# 16 foot 350 gallon build



## Elder1945

Hi everyone,

Today I have posted on these forums more then I have posted my whole life. As i was writing up my 200 gallon build thread I was wishing I started it when I originally had the idea and everyone could tag along. This might have stopped me from making stupid mistakes along the way.

So here we go....

This tank has had 3 weeks of planing put into it at the moment. I am working on equipment list but i plan on stealing a lot off my 200 and selling the tank. I will have to order more MaxSpec 420r's and a new skimmer. I think overall though I have everything needed to make the big jump into saltwater.

I will post pics as I start more into this project but I am thinking this is more of a summer build but who knows.

Anyway I am kinda using this post as a place holder for now but I do have a rendering ready to go.

Post any questions or concerns you may have and ill try my best to answer them.


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## Marz

Can't wait to see how this build goes!


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## nc208082

Very interesting Dimensions, What made you choose those out of curiosity?
Do you not think the 14" height will be too short?
What kind of display will this be? i.e mixed reef? FOWLR, SPS dominated.
Are you having it built in your house or how are you planning on bringing it inside?


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## Elder1945

nc208082 said:


> Very interesting Dimensions, What made you choose those out of curiosity?
> Do you not think the 14" height will be too short?
> What kind of display will this be? i.e mixed reef? FOWLR, SPS dominated.
> Are you having it built in your house or how are you planning on bringing it inside?


The 14" comes from my current tank that is 200 gallons its only 15" tall "Elder's 210 Reef (Pic Heavy)". I do not have a good reason other than I like the look of long shallow tanks. This also help keep the total water volume under 100000 gallons. This also helps when cleaning the acrylic face.. Only takes me 3 mins to do my tank now so 6 mins on a 16' long tank sounds good to me.

As of now I run a mixed reef and love it I will be heading down that path with this tank as well.

I can build it in my shop and just walk it into my basement the stand on another hand wont fit so I plan on building it out of stainless and have it bolt together so it fits.

I will be finishing it off is Sintra witch is a expanded pvc product that is fire rated and completely water impervious.


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## fury165

Love the shallow profile . But I'm curious with rationale of the multiple cutouts of bracing on the top as opposed to just having it along the perimeter.


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## Bayinaung

should be pretty sweet build.


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## Elder1945

fury165 said:


> Love the shallow profile . But I'm curious with rationale of the multiple cutouts of bracing on the top as opposed to just having it along the perimeter.


Yes for this build I could use way less euro bracing and still have a safety factor of 12 to 1. But I have found that having the option of closing of the top of the tank is a lot easier when you have these openings. I use this setup for my 210 and it works great... This also cuts down of evaporation..


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## Elder1945

And we are off I have a final final of the tank and stand that I just finished... Well its never finished . I pick up all materials for stand tomorrow and start the build. This tank has now ballooned bigger then I expected but why not...

Its sitting at 190"x 32" x 14" at its widest its now 40.5".

I will get pics going soon but here is the plan..


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## Marz

I can't wait to see this start (I mean past the design). One regret that I always have (and for some reason always forget) is to take many many before, during, and after pictures. 

BTW, I love the way you have created the tops. This is an excellent idea. When I do my next tank, I would love to have a top like this, or a "3 piece" top like this.

Looks excellent.


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## zk4444

This is going to be epic...


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## teemee

hope you'll let us visit  following!


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## mmatt

This looks like it's going to be awesome. And definitely inspiring. Can't wait to see how this turns out. Love your 200gal set up so I'm sure this will be killer.


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## cerebrous

Wow epic build!!!

If you don't mind sharing some or where you source the materials? that would help some of us who have big plans like this in the future???



Elder1945 said:


> And we are off I have a final final of the tank and stand that I just finished... Well its never finished . I pick up all materials for stand tomorrow and start the build. This tank has now ballooned bigger then I expected but why not...
> 
> Its sitting at 190"x 32" x 14" at its widest its now 40.5".
> 
> I will get pics going soon but here is the plan..


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## Elder1945

Got all the stuff for the stand today.. Even received my heavy duty levelers.

One more addition to the tank 96" dome???


