The sickness has taken hold!!!!
 

Well i knew it was bound to happen,the sickness they called "reef keeping".After seeing some beautiful pics of reef tanks with all the corals I'm hooked! :lol: All the talk of differant lights,dosing,additives,etc...got me spinnin :silly:
I'm even thinking about changing my future 400 gal into a reef( :crazyeye: ).FOWLR,REEF,FOWLR,REEF...... :silly:

D@#n you reefers,look what you've done!! :mrgreen: :biggrin:

JIM

If you go reef you won't regret it. It's an awesome hobby. But a 400gal might cost a pretty penny to setup unless you're a handy DIY'er.

building the tank myself,gonna be my winter project.The only restriction is on the width(got to keep it 30inches to fit through the door)going for something in the area of 300-400gal.with a sump.
still researching on the types of corals and lighting required.still a newborn when it comes to corals and lighting :frown:

One more thing to consider is circulation on a big rig ... it is essential to consider what you will use ie. closed loops / Tunzee streams etc as there is a huge volume of water to keep moving ... dead spots can cause nuisance algae problems ... after that then lighting would be dependant on type of corals/anemone etc ... good luck and if you want to bounce some ideas off anyone just holler :eek:

O.k. Steve what the heck is a tunzee stream and which one is best/easier to set up? After number crunching(always comes down to numbers)i've decided to build wooden structure(box),lined with thin acrylic(cheap).was also thinking about installing a drain plug/valve in the tank(??).using a router to route out an edge for the window.My orig idea with large poly tank with plexi window and wooden frame/cabinet was put on hold(poly tank is pricy)
Any ideas about how many pumps/how big i'm going to need,and could i use a very large(100gal)rubbermaid type container for sump or is there a better way to filter??

Jim

Tunzee's are high power powerheads with wide dispersal flows ... Jon just put a couple in his 230G that he just setup ... I have 4 eductors on 2 closed loops powered by 2 Mag18's on my 300G ... conservatively I figure that the eductors have doubled the output of the Ma18's ... the amount of flow you need will also be in direct proportion to type of corals you keep ... ie softies and lps = low to medium flow ... and sps tend to like higher flow

As to waterproofing the tank I am not sure I would recommend a acrylic lined tank as thin acrylic can easily be cracked by live rock falling over so would recommend either fiberglass ( like I did on my tank ) or there is a Aussie on TRT that is using chlorinated rubber ... either way it would be more durable than acrylic ... the cost of doing either of those methods will in the long run be less than having to tear down a tank to fix a leak ... for front glass I used regular float 5/8" thick ... in hindsight I would have went with starfire

If the tank is over 6' long then I would put dual overflows to skim the surface of the water from either end into a 100G rubbermaid sump would be fine

HTH

Cheers

Talked to fella at General Paints,he said they have the chlorinated rubber(pool paint)but didnt recomend it for use with fish because toxins in it would leach-out into the water,so i dont know!?!

If you check around you can find chlorinated rubber that is rated for potable water ( food safe ) with a rating for both fresh and salt water ... do a google search and I am sure you will find what you need.

Cheers

When it doubt... Google it. Normally I am anti-corporate-imaging-in-your-face, but I even took the unprecedented step of downloading the Google Search Bar for IE.

I really feel Google is the most successful search engine ever. It's invaded popular culture to the point that it has entered the language. I often hear myself and others saying "Google it" rather than "search for it". You can't deny that it's a fantastic bit of work.

I did a quick search and came up with this page ...

http://www.anupampaints.com/coatings/chlorub_enamel.htm

Looks pretty good but would have to email manufacturer to see if it could be applied to plywood ( cant see it being a problem as far as adhesion but better safe than sorry )

HTH

Cheers