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The behemoth, the 1600 gallon planted tank

234K views 608 replies 208 participants last post by  Mxx 
#1 · (Edited)
Here's a pic of the hardscape.
Took 22 hours of straight planting to complete, the hardscape took about 8-9 hours.

Oh the fish list is not anything anyone's ever done.
36 Champ 10" largest discus I've ever seen
64 altums, yep 64........
60 Rose lines
60 spotted giant hatchets, never seen these before.
Rare plecos etc
Hundreds of nice apistos
1000 Cardinals
100 N espei

I think there's 8 sq ft of HC, oh that was fun planting that perched inside the tank on a warm day:)

Tenji does the main enginneering, life support, I do everything inside the tank and CO2 etc.

Andy(MBA aquarist), Richard, ugly old me, Mark(Monterey Bay Aquarium curator). We all worked long and hard on this.
The plants pearled 2 hours after lights on.

I'm replanting some things in 2 weeks, hard to find enough plants to stuff the tank.

1000gpd RO system with a 700 Gallon reservior.
7 Fluidized bed filter, 6 ft Biotower, dual reduncy built in throughout the system.

CO2, muhaha........
Two 24" CO2 reactors, two 3/4" mazzi venturis, and two ADA beetle 50's in the tank's corners.

Pure O2 injection and controller.
Maintained at no less than 8-9ppm.

Nothing like it.

I am looking into adding an ISE NO3, PO4 and NH4 probes for real time measures that are extremely accurate.

The tank is a fish and plant tank, not just a plant tank.


Regards,
Tom Barr






Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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#3 ·
Wow. Talk about living art. This tank is going to be awesome when it's finished. Please keep us updated as this progresses. I'll have to show this to DH....we're talking about having a very large tank when we build our dream house. Wonder if he'd consider a tank that costs as much as the house? (I think it would be worth every penny!) That bank of lights itself is awe inspiring.

Terri
 
#15 ·
My God,one look at that tank and i was totally breathless. Looks like your tank is on it's way to a homemade nature aquarium,to put it literally i mean. Though it is smaller than what Amano has to offer,it is already as great as it is. Absolutely beautiful.





Sorry i do not mean to interrupt this thread but just a question,you mean there is a mega tank here in Singapore where i live? Do you happen to have any links whereby i could find out more about this mega tank?
 
#7 ·
Here's a pic of the hardscape.
Took 22 hours of straight planting to complete, the hardscape took about 8-9 hours.

Oh the fish list is not anything anyone's ever done.
36 Champ 10" largest discus I've ever seen
64 altums, yep 64........
60 Rose lines
60 spotted giant hatchets, never seen these before.
Rare plecos etc
Hundreds of nice apistos
1000 Cardinals
100 N espei

I think there's 8 sq ft of HC, oh that was fun planting that perched inside the tank on a warm day:)

Nothing like it.

I am looking into adding an ISE NO3, PO4 and NH4 probes for real time measures that are extremely accurate.

The tank is a fish and plant tank, not just a plant tank.







Regards,
Tom Barr
Where are the Discus?
 
#8 ·
Very impressive indeed!!!
Will there be more pictures Tom? Also is this located in California? I see Mark from Monterey Bay Aquarium which Monterey Bay is located in Monterey, California of course.
Wow Tom just seen your other post on getting the accounts to do 3 more such tanks for the LA zoo in addition to this one. You are going to be one busy man. When we going to see a book on all your work?
Thanks for sharing.
 
#10 ·
thats amazing! my jaw just dropped when reading the list of stuff... 64 altums!:eek5: 36 10'' discus!:eek5: which im assuming they are wild... rare plecos.....

i dont know... i think the members of TPT should start a nationwide side buisness for this stuff. co'mon getting to play with other peoples tanks... and get paid!

now thats a nice job!

more pictures of everything? please?

- fish newb -
 
#12 ·
So, how many tsp of KNO3 are you dosing on M, W, F? :)

Seriously, I can't wait to see this tank grow in. Looks like a planted tank techie dream come true.

What kind, and how many pumps are running this monster through 7 fluidized bed filters?
 
#19 · (Edited)
Quite a few tablespoons, actually I'm going to cups of KNO3:icon_eek:

The FBF is 7 ft tall.

No fish in there yet, that's a slow process and I am very weird and careful about that.

Dead fish are not things clients like at all:thumbsup:
Algae plants I can cure/bring back from the brink, not fish.

The fish are already bought and quarantined.

We have a meaty metal stand bolted to the foundation.
Filters, etc are also bottled to the ground, this is LA after all.

The techy side will be cool.
Cooler than any tank running to date.

The client is very into that part and wants to check in on the tank while traveling etc.

So:
Cond
pH
O2
NO3
NH4
PO4
Temp
Redox

All measured and data logged in real time contiunously into easy to use software.

2x 1500w titianum heaters.