Just kidding just a extra laying around the shop


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## Marz

Lol...love the dome "look"


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## explor3r

Wow this is going to be an amazing build for sure I will be following make sure you take lots of pics for us...
Lucky fish that are going in there..long way to swim


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## Marz

explor3r said:


> Lucky fish that are going in there..long way to swim


We could ALL do laps in that thing


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## Elder1945

Well Sad day and a good day...

I got my tank all transferred over to a 150 gallon stock tank. And the tank is now in the back of my truck headed to who knows where.


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## joel.c

Good luck on the new build, looking forward to watching this progress.

-Joel


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## Elder1945

Equipment list as of now.

1x Super Reef Octopus 5000SSS Internal Protein Skimmer
2x Two Little Fishies Media Reactor – Phosban 150	
1x Danner Supreme Aqua-Mag 24 Water Pump – 2400 GPH
5x Ebo Jager 250W Heater (17 inch) - Eheim
1x Spectrapure CSPDI 90GPD 4 stage w/ TDS meter
2x Cobalt Aquatics MJ-1200 Multi-Purpose Powerhead/Pump (295 GPH)
2x Jebao RW-20 Wavemaker w/ Wireless Capabilities (5283GPH)
2x Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor Extension Kit	
2x Marinepure High Performance Biofilter Media - 8"x8"x4" Block	
1x Neptune Direct Connect 8 Module (DC8)
1x Neptune Automatic Feeding System
4x Maxspec Razor 420r 16k 160w

This is what I have on order for this build will start receiving the goods tomorrow threw April 9th-10th.

Acrylic is in my shop just going over final sizing and spacing and all that good stuff.

Still to order is,
UV sterilizer, 1x Neptune Automatic Feeding System so I can run 2 and who knows a bunch or random stuff I am not thinking of just yet.

I have my Apex from my 200 and other odds and ends that I will be using.

Thank you to Reefsupplies.ca and Colin at Reef Boutique.


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## Syed

16 feet :O

Wow. That's awesome 

Hope you put some unicorn tangs in that bad boy.


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## Elder1945

Look at what I got today!! Thank you ReefSupplies.ca for the fast shipping and great service.



Still waiting on my mag drive 24, lights and other stuff .. Also ordering a Apex gold now my Apex lite just wont cut it in this build.


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## Elder1945

Ok stand is almost done so tank is up next...


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## Elder1945




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## joel.c

This is an insane build... 

Just insane...

...you may be the new Peter for awhile.


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## Mikeylikes

subscribing to see how this build comes to completion.

16' ?! wow .. awesome !!!!


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## y4zhuang

wowwwwww speachless. u have your own wood shoop?!?!?!!?! Build me a stand!!! haha more like you'd probably never want to work with wood after how much work that stand is going to be. more pics


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## Sunstar

I am so excited to see this in progress


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## Elder1945

Sorry for the bad pic's  but I got more stuff....


So total of 5 lights 2 from my old setup and 3 new ones....


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## Elder1945

Ok, So working on the lights and how I will end up hanging them.. I only thought I would have 4 razors but ended up with 5 (Thanks Colin ).. So drywall is on its way in this week and tank starts this week I hope.

For an overall look I am going for super clean so I will be using Mustang "C1101 TOP FIXING WITH CABLE GRIP" for mounting to my ceiling

http://www.mustang-systems.ca/images/stories/pdf/cable/cable-1.5mm-Cable-Components.pdf

As for the ballasts for the lights I am playing with the idea of mounting them into the ceiling... We will see though..

So next step is finish skeleton of stand, paint it white or black.. The whole stand is getting finished in maple or oak but I might as well paint it, cant hurt...

Start the tank, The funny thing is that this is the easiest part of this build for me at least.

I am still waiting on a few peaces of equipment but have most of what I think I need for this tank.

On a side not I just went through all my Aquarium stuff from my old 210 and man I had a lot of random stuff


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## hendy8888

Subscribed. Now I know where to get the light hanging kit from. Thanks!


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## bud091

build is looking good


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## Elder1945

The who, what and why...

So i have not really explained the who,what and why of this tank. So here it goes.

This tank was an idea I had for a while now about 11 months or so.. I wanted to start off in large reef keeping but did not really have the experience of keeping a larger then normal reef tank. 

