The 600 Gallon Display
This page will contain all the details and pictures of the
600 gallon display where a lot of the mother colonies
reside.
This page will contain all the details and pictures of the
600 gallon display where a lot of the mother colonies
reside.
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The tank was built by ATM (Acrylic Tank Manufacturing) of Las Vegas in around June of 2005, it is 1" thick acrylic and
the dimensions are 96" x 48" x 30". I built a 2x4 stand inwall when we finished our basement, the canopy is also inwall
and all of it is covered in sheetrock. The tank is viewable on 3 sides and it divides 2 rooms in our basement.
I have 2 small mech rooms, one on either side of the tank to house all of the equipment.
I have 6 dedicated circuits for the tank, each ballast has its own, the chiller has its own and then the rest of the pumps
all share 2 more circuits.
I started the tank up and running in August of 2005, I transfered all the live rock and sand from a 180 reef I had
running for 10+ years. I also had a base of about 600 lbs of dry aragonite to which i added the live from my 180. I
should have discarded all the sand from my 180, it was very filthy and I think that could have led to some of the
problems I had with the 600 in the months to follow.
Central searching for answers asking for help and really not finding what I wanted online. There were lots of threads
Central searching for answers asking for help and really not finding what I wanted online. There were lots of threads
about this problem and most people had ideas such as turning the lights off for a while, shooting up the ph, the list
goes on.
goes on.
I decided to go back to the drawing board and look at my system as a whole, analizing every detail and improving
wherever I could. This led me to change my skimmer from an ASM G-6 to a Bubbleking 400, I replaced my older RO
unit to a newer silica buster Spectrapure, I upped the flow in the tank from 10,000 gph to 25,000 gph!
I also stumbled across a new product that nobody really knew about called Prodibio.
I have been using prodibio since about November 2006 and I really think it helped me, although I made so many
changes I cannot say exactly which one's did it for me. I figure they all had a hand in it, the entire system just needed
some time and better equipment.
So now the tank is running very well, the colors are great, the fish are very healthy and the tank is full now.
The Equipment list:
Bubbleking 400 Internal skimmer
Three 1,000 watt Metal halides, Lumenarc III reflectors, 20,000K helios bulbs, 7 hours per day
Four 6200 Tunze Stream pumps on a Tunze multicontroller
Two Tunze Waveboxes for an intank wave effect
Reeflo Hammerhead for circulation
Reeflo Dart for sump return
150 gallon HDPE sump (no refugium)
2 h.p. Pacific Coast Imports chiller/heat pump
Carbon reactor
Spectrapure Maxcap 90 GPD RO/DI
I change 60-80 gallons per week with Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt. I dose Prodibio every week and am really diligent
about making sure everything is always perfect and all the equipment is clean and running the best it can.
taking care of a 600 gallon display is a lot of work, but very rewarding when it looks good!
the dimensions are 96" x 48" x 30". I built a 2x4 stand inwall when we finished our basement, the canopy is also inwall
and all of it is covered in sheetrock. The tank is viewable on 3 sides and it divides 2 rooms in our basement.
I have 2 small mech rooms, one on either side of the tank to house all of the equipment.
I have 6 dedicated circuits for the tank, each ballast has its own, the chiller has its own and then the rest of the pumps
all share 2 more circuits.
I started the tank up and running in August of 2005, I transfered all the live rock and sand from a 180 reef I had
running for 10+ years. I also had a base of about 600 lbs of dry aragonite to which i added the live from my 180. I
should have discarded all the sand from my 180, it was very filthy and I think that could have led to some of the
problems I had with the 600 in the months to follow.
Central searching for answers asking for help and really not finding what I wanted online. There were lots of threads
Central searching for answers asking for help and really not finding what I wanted online. There were lots of threads
about this problem and most people had ideas such as turning the lights off for a while, shooting up the ph, the list
goes on.
goes on.
I decided to go back to the drawing board and look at my system as a whole, analizing every detail and improving
wherever I could. This led me to change my skimmer from an ASM G-6 to a Bubbleking 400, I replaced my older RO
unit to a newer silica buster Spectrapure, I upped the flow in the tank from 10,000 gph to 25,000 gph!
I also stumbled across a new product that nobody really knew about called Prodibio.
I have been using prodibio since about November 2006 and I really think it helped me, although I made so many
changes I cannot say exactly which one's did it for me. I figure they all had a hand in it, the entire system just needed
some time and better equipment.
So now the tank is running very well, the colors are great, the fish are very healthy and the tank is full now.
The Equipment list:
Bubbleking 400 Internal skimmer
Three 1,000 watt Metal halides, Lumenarc III reflectors, 20,000K helios bulbs, 7 hours per day
Four 6200 Tunze Stream pumps on a Tunze multicontroller
Two Tunze Waveboxes for an intank wave effect
Reeflo Hammerhead for circulation
Reeflo Dart for sump return
150 gallon HDPE sump (no refugium)
2 h.p. Pacific Coast Imports chiller/heat pump
Carbon reactor
Spectrapure Maxcap 90 GPD RO/DI
I change 60-80 gallons per week with Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt. I dose Prodibio every week and am really diligent
about making sure everything is always perfect and all the equipment is clean and running the best it can.
taking care of a 600 gallon display is a lot of work, but very rewarding when it looks good!
The Ro/DI unit
Calcium Reactor ph controller and
tank ph monitor
tank ph monitor
Calcium reactor, PM CR622, will
be replaced with the new larger
Euro Reef calcium reactor coming
out in late 2008
be replaced with the new larger
Euro Reef calcium reactor coming
out in late 2008
Bubbleking skimmer with 30" long
filter socks to the left side of the
picture.
filter socks to the left side of the
picture.
Looking into the sump room with
the tank on the far left of the picture.
It's very cramped in there, but I do
have a laundry sink which makes
maintenance very easy.
the tank on the far left of the picture.
It's very cramped in there, but I do
have a laundry sink which makes
maintenance very easy.
