Hanging Spacearium Aquarium

[Live Water Aquariums]

Here are some pics of the Hanging Spacearium Live Water Aquariums has been working on for a client at La Jolla Crossroads appartment complex. It hangs from the ceiling on a braided steel cable and the plumbing and electrical goes up and down the sleeves around the cable so very little plumbing is visible.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout002.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout001.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout006.jpg

The Tank and lights hang from a steel bar bolted into the cement above the ceiling.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout005.jpg

The Elevator behind the tank has an acess hole in the wall that leads through to the filter above the tank.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout003.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout004.jpg

[sacredfire]

Very nice.

Keep the updates coming.

[Live Water Aquariums]

The aquarium has a unique system that pumps the water through an overflow up into the sump where a Tunze protein skimmer sits. Then another pump sends the water back to the tank. It has an anti-siphon device that keeps the sump from draining if power outs. Calibration of the system is critical to keep the flow even, it has a gate valve for precision adjustments. Here is the prefilter-overflow with the cover off. It also has a Seio super flow on the bottom for extra flow.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout012.jpg

Here are some more Pics of the set-up process.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout008.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout010.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout015.jpg

Here it is finally set up first day running. So far it has 15 lbs of LR 60lbs LS, and temporarily 5 damsels and fake plants for the immediate effect while cycling. The tank will be teathered to the floor next week so it can't sway. Then I can add more LR and build it up a bit. This system will be bullet proof reef style with shrooms and softies and maby a couple lps, eventually. It has T5 lighting, came with two blue bulbs, switching one to white soon.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout016.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout018.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout021.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout027.jpg

[Live Water Aquariums]

Day two, clearing up and running well. This should be an interesting challenge from here.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout028.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout031.jpg

[DaChrisDude]

Wow...that's really really cool. How many gallons is it?

[Live Water Aquariums]

Total volume, about 80 gallons including filter- I think they rate it at 55 gallons but it holds more- tough math to figure with the curves I guess. It's the first aquarium I've come across where they understated gallons rather than overstating which is standard. It is 72" long only 12" wide at center and 28" tall. I wish it was wider but what are you going to do?

[Reefer Addict]

Very cool...... I think I want one... :cool:

[DaChrisDude]

Heck I do too...but not with the price tag!

[Live Water Aquariums]

Yeah, 7g delivered from Canada. Not including instal...Ouch. Ya got to pay to play.

[sacredfire]

Those gate valves are a false sense of assurance.

If you are going to use LR everything will build up with misc snails and feather dusters.
If this is the first setup you are doing like this, I suggest not doing LR at all. "You wouldnt want it to spill all over, Ruining your Rep cause you know you will get refferals from this 1 trank" All it needs is 1 little speck to lodge where it should have sealed. and no more fancy setups.

Ive heard too many horror stories on them failing.


I would stick with the fake rubber corals. etc.. because you can use a mag float and get it anywhere, the corals will scoot over but not unroot for squeaky clean glass.
1 more thing is with corals youll need to dose calcium, elements etc.. Which will cause respiration on everything... That in itself will be a pain to scrape off.
If youve done a handfull of these please disregard this post..lol

[DaChrisDude]

Holy crap!!!

Yeah, 7g delivered from Canada. Not including instal...Ouch. Ya got to pay to play.

[Live Water Aquariums]

Those gate valves are a false sense of assurance.

If you are going to use LR everything will build up with misc snails and feather dusters.
If this is the first setup you are doing like this, I suggest not doing LR at all. "You wouldnt want it to spill all over, Ruining your Rep cause you know you will get refferals from this 1 trank" All it needs is 1 little speck to lodge where it should have sealed. and no more fancy setups.

I think you are referring to the flapper style check valves. You are correct they stink. Even without live rock they eventually fail. The gate valve I was referring to is just to reduce flow returning to the aquarium from the sump so that the flow rate matches in both directions. The anti-siphon device they provided uses air to fill the tube and break the siphon if power outs. Any way good lookin out.


I would stick with the fake rubber corals. etc.. because you can use a mag float and get it anywhere, the corals will scoot over but not unroot for squeaky clean glass.
I've been doing this a long time and I am very sick of bleaching fake and dead corals. Any chance I have to push FOWLR or Reef on people I will. In my experience the fish do much better and the system becomes much more interesting then Fish only systems. A little b-ionic and the rock purples up like crazy and looks really cool.


1 more thing is with corals youll need to dose calcium, elements etc.. Which will cause respiration on everything... That in itself will be a pain to scrape off.
Not really sure what you mean here. The tank does go cloudy when I dose, but this dissapates within a couple of hours and I have nothing to scrape. If you are speaking of coraline and such, scraping I will do, I will service this tank weekly so If it is kept clean from the start it is fairly easy to keep it immaculate. I know I am fairly new to this site so my cred has not quite been established. Slowly I will start posting more of my set-ups to show I have experience. Always love the advice-keep it coming.

[Live Water Aquariums]

How come when I Quote a post it doesn't say "Originally posted by"?

[sacredfire]

You probably deleted the code that says who it was from.