This is where the 210 8 foot long tank came in. I have never sustained a reef that big before. After doing that for 10 months I had a better idea on what was expected in keeping a large reef tank.

So here we are I am about to finish the leg part of the stand will have pics soon. Also decided to paint it white..

So that is kinda a small back story.....

The who..

So doing the initial budget for this tank was scary and fun at the same time.
I did not want to skimp on anything so I just budgeted for what I deemed the best. I planed on stealing a lot from my 210 but this ended up not working out . At this point to be honest I have thrown out the budget and just going with the flow ..

As for my basement reno this is going well and is on budget go figure..

With the purchasing of everything that is needed for this build I am trying to stay local or at least stay in Canada when ordering everything. This has worked out great thanks to reefsupplies.ca and Reef Boutique. There is still a lot to get but I have a good start.

This in the end has cost me more since I deal in USD a lot and could have bought it all in the states considering I am there at least once a month. In the end tho I am a strong believer in supporting local business. So it will cost me more but I will have stores to go to and buy stuff at that are local. This is worth a lot more to me then saving a bit of money up front.

As for the why...

I honestly do not know why... The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is one day I was looking at my 7-8" Naso in my 8 foot reef and he just did not look that happy. I always wanted to see my tangs act more natural and swim. So why not 16 feet sound good right ..

In the end this build will only take another 4-6 weeks so that is the good part but will take almost 6 months to get it where I like it. This is always the way with me. The funny thing is my 210 was at that point right when i ripped it down.

My end goal in this hobby is to have a 4000+ gallon reef but this is a ways off as I think I will have to be retired to maintain it. Also ill be moving quite a bit form now to then. So when I am in my 50s and in the house I want to stay in and if I am still in this hobby that build would be fun.

I have always wanted a black tip reef shark but there is just no good way in keeping them(In my opinion). I do not want to pull one from the ocean and to be honest I think I would need a 40,000 gallon tank to make me feel alright about keeping one.


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## noy

looks epic.

who is doing the tank build btw?


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## Elder1945

noy said:


> looks epic.
> 
> who is doing the tank build btw?


I am.. acrylic tanks in general are easy to make as long as you have the right tools (CNC routers) and a good gluing discipline.

As for the acrylic we stock it on mass so that parts easy..


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## Dis

Do you use the cnc router to do precise cuts for all the acrylic?


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## Elder1945

Dis said:


> Do you use the cnc router to do precise cuts for all the acrylic?


yes the whole tank comes off the CNC. This helps a lot with edge prep.. This also keeps everything nice and square..


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## noy

think i'll definitely have to get quotes from you next time I do something in acrylic  

what is the acrylic thickness you are using?


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## Dis

Oh interesting. But then you still have to prep the edges more? Do you do it by hand?


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## Elder1945

Dis said:


> Oh interesting. But then you still have to prep the edges more? Do you do it by hand?


Yes a bit 400 grit but I do a finish cut so the edge is completely smooth..


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## Dis

Ok thanks. I have a friend with a shop and I belive he has a cnc machine, not sure if it's the router. Thanks for the help. Goodluck with the rest of your build!


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## rburns24

Elder1945 said:


> I am.. acrylic tanks in general are easy to make as long as you have the right tools (CNC routers) and a good gluing discipline.
> 
> As for the acrylic we stock it on mass so that parts easy..


-
Do you use Weldon 40 or the thinner liquid for gluing?
-


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## Elder1945

rburns24 said:


> -
> Do you use Weldon 40 or the thinner liquid for gluing?
> -


Matters what I am making Weldon 40 is great but its hard to tell if your seam will hold for a long time. I use a Weldon 4 kinda.. I buy the chemicals that are in Weldon and use them.

For this build I will use Weldon 4 for the whole thing. I might use some 16 but for nothing structural. This is for the fact that everyone uses it and it works, So why try to cheap out on it. In general I do not make tanks but I do make acrylic displays a lot.

I use the pin method and just take my time prep prep prep that is all it takes. Helps if you make jigs and all that good stuff too.


