Jake's 50+ gallon seahorse tank

I have refrained from creating this thread for a while since the build may take a long time, but lately the ball has slowly begun rolling, so here it is. I’d like to get some advice on a few topics anyway!

It will feature two 24”x24”x22” cube(ish) tanks, a 36”x16”x16” sump/DSB refugium (Eshopps R300), and two standard ten gallon tanks for ATO and easy water changes.



My goals:
1) Very quiet tank(s).
2) Keep power consumption low.
3) Reduce tank maintenance/ make maintenance easy.

Tank #1: Soft coral, macro algae, sea grass and seahorse tank. I have no experience keeping sea horses and sea grasses, so this build has required some reading on my part. I guess that is the main reason for this tank… I just wanted to try something new! Over time, I plan on adding a pair of Mandarin dragonets and harlequin shrimp. All of these species require special attention, and I will be adding them slowly to ensure I have a good grasp on the husbandry techniques needed to keep them healthy.

Tank #2: It will depend on the water chemistry I am able to achieve in the sea horse tank alone. This tank will be added to the system next year. I am open to theme ideas!

Details:

Custom 24”x24”x22” starfire tank with external Bean Animal Overflow (12” long), one piece euro brace, and a blue acrylic background. The return line will come back through the overflow, so there will be four holes in the external overflow box. I should get it in September.

The display will have a 3” DSB (mixture of mud and aragonite sugar sand) and ~20-30 lbs of Bali live rock.

(rendering by Concept Aquatics).

The R300 sump will have a refugium and Vertex IN-80 skimmer.

The return pump will be an RLSS DC5000. Additional flow will be provided by an MP10 and MP40 on the lowest possible setting (40/255, 2 s pulse). Heating/ATO/dosing/monitoring will be controlled by a Profilux IIIex.

Some of the gear I try telling myself I'm not a gear-guy... but not convincingly.


Proposed stand: 80”x24”x36” power coated 2" steel. I know this is overbuilt. I thought having two separated tanks on the same stand would call for some special structural considerations. Also, I want it to hold an 80” long tank if I ever decide to get a single big tank. The bars on the bottom are to keep the sump off the floor. There will be feet on the bottom of the stand for easy leveling and airflow beneath the stand. Any input on this topic would be appreciated.



Thanks for reading!
Jake

 

Custom 24”x24”x22” starfire tank with external Bean Animal Overflow (12” long)
Nice starfire tanks i really want to learn more about these tanks, when you get them let me know what you think and if you can take some close up pics for me, b/c i will get one when i get over.

 

As for the structural integrity of the stand, two tanks spaced evenly would be equivalent to 1 large tank centered on the middle of the stand. Just make sure you have support directly below the sides of the tank in at least on direction (in either both the length or width direction). Basically making sure the neither tank is sitting without any supporting elements.

 

Thanks! If you'd like I can message you a link to a thread containing some detailed pictures that this custom builder has made previously.

 

Thanks for the input... do you think I could lose a couple of vertical supports from the picture? I had each tank supported at all four corners directly below them.

 

You might be able to loose one of the middle supports, however I would just keep them in there. I am always one to overbuild everything so I would leave them. Also if you took them out then you would loose the supports horizontal supports for each tank.

Looking great so far. I'll definitely be following along.

 

Cool build.

 

Thank you! Just sent off the stand specs to a metal fabricator today. I probably could replace the center two middle supports with a single support, but I agree with the "over kill philosophy". I'll see what the fabricator has to say.

 

Talked to a couple of people today, including a metal fabricator. I guess the stand is too overbuilt/ a waste of money. This is what we came up with... still over built and more cost effective. They actually said just one vertical support on the front would be enough.

 

That my friend is a beautiful controller wish something like that was able to fit in my budget. But alas you'll be happy with fewer vertical supports, my stand doesn't have any and I love the freedom to work underneath it but of course my stand is only 48" long