Blog Comments

Btw, the link goes to your RA profile, not FB.

Looks crowded with cool toys.

That's some nice Lifereef gear you've got there!I have a few pieces from Jeff as well.Looking fwd to seeing yours up and running.

Guys - I move my build project to Facebook so that my friends could see what I'm doing

http://www.facebook.com/SaltH2OTank

Take a look at the latest pictures. Also I took the whole thing down and added a bunch of 2x4 lumber for additional support based on Mccoy85 advice.

melev - I will take better pictures with my Nikon soon. All picture thus far have been with iPhone. The refugium is black on 3 sides and clear in the front, hard to see without light on You will absolutely see inside from front. The design principle is to keep as much light as possible in refugium. Now that I know all my bits will fit, I will take everything out. Add some additional structural strength to base and the start the re-assembly process and begin water tests. I'm also waiting for a few items to be delivered which I purchased on black friday

I have learned a lot from this build up. The technology available today far exceeds what was around 10 years ago when I had my first 50G tank. 50% of the project is science/engineering based to see if I could created something that was "almost" self managing and correcting. The other 50% is to have some bloody cool coral and fish !!

Nice set up, thanks for sharing it with us. Can you see in the refugium when the light is on over it?

WOW!! Intense... and...awesome!

Agree with metal clamps. I ran out of the 1/2 plastic ones so they are there as place holders. I was just trying to see if everything would fit. I know i will have to take everything out at least one more time before it gets final approval for lock down

You are off to a great start, Atif. I like the organization of your sump area, it looks professional. I would ditch the metal host clams though, they are going to rust out on you in such a humid environment.

Understood. I estimated approx 850lbs. I will look at bracing it using aluminum on the inside to save space but still give me the strength. Good input.

i have a 48x30x20 tank and the stand that came with mine has 3/4" wood for the outside and they still framed the inside in with 2x4's. you have to figure that the tank is going to weigh a lot more than a tv ever will. Once all the water, rock and sand is in the tank you are looking at 1000+ pounds. If it was me, I would rather be safe than sorry.

hmmm. I though about that too! Front and back walls are 1 inch think and side walls are 2 inch thick. The base that the tank sits on is 1.5 inches however the weight will be distributed on the outer walls. We had the Armoir custom made a while ago to hold one of those bloody HUGE Sony Tube TV's and the weight of the TV was in the middle and not edges. I will look at that again in the morning.

i would be a little concerned that the armoir is not going to hold the weight of the tank without any extra support put in.

Thanks Matt. Still a whole bunch to do. But its coming together nicely

Wow. That's just sexy! I love the black acrylic area for macro. Makes me wonder why that's not more common...

very good video. thx for passing it along. i spent an hr looking at his other videos

Hey Atif i watched this the other day and i think this would be a good start for your info. Also from what i have gathered over my time reading are two main areas of consideration.
1. Long run cost vs up front cost.
2. Do you want it automated or do you want the hands on.
hope this helps you out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPDkw1HdPmE&feature=player_embedded#!

Parts are starting to flow in .... I will document the progress and up load the pictures.

We'll look forward to seeing those pictures then.

Great. Thx for advise. This project will take some time. New tank is being built in LA. I need to have a system that is pretty low maint as my wife will not help when I'm on biz trips. Will start to upload pictures when i start to assemble!