Large Reef Tank (1200 gallon) need lot's of info

[TheMehal]

The Wife and I have come up on one of those deals of a lifetime. A 1200 gallon acrylic tank, 2 sumps, skimmer, pumps, jets and lighting, pus about 400 pounds of live rock...all for less than half of what we paid for the 120 gallon setup in our living room.
We have a HUGE basement where this monster will go,and we are working with our favorite LFS owner on moving and setup.
But I'd like to read everything I can get my hands on about setups this size...latest techniques and whatnot. We're starting from scratch with this, so I have the opportunity to really make an incredible setup. Money IS an object, I won't go broke on this thing, so I'll be doing lot's of DIY on it.
Just wanted to see if anyone could point me to books/links/info of any sort related to large tanks of this realm.

Any help appreciated.

 

[taikonaut]

(What is the dimension, and how can you move the tank into your basement?)

 

[taikonaut]

Oh, I think there is a Mr.2000 or somebody who have a large tank in the basement. You may want to learn from his mistakes and experience.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the the biggest challenges will be dealing with heat (assuming you use reef lighting) and humidity. A tank that size will probably evaporate 5-10 gallons a day, which can lead to a lot of problems in your home. I would investigate the possibility of building a covered hood that exhausts to the outside. good luck

 

[Anonymous]

Where is Ball Ground at?

 

[TheMehal]

Tank dimensions are 12'x4'x4'. Fortunately, my basement has a garage door entrance to it on one wall (and at this point is totally unfinished save for one small area), so getting the tank in will be one of the easier parts of this adventure.

Rover - Ball Ground is in northernmost Cherokee county, due north from Atlanta.

 

[taikonaut]

(It is not important at this point, but a 12X4X4 tank is around 1440 gal...)

 

[Mogo]

I agree with ghostofmilz that humidity will be a huge issue. Venting air with blowers to the outdoors would be one of my first considerations.

Secondly I would run the whole setup on a separate electrical sub panel

Thirdly I would consider the tremendous weight issues, seeing as my little 140 and its weight caused spider cracks on the concrete basement floor.

 

[Anonymous]

yep. humidity. cap that bad boy off or be prepared to lose A LOT of water out the top a day. not only does that rot your house from the inside, but it increases your maintenance work (distilling RODI water, filling, etc)

another issue about maintenance: get a wet suit. you can't reach everywhere in the tank.

 

[redawg]

from what i read on reefcentral mr.2000 tore his tank down because it was tearing up his house from all the humidity.. definelty vent it outside.. or run some kind of industrial dehumidifier.. there's also a large tank forum on reefcentral..
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisp ... orumid=252
might try there

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know if a wetsuit is necessary. I clean tanks that deep. It's a PITA, but doable. Just get a mop, rip off the end, and silicone on an acrylic safe scrub pad. Sounds ghetto, but it works, and it sounds like you're looking for cheap ideas. It would take a while to clean it this way, but a Mag-Float would work well too. I clean an 8' X 4' face with their largest one; it takes about 5-10 minutes.

I would definitely talk to a contractor, house builder, etc. and ask them if your floor can support all that weight.

 

[Anonymous]

For the 1500 display I had to help care for I just sported the swimsuit with mask and snorkle.

I agree with you on the floor issue, too.. this tank was on a concrete slab, and that's about the only non-commercial situation I'd feel comfortable putting something like that on.

 

[t gallo]

its mr 4000

 

[DonJasper]

If it were me I'd turn that tank into some sort of commercial enterprise - because if my tank was in the garage I'd never just sit and enjoying watching it.

 

[Anonymous]

I would build a green house for it. Especially if I lived in Ga. The evap rate wouldn't change much but the home humidity thing wouldn't be a problem. Sounds like a costly adventure enen with a free tank a nd equiptment.

Best of luck

 

[Minh Nguyen]

The cost of maintenances will be a problem. It cost to support and light this size tank. Read the experiences of people with large tank. Ask specific questions to them because issues of a large tank are not all going to be the same as our nano.
I have a 450 tank. I learn a great deal from keeping it. Plan your tank so that:
1. Decrease electricity usage
2. Evaporation issue
3. Don’t to overstock with rock
4. Don’t overstock with fish
5. Think hard about water change. Your water change is going to be in the range of 200+ gallon if you are anything like I am. Moving, mixing, this amount of salt water is not easy unless you think and plan for it ahead of time.
6. Accessibility. It is not going to be easy reaching to various corners of this tank other than getting into it.

Good luck. It is going to be expensive.
Minh

 

[TheMehal]

Anyone know how to get ahold of "Mr4000" or who he is? His web site is apparently no longer running, as I found some links to it but it's no longer a valid url. Is he a member here by any chance?

 

[PeeJ]

man that tank was lunacy. too bad it didnt last

 

[Anonymous]

A few more thoughts

Concrete basement floor - you probably want to check this out. Most basement concrete floors are made without steel reinforcement bars (just light-weight metal fence-like grids). That is why they crack. The weight of your tank may cause your floor to settle more where the tank is at, which could cause increased cracking. But you mentioned a garge door, so maybe your floor is already designed to handle car loads.

FWIW, I have a 400 in my high-rise condo. The building is reinforced concrete so I did not anticipate any problems and have not experienced any

Nevertheless, if I were you, I would pour a concrete pad on top of which you will place the tank (they often do this for furnaces, etc.). Use self-leveling grout, and include some metal reinforcing near both the top and the bottom of the pad. A 4"-6" should be more then enough. This will at least give you a level, flat and rigid platform that is unlikely to crack or warp.

While you are at it, since it sounds like you have plenty of room, I would set up a small pond next to the tank to function as a refugium. An 6'-8' round, 1'-2' deep, plastic tub would be perfect. Include a deed sandbed, some live rock, macros and maybe some mangroves. Besides a skimmer, this would be all the filtration you ever need.

As for lighting, to keep costs down, you may want to look into movable lights if you are going to do a reef. Hydroponic suppliers carry these.

Another option would be to set the tank up with only 1 or 2 reef areas (with increased lighting). For example, you could structure a 3' patch reef at each end of the tank, leaving the middle of the tank more open. The effect would be very cool.

 

[Anonymous]

Great ideas, Mr. Milz. (Especially the importance of level)