tidepool style

[knutty]

i have a feeling this is going to be a project tank in "daddy's workshop' area. i really want to make it. i want to have my child grow up around aquaria, i think it is a wonderful, intelligent, and creative hobby. i am in the process of getting baby's room done and I have a small tank made for it to keep in that room while baby is an infant. of course, it will be set high in a bookshelf where nothing can happen to it or the child. i am sure i will have to make this tank disappear when the little mr. becomes mobile. i know that my best naps are in the couch next to the main tank so I am hoping that this will help junior sleep as well. something about the sounds...you all know.

 

[Fuzzy]

thats a good idea

 

[Opcn]

Stretch a net over the top that can suport at least 100 pounds maby even have a second net of a very fine size to catch any penies or sippy cups.

Opcn

 

[Fuzzy]

or u could just take away anything she could climb on. or just put a bay pen around the aquarium.

 

[Adrinal]

Perhaps it can be in a room you can lock off?
Do you have a basement? would be easy to dry wall off another room where you hide all the cleaning stuff as well.

As far as the kid.. and even your selves just make it a habbit that nothing is alowed in the room. No toys, tv remotes (ah the pain of using the button on the tv), nothing. If you follow the rules the kid (gratz on the kid), s/he will too.


Sounds like an awsome project.
I'd love to make a river sceen room long and fast flowing.

can I suggest a U shaped pool running along 3 walls 2 or 3 feet wide

 

[superman]

Something of this magnitude would have to have an automatic water top off system because of the massive loss of water due to evaporation, and the top off water would have to be supplimented with a calcium reactor, and an RO/DI water purifier is an obvious must.
The first thing I though of would be that you would have to have nearly no surface water movement to view this pool from above, especially since any ripple in the water would reflect your intense metal halide light back up into your eyes, which leads me to your next problem.
If you want to keep any corals you would have to have some pretty intense light, I'm sure you knew this, but to view your pool from above those lights would have to be above your head right? So you would have to have some "AWESOME RAY OF LIGHT FROM GOD" lights to get enough light into the water from even 4 feet above the water's suurface, let alone 6 feet above the water's surface, and even that would be burning the hair off of your head if standing above the pool.
This tidepool idea is a really cool idea, but to tell you the truth, even if you were just talking about the cost of the lighting, your are talking about one REALLY large electricity bill, which poses enough of a problem. My advice is to take a step back and think about what you are really trying to accomplish, a beautiful marine ecosystem to enjoy and teach your kids about. Take all the money you were goiing to spend on the tidepool set up and build and in wall 600 gallon tank, with a back room dedicated to the tank. Build it near the water heater, so you can plumb the water heating to be controlled by a thermostat that will turn on a pump that pumps hot water through titanium pip that runs through the 400 gallon sump that sits in the back room.
This would be far more feasable, and much more worry free. I have many other thoughts on this and would be glad to send you pics of my fathter in law's 600 gallon in wall tank and his set up.
Good luck and let me know if you would like any other ideas, I would be glad to help. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[Opcn]

Sometime you can get xenon hedlights from wrecked cars for cheep (and cars with xenons crash more ). also your lights never need to be more powerful than the sunrays that would hit that size patch of ociene.

Opcn