35000 gallon shark tank questions ?

[danger dave]

i am planning to do a huge 35,000 gallon salt fish only tank in my basement i have my skimmers already there 4 etss 5000 but i don't know what i should use as the filter but i plan to use 3 pool pumps for return and 3 or 4 pool drains
should i use a sand filter or a really big Sump
im going to use a combination of shop compact florescent light and 1000w metal halides
i already have the concrete poured for the tank and it needs 2 more weeks before i can fill it up
im going to have 2" thick glass panels 3' wide and 6' tall supported by a steel frame i have those in my garage so im committed to finishing this
please i really need help
its going to house
i want to house 2 black tip reef sharks (do you think this is a good idea?)
or 10 3' or 4' bamboo cats or epaulette shark(do you think this is a better idea?)

 

[Scooterman]

Hey Danger, welcome to RF!
This sounds like a very huge project, very huge LOL!
How about starting a thread in the member showcase forum, I would think many many people would like to see this project, pics etc. It would be awesome
I think you will need some serious flow, did you check with local aquariums to see how they run their filtration systems? I know Dallas & Houston both have nice Aquariums.

 

[danger dave]

ya i did i got the vip tour for 500$ which pissed me off but what the heck
i will post a thread once im done because i hate those threads where people post a pic and th a week later they post another one i like it when the wait till its done and post all the pics at once
does anybody think i could have black tip reef sharks?

 

[Scooterman]

WOW $500 sounds like a rip off to me!
I wish I knew anything about them but maybe Lee would, If you want I can move this thread in his forum & he should reply?

 

[danger dave]

no thats ok but i think it was to but what was i going to do i needed the info

 

[Scooterman]

At least send Lee a PM, he probably would be your best bet for that information! Probably Free LOL

 

[danger dave]

will do whats his id name?

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF Danger Dave!!! I agree...Sounds like a great project! Should come out nicely!! As for filtration, predatory fish produce a lot of waste so you will need something that will be able to process it rather quickly. The fact that you are going with a FO setup, a wet/dry filter setup may be the way to go to quickly convert any ammonia and nitrite produced by waste etc into nitrates quickly which fish can tolerate to a certain level. I don't necessarily recommend wet/dry's very often because they are nitrate factories, but seeing you aren't concerned about corals etc, then it may be the way to go as having a lot of live rock in your tank, will only take up valuable space for the sharks to swim. That along with the skimmers and regular tank maintenance may be the way to go.

Just thinking out loud here...Not sure which would be the best direction to go, but just tossing out some ideas. Good luck!

 

[danger dave]

heres a quick little idea do you think instead of having bio balls i could have water drip over some live rock or would that not work as effectively as bio balls

 

[danger dave]

i actually do want to have one coral ive already picked it out its 15" at it largest diameter and about 3' tall its a huge piece of yellow elk horn coral its going to go in the corner on a piece of live rock weighing 56-60 lbs will this work?

 

[Scooterman]

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15

Check out his forum, you can contact him there of PM.

 

[danger dave]

ok thanks
do you think the coral will work though?

 

[Krish]

The problem with some corals is they can't handle really any traces of nitrates. I'm not too sure about the coral you have in mind, but most corals don't do well where there are nitrates present. As for using live rock in place of the bio-balls, that is totally up to you. Bio-balls IMO are a lot cheaper and basically anything used in a wet/dry environment will work the same way (as there are no anaerobic zones, but a highly oxygenated water "aerobic), so really there is not benefit to using live rock over bio-balls. The live rock won't provide you with anything extra over the bio-balls but possibly fill your sump with extra detritus etc as the rock sheds...

 

[danger dave]

ok im going with bio balls

 

[matts125]

I know of a LFS here is the seattle area that kept a black tip reef shark in a 700 gallon successfully for some time....
there shouldnt be any reason why that tank your building couldnt support a couple of them...

Matt

 

[danger dave]

cool i really want one and you telling me that makes me happy but i need to find some
does anybody know if i could do 3? because all the websites says they can be in a 2500 and i have a 35000 so i think i could have them but is this a good idea

 

[loohunter]

contact the shark reef they are one of the sponsors

 

[danger dave]

ok thanks for that

 

[danger dave]

i couldnt find sharks on their site but i found some people who catch upon request they say any species any size (that is legal) so that would be nice

 

[Krish]

Bring your fishing line and come visit me in the Bahamas