aware of the pic issue and i'm sure he will post some up when he gets 5 mins ;)
Well let me be the first to comment after the meet last night :cool:
What a corker of a tank simply stunning it's a shame we can't do 3D images of our tanks on here as this tank is much better in the raw flesh :dribble: . Fish all look very happy and a great mixture of corals bursting with colour :thanks: for allowing me and others the pleasure of seeing your tank and your hospitality was second to none :applause: Chris.
The write up is not just positive because Chris plied me with copious amounts of alcohol either :whistling:
I'll be second then. Masses of lovely healthy corals and fish, just a shame all of the wires down either side are on show :) (sorry couldn't stop myself:o )
:worthy:
ive got a feeling us lot might have to back seat for a while due to young jessica coming along at the moment guys.
not really on is it tho chris, letting you new born get in the way of your hobby! these people want pictures! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
jimmy
Thank you all, some very kind comments. I though it time I updated this thread. Tank has come along as expected with some ups and downs. Suffered a severe case of cyano that came out of nowhere. Unfortunately it was the same time roughly as my daughter being born so I had very little time to action anything. I changed the phosphate reactors and cut down on the amount of hours lighting. It lasted close to 2 weeks but went as quick as it came.
I have had a few weeks paternity leave and I have been sneaking the odd hour here and there for my tank. I had custom made panels delivered, in conjunction with some plynth I decked the stand out. Was really pleased with the result as not only do I think it look good but it also cut down on my skimmer/sump noise. Used three panels which where covered well in laiminate (I didn't fancy the normal kitchen cabinets as they have a tendancy to blow after a while due to moisture). I then fitted a kitchen door handle to each panel and fixed them using industrial strength velcro, this really works well and gives me good access. I used a plinth below then the three panels to my desired height and plinth for the top. I do have to fit two small side plinth panels to totally finish the job. This is how it looks so far..
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11173.jpg
Tank contents are growing well, plenty of SPS growth and good colouring with a few choice LPS and a zoa fountain on the left side. Here is a distant pic of the right side.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11138.jpg
I stuggled over the last month with montipora problems until I stumbled on a potassium thread, it appears the salt I was using was not replacing adequate pottassium. I changed salt to RBS which is a massive improvement. I also dosed pottassium daily very slowly and what a massive turn around. Monti's had a major comeback, I am well pleased with the results.
This little acropora was given to me about 18 months ago as three twigs all dying back as he got it in a tank breakdown and had been sat in his sump dying, as you can see it has come back nicely and has fantastic blue growth tips...
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11146.jpg
Another pic of a favourite coral being the lobphyllia, I haven't seen many for sale and they grow real slow but the picture does not do the colour justice.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11174.jpg
On the left hand side of the tank is the start of my zoa fountain, it is starting to colour up and I am on the look out for more bright colours to add to it, since the pics I have added a lovely blue zoa rock which I hope will do well. I know sometimes blues suffer from colour loss...
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11141.jpg
Another coral I am particularly pleased with is this red/pink echno, has good growth. Note the algae blenny, he was bought 2 months ago at about 1 inch in length he is nearly 4 inches now. That should give some size comparison when looking at the echno...
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11159.jpg
I can not attach pics without looking at my elegance coral. She is roughly 1 foot in length and 6 inches wide.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11162.jpg
I have also found that recently my fish have coloured up nicely, although I have never been disappointed with my fish health it seems they have improved. Here is a quick shot of my sailfin...
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11160.jpg
My maroon clown, she is roughly 5 inches in length and so friendly. If I am working on the tank she follows me along the length of the tank, obviously looking for food but I like to think of her as my work buddy
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c178/Sofarz/Fish1/Picture11164.jpg
As always there is lots to do, soon I wil be...
1) Finishing the panelling on the sides
2) Altering the pipework ever so slightly to improve efficiency of the sump
3) Reducing nitrates which are currently sitting at 25
4) Eliminate most mushrooms and brown polyps from the tank over a period of time.
Hope you enjoyed the update, will add more as and when.
Chris
looking good mate.
why have u decided to get rid of most of your mushrooms? it was only after seeing yours when i was last down i decided to get some more lol.
jimmy
That blue tip acro was/is awesome, I loved the little Scarlet Hawk who lives in there too.
I stuggled over the last month with montipora problems until I stumbled on a potassium thread, it appears the salt I was using was not replacing adequate pottassium. I changed salt to RBS which is a massive improvement. I also dosed pottassium daily very slowly and what a massive turn around. Monti's had a major comeback, I am well pleased with the results.
Excuse my ignorance here mate but what is 'RBS' that you're referring to ?
*Edit* Just done a search and found your post about "bulk buying" - doh !
Looks real nice there mate:thumbsup:,i never like the real big tanks much as they always lose something in my eyes,but that looks great:).Well apart from the really nice ones like Saxbys etc
Looks real nice there mate:thumbsup:,i never like the real big tanks much as they always lose something in my eyes,but that looks great:).Well apart from the really nice ones like Saxbys etc
i agree but given time i think this could rival saxby's ;)
That's fabulous. Where are you in Cardiff? Would love to see it in the flesh if at all possible......
By Cardiff airport. PM me if you fancy coming around for a cuppa.
Chris
Lovley looking tank....but clean that rear panel!!!
Halfsleeve
01-03-08, 12:25
Stunning tank love those SPS.
Lovley looking tank....but clean that rear panel!!!
Thanks but you must be joking me right? :p Not a lover of the clinical cleaned rear panel. IMO (and I understand it is just my opinion) it looks much better with corraline over the back.
A preference thing I think.
Chris
chris take my hat off to you that is awesome and is still a young tank give that time and i think it will just get better and better.i am only a newby but tanks like that are what can be achieved with hard graft and knowledge give me insperation to keep reading and learning about this great hobby.
my mates have been taking the p@@@ about how much i spend etc on my box of salt water but they all come round for a few beers to watch the football and most were sat by the tank watching my fish.it is an exspensive hobby but the rewards outweigh the downside.i have a large regal who would look awesome in that tank of yours so if your interested let me now.
Awesome...totally awesome!
Your clown is such a nice looking girl :) Keep up the good work :D
Ben
Chris,
tank is looking good... keep up the good work.
cheers,
Joe
Cardiff R33
03-01-11, 21:46
Chris, luke told me to look at this, we need an update with your new tank
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