How hard is it to clean that type of tank?
I imagine you're using extended scrapers, Have you ever used DIY live rock?

That would be awsome since you could build it to spec.

[MrKrispy]

awesome, thanks for the great thread! Any chance of getting a top down shot? I am interested in the bracing along the top of the tank.

[Live Water Aquariums]

I'll get top down shots for you on monday. DIY live rock, never tried it yet- sounds interesting, probably would be great for a tank with such specific and limited dimentions.

[jbvdhp]

very unique~!

[lucubrator]

Ah HA! So THAT'S where my rent money goes. I thought the lobby looked familiar, and I just went and checked it out. Very cool.

[reef]

Where in La Jolla is this?

[Live Water Aquariums]

It's technically U.C. area I guess. It's called La Jolla Crossroads. It's an apartment complex right by the mall off nobel. They are brand new, with amazing facilities and great deals- go check them out.

Here are a couple of pics of the top down for bracing for you, MrKrispy
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout033.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout032.jpg

And one of the bottom corner (if interested)

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/hanginout034.jpg

[phishphood]

that's in crossroads!??

[crstjohn]

Beautiful setup! Some people just have too much money!!

[lucubrator]

Some people? Quite a few people, actually.
2.5people/unit*51units/floor/building*5 floors/building*4buildings=~2550 people.
Average rent is like 1800/mo.
If they're not using that whole 1.8Mil/month to pay construction etc, then they have a bit of money to fool around with.

It's in the front office, right where you walk in to sign papers.

[dhuynh]

Nice setup. They should have built the lights w/ clamps onto the main hanging bars. That way, you don't have four bars coming down.

Looks great though! Nice one Kevin.

[Live Water Aquariums]

Nice setup. They should have built the lights w/ clamps onto the main hanging bars. That way, you don't have four bars coming down.
Thanks danny- great Idea. I was thinking about that actually. I was considering making an acrylic canopy with an open top on it that stands up about 8 or 10 inches above the lip to hide the light and eliminate the wires hanging the light. But, then I would have to make a stand for the light to sit on- on top of the tank. The top rim of the tank has a metalic silver tape running along the edge to look like a plastic lip and it looks kind of cheasy up close. However- the lights are adjustable with the wires it hangs on so I can slide it up an out of the way to clean the tank. Without the wires it would be a real pain to get into the tank. I could remove the whole light to work- but then I would need exess electrical chord wound up to be able to move the light and I wouldn't have light to see what I'm doing in there. Any ideas?

[Live Water Aquariums]

Looks like we may need a chiller. The tank is running quite warm and I had the heater set at 76. I think with 4 large submersible pumps and such a small water volume plus the sump being in the ceiling area that may be the cause- or it's just a faulty heater but I doubt it. We'll see.

[impreza619]

that looks badass. where in la jolla is it? im 5 mins from scripps pier.

[lucubrator]

It's in the lobby of la jolla crossroads. It's on judicial, off towne center.
Hey purple, what happened to the other black and white damsel?

[Live Water Aquariums]

Were down to two damsels. I don't really even want to add any more. I'm waiting for them to teather down the bottom of the tank so it won't sway then I will add more LR. I've got to let that rock all cure before I add much more. Still trying to see if we need a chiller. Can't wait to get the fake stuff out and make it look real nice...

[lucubrator]

Looks good, I like the recent addition of corals. The only criticism I have is that you have two majano anemones on the rocks as of a few days ago. They're a problem you'll want to nip in the bud.

[fier138]

Money well spent, that thing is SWEET!!!!!

[Live Water Aquariums]

Looks good, I like the recent addition of corals. The only criticism I have is that you have two majano anemones on the rocks as of a few days ago. They're a problem you'll want to nip in the bud.

You don't like those little (Mo)guys? Thanks, good lookin out, I saw them. I'll be joe's juicen em up before I stock it up more.
I added a few pieces to see how they react to the lights.
I've been waiting a while for them to build a new shelf for me up in the elavator shaft area for me to have better acess and room to hook up the chiller. The Skimmer and Phosban reactor are not running because of heat issues with all those pumps running in the small volume, and in the hot cieling. Just cycling in the meantime. It'll be running a lot better once I get better acess up above. Can't wait to loose the fake stuff inside. Everybody wants big fish, but the tank is too narow. Hopefully I can wow them with the corals instead.

[vinny73]

People who don't know sh..... can be such a pain n the arse! That is such a nice setup! Do it the way you know how and it willlllllll come out nice!

[lucubrator]

LJX has money, get them to buy a chiller. :) And yeah, those fake plants bug, but you have to have something in there so people don't ask, "what's this?"

That big box in the middle looks annoying too; seems hard for the fish to swim around it. You could try for some burrowing fish, that'd make it interesting.

[vinny73]

I agree! Sand sifters would work too! Not being established long might post a problem for sand sifters though! Unless you feed them over the limit!

