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Here is the wall. I will be installing what is known as "Cultured Stone" on this wall. The stone will be custom cut around the opening of the tank. When it is done, the tank will look as if it is recessed into a stone wall.






Here is the main stairway that is in the hallway. This is where I will access the rear of the tank for maintenance and of course, feeding. I will be removing some of the wood supports so the tank fits. Don't worry, they look mean but are not "weight bearing walls". I should know, I designed this place!





Ok, the tank is in place. No need to worry about a tight fit as the stone will overlap the edges of the tank. This will give the illusion of just glass behind a ledge-stone wall. Trusty fire extinguisher in the closet in case it gets ugly!






Few hours later, the tank is up and running. Water is in and some rocks.








With any salt water tank, they require a decent amount of "attention". There are levels in the tank that need to be monitored weekly. So with salt added, water levels checked, temperature set and filters running, the tank will require 24 hours to "clean itself". The first fish to go in are called "starter fish". Basically they will eat and go to the bathroom. This will start the salt water cycle that will last 4 to 6 weeks. Once a tank has "cycled", you can put the nicer fish in. In a nutshell, here is the "cycle process". Put in 6 to 7 starter fish called damsels or dominos. feed them. The fish will go to The bathroom. Ammonia levels will rise and peak in about 3 weeks. Also, nitrates will develop in the tank. As the nitrates rise another level will rise called nitrites. On or about the 4th week, the nitrites will overtake the nitrates and basically kill it all off. Now there is poisonous nitrates in the tank. The fish are real stressed and you usually lose 4 or 5, which I did. At this point you need to change 1/4% of the water. Wait a week, test all levels. If all the test tube colors match your samples, you are good to go! The trick is to keep these levels dead on without much fluctuation. A change in temperature of 2 degrees can cause changes to the environment, These changes can be deadly to the fish. The fish are very fragile and come from parts of the world like Hawaii and Fiji! That is why they call this a hobby!







The browner rocks are called "live rock". There are little creatures that live in the rock along with algaes, anemones and feather dusters. The more live rock, the better. It is a key in maintaining a healthy environment. The problem is with many people who do not do this correctly, they do not want to pay for the live rock. Most comes from Fiji and costs $8-$10 a pound for the rock. Who wants to pay $100 for a rock! The white coral is dead and is just there to "take up space" for now. Eventually the back wall will be all live rock.







Ok, I am done for the day. Time to let the tank do its thing for the next 4 to 6 weeks. By tomorrow the water will at least be clear and I will add a few of those "starter fish" Good luck little guys!
The next series will be the custom wall unit I built around the flat screen. If you look, you can see how it is about to go....



To See The Next Phase, Click Below!
http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/ ... 25;start=0

Not much fishing in there...

I thought running a tropical fish tank was expensive...until I saw how expensive marine/saltwater setups are to set up/maintain. But you have done a very nice job, can't wait to see the room finished!  :D

Vulcan1

This is something I want to do myself really badly.
But the costs, and the time and patience needed far exceed what I have. Please post more of the completed and setup tank when you can Dave.

Posted by: CraigL Posted on: Today at 1:19pm
This is something I want to do myself really badly.
But the costs, and the time and patience needed far exceed what I have. Please post more of the completed and setup tank when you can Dave.  

I will!
The finished part is the best!
The tank cycled back in early June and the tank has been doing very well ever since. Lost a few expensive fish but par for the course!

Stay tuned!!!

Dave

Omg that fish tank looks like a plasma TV, very nice...

Looking Good!!

 The owner of the company I work for has a salt water tank.  I'm not sure what the size of it is but, it is huge!!
Guessing I would say it's about 10 ft long X 5 ft high X 3 ft wide and it is built as a dividing wall.  He has someone come in to maintain it for him.  He has a ton of money invested in it.

  Give me 2 goldfish in a 5 gal fishbowl and i'll be happy!

Just don't start on saltwater fishtanks ( Aquariums as we call em in Belgium)! They require a lot of knowledge and experience to be succesfull, not to talk about the money needed to build one! If I were to install one of these beauties it would be a tropical freshwater tank...

Very impressive stuff Dave! Looking mighty fine!