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600+ Gallon tank build!
- Thread starter Timkatz71
- Start date
Awesome find! Good Luck! I understand the busy part in a couple months HVAC takes off in a couple months!! Pretty soon we will be wishing for time to look at the tanks.
Following along!
Following along!
What is your current setup? Did you have problems with the all LED or just slow growth?
Currently running 2 vega and 3 sol on my 225 now, they are set to run at around 60% max for about 4 hours a day, new tank is much bigger, 24" longer, 24" wider, and about 4" deeper. Also current glass tank is 1/2" thickness, new acrylic is 1". Overall I am very happy with the LED, I have complete control of how much light I am getting vs PC and MH where it is on and almost immediately as bright as possible. Although going to such a large tank I think I would need about 12 or so 4' T5's so if I had them come on one at a time it would not be so bad... Lots of timers.
Still trying to get the stand figured out, welding is one of few things I don't know how to do (yet), my cousin is very good but I'm restricted to when he has time, or shell out around $1k for someone local to do it (double the cost of the tank).
Yea the control is awesome. When i had corals they grew better under my mh. Once i put leds on i lost a lot a lot of stuff. It was actually the start of all bad for me for some reason. Did too mich at once and we all know how that can be...
Anyway starting from scratch for me now. Looks like you gotta lot of work ahead. Good luck! I will be following along!
Anyway starting from scratch for me now. Looks like you gotta lot of work ahead. Good luck! I will be following along!
When I switched from t5/mh it did slow a bit, but after a month or so everything was growing faster than it was... I also switched skimmers a couple times around the same time so can't say it was one or the other. Maybe I'll set one mh on one side w/ the LEDs. See the difference.
Tank would be big enough cool test
Just noticed this thread today (due to your update) and wow, what a beast that is! Definitely going to follow along on your progress so don't be shy with lots of pics and updates. 
I would definitely recommend going with a metal stand due to the size of this thing. Are you planning on going with a sump right under the tank (in stand) or do you have a basement for all your filtration equipment? If you have a basement, that will allow you to keep a lower profile stand but if not, you may need to consider what sump and equipment will have to go under there.
You mentioned that with a wood stand you estimate 8-10" of clearance from top of tank to ceiling... that doesn't give you much room for lighting options, but more importantly, not much room for access. With a tank this size, you might have to be able to climb in there (at least for the initial aquascaping... unless you plan on doing that before setting it on the stand). But think about down the road when you want to mount corals or move some rocks around. It's 3' deep so that will be a long reach to the bottom for most of it. 10" clearance will barely be enough to stick your head in there to get your arms in.
Maybe you should start giving Timmy Jr. some SCUBA lessons now so he can handle that for you later? Dance
Anyway, just giving you something to consider when making your stand and can't wait to see more updates.
I would definitely recommend going with a metal stand due to the size of this thing. Are you planning on going with a sump right under the tank (in stand) or do you have a basement for all your filtration equipment? If you have a basement, that will allow you to keep a lower profile stand but if not, you may need to consider what sump and equipment will have to go under there.
You mentioned that with a wood stand you estimate 8-10" of clearance from top of tank to ceiling... that doesn't give you much room for lighting options, but more importantly, not much room for access. With a tank this size, you might have to be able to climb in there (at least for the initial aquascaping... unless you plan on doing that before setting it on the stand). But think about down the road when you want to mount corals or move some rocks around. It's 3' deep so that will be a long reach to the bottom for most of it. 10" clearance will barely be enough to stick your head in there to get your arms in.
Maybe you should start giving Timmy Jr. some SCUBA lessons now so he can handle that for you later? Dance
Anyway, just giving you something to consider when making your stand and can't wait to see more updates.
Just noticed this thread today (due to your update) and wow, what a beast that is! Definitely going to follow along on your progress so don't be shy with lots of pics and updates.
I would definitely recommend going with a metal stand due to the size of this thing. Are you planning on going with a sump right under the tank (in stand) or do you have a basement for all your filtration equipment? If you have a basement, that will allow you to keep a lower profile stand but if not, you may need to consider what sump and equipment will have to go under there.
You mentioned that with a wood stand you estimate 8-10" of clearance from top of tank to ceiling... that doesn't give you much room for lighting options, but more importantly, not much room for access. With a tank this size, you might have to be able to climb in there (at least for the initial aquascaping... unless you plan on doing that before setting it on the stand). But think about down the road when you want to mount corals or move some rocks around. It's 3' deep so that will be a long reach to the bottom for most of it. 10" clearance will barely be enough to stick your head in there to get your arms in.
Maybe you should start giving Timmy Jr. some SCUBA lessons now so he can handle that for you later? Dance
Anyway, just giving you something to consider when making your stand and can't wait to see more updates.
Jeff from pimped out aquariums... Tank looks much better! Glad to hear from a pro that the tank is structurally good! After speaking with him I'm very confident in the stand that I am building also, he said that 1.5" square tube 1/8" thick would be strong enough with 8 legs, I already bought 2x3", 1/4" thick so I'm going to be good with only 6 legs... He said 4 would be enough at that size. I'm starting to lean to using "real reef rock" for this build. Slowly starting to gain some traction with this again.
He wanted to help wipe the dust on the inside of the tank... I have to teach him to breath with the mask still...
Edwardw771
NJRC Member
Wow thats a tank. Good luck with the build.
So little update, picked up a new ro/di 6 stage with water saver from brs, started making some water today.
I think I have my lighting set
(3) AI Sol blues
(3) AI Sol whites
(5) vega color
(4) hydra 52's
Was on the fence about the closed loop and vortechs that I currently have then I realized that the mp40s only work up to 3/4" and the tank is 1"...so closed loop it is.
I will be running with 3 oceans motions to the 12 x1" returns in the bottom.
I think I'm going to switch over to real reef rock as well
I think I have my lighting set
(3) AI Sol blues
(3) AI Sol whites
(5) vega color
(4) hydra 52's
Was on the fence about the closed loop and vortechs that I currently have then I realized that the mp40s only work up to 3/4" and the tank is 1"...so closed loop it is.
I will be running with 3 oceans motions to the 12 x1" returns in the bottom.
I think I'm going to switch over to real reef rock as well
Geewiz Brandon, are we looking at the same picture? I see five silly children in that picture. And it's hard to tell how many are wearing diapers!
Looks great Tim.....can't wait to see more pictures. Keep them coming.
Looks great Tim.....can't wait to see more pictures. Keep them coming.
Just to give you a little perspective... Shortest one in pic other than my daughter is 5'9, rest of us are over 6'... Love it