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## rburns24

Elder1945 said:


> Matters what I am making Weldon 40 is great but its hard to tell if your seam will hold for a long time. I use a Weldon 4 kinda.. I buy the chemicals that are in Weldon and use them.
> 
> For this build I will use Weldon 4 for the whole thing. I might use some 16 but for nothing structural. This is for the fact that everyone uses it and it works, So why try to cheap out on it. In general I do not make tanks but I do make acrylic displays a lot.
> 
> I use the pin method and just take my time prep prep prep that is all it takes. Helps if you make jigs and all that good stuff too.


-
I think Aqua Art in Ohio use Weldon 40, but I know a lot of fair size tanks have been made with Weldon 4, 
with no issues. I would imagine it's easier to work with as well.
-


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## Elder1945

Ok.... So bad news  I am scraping the stand going with 80/20 or steel.. The wood just wont cut it over 16'.. I plan on finishing the stand with maple and there is just no way of doing this without a lot of problems when I am dealing with ruff cut lumber. 

Kinda funny I was trying to save a bit of cash with the stand and I am ending up just buying what I originally wanted.. Lesson learned...

My 8' stand worked out great but keeping everything in square over 16' is such a pain. My shop is drying out the lumber too fast... 

Well tomorrow I will order a stand and see if I can pay a bit extra to put a rush on it...


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## nc208082

Couldnt you make two 8' stands and push them together?


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## Elder1945

nc208082 said:


> Couldnt you make two 8' stands and push them together?


Its not that there is no way to make this stand out of standard lumber but this is not what I am looking for. My last tank the 210 was finished ok... It was done to a point where I could sell it and it would show nice but this is not what I am looking for.

I build things for a living that is my job... I want perfection on this build and that is about it. I have the most fun building systems not taking care of them . I could have in the end finished the stand and it would have worked just fine and look amazing to 98% of the people out there. In the end tho I would all ways hate it.

It kinda dawned on me more than half way through the stand build that I was going the cheap route for the stand and nothing else. This is a part of the tank that I can not switch out once its running so why not put some investment into it. This is at least my train of thought....

The good news is now I have a 16' work table to go somewhere 

I have right now someone quoting 80/20 and I am figuring out the build in steel now. I can fabricate the steel myself and paint it in house. This is handy but I still like the 80/20 look..


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## Elder1945

So... just got my quote for 80/20 and all I can say is lol......

I did not read the fine print on the product but supposedly the inside of the extrusion is solid gold with mother of pearl inlays.

This is my fault for not catching this..

As of now I am going with steel or plywood. I will work out the details Monday and get this build going again.


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## rburns24

Elder1945 said:


> So... just got my quote for 80/20 and all I can say is lol......
> 
> I did not read the fine print on the product but supposedly the inside of the extrusion is solid gold with mother of pearl inlays.
> 
> This is my fault for not catching this..
> 
> As of now I am going with steel or plywood. I will work out the details Monday and get this build going again.


-
I always though that stuff was pretty pricey and I guess for a 16' tank it would be 
ridiculous. Whether you go with plywood, steel or a combination, good luck with the 
rest of the build .
-


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## Marz

Elder1945 said:


> I did not read the fine print on the product but supposedly the inside of the extrusion is solid gold with mother of pearl inlays.


LMAO! Very well put


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## Elder1945

noy said:


> think i'll definitely have to get quotes from you next time I do something in acrylic
> 
> what is the acrylic thickness you are using?


The tank will be a mix of 1/2" and 3/4". I think at this height I can use 3/8" but what the heck. I like the look of 3/4" and 1/2". The main thing I like about my tanks is the euro is one peace construction in my opinion looks the best.


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## Elder1945

So the last week I have accomplished a lot more then I thought would get done. This is where I stand now Acrylic is in glue is in and the stand is done. So next is the tank build. This will take a week or so with dry times.

All the 1/2" Acrylic 12 sheets 




Stand Pics 





And a pic of my new computer at work


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## Dis

Nice progress. Do you get the acrylic at wholesale costs?


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## Elder1945

Dis said:


> Nice progress. Do you get the acrylic at wholesale costs?


Yes the business I have buys a lot of acrylic .. In my shop I have 100+ sheets of 1/16"-1".. This is put to the side for my project. I think I am only using 8 sheets but you can always use extra..


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## Elder1945

More pics of stand.... Still needs a few more coats of paint...


