Lev Ingman has 15 years of experience consulting on a wide variety of aquarium related subjects including aquariums for the motion picture industry, private aquariums, public aquariums, sustainable aquaculture of fish and corals, aquascaping, aquarium design, installation and maintenance.
In 2010 Lev Ingman planned, designed, and installed a large ~7000 gallon shark aquarium for the 2010 Guys Choice Awards. The tank was made from a 20 foot shipping container that had three glass viewing panels inserted into the front. The tank was so heavy that three metal supports had to be welded to the back to insure integrity.
The inside of the tank was coated with several layers of Polyurethane to prevent any metals from leaching into the water. Real ocean water was delivered by a tanker truck and a refractometer was used to measure salinity and adjust it to 1.023. For filtration a giant Pentair Triton II pond filter was filled with approximately 40 pounds of activated carbon, tons of “Bio-Balls”, and a few gallons of live nitrifying bacteria were used to seed the “Bio-Balls” in order to provide biological filtration. Three rebuilt 1.5 HP Chillers were used to cool the tank down and seven 1000 watt heaters were used to heat the tank up. Lids were made from PVC and chain link fencing.
Two 2” PVC tubes were plumbed to run up the each side of the tank, over the top, and down the front 2 corners so they were not visible. Each set had one intake and one return that were run down to about 24” from the bottom of the tank. A blower was added to add oxygenate the tank via large air stones. Reef sharks, a large puffer, bat rays, lemon jacks and large tangs stocked the tank.
Lev Ingman 