The Dynamic Aquarium, algae turf scrubbing

[Dary421]

OMG !!! ... So that's what the back room of sea world must look like!!..(. Or frankenstien's lab !!!..)... Kinda makes my setup look like something that the keystone cops or the kindergarten kids put together....that must take a lot of time , electricity and maintenance to keep things going,...a couple of questions,..what do you run for a electrical backup system,..generator,batteries ?? ... Are you ever able to walk away from the whole system and go on vacation without worrying yourself to death that everything is running smoothly??
Quite a setup Greg!!! You're the man!!

 

[Smitty]

I'll also say I'm impressed as well. You have a lot of stuff going on there!

 

[crister13]

Holy god that's a ton of stuff!!!!! I want more!!!! Lol

 

[Gregcoyote]

It's like a tumbleweed...it just keeps growing thru the years. The fish room goes thru a overhaul about every 5 years. But most of the gear has lasted all these years. I think my engineering background helped, but it's mostly bits and pieces.

Yes, I can leave for about a week, or more if a friend comes in. The computer is pretty dependable, the rest of the system is designed to be pretty simple, using gravity and some commercial pumps. The tank can go at least a week without feeding as they can always forage. The basic system has been running almost 20 years, so I guess it is pretty sound.

If the electric goes off while I am not home, I am in trouble. I am fixing that with a big UPS later this summer. I have a big diesel generator in the garage, but I have to be here to get it on line.

Thanks Dary...Sea World is much cleaner. And super sized.

 

[Dary421]

It's like a tumbleweed...it just keeps growing thru the years. The fish room goes thru a overhaul about every 5 years. But most of the gear has lasted all these years. I think my engineering background helped, but it's mostly bits and pieces.

Yes, I can leave for about a week, or more if a friend comes in. The computer is pretty dependable, the rest of the system is designed to be pretty simple, using gravity and some commercial pumps. The tank can go at least a week without feeding as they can always forage. The basic system has been running almost 20 years, so I guess it is pretty sound.

If the electric goes off while I am not home, I am in trouble. I am fixing that with a big UPS later this summer. I have a big diesel generator in the garage, but I have to be here to get it on line.

Thanks Dary...Sea World is much cleaner. And super sized.

The idea of having a separate " equipment" room where you can walk around and work on all your equipment without having to try and cram everything you own under your tank's cabinet makes so much sense,..no more trying to squeeze and contort yourself into a pretzel in order to install a hose clamp etc ...bigger sumps,pumps,etc.. I wish I too had a setup such as this ,but, I'm small potatoes here,.... Nice to see someone else doing what we all wish we could do,... I'm jealous but very happy with what I've done so far with my own setup.....thanks for sharing Greg .

 

[Gregcoyote]

No problem. I had many tanks with the setup under the cabinet. I could have done most of what I wanted in the cabinet under the display thank, but my arthritis won't let me crawl around anymore and I wanted to add a fraging system when I learned how to grow coral. Easy to add tanks to a big loop like this. Had much larger versions when I had my LFS.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Added a new frag setup on the cheap. Had a hand full of fans I put in to make a lot of current. $55 plastic tub, handful of parts and away we go.

 

[Smitty]

Nice looking setup for the cheap!

 

[Gregcoyote]

Plumbing it out from my main system, this is the direction I think I will go instead of glass or acrylic. I can daisy chain as many of these as my pumps can stand. I am adding a second one next month and putting the DYI LED on a 6' track so it travels from one tank to the other. I want one to be set up for SPS and the other for softies and a few LPS.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Just 10 days of coralline algae growth on the front acrylic. It can be too much of a good thing.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Just some iPhone photos taken a few hours ago.

A few more later.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Few more pics

 

[CorallineAlgae]

A-ma-zing

 

[Gregcoyote]

Thanks!
Cleaned it out today believe it or not, took a bucket load of coral to the LFS. Can't hardly tell any is gone.
I am getting addicted to growing weird Acros and caps. I get a real feeling of accomplishment watching those species grow.

 

[obscurereef]

Excuse me while I try to find my jaw..must be somewhere on the floor...! Experience and research really does pay off!

 

[Gregcoyote]

Excuse me while I try to find my jaw..must be somewhere on the floor...! Experience and research really does pay off!

It's more about patience and persistence. There are tanks out there that still blow mine away. But not many as healthy.

 

[obscurereef]

Of course those are very significant too! My favorite has been this SPS tank. Never seen a reef that can really compare IMO.

Krzysztof Tryc's reef tank - system with NP-reducing BioPellets - YouTube

 

[Gregcoyote]

I like tanks like this also, but I tend to want some movement other than fish, so I like to mix in some LSP and soft corals. If you are careful, they will not only coexist with each other, but you can use some species to corral others that would take over if left alone.

A good example is the little Kenya tree coral from above. If left alone it would be the size of a basketball, but the surrounding mushrooms and other corals keeps its growth under control.

 

[Dary421]

Greg. Im on my last nite in maui and your tank blew away what we saw snorkeling !!

 

[Gregcoyote]

That kind of makes me sad. I remember diving in Hawaii 20 years ago and it was fabulous. Wasn't there stuff to see?