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## Elder1945

Ok, Here is the tank build going full steam..

The stuff needed to make the tank..






And some of the sides going on...

Glue joint done..


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## Elder1945

Large update.... ITS IN!!

The last week was crazy with the basement and the tank all getting done. In the end though it was all worth it.. I still have a long list of stuff that needs to be done but the hard part is done.

Here are some pics... More to come just need to get them all uploaded.

Polishing.

Tank trim in.



You can tell by the shop and how much junk is around how busy we are there to.

Some of the smaller stuff I was making more to come on this..


Background in...


The standard wife shot in tank...


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## Marz

Cheese and rice that is awesome!!! I really have to learn how to do acrylic for accessories.


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## Sunstar

Ah the ever elusive wife fish.


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## cinsal09

Goddamn this is awesome as hell. 

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2


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## Elder1945

OK so this weekend, did not due much I was relaxing... I did however get the lights up.



and got my sand, well a start we will see how this fills out the tank and go from there.



On a side note I did rebuild my gaming rigs.



finally got my nemo up 



I also started setting up my apex's. I will be running 2 of them one for the main tank and another for the QT. More to come on this as I just started....


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## Marz

Specs on gaming rig would be nice


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## Elder1945

In short I had 3 systems running..

1.
i7 4790 
16 gig's corsair vengeance
ASUS Rampage mobo
3 way sli 660ti 
2.
Same but with 4 gtx 470 in 4 way sli
3.
Main gaming rig now is simple gtx 970 super clocked x2 16 gigs of ram and the i7 4790 OC a bit.

I get in and out of the computer hobby matters how my reefing and atv hobby is going 

As of right now not playing much as this tank is sucking up all my time.
On a side note I am filling the tank now this should only take 3 years to fill 



Marz said:


> Specs on gaming rig would be nice


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## Marz

Ok, back on track!!! Filling, one step closer


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## Sunstar

will the sand not scratch the living hell out of the plastic on the bottom and - how would you get it all out without damaging the tank - if you needed to?


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## Elder1945

Yes it will scratch the hell out of the bottom but with acrylic it can all be sanded out. You do not see scratches in the 8000+ rang of sand paper on acrylic when there is water in front of them. This is why I like acrylic tanks so much I can scratch the living hell out of this tank and get it back to brand new with just some elbow grease and sandpaper. Smaller gouges and scratches can be removed when the tank is full as well. I have even seen some tank owners sand there whole tank full of livestock with no ill effects. This is one great thing with acrylic is that the day you make the mistake of scratching your front panel in glass that is about it... its there forever... with acrylic its a few hr fix if that...



Sunstar said:


> will the sand not scratch the living hell out of the plastic on the bottom and - how would you get it all out without damaging the tank - if you needed to?


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## TBemba

You did fill that bad boy up in the workshop and test it for acouple of days right?


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## Elder1945

Yes it was filled for almost a week... The tank is over built as is all 1/2" or 3/4" and all seams are 1" thick. So i dont see any issues.....



TBemba said:


> You did fill that bad boy up in the workshop and test it for acouple of days right?


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## Elder1945

Large Update ..

So in short it is up and running.. This was a crazy endeavor and will wright up the whole story this weekend and get all my pic's up. Kinda backwards update...









More to come.... 
and sorry for the bad pics just took them on my cell...


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## TBemba

Up and running in under a month? With corals, fish and a clam? I have been told repeatedly on this forum and others that this isn't possible. What kind of voodoo are you Incanting?


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## nc208082

Nothing is impossible if you are prepared. From earlier in the thread he had a 200 gallon tank going already that i believe was transfered over.
Looking good so far


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## Flexin5

[/URL]


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## Marz

Very nice!!!!!


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## MPreston

Flexin5 said:


> [/URL]


Jay, is that you in the background with your arms up? Lol


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## MPreston

I'm sure the fish are loving the length, gives"doing laps" a new meaning.

Very nice build!


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## ArtihC

Awesome build!


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## goobafish

That's a really sweet build, very jealous.


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## kyle

Amazing Work on so many levels. 

If you go into business let us know.