I took very very few pics, everyone else was taking pictures of me.
We will get them up as they come in and as the tank grows in.

I still have a lot of work to do on the scape and filtration systems, it's a team of folks, not just me.

Tenji is the general tank contractor and they hire me to do the scaping, wood, rock, all things plants.

I get the fun work and consult for the other items and help do the control systems, testing ferts etc and if anything goes wrong, squirrley etc.

Things have gone very smooth with the set up thus far.
I'm the ugly guy in black.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
#17 ·
ok Tom..which one is you?????
lol
Nice project. The wood placement is awesome! And now for the plants....
 
#21 ·
I'm the one with shades and the tank top, working under MH's is bad for the eyes.

The lighting is really special.
One for fish viewing, one for plant tank growth.
The color of the bulbs is a key thing for the client to show off his highly covetted fish community, we will also be adding dowward angled front PC's to better light the fish. 12 x 55w.

I wanted to angled the side MH's top get better light.

The 1000w bulbs are head sized.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
#26 ·
It's just glass, angle iron and silicone. Piece of cake. Get a couple of friends to help move it into the house. Go on! Live a little! Of course you will want one of those big wind turbines running in the back yard just to handle the heaters.

If I were involved with that project it would soon become an experiment in growing algae. I do that part very well.
 
#33 ·
Mark and I did some work on the MBA 500 gallon discus tank and the swords where fine, got about 3ft.

I plan on using many large swords for the Piranha tank display.
I'll be 4-6ft deep, more than likely 6x 20 to 24ftL and a heck of a lot of current.

Many piranha are sick and have liver issues from being fat in tanks, they don't eat vigorously. This is cured by making them swim hard against current for 2-4 hours a day.

Sword plants have huge root systems not because they are big root feeders, they have them sdo they do not get swept way and when the water receeds, they have no other choice.

That's why they are tough to uproot.
They are river plants.

So they need no trimming and the fish will have a nice place to get lots of exercise. This makes them much healthier, stronger and better eaters, which everyone really enjoys seeing.

I have a different plan for the Hydrocolyus and stingray tank.
If you have ever seen a 4 ft Hydrocolyus, they are nothing short of awesome.


Regards,
Tom Barr
 
#34 · (Edited)
The CO2 system is quite unique.
Not only does it have 3 types, for ultimate flexibility, it has multiple probves to determine degassing etc and specific locations.

1. 2 large CO2 reactors in the sump, driven by 800gph each.
2. 2 x 3/4 " mazzi venturi valves in line to each return. These need virtually no mainteance and produce fine mist.
3. 2 Beetle 50's with good flow patterns in the tank.

This gives the client the option to add CO2 with dual redundancy to 3 locations and 3 types of gas injection.

Most know how anal I am about CO2...........with good reason.

The layoput is much more Dutch in styling than Nature style.
The client had a preference to Dutch styling so that is what I did.


I will do a more Nature style later perhaps for the client, it's really up the client's taste, some are involved, some just want to look at something nice.
Some like more open designs.

I have a lot of interest now in doing very large tanks like this, which is good because we will being many more from the looks of it.

Tenji does the general tank contracting, I do everything inside and related to plant health, fish health and community dynamics.

It's a good working relationship.

I like the fish stocking list.
I am tired of seeing one species of fish sparsely populated in tanks, the clients love the communities of fish I put together and the suitable species as well.

Yep, I still love fish as well as plants:)

I also do lakes BTW and large ponds.
6 ft sturgeon swimming around, F2 Trout, F2 Red ear sun fish, you can see them breeding in gin clear lake water.

If you can dream it, we can build it.
I'll post more pics later as they arrive.
Mark and Andy have not yet sent me their pics of Tom the Tank monkey.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

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#36 ·
Alright, what's the colorful little(?) fish? It's cute.

I wonder how long before the cardinals become part of the menu :)

I wish the quazi-local Ripley's Aquarium had something like this. Sharks are more interesting to kids than the average long-suffering mom. LOL!

Their only freshwater tank is something like 12x12x undeterminable due to fake rockwork and houses primarily monster fish commonly (and ill advisedly) available in the pet trade. Seeing the red tail catfish that would barely fit in my 75 cured me of all desire to have one. I'd need a swimming pool for the thing.
 
#38 ·
Beverly Hills.

Cardinals will be food but are cheap and easy to supply, the owner is fine with that. The cute fish is a Killi, They have done well in large tanks, not so well in med sized tanks, very well in tiny tanks single species only.

Apistos are nice as well.


Regards,
Tom Barr
 
#42 ·
That is the idea, the tank will be seen by most everyone in the industry there.
The owner is a better salesman for the concept than myself, he's very obsessive, but when it comes to plants, and other things, so am I..... and he knows the folks already.

He wants the other folks to get into it and keep it, not only that, but the LA Zoo and the public insitutions.

Do not kid yourself, this is a lot of work.

Those 180 Gallon tanks are a snap by comparison.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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