Was that your tank?

[Seaguy]

I was in Blue Sierra (Issaquah, WA) yesterday and they had a massive Starfire tank waiting to be delivered to someone in the area to be setup as a reef tank. I believe it was over 300 gallons and at least 8 feet long.

Does that belong to someone on Reef Frontiers? I am jealous.

 

[Krish]

I wish I could say it was me

 

[KRMNAL1]

I was there Sunday and saw what I thought was a huge tank in a crate but my son looked in and claimed it was 2 tanks but I think he was mistaken, the tank in the crate was at least 8 feet long, some people and their hobbies huh :badgrin:

 

[barrierreefcf]

It belongs to an aquarist in Sammamish. I don't believe he uses RF. He also has a 155 Bowfront SPS, two 30 gallon saltwater, and 7 freshwater tanks all in his fishroom. We at Barrier Reef service his saltwater aquariums. That tank was 96"x24"x31.5" (300 gallons). Its replacing an acrylic tank that is delaminating. I'll post pics after we finish the swap and things settle down a little. Here's a pic of the acrylic setup we just tore down today in preperation for installing the Starfire wednesday. 300 gallons, closed loop, two sea swirls, small algae refugium, etss 500, 1/2hp chiller, 8x110w vho, no halides but we have LPS, softies, Ricordea, and M. capricornus all thriving and producing frags.

 

[Aqua Addict]

He also has a 155 Bowfront SPS, two 30 gallon saltwater, and 7 freshwater tanks all in his fishroom.

boy do i wish i could afford a fish room!! He should really post some pics to make EVERYONE jelous!

 

[barrierreefcf]

I'll take some pics of his fishroom and post them if its ok with him.

 

[bc_slc]

wow, that is amazing. What a great tank. Just curious, but what exactly is "delaminating?"

 

[barrierreefcf]

wow, that is amazing. What a great tank. Just curious, but what exactly is "delaminating?"

My understanding of delamination is that during the gluing process the glue didn't fully catalyze and the bond can fail over time. The pressure created by the water in the aquarium causes the flaw to grow and could eventually lead to catastrophic failure or at a minimum leaks. This tank was originally built by a company that is no longer in business. For a more technical understanding you could ask Jason at Clear Fabrications Inc. Find him in the RF Sponsors.

 

[barrierreeftc]

Here are some more close-up shots of the 300 acrylic that we will be replacing with the 300 starfire.

 

[Elmo18]

Mat, its basically what has happeend to our tanks.....

peeling apart...literally.

There seems to be a bad problem with that recently....maybe I should go glass next time....

Best,
Ilham

 

[mattseattle]

but unfortunately then you have to worry about things like the bottom falling out. both have their negatives as we have seen quite often lately...

 

[bc_slc]

yeah, I thought that was the case but wasn't sure what it was called.

I love the dual centrally placed overflows. Nice and open.

Mat

 

[barrierreefcf]

So here's the 300 gallon Oceanic Starfire, Seaguy originally saw at Blue Sierra, just after we had 8 guys carry it around the house and load it through a ground floor window and onto the stand. Also, the holding vat where the old tank inhabitants spent the night last night until we finished installing the Starfire today. I promised some pics of the fishroom but after an 11 hour installation that started at 6am I was too tired to take any. I did get one shot of his prize Acro though. Keep growing little buddy! So bright its hard to get the camera to focus. Even with a digital SLR. I'll get some shots of the tank and fish room once things settle down. Sorry about the hijack Seaguy.

 

[bradreef]

nice coral.

 

[bc_slc]

wow, that coral is great. Is that a blue milli behind it?

Mat

 

[barrierreefcf]

Nope. Its a light green Acro that is 4 years old and was purchased before we started servicing the tank. Haven't taken the time to ID yet.

 

[barrierreefcf]

I don't know if anyone is still tagging along but here are some shots of the 300g oceanic starfire one week after swapping it in for the delaminating acrylic tank. The lights just came on so most of the corals are not very open. I am really impressed with this 3/4" thick glass. Also, there are some shots of our customers fish room. He just had the custom marble countertop installed last month. It has fossils imbedded in it. Another of his hobbies.

 

[barrierreefcf]

And a few more. You can barely see the wood post that goes up the corner of the 300 into the ceiling. This is half of the water from the closed loop pump which goes up through the concealed pipes into the ceiling and outside to the chiller and back. Thank goodness for good contractors and a passionate reefer.