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## Elder1945

Well everyone is eating like a pig.... I am amazed on how much food this tank will consume. I feel bad for my blue spot jawfish he now gets his own food.. I think I have enough tangs


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## PaulF757

Very Nice build and tank. Cant wait to see this thing up in person one day.

Well Done.


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## Elder1945

PaulF757 said:


> Very Nice build and tank. Cant wait to see this thing up in person one day.
> 
> Well Done.


I am home all day ...


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## Elder1945

What I see looking at my tank.


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## jabeuy

What a view!


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## TBemba

Pretty cool, now that you have finished it what would you have done differently?


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## PaulF757

TBemba said:


> Pretty cool, now that you have finished it what would you have done differently?


Lol, too soon, let him enjoy it. It's been a year since my build and I'm only now fixing my mistakes.


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## TBemba

PaulF757 said:


> Lol, too soon, let him enjoy it. It's been a year since my build and I'm only now fixing my mistakes.


Not meant to be offending, I just find that after putting all the plans into action. I always find something that I wish I would have done differently.

The tank looks amazing, better than I could dream of building. Please enjoy it and don't take my comments negatively.

Sorry if I offended.


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## Elder1945

I am Not offended at all there is a list of things I would have done differently. I am still in the process of writing up what I have done to this point and getting all my pic's up.

Hope to have it up today or some time this week .



TBemba said:


> Not meant to be offending, I just find that after putting all the plans into action. I always find something that I wish I would have done differently.
> 
> The tank looks amazing, better than I could dream of building. Please enjoy it and don't take my comments negatively.
> 
> Sorry if I offended.


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## arturo

incredible work, you should be charging admission when clients come to your shop!

what kind of business are you in btw? from what i gather, it looks like a signage company?


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## Elder1945

arturo said:


> incredible work, you should be charging admission when clients come to your shop!
> 
> what kind of business are you in btw? from what i gather, it looks like a signage company?


Thank you, Yes the main focus of are shop is Signage... We do more roll outs and larger projects. What I do is build stuff that people bring to use since we have a prototyping side.

So in short I build stuff  more and more project manage..... ..

The tank is at my house in south end Barrie.


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## arturo

Elder1945 said:


> The tank is at my house in south end Barrie.


Wow! I assumed it was in your shop. I don't imagine moving that beast inside the house was an easy task haha


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## Elder1945

arturo said:


> Wow! I assumed it was in your shop. I don't imagine moving that beast inside the house was an easy task haha


The tank was easy to move only 300lb +/-.... The stand on the other hand was a pain..( I think it is in the 700lb range...) I had 10 guys from my shop come help move it in so only took 30min to get it in.


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## sig

TBemba said:


> Sorry if I offended.


are you serious? 

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


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## clearnet

Beautiful set-up! I am glad everything worked out with the livestocks from your old tank.

I had the pleasure of checking out your 210G shallow reef, and hopefully one day get to see the 350G in person!


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## Elder1945

Bored so.....


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## TBemba

Is that a blue streak cleaner wrasse that's making a pest of himself?


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## Elder1945

TBemba said:


> Is that a blue streak cleaner wrasse that's making a pest of himself?


Why yes it is... He eats brine as well only reason I bought him  makes it look more like a living reef imo.


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## silent1mezzo

Easily one of the most epic home tanks I've seen. Amazing job!


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## duckhams

Great video! The in-tank / underwater vantage point is very cool. Thanks for posting it!


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## PaulF757

very nice video. Very cool tank.


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## Elder1945

OK I am back .. I went on a extended holiday and now am back to the forums.

Here are some update pictures...



Also would like to share some of the sump setup and what runs this tank. Here is a top down view of the sump.

Here is the shot of the apex and what runs everything. I just got the DOS system and still have to add it in the mix working on that in the next few week. I am re wiring everything soon now that I have the DOS.


So far I have rebuilt some of my QT system. I went with Nuvo Fusions as they are nice looking tanks and fit the sizes I wanted. 
Just got this in the mail yesterday 


So here is the old QT system .

Just the standard 25 gallon tank with random stuff on it.

Here is the new QT systems.


There is a lot of cleaning and work still to be done but this is where I left off. I just got back from the Keg. I am now in food coma so I might have to pick it back up tomorrow 

In other news I have made a fish list and so far it is working out. 
To start 25 green chromis and next will be 2 pairs of clowns.


