Fishfreaks' 400 Gallon build

[Fishfreak]

So after lurking around here for over 4 years and quietly learning a lot from fellow members, I figured with this build I should start a tank journal and maybe I will gain some new advice or even give others some ideas. I haven't posted here very much but sure do spend significant amounts of time on Canreef and most of what I have learned has been invaluable.

I will begin with a little history. I started with my first reef tank back in December of '05. It was a simple 65 gallon non-drilled perfecto tank. I told my wife that this was more than I ever needed, but the saltwater bug hit me pretty hard and by the fall of '06 I upgraded to a standard 150 Gallon AGA aquarium. I must say my wife has been incredibly supportive in the pursuit of this crazy hobby and none of this would have happened without her . The 150 is my current tank right now. We had our first child in Dec of '06 and since have had 2 more and basically ran out of room in our current house. So we decided to build on an acreage southeast of Edmonton last fall. I always told my wife if we ever were to move, it would make sense to upgrade to a new tank since I would have to break down my current tank anyways. Thankfully she agreed and this is where the new tank comes into the picture. We decided to build out the basement right away and basically designed it around an in wall 400 gallon tank with dedicated fish room behind it. The contractor didn't start on the house until January of this year, so at this time I ordered the tank because the contractor gave us permission to move the tank in before the house was completed, for obvious reasons such as size and logistics.

I ordered the tank from Marine Aquaria here in Edmonton back on Jan 27 '10 and it was completed some time in April and has been in storage until now. I got to say Marine Aquaria did an exceptional job. It was exactly like I planned it. It looks amazing and not only am I happy about it, but I am sure my fish are going to love their new home as well. Especially my Achilles, who has lived in the 150 for over 3 years now. So without further rambling, here are the details of the tank and sump:

The tank is 400 gallons and made of 3/4 glass.
Dimensions are 96 x 36 x 27H with front pane made of starphire.
Coast to coast external overflow.
Back of tank covered in black acrylic with acrylic/vinyl black sides.
Both sides of the tank are drilled with 3 holes, 1 intake and 2 outlets for closed loop.
Bottom of tank has a plywood mount.

The sump is custom made of glass and dimensions are 72 x 24 x 16H

So currently our house is at the finishing stage. We were able to move the tank in on July 15 and unfortunately it is now a waiting game. The builder still can't give us a possession date or won't (I am not sure what the case is) but I figure it will at least be another 2 months or so till It will be up and running. The tank move was very weather dependent because our house is still a construction site and Edmonton has had a lot of rain this year which made the clay around our house very sloppy and difficult to get a truck into. Well enough of all the reading and lets get to some pictures.

Basement and tank wall opening


Fishroom and the overbuilt stand that the builder insisted on building for me

Basement and tank wall opening with drywall


More pictures to follow soon.