[Live Water Aquariums]

The new design for the aquarium has a closed loop system for filtration to eliminate the need for the big grey box. But then it doesnt have a protien skimmer:(
They've already approved the chiller. I'm just waiting for maintenence to build me the shelf to put it on. I don't want to do that part for liability. I do want to get something cool to cover the grey box. Maby Ill try to grow GSP all over it or something, then it would be less obvious. I could just cover it with Majano anems. Ha ha. Any Ideas?
I hear the same thing every time. When are you bringing big colorful fish. My answer: first comes little colorful rocks:)

[maus42]

The new design for the aquarium has a closed loop system for filtration to eliminate the need for the big grey box. But then it doesnt have a protien skimmer:(
They've already approved the chiller. I'm just waiting for maintenence to build me the shelf to put it on. I don't want to do that part for liability. I do want to get something cool to cover the grey box. Maby Ill try to grow GSP all over it or something, then it would be less obvious. I could just cover it with Majano anems. Ha ha. Any Ideas?
I hear the same thing every time. When are you bringing big colorful fish. My answer: first comes little colorful rocks:)

Instead of GSP, zoo's of different colors and such might look more interesting going up that grey box.

[Live Water Aquariums]

Ok here are some updated pics. It's been a long road to get this thing balanced. Had some issues with some of the equipment, and haven't updated in a while, as I wasn't happy with the look. I've finally got some new pics without the fake stuff, as a developing reef tank. I know the picture quality stinks, they really do the colors no justice.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06005.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06008.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06009.jpg

More coming.

[Live Water Aquariums]

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06011.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06012.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06013.jpg

[Live Water Aquariums]

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06015.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06017.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06019.jpg

[Live Water Aquariums]

The gorgonian came with a hitch hiker starfish It's always on it.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06018.jpg

Side shots from the side front: and then Miror image from side back.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06004.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/fish9-06003.jpg

I'll post more info about what I have done to the setup later. Thanks for looking.

[DaChrisDude]

Very nice Kevin! It looks very professional, very clean, and like everything's very healthy. Good work.

[lucubrator]

Wow kevin, well done. Vast improvement over what it was when I moved out.

[Ars3nal619]

nice.....i likes alot alot alot

[Live Water Aquariums]

Thanks guys.

[swissfish]

sweet, looking good.

what is the silver chanel inside the tank?

[Live Water Aquariums]

sweet, looking good.

what is the silver chanel inside the tank?

See post number 3 on the first page.

[swissfish]

ooops, i never noticed that before.

[MrKrispy]

nice update!

[ixiaohoui]

Hey purplerock, I was wondering who was working on that tank. I live in this apt complex. To be honest, your tank was the reason for bringing me back to reefing =D. I've been living here since the beginning of summer, and i'm pleased to see the development. Good work!

[Live Water Aquariums]

It's been a while since I updated this thread. I got a new camera and I'm trying it out a little. I plan on getting Ed(berometer) out to shoot some better shots of this tank soon but I thought I'd throw a few pics up as an update for now. This tank is managed by my company Live Water Aquariums again it's in the leasing office of La Jolla Crossroads on Juditial. It really looks much better in person but it's running strong. We haven't lost a fish in over a year. The last few fish we lost all jumped out(no top). Currently fish are Flame Angel, Bicolor blenny, O'clown pair, Royal gramma, Pair of cleaner shrimp, pair of linkia stars, countless snails, and scarlet hermit crabs. Here you go.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots012.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots011.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots018.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots019.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots015.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots016.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots017.jpg

Now go check it out, rent an apartment and tell them Live Water Aquariums sent you.

[Live Water Aquariums]

Here's a few more shots. Notice almost all the original corals still going strong. Plus a bunch of new little frags. Some algae growth of assorted types but I keep them under controll and don't mind them really, it's more natural that way. Any reef in the wild has some green algae growth after all.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots022.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots027.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots029.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots028.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots023.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots024.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots025.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots027.jpg

[Live Water Aquariums]

We also manage the fish pond outside the leasing office, here are a few pics of that.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots034.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots035.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots036.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots037.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e301/KVflynn/crossroads/reefshots039.jpg

[socalaly]

what kinda fish is that in the 5th picture? orange white tail? cute?? thats an awesome tank...does someone feed it there??? or do you go and feed it?

[Live Water Aquariums]

I'm not sure but I think you are looking at the Flame Angel. Its really reddish orange without a white tail, that's just the way it looks in the pic. Thanks, I actually let the leasing reps feed it as per my instructions. I've had some problems with that but currently it's going very well.

[Haeun]

Heehee!

My roommates and I were inquiring at Crossroads for housing, and we saw the tank before we saw this thread. My roommates were amused: "Wow! They have a fishy-rock tank like yours! Except it's thin!"

[fausto918]

I have a 8ft spacearium tank that I bought a long time ago and I'm trying to find the specs to hang it. does anyone know the number of the company for spacearium or where I can get it?

[fausto918]

I have a 8ft spacearium tank that I bought a long time ago and I'm trying to find the specs to hang it. does anyone know the number of the company for spacearium or where I can get it?

[cshplumber]

Google came up with some info right away but the most recent post was 2008. Company is/was Aquariums ASP inc in Montreal Canada. Good luck.