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## rburns24

-
Looking very good. Can't get over the length of that tank. The Chromis schooling should look great.
-


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## TBemba

I have the same tank as you're using for quarentine. But mine is my main display tank.


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## Elder1945

TBemba said:


> I have the same tank as you're using for quarentine. But mine is my main display tank.


I can see why you would pick this tank they are well made and look amazing. I am happy IM re did there tanks as I had a friend who owned a 20 gallon Nuvo that exploded onto his floor.


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## Elder1945

Update!

I have re made my sump... I just finished a sump for Canada's Corals and liked the white so much I decided to copy Dan's Idea.
Here is the sump I built for them.

Here is my new sump build.

Still not done....
Old sump

New sump


Also got the DOS and DDR set up.

I still have to re do the wiring to make it clean looking.. One day I will get to it....

The DDR came to me broken but I work with acrylic so was able to fix it. 

Not Happy about that but what can you do no one has them in Canada that I could find.

Update on Coral I have started my Zoanthid garden per say... 


And for good measure here is a FTS 2 weeks old but here it is.


Still working on fish will update that soon.


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## Kweli

Interesting white sump... do you keep the front pane clear?


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## Elder1945

Kweli said:


> Interesting white sump... do you keep the front pane clear?


No the first sump that you see is one I built for Canada's Coral. It is for there new system... I just got the idea to change my sump to white when I was building it for them. It is all 1/2" white acrylic.. If you go to Canada's Coral you will see it on there new system they are just setting up.

The clear front would be nice but there is no point for a store to do this. Just adds cost to the sump and the white does look sharp.


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## rburns24

-
I'm surprised white is cheaper than clear. I thought because they produce a lot more clear than 
white, it would be cheaper.
-


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## Elder1945

rburns24 said:


> -
> I'm surprised white is cheaper than clear. I thought because they produce a lot more clear than
> white, it would be cheaper.
> -


Its not the material cost its the labor involved in gluing a colored acrylic to clear. To do this takes a while and I cant use a standard glue. I must use acid to slow down the glue time to eliminate bubbling of the joint.


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## rburns24

Elder1945 said:


> Its not the material cost its the labor involved in gluing a colored acrylic to clear. To do this takes a while and I cant use a standard glue. I must use acid to slow down the glue time to eliminate bubbling of the joint.


-
That explains it, then. I wasn't aware that gluing colored to clear would be different than 
clear to clear.
-


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## explor3r

I have to say you got skills everything looks amazing, you make it look so easy


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## CanadaCorals.com

Your quality of workmanship is by far the best i've ever seen. 

I've used many different acrylic builders over the years and nobody even comes close.

Not only is our invert system sump perfect but also the hospital tank you built us for fish. Again, 100% flawless work and its a mix of clear and black acrylic. Not a single bubble.

It's incredible what can be achieved when someone takes pride in their work.


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## Elder1945

explor3r said:


> I have to say you got skills everything looks amazing, you make it look so easy


Thank you, I just like making stuff 



CanadaCorals.com said:


> Your quality of workmanship is by far the best i've ever seen.
> 
> I've used many different acrylic builders over the years and nobody even comes close.
> 
> Not only is our invert system sump perfect but also the hospital tank you built us for fish. Again, 100% flawless work and its a mix of clear and black acrylic. Not a single bubble.
> 
> It's incredible what can be achieved when someone takes pride in their work.


Thank you for the review, I honestly just build what I would want and or expect to receive if I would get a tank/sump built.

I would have to say the same thing about your store. As a whole one of the best stores in Canada if not North America. You and your staff are extremely knowledgeable and the quality not matched by many.

I cant imagine the amount of work that goes into your tanks.

On a side note I was just happy to do the work so I can start buying fish and more invertebrates off you .


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## Elder1945

Small Tank update!

This was taken with my S6.. Will update with better video and info soon!


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## teemee

omg i could watch your tiger jawfish all day long. are they sexually dimorphic? how did you know which was a male and which was a female when you got them? everything else is gorgeous, too. but jawfish=awesomeness. thanks for posting!


