Pre-build planning-400ish gallon tank

This is still at least a couple months off. We are looking at closing on a house to move in september. I am looking to my fellow 3reefers for input as the planning stages happen.

I will update this as I have more time, but in brief:

My fiance and I are house shopping currently to get me closer to the office. I have sold her on the idea of building a large(350-450 depending on available space) tank into the purchase of the house. As it is being figured into the mortgage, the budget is going to be roughly 10-15k after all is said and done but I am planning it *may* overrun a little.

I want to do as much of this build as possible, and for cost reasons will probably build the tank myself. I have kicked around doing a plywood build but am hesitant because I really do want the 3 sided visibility of glass. Acrylic is pretty much off the table due to cost and not being 100% confident of my skill working with such a large scale.

Tank dimensions will depend on available space but I am figuring someware between 78" long to 96" long with 96" being my prefered, 36" wide(the one dimension I have my heart set on) by 30" deep.

Stand is going to be one of two things. Either a standard wooden structure, or if I can figure a way to justify the cost go ahead and do a steel stand. Anybody here done a metal stand of that scale? I am a competent welder, as is my boss and we have an association with a CNC metal shop that could help out with things.

Current lighting plan calls for either 4-5 400w halides supplemented with t-5's or if the larger end of tank happens 3 1000w 20k halides again with t5 supplementation. I want to build a hanging unit that sits over the tank. Leaving room to work and air to circulate to keep temps down is important to me.

Current thought on water movement is two Reeflow Hammerheads(one per side) feeding a total of 4 1" SQWD's with a couple extra static outlets. Tank is going to be drilled for the closed loop. I want to go this route VS Tunze's or Vortechs to keep chords and mess to a minumum. Either going to do 3 back wall overflows. I really want to do a set of central overflows, but have NO clue how to get enough water through them to make it work. Return pump is looking like it is going to be a Reeflow Barracuda so I have enough headroom to run accessories.

Currently looking into the automation route, but I think a Reefkeeper Elite will be the weapon of choice. Going with a kalk drip via dosing pumps in addition to a calc reactor. Looking at ways to build in a semi-auto water change system as well.

The skimmer is the one thing I am tossed up on, as something of this scale is COMEPLTELY new to me. What does everyone think? I would like to keep it reasonable, which rules out 1000+ skimmers. I was looking at the AquaC EV-1000 or something comprible.

Alright, people...Chime in!

 

You will want to ditch the squids for some oceans motion 4 way or 8 way units. The squid will probably not support the GPH you'd want in a tank that size.

 

I agree, Oceans motions would be the way to go.

I see you are looking into a 3 sided viewable peninsula type tank. You can easily make one out of wood, I can send you a link to a 1000g wood with 3 sides viewable through glass tank build.

My next tank will probably be a 3 side viewable wood/ plywood tank for upstairs, depending how my current 193g build goes for the basement, but i can't see any issues that can't be overcome with my current build.

 

I had looked into that. The 1" squid is rated to handle up to 3500GPH, I figured using a pair of them on a pump that has a max flow of 5800GPH in addition to a couple non-switching outputs per side would work. What are the OM's rated up too?

 

Random, but Bogie what part of CT are you from? I am currently in upstate NY but my office is just south of Hartford...hence the move to that area

 

Before I even saw your post Bogie, I was thinking the exact same thing. SCWD's are not a whole lot of fun when you have to remove them to soak them in vinegar to get them switching again.

 

Amcarrig, Tangster, ThatGuy, and several other 3Reef members live in that area.

 

Looking into the OM's, I am thinking 1 8-way per side should do the trick nicely. Other thought is finding a single pump big enough to handle 30+ turnover on its own.

 

I can name some pumps that could do this. However, with real estate, the famous saying is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. With really large reef tanks, the famous saying should be REDUNDANCY, REDUNDANCY, REDUNDANCY.

I have built a lot of large tanks.....just trust me on this one.

 

I *want* to do a peninsula tank but space restriction may get the best of me, we shall see. Horkn, what were the 3-sided plywood tanks you were talking about?

Before this the largest tank I have built/run is 150...this really is a whole different world. Im thinking of sticking with modified version of my original plan. 2 Hammerheads each running an OM 4 or 8 way with a couple extra static outputs, 2-3 back wall overflows each with at least 2 drain pipes and something along the lines of a barracuda for return with multiple outlets in case of blockage.

Thinking of going chiller-less for the build. Several large fans, at least a couple controlled by the reefkeeper blowing across the sump or fuge. With a ATO set to a RO/DI system evaporation loss shouldn't be a worry.

EDIT: I am thinking that the two chosen pumps should provide...brisk, water movement. Think this should do the trick? If not I could factor in some hidden powerheads.