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| Coolest tank I have ever seen! | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 21 2010, 02:03:14 PM (176 Views) | |
| Post #1 Apr 21 2010, 02:03:14 PM | Suzy |
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Up close anyway! I was at the LPA Tuesday, and they have decided to change up one of their huge reef tanks. The tank had to be taken down, bleached everything and resetup. Finally, i got to help with something cool! I got to see how this tank is set up and built. This tank is behind the pirate ship meeting room, where all the birthday parties are. It had housed a few pretty large angels, puffers and the like, and was really fun to look at, but didn't have a sign designating it as a biotope or anything. It wasn't a 'shark" or "seahorse" tank, a tank that could fit one certain description. It was just sweet to look at! The decision was made to put something else in it. First, the 2 husbandry staff that I got to work with were not sure how many gallons this tank is but they guessed 800-900. The tank has been with the aquarium longer than they have! It is acrylic, and when I saw the top, I was amazed to see how thick: at least an inch. One of the husbandry guys climbed up the metal brace enclosing it, with a built in metal ladder, and was walking on the top braces! That was really sweet to me! I want a tank I can walk on! The plumbing struck me as awesome. It had like 3 inch diameter tubes going into a sump just like Amies, the kind that are horse troughs you buy at IFA. The skimmer was huge, of course but they had this huge plastic box maybe 1 ft wide by 2 high. It was a biofilter! Filled with a substrate to grow anaerobic bacteria, I think. They also had one of those sand filters on it. and bioballs in the sump. Draining this tank was difficult because the closest drain was across a well trafficked hallway. Another volunteer sat there and told people to watch out and not trip. Of course, kids would look down at the large hose, and then watch their feet trip over it. No adults tripped, thank goodness! Can you say lawsuit? Once the tank was drained, they put full strength bleach in a spray bottle, and spray down everything. Inside the tank, inside the sump, everywhere spray could reach. Then, they filled the tank with tapwater and bleach and let it run through the entire system. I left about then, but the plan was to let the tank run overnight, and soak the rock structure in bleach. Andrew said they were going to put the large eels in there when they got it going again. I will snap a pic of this tank next week, so you can see if you can tell where door is.... |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
 
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| Post #2 Apr 21 2010, 03:29:47 PM | Amie |
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Wow, that's quite a process. I'm so glad that you are finally doing more than just paperwork. Now you get to see the real workings of that place. It's weird that they sprayed it down with bleach, and then they filled it with tap water and bleach again, just to let it run through. Why not just do one or the other. I would think that letting it soak overnight would be good enough and the spraying down wouldn't have been necessary. I'd love to have a tank I could walk on. Or a salt water marine pool, now that would be awesome. I didn't understand this:
I think I understand the biofilter part because I was going to be doing something like that. I'm going to have my water flow through an 18-gallon tupperware container that is dark colored, filled with filter padding and bioballs. I'm hoping for sponges and pods to grow like crazy in there. Is that what you are talking about when you mentioned the 2'x1' container? But you said it was filled with substrate. Do you mean live sand? Also, what is a sand filter? |
stormy, stormy nights
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http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/interns.html Tell them Adam sent you. | |
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| Post #3 Apr 21 2010, 06:42:36 PM | Clint |
| Marine swimming pool.... someday. |
breeding stock
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| Midvale (435) 213-6215 | |
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| Post #4 Apr 21 2010, 07:12:17 PM | Suzy |
| I am trying to talk my husband into letting me put salt in the pond. I want a manatee..... |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #5 Apr 23 2010, 06:07:47 PM | Amie |
uhhhh, yeah. Let me know when Rob says yes, I'll know the end of the world is here. |
stormy, stormy nights
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http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/interns.html Tell them Adam sent you. | |
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| Post #6 Apr 30 2010, 07:57:13 AM | Suzy |
Sorry, I missed this post. I went straight to the last reply, and missed this one! The bleach thing must be Andys deal, I bet. he is really into quarantine, very anal about tanks not getting contaminated with each other's water. But, the system for just this tank is really intense. It has it's own backroom, with a large sump for all the funky stuff. The "biofilter" was a large acrylic box, with white solid outside so I could not see inside, but it was where the water first enters the sump so I think it was a mechanical filter too, with maybe floss that could be removed? I dunno, I'll see if I can get more details. By substrate, I meant filter padding of some sort. I am not sure. The sand filter is a long clear tube about 3-4 inches in diameter, with the water coming in from the bottom, which keeps the sand fluid and in motion. Bacteria grow on the sand and filter out the ammonia, nitrites, just like the top of our sand beds do. I wonder how often they do water changes on this tank? I would think nitrates would be an issue, but there is not one speck of algae in it, and no snails or hermits (yummy snack for fish this big!). I will ask it out next week. |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #7 Apr 30 2010, 08:00:13 AM | Suzy |
I know....(insert long sigh here)..... He is fussing about me getting a real goldfish!You know how goldfish are really orange? There is a new hybrid available that is gold! I want some! I have spent the last 2 decades teaching him "Gold is good, silver is bad" for jewelry purchases, but it apples to gold fish too! |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #8 May 2 2010, 03:40:15 PM | Amie |
That's sounds a lot like something that I was going to do on my system, but someone talked me out of it. I wonder if I should put it back in the design? I was going to have the water from the refugium pumped up to a header tank that contained a bunch of filter pads and bioballs. The water would flow down through the top to the bottom of this tank and feed the other tanks via gravity. But someone told me that they thought it would be better just to have a darkened tank as one of the final tanks along my series and have a bunch of algae, live sand, rocks, etc, in it. What do you guys think? |
stormy, stormy nights
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http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/interns.html Tell them Adam sent you. | |
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