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## Elder1945

teemee said:


> omg i could watch your tiger jawfish all day long. are they sexually dimorphic? how did you know which was a male and which was a female when you got them? everything else is gorgeous, too. but jawfish=awesomeness. thanks for posting!


I waited till sea u marine had 12+ tiger Jawfish in, then spent a good hour looking at different characteristics in their head shape and size. I found some have a larger head and some have a head that better fits their body shape.
I read up a little on this but just tried to find a pair that looked different in head shape.

This all being said i could have just got lucky and all my looking did nothing. This is probably the case but i would like to feel like i know things.


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## teemee

Elder1945 said:


> I waited till sea u marine had 12+ tiger Jawfish in, then spent a good hour looking at different characteristics in their head shape and size. I found some have a larger head and some have a head that better fits their body shape.
> I read up a little on this but just tried to find a pair that looked different in head shape.
> 
> This all being said i could have just got lucky and all my looking did nothing. This is probably the case but i would like to feel like i know things.


well done, i did the same with pearly jawfish years ago, and they appear to have different tale morphology between males and females. tigers are known jumpers - do you have a 15' lid on your tank?
when are you going to start doing tours ?


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## Elder1945

New fish are in !!!!
I would like to thank Red and The Coral Reef Shop for these amazing fish.


I also today ordered a few upgrades to the tank from reefsupplies.ca, I am going to be adding the ALD to my apex with 3 low-profile probes. I will also be changing my Jebo's that I currently run with the Apex WAV. I ended up going with 4 WAV pumps and 2 modules. The other option I was going to go with was the Maxspect Gyre XF130 x4 but it lost the coin toss .

I will also be adding 1 more AFS to try to curb any aggression that is bound to show up due to the new inhabitants of my tank. Also a VDM module for some projects I have planed.

The only thing I think I am missing now is one more DOS system for dosing.. This will come later as I slowly switch into sps.

I will be taking some pics of my tank this weekend as it is doing quite well in my eyes. I also have a video interview with LEOPAZZO coming up that will be fun and hopefully answer some questions on my system. I know now that he is battling a crash on his tanks and hope he is still up for doing it.


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## jabeuy

Damnnn...2 nasos!


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## Rookie2013

Wow just amazing workmanship and a great hobbyist...yes I did see the white sump at CC it's amazing. One question how do you keep the purple algae off of the white acrylic unless you don't run a refugium???


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## planter

I cannot express the respect I have for you as a hobbiest. Well planned, well built and no expense was spared. 

Well done.


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## Elder1945




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## Elder1945

Sneak Peek of the new apex rewire.


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## Elder1945

Got my stuff in 

I also finished the new apex wall under my tank.

Still have to clean it but i am done for today.


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## kamal

I think wow is the perfect expression

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


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## Elder1945

kamal said:


> I think wow is the perfect expression
> 
> Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


Thank you.

On a side note I did a interview with LEOPAZZO TV on you tube about my tank. He is releasing it in sections as there was a lot to talk about.

Here is the link!


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## kamal

Even more impressive in the video. And those clams 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


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## Mikeylikes

I'm speechless .. just in awe !!

Great job there bud !!


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## Elder1945

kamal said:


> Even more impressive in the video. And those clams
> 
> Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk





Mikeylikes said:


> I'm speechless .. just in awe !!
> 
> Great job there bud !!


Thank you!


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## joffems

What an inspiring build. The tank and its inhabitants are beautiful.


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## Elder1945

Update time...

Here is the rest of the series that Leo did on my tank.










As you can see I had to pull one of the Naso's he was not eating and was going down hill. I am working on pairing another one but this will take some time. I am waiting now to order a "School" of fish still have yet to decide on what fish I want to try.
Also the Black Cap Jaw fish are now mated.




This is the state of the Apex.... I just picked up a new DOS and DDR....... Then they released the new Apex so now everything is on hold. I have mixed feelings about the new apex we will see. I have pre ordered 2 of them as they will not sell me a stand alone EB823451. I do not want to re wire my whole system to the re do it in a months time. 

As for the release of the new Apex.... I don't think this went as well as they wanted...

Sorry for the bad pic's just took them with my cell... Will get out the D5100 soon 

This is a copy past post...


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