My 400 gallon system

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EriksReptiles

Fishy Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 16, 2008
Messages
152
Location
Lynnwood, WA
Hello,

As some of you might already know, I love clownfish. So I built a system dedicated to them. Here are the specs of this system:
- 6, 50 gallon display tanks
- 1, 125 gallon sump
- Tek, T5, 6 bulb fixtures (two are in use, 4 more will be coming)
- Barracuda return pump
- 3, 45 gallon brute trash cans (1 for RO, 1 for fresh saltwater, 1 for dirty saltwater)
- 1/2 HP Pacific Coast chiller
- 1, Vertex Alpha Cone 250 Skimmer (another one to be added soon along with Ozone)
- 3 Koralia 3's. I will be adding 3 more in the other tanks as needed and might bump it up to 2 koralia's per tank.

Current Live stock list:
- 2 pair of Platinum Clownfish
- 1 pair of Snowflake Clownfish
- 1 pair of Picassos (male grade A Picasso, female true perc)
- 1 pair of Picassos (male grade B Picasso, female true perc)
- 1 pair of flame hawks
- 3 sand sifting gobies
- 2 sand sifting star fish
- 1 small yellow tang
- 1 small kole tang
- 1 medium scopas tang
The tangs are used to help algae control until the system is fully established.
- I am still looking for 2 more pairs of Picassos or Snowflakes. As soon as they are found, the Grade B Picasso and female true perc will be sold.


I built all the stands from 2x4's, 4x4's, & 3/4" MDF. Then I painted primer on it and followed with 2 coats of heavy duty exterior paint. Once al the racks were in their final resting place. I used metal plates and attached them all together for stability.

Since all the tanks needed two holes drilled in them, I opted to hire someone so that I didn't have to do it myself as I didn't have a place to do it or the time. So I went to Sunset Glass in Bellevue. They did an amazing job and didn't crack one tank!! I did have an extra hole drilled into the sump so that I could add another pump and hopefully plumb in a 150-200 gallon tank in the future..

The plumbing was a little bit of a battle, however after some thought it worked out perfectly. The return line is a 1.5" pipe that converts to 3/4" for every tanks return line. The overflows are 1" pipe that all go into 1.5" pipe and then to the sump.

Here are some pictures of the final product.

- This is the front side, in the family room.
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- This is the back side, in the dinning room which is where my desk is. You can see the chiller on the bottom shelf.
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- Here is the sump. I used silicone to glue in all the baffles that I had a local glass shop cut to size for me. There are a total of 4 compartments. The first is where my filter sock holder will go (it is being built), the second is holding my skimmer. It is big enough to hold a second skimmer when I get one. The third is my refugium, the fourth is just a zone to insure no micro bubbles get into the pump and for the ATO to sit in.
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* EXCUSE all the wires for the lighting. These pictures were taken before I wired everything behind the tanks.. *

More to come.

Thanks Erik
 
Here are the 6 individual 50 gallon tanks.

- This one is on the dinning room side and houses the pair of Grade B Picasso & true perc.
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- This one is one the dinning room side also and houses the pair of flame hawks. The female has been cycling eggs in her belly and has been quite noticeable. Hoping for some breeding!!
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Here is the male, the female keeps hiding in her rock.
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This is the tank on the far left side of the family room picture. It houses a younger pair of Platinum Clown fish.
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Here are the two Platinum’s:
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This is the tank that is the second from the left on the family room side. It houses an almost mature pair of Snowflake Clown fish.
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This is the tank that is third from the left on the family room side. It houses the pair of Grade A Picasso x True Perc. This tank also has a 6 bulb T5 Tek fixture and is home to corals. There are also the two small tangs in here for algae eating. They are only about 1” each..
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Thanks Erik
 
Here is the last tank:

This is the tank that is on the right side of the family room. It houses the mature pair of Platinum Clown fish. This tank also has a 6 bulb T5 Tek fixture and is home to corals. There is also the medium scopas tang in here for algae eating. These are some of my favorite clownfish!
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Thanks Erik
 
god damn man you need to update your sig so i know what tanks you still have lol.

But on a serious note everything i have seen you do has been as close to perfect as you can get if not perfect
 
Crazy set up Eric. Sorry I haven't made it over. Things are hectic this summer.
 
Way cool system! My wife would kill me if I set something like that up in our house!
 
fatboyt123 - Ya, I need to update my signature with my new projects..

ashton - Platinums look way better in person than any picture I have ever seen.

trido - No problem. I have been super busy working on my marketing job along with some projects for my current job.

Darthv247 - I plan to keep quite alot of the offspring for awhile. I want to build a tank and place some of each morph in it. Any cash made would obviously be put back into my current tanks and future tanks! Go Vikings.. That’s my roommate’s team. I prefer the Broncos, but they are not looking so hot this year.

tike666 - That’s why I'm not married! Just kidding.

the fisherman - Thanks!

Thanks Erik
 
Last edited:
Is this a store or an apartment? holy cow!

When your ready to sell all of that call me :lol:

Sorry, but none of this will be sold.. I will most likely be keeping quite alot of the baby clowns except for the people that have already asked for some..

I still have more clowns I need to buy for the system anyways.

Thanks Erik
 
Thanks. Here are some updated pictures of a few of the fish.

Dendro:
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Golden Head Sleeper Goby:
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Picasso:
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Picasso with True Perc:
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How big can a Picasso get after eating?
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Platinum Female:
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Platinum Male:
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Platinum Pair:
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Thanks Erik
 

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