I built a new home and in the process, I'll had the opportunity to upgrading from my 400 gallon system. I've learned a few lessons from my current tank and will be incorporating them into my new system.The Tank dimensions are?10 ft X 5 ft X 34 inches deep.[BUILD/DESIGN] I had Deep Sea Aquatics build the tank.The tank is a?in wall tank with 2 viewable sides. This gave?a bit of an design problem?with our architect, as the stinking fish room is killing the flow concept within the house, but we were able to work through it.??I ?have a coast to coast over flow with sectional dividers. I installed a wet box at the other end of the overflow. ?This allows me to hide 2 Tunze 6305's or a hydro wizard.??The stand is a?Steel powder coated stand with an attached hinged sectional catwalk. I have the ability to swing and support the back cat walk to easily conceal it. ?FLOW ?I have two return pumps. ?An Abyzz 100 and a 200. ?I was talked into the 100 and I wish I would have gotten a 200 and 400. ?I may swap out the 100 one day when and if I need more flow. ?I have the 100 plumbed into 3 one inch sea swirls with penductors for the return and the 200 is split into a surge tank with an actuated ball valve and 2 penductor returns at the other end of the tank. ?I have 2 Gyre 280 mounted vertically on the back walls in addition to 2 Ecotech M60's at full blast.?The?sea swirls fantastic?oscillating flow.There is no need for closed loops today and I'm happy that I decided against this. ?I had one in my other tank and was always worried about the bulk head at the bottom of the tank.Lighting At first I was on the fence about MH or LED's. I was contemplating 8 400W 20K Radiums. ? After much debate, I finally went with 10 of the new Radion XR30 G4 Pro's. ?I couldn't be happier. ? I think that the lights have finally caught up to the Luminarc reflector/Reeflux or Radium look and results.During construction, I had them install?solar tubes. ?I have 3 over the tank, and they really only act as constant "ambient light"?and not?a primary source.Sump/Circulation I have a monster sump build by trigger systems. ?The acrylic is 3/4 inch. ?I'm have a drip tray with a 2.5 inch lip.?I wanted excellent access to the sump, so I had it positioned 4 inches on it's own steel stand and 1/3 of it is under the tank what the rest exposed on the overflow end of the tank. ? The idea of elevating the sump was to plumb into?an output drain into the floor. ?I decided against drilling the sump, but could change my mind. ?I have placed pumps in the sump in the different sections and haven't collected any detritus in the sump. ??I have still to complete my?automatic water changes. ?I have a Steinner pump on my controller, but I still need to plumb in the frag system to get it to work. ?For now, I can turn a valve and dump 30 gallons of water and turn two other valves and replace it. ?Easy. ?I've done 30 gallon water changes every 3 days now since the tank has been set up in July. ?[Chemistry] After multiple debates about going with a Dastaco reactor, I just couldn't justify spending that amount of scratch on something that I didn't think had the value. ?I upgraded my calcium reactor from?my existing Deltec PF 501S reactor to a Geo Cr1218. ?I also have the ability to automate dosing with my profilux.?[Aquascaping/livestock] The?aquascaping came out pretty cool. ??Essentially, I created a bunch of coral bommies. The rock was drilled and arranged around a pedal like pattern to allow me to place corals on them.?I transferred my fish from 2 systems. ?I had all of my fish from my 20 gallon and my buddy was holding about 12 fish of mine in his system. ?The fish were all in my 400 gallon from a range of 4 to 10 years. ?I have kept some of the fish for about 14 years. ?The fish in my buddies tank were in there for 4 years. ?I transferred them all together once the tank was cycled. ?Around the 6 week mark they became ill with what I suspected was ick. ?All but 4 fish died in the course of a week. ?That was the toughest period of my 20 years in the hobby.With the size of the tank, I'm going to stock smaller fish first, but I'm going to wait to get a full QT medicated tank first. ?I have a 40 gallon breeder system that I plan on setting up. ?There are a few fish that I really want including an Achilles Tang. ?I need to get back another candy basslet?and?potters angel. ?The odd thing is my regal angel. ?Crazy.?[Filtration] I will use?biopellets as needed. ?I have 4 marine pure biomedia plates for extra autotrophic denitrification. ?QT system I have 2 40 gallon breeder for two separate QT systems for both corals and fish. This will allow me to purchase maricultured colonies and watch them for about 3-4 months before I but them into my main display. ?[Frag tank] I was planning on getting a new tank, but opted to go with my old Frag tank. ?I have a reef savy frag tank that I am going to hook into the QT coral system. ?[Humidity] In my old?system, the tank was technically in the garage. ?For all the problems this posed with extreme heat and winter chill, I was able to open the fish room to the outside. I could open the doors to the room and have the garage door cracked or even completely open depending up on the outside weather. ??Since the?fish room is incorporated into the house, and?I didn't?have the ability to separate the humid salty air from the circulation of the house, I planed on two things. ?I have an air circulation outside for humidity control and I have a separate zone for my heating and cooling for the room as it runs on a geothermal HVAC.[Fish Room/Accessories] As stated earlier, the fish room has?drains in the floor.?? I have a trench drain and a separate floor drain that I was going to use for the sump. ?I planned for a?sink in my fish room!. ?This is a must have. ?I still want to design a clamp bracket that I can put tubing into to hold into the sink while I tug and pull if I am siphoning out of the display.I?use the wallboard as?counter for fragging and testing. ?I was planning on having one for work space but this maximizes space.My RO system is pretty cool. ?I have a spigot in the wall. ?(who knows when you will need to hose down the floor). ?Running off of that is my RO. ?I have the waste water going directly into my pool. ?I'm have?a 350 gallon conical water making vat that is?plumbed into the system.[Electricity and Wifi] I have?a "whole house" gas powered generator for any power losses. ?I have enough sockets in that room to power most homes. ?I ran ethernet behind the wall so I can daisy chain controller units/power modules around the room without wires on the walls.??Its a slow work in progress. ?
