Real ocean water...10gallon tank?

[ScubaBosh]

Hi everyone!

Well I got permission to bring a 10 gallon tank to my oil platform which is 8miles of the California coast. I Plan on using saltwater straight from the ocean. I'm going to set it up tomorrow and i'll be posting pix to show you guys how it turns out. I have no LR with me this time but I will slowing be upgrading this tank as I go. Any input, advice or whatever is completely welcome. stay tuned to this thread for pictures.

Here's my platform...Heritage (Exxonmobil)

To give you an idea of how big it is, the closes deck to the water in the picture is 15ft above the water. if you look on the right side of the picture you can see a bunch of hoses hanging down. where the hoses get closest to the water in the picture is the +15ft deck.

[CarmieJo]

That is very cool! I will really look forward to watching your build.

[Coreyz]

That is amazing! Thanks for sharing the pics!

[V]

all i can say is kudos, That is a kick ass first post.

[ScubaBosh]

Progress so far....

My buddy Alan who is the welder for the platform is also into reefing. We decided that we should give this reef tank a true oil platform look. So here's what we've done so far.

Spray painted the back of the tank black. made a light fixture and also painted it. Now we are in the process of building a nice Iron stand for it ....help keep it from rocking when the big swells come through.



More pix to come....

[V]

i wouldn't have picked you for being a ruff neck bud

[rayme07]

This is going to be a cool project. Is this going to be a native tank?

[ScubaBosh]

lol haha i'm not. I'm the platform goof ball...I'm the Emergency Medical Technician on board

Here's the stand we just built...good thing the welder had nothing going on today cause we put about 4hours into the stand, light fixture and painting...total cost $300 in labor lol.

[ScubaBosh]

This will be a reef tank. we want to see what the water way out here does. Maybe better, maybe not.

We have sea water lift pumps which reach 80ft down into the ocean. They suck sea water up to the platform and into a strainer...We connected a hose to that strainer so that we can fill some buckets with salt water and then take that water and put it into the tank. I figured getting water this way would be much better than tying a rope to a bucket and dropping it off the platform.

[rroselavy]

We have sea water lift pumps which on reach 80ft down into the ocean. They suck sea water up to the platform and into a strainer...We connected a hose to that strainer so that we can fill some buckets up with the salt water and then take that water and put it into the tank.

Awesome idea. Worth a shot. How far off coast is the platform? I wonder if offshore waste will be a problem, but 80 feet is pretty deep. You can do water changes so easily.

What kind of biotope are you thinking of? Local, cold water tank, or a reef tank? You going to get some Live Rock for denitrification? Those rocks you have in there prolly will not be much good for a reef tank.

[CarmieJo]

Looking good so far. I think the water from 80 feet down should be fine.

[V]

just so we're clear, you primed & rust coated it before the final spray?

given any chinks in the armor combining salt & any conductivity to speak of & it can turn into a pimple flake fest...lol

[ScubaBosh]

Rose-
yes it'll be a reef tank and yes we are bringing out some LR next time. For now all I have are those ugly front yard rocks. We are located 8 miles off the California coast infront of Sacate and Gaviota pass, 11miles from Pt. conception and 22miles from San Miguel Island. I believing that getting the water from 80ft below should be good clean seawater.

V-
Yeah we sure did prime it and all. We are thinking about making a better light fixture now. We were talking about making an enclosed hood. Mainly because we don't want our counter partners(the guys who are here when we go home) sticking un wanted items in the tank. Since no one out here but Alan and I know about saltwater tanks, we're afraid of people coming by the tank and sticking their hands in or putting bread in to feed the fish.

Ok guys the stand is in place! Which sits right on top of my mini fridge in my office where I keep all my drinks and snacks

[rroselavy]

That Stand looks awesome, but I am not sure how you will be able to use a cube fridge as a chiller.

[ScubaBosh]

haha lol nice. Good thing I dont pay for the electricity bill out here! They keep the office areas at 67degree so right now i'm having a problem with getting the tank temp up lol. My little heater is on full blast!

[V]

so how long you off the rig for at a time, is full automation your future bearing ?
She may not be a big tank, yet youve painted yourself into the corner on some aspects..lol. Should be good to see how you go about things

[ScubaBosh]

Good question V

I know a lot of you worry about leaving your tank when you go on vacation or even leaving it for a few days. I've been leaving my reef tanks alone for a full week at time every other week for 2 and 1/2 years nows. So I have a lot of confidence and practice with making it self sustaining during my away time. Actually this 10 gallon tank i'm using for this project out here was the first tank I used at my house when I started coming offshore. Here is a picture of it...

[V]

the fungia is prob the hardest coral to maintain in that tank shot bud, so no stress there. 10G aint a whole wad of water, irronicly seeing your surrounded by it, however are both you guys off the rig simaltaniously?

ruff necks might mistake that for a wash bay..lol

[ScubaBosh]

ok the tank is up and running. We badly need some live rock. Temp is up to 72degrees now
I will be posting more pix as we add LR, corals, fish and updates on how the tank is doing. Most the guys out here are loving it already and are saying we should get a "big" Reef tank....


I thought you guys would like to see this. This is one of our crew boats and that net is called a "billy pugh". that is one of the ways we get personnel off the boat and onto the platform. can you see the guy holding onto the net?? The crane lifts him up about 200ft before setting him on top of the rig.

[ScubaBosh]

lol V yeah one guy already said "Do they eat sun flower seeds? can I put one in there?"

Well Alan leaves for home and comes back to work Sundays and I do the same on wednesdays so really there's only a 3 day period when one of us wont be there. Since the tank is in my office we can lock the door whenever we are not there. My counter partner will be feeding the fish when Alan and I are off as well as locking the office when he leaves.

[rayme07]

wow this tank is coming together really nicely. What is that red looking coral in the tank now?

That cage would scare the crap out of me I would be afraid of the wire breaking and tumbling down in the deep in that cage.

[V]

dont worry, the sharks wouldn't be able to get you if that ever happened ray.

[rayme07]

dont worry, the sharks wouldn't be able to get you if that ever happened ray.

lol The sharks would be the least of my worry's I would have to think about sucking in all that saltwater in my lungs what a sad and painful death that would be.

[V]

reminds me of any given day stumbling in the surf for me..lol

[CarmieJo]

Wow, that must be a ride up!