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Dammit, not another tank to do! 450 Gallon Starfire glass

plantbrain

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2 Aug 2007
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I have started a new client's project, this time a 450 Gallon starfire glass aquarium, 240 L x 90H x 75D (cm), this tank will hold 1000 Green Neons, shrimp.

Plants are A coffeefolia on braches/wood, Crypt Green gecko in the rear center, Blyxa and hair grass belem in the front.
Some swords near the wood and some C spiralis in the rear.

Light is about 1.9W/gal max and mostly T12 lights.
More on that later.

CO2 done by partial pressure meter, so no pH/KH measurements or pH controllers.
6 Full top of the line Ehiem filters are used, a remote control starts and completes a 50% water change with RO water.

We used Loc Line to do anything we want with flow and will also have a Eco Tech 2000 gph wave machine in the tank.
Wood is all collected by me personally and added to the tank. Manazanita is a common brush/tree here in California. This is the some of the same pieces I got from this location I plan on sending you folks here in a couple of weeks or so..

450Galstarfire1.jpg


Ceasarhardatwork.jpg


frontviewof4501.jpg


the filters and plumbing
ehiemfiltersx6.jpg


This is about the largest sized tank I'd want to own personally.

Not a bad office tank huh?

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
It will be another 3-4 weeks till we get some of the CO2 equipment set and the plants, as well as the lighting perfected.

ehiemx6sideview.jpg


Here's one of the long armed helpers that gives you a sense of the size:

detailsofthe450.jpg


Should do pretty well.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
plantbrain said:

Now, that's one big chair! :lol:

Seriously though, an amazing project. Will we get an update when complete or even better: a journal?

Can we at least get a pic of the wood submersed?

Many thanks for the eye-opener!
 
Whats it like having to clean 6 filters at once? :lol:

There has to be about 3 tonnes of water in that when its filled. How thicks the glass?
 
WOW, envious much lol, what i dont get tho is they spend all that money doing a tank like that, to me the pleasurable side is building the scape myself not pay someone to do it for me :p.

Anyways i can just imagine now how stunning it's going to look ;), hope we get more pics.

jen
 
I guess it's much the same as commissioning an artist to do a painting ;)

Cool setup Tom. what lighting are you planning?

I love C Spiralis. I had to get rid of loads of it last year because it gets far too big for my 125Ltr tank. They were growing 60, 70cm+

AC
 
I would liken it more to buying myself an Aston Martin DB5, but getting somebody else to drive it for me.

Whilst I would pester someone like Tom for advice, I would have to do it myself. I guess the customer has asked Tom because they are not capable of aquascaping...which is a bit like commissioning an artist I suppose. :lol:

Dave.
 
TLH said:
Whats it like having to clean 6 filters at once? :lol:

There has to be about 3 tonnes of water in that when its filled. How thicks the glass?

Easy, we only do one or two a month or so.
Yes, the tank is under a steel I beam.
Lots of weight.

20mm is the optiwhite glass thickness, it's also tempered.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
Wow, what an amazing tank.. Mabey some day I will be able to get something like this!!
 
Amazing setup Tom, another cracking tank, look forward to seeing this planted, going to look awsome as always :)
Do you need some help? I want to go to work in the States hehehe
 
Juan hired a new guy, he's the one we are bullying in the tank pics here. Poor Caesar:)
Most of the stuff I do is really specific, they do the tank set up, plumbing and "real work".
I just have ideas, direct, scape, plant and then make sure it all works well, right, then I do the automation of the high tech stuff like the CO2 meter controller functioning with the AC3 pro etc.

I'll be doing a 135 Gal, 180cmx60Dx45cmH for Juan's store and then a 90 cm standard. These will be more ADA like and he can sell them to clients, then have me do the scapes/hardscaping etc, planting, fish choices etc, and come down to LA once a month to trim and prune and check each client, the other times, Juan's company goes to the water changes, cleaning filters dosing equipment etc.

This way I travel but hit 3-5 clients on a weekend, so the pay is well worth it.
The ADA AS will help buffer dosing issues for many of the folks and lower light is easy to nail perfectly with light meters etc, and the CO2 meter also.

So the variables are really highly reduced and we can control growth easily.
I also will have them use the DIY Excel, same stuff AE is selling. I've been using it for 6 months now, so it works well.

That will help algae issues, help plant growth, keep things manageable.
ADA does a similar thing. They have 7-8 people working all week for those open weekend showings.
For LFS's, and folks with other jobs, it's not easy.

Regards,

Tom Barr
 
Hope you guys replanted several trees to replace the wood your using :D

Great looking tank!!
 
the larger planted tanks people occasionaly do are just fantastic...."When" i win the lottery I think im going to biuld a house with one whole side as a tank....its just got to be done!
 
mfcphil said:
Hope you guys replanted several trees to replace the wood your using :D

Great looking tank!!

Not these darn things, they are weeds, the Redwoods, Sequoia, Oaks particularly need replanting in CA. They farm the pines in the mountains here, Manzanita is just a weed as far as most are concerned, these are old long dead naturally fire killed trees. Some species are rare and endangered, most are not (like these). Burn it, cut it, it'll keep coming back, it's adapted to that. It actually does better with fire events every few decades.

They are never live, live trees are very unsuitable and should never be taken.
Take only from nature what it is has to offer(sustainable) and leave no trace.

I teach Bio and argiculture, my research is an organic method that kills weeds, reduces/eliminates permitting, makes everyone's life easier, works(a big factor), eliminates tons of herbicide and pesticide usage here for many specilaity crops types.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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