Matt's 700 Gallon Natural Sunlight System

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Tryin2layadime said:
so how many AUD's did you spend on this set up.

1 US Dollar = 1.09820 Australian Dollar
1 Australian Dollar (AUD) = 0.91058 US Dollar (USD)

and i am super envious at your tank

how much reinforcing did you have to do to the floor. or is this sitting on a concrete floor? i mean thats close to 5800 pounds i mean 3 tons is alot lol.
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Not alot of reinforcing. Straight onto the slab as the house was getting built. I will throw some pictures up of the "beforehand" if you are interested.

Even with the exchange rates it isn't a clear indication of how much I've spent. Let's just leave it at that :shocked!:

Here is a picture of the engine room so to speak. Just above the skimmer you will see some PVC and a ball valve, this is how the water changes are done. Turn the handle, drops 500 Litres (125g roughly if my calculations are right). The cord along the ground is temporary until I get an extension lead to run it around to hide it.

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Here is a picture of how the controllers and what not are mounted. I still need some electrical conduit to hide the power supply cords but other than that, it's mostly finished.

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And a step back to see how it all looks, yes there is no door :D I still have not got around to that.

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No door! What a disgrace...WHO CARES!! Everything is so neat and clean and with that beautiful tank to look into, I bet no one but you even misses the door :)

With you using natual sunlight, do you have a problem with algea? Or is it indirect light? And I'm trying to figure out how you have your power heads for flow but I can't tell from the pictures. I only see the ones mounted on the back wall by your plumbing.
 
No problems with algae, creeps up when I feed a little too much though :)

The vortechs are mount on the back of the tank so you can see them but only just.

I didn't want any on any of the viewing panels to ensure it has a nice clean look.
 
How do you not have dead spots with all the powerheads on one end? When I'm finished (if I ever get to start) with my build I don't want to see powerheads so my plan is to not use them at all. I'm hoping that I can get enough flow with the return pump and the closed loop.
 
The way it is set up is that there are 3 vortechs on either side of the weir.

The flow goes down the sides and then returns up the middle and over the weir.

In effect, it is a simple flow path which yields good results.
 
Are there ever any problems with you getting home late and unable to see your tank?

One cool thing, and might not be as cool as I thought, would be to paint the room dark blue, and mount some 5mm white leds around the room, and make the nighttime sky :p. If you want to go really in depth you could have them move (You'd need alot more leds in a grid) or make constellations :p that don't move. I guess ultimately, you'd need an led array (basically a tv) and all the extra costs involved :p.
 
Tryin2layadime said:
thats cool ill leave it at that i guess lol. that "engine" room is sick looking man. it looks beyond professional.
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Thanks bud, appreciate it.

krap101 said:
Are there ever any problems with you getting home late and unable to see your tank?

One cool thing, and might not be as cool as I thought, would be to paint the room dark blue, and mount some 5mm white leds around the room, and make the nighttime sky :p. If you want to go really in depth you could have them move (You'd need alot more leds in a grid) or make constellations :p that don't move. I guess ultimately, you'd need an led array (basically a tv) and all the extra costs involved :p.
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I do have 1300w of ATI T5's so they usually are staggered from 1pm - 9pm

The tank is lit from about 5:30am in the morning from the sunlight.

And re: the dark room thing, definitely not cool :D
 
do you do changes once a week =P since its 700g, i would think that you would do them once a montH!!! gosh must take like 2 hrs to do those changes
 
maxima423 said:
do you do changes once a week =P since its 700g, i would think that you would do them once a montH!!! gosh must take like 2 hrs to do those changes
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ic, I didn't know about the t5's :p

With my siphon... it would take like a day... but it depends on the diameter of the pipe.

Anyways, while you're at it, why don't you add some industrial sized fans with staggered flow to create waves, and a small beach and tiny rc boats to float around... :shocked!:
 
your welcome man. i wish i had the knowledge of a saltwater tank to do this oh and the money lol id like like a 1500 gallon tank. hmmmmm i wonder if a pool would work lol.



krap101 said:
ic, I didn't know about the t5's :p

With my siphon... it would take like a day... but it depends on the diameter of the pipe.

Anyways, while you're at it, why don't you add some industrial sized fans with staggered flow to create waves, and a small beach and tiny rc boats to float around... :shocked!:
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lol i like that idea. i thought of doing a dub city car theme in my tank but due to the toxic paint and possible rust issue ive opted no to do so.
 
OMG, this is amazing. Let me ask you this, were do you store the water that you put into the tank after you empty the water? Just amazing buy the way.
 
Etunes said:
OMG, this is amazing. Let me ask you this, were do you store the water that you put into the tank after you empty the water? Just amazing buy the way.
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I think he meant to ask, where do you store your RO/DI and mixed SW before it goes into the tank.
 
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