300g project

[doodoobrown]

for those of you that dont know i aquired a 300 tenecor tank around a month or so ago. i have been working on my basement getting ready for the beast and its almost ready. i just recently finished putting epoxy on the floors so now i am ready to spill some stuff. the water is ready and mostly in the tank already. i am using a makeshift sump for the time being until i can get one from gc. i would already be going but i am having trouble getting the bulkheads plumbed without leaking. im gonna have tear it down and work on that, joy!!! i am using a mag 24 for the return and am going to be setting up a close loop using om 4 way i recently came accross. still gotta get a dart for that. i will be breaking down my 75 and putting everything in the 300 hopefully within a month. i am going to be using only t-5s for lighting. not sure how many yet. i already have an icecap 660 and 4 icecap reflectors that will take care of the first 4 bulbs past that who knows. probably end up with 10-12. before anyone asks, the reason i am going to t-5s is because of size and heat. i have the tenecor acrylic stand and canopy that go with the tank and the canopy is not very tall. i can get more bang out the t-5s than any other lighting option with the canopy. i dont trust the stand hence the wood stand in the pic, but i do like the looks of it better. i have torn apart the acrylic stand and will be mounting it to the outside of the wood stand to give it a nice clean appearance

here is a pic of my progress. not very pretty but its getting there!!dimensions are 32x32x72

 

[Fishboy42]

Hmm...that tank looks familiar, I think I have a pair of tomatoes that used to live in there

Good luck getting it going. I'm interested to see how it looks with T-5 lighting, as I've been considering going that route myself. Those dimensions are going to allow for some pretty interesting aquascaping and lots of swimming room. Looks like fun

Matt

 

[crumbletop]

Wow! Can't wait to see pics when you get it all set up.

What kind of bulkheads are you using? Sched 80 or 40? The sched 80's have much thicker gaskets. Steinhouse Supply in Nashville has them if you need some.

Where is the overflow in that thing?

 

[doodoobrown]

i would say they are sched 40s, i may have to check into getting the 80s. im not real big on the way its set up now anyway. it has one overflow in the center with 2 drains and 2 returns. not the best pic but heres the overflow

 

[rcmike]

If you want some really heavy duty bulkheads get some that are used in stock tanks from a farm supply place. I got a few from Rural King in Clarksville and they have a much thicker sealing surface than any of the ones I have seen sold for aquariums.

 

[boofer]

Id go bigger than a Dart if you could. Im using a Dart and a 4-way on a 110 and it could be a little more (Im kinda a flow freak and keep SPS only though). I see a 300 eating the Dart up very quickly. You might be disapointed in the Dart, depending on what your trying to accomplish.

 

[doodoobrown]

thanks for the info. i need to check out angelas. i know she has a dart. i may need to get a barracuda!! new sched 80 heavy duty bulkheads are on there way. i should have it up and running this weekend.

 

[Angela Short]

I saw a hammerhead in action in East ttn this weekend and it was surprisingly quiet but still runs a lot more electricity than the dart. My dart seemed to do a good job for the 1 night it ran. It actually had a hairline crack and is currently in limbo waiting on a replacement part .
Boofer what size pipe is the outlets? If you step them down to smaller PVC on the end it will give you more force kinda like a garden hose with your thumb over the end was the way it was described to me.
So far mine was pretty forcefull seeming with 1 inch outlets and really moved the water around good but the hammerhead was pushing great on the tank I saw. I was just under the impression they were a lot louder (and energy issues) but it was not very loud at all. My dart was totally silent running though which is a plus in a TV room.

 

[boofer]

Angela, there 1" outlets no restriction....just straight flow. Im going for wide flow not pressure flow. If I took it down to 3/4 inch nozzles the fish and corals would lose skin
And yes the Darts are amazingly quiet. If your Dart is enough in the 270, doodoobrown might not have an issue. I just thought it might not be enough in a 300.

 

[Angela Short]

I have 1" outlets off my 4 way and each outlet is split down 2 ways and I still can't put anything in direct line of flow. I bet with only 4 outlets off the dart (I have 8) you do have a ton of flow! For the energy jump to get the bigger pumps unless you are planning a SPS tank it is just a waste of electricity IMO.
Dart 3,600 GPH @ 160Watts
Barracuda 4,600 GPH @ 325watts (over double the watts)
Hammerhead 5,800 GPH @ 350Watts

To go from a dart to a barracuda you jump over double in power (165Watts More) for only 1,000 more GPH! If I was going to go big I would just go super big and get the hammerhead for only 25 Watts over the barracuda getting 1,300 more GPH for the extra 25 Watts. The hammerhead is rebuildable also it says.

Ashley do come see mine in action before you get a pump and make a decision because our tanks are the same highth and almost the same lenghth, yours is just wider so you could get a good feel by looking at mine I bet.

 

[crumbletop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8371220#post8371220 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angela Short
To go from a dart to a barracuda you jump over double in power (165Watts More) for only 1,000 more GPH! If I was going to go big I would just go super big and get the hammerhead for only 25 Watts over the barracuda getting 1,300 more GPH for the extra 25 Watts. The hammerhead is rebuildable also it says.

Another option if you needed more flow would be to use 2 darts. Still less watts than the hammerhead, and 7200 gph. Double the plumbing, though.

 

[Angela Short]

Thats exactly what Paul from oceansmotions recomended for me since I had 8 outlets but 2 pumps is a little pricy for most people. Not to mention 2 Oceansmotions! He loves the Dart pumps and said he would have 2 darts over a hammerhead any day.

 

[gflat65]

I've got a Barracuda that I've not run, but I was told it is pretty loud (easttn had it on the 180 I got from him back in March). he said he could hear the return and CL pumps in the house...

 

[doodoobrown]

got the new bulkheads today. hopefully i can work on it tonight.

 

[doodoobrown]

the sched 80 bulkheads where a hair to big so i had to pull out the old dremel. i used the sanding head and went around a few times and voila, the bulkheads now fit perfectly. to be continued........

 

[crumbletop]

Those things are heavy duty, aren't they? Glad you got them to fit. Man, a 300 gallon reef -- the stuff of my dreams

 

[gflat65]

Yeah, I made the mistake of thinking that Sch80 bulkheads would fit in my 120... They drill those holes for light duty bulkheads, though. The 3/4" heavy duty bulkhead would fit in the 1" drain hole, but that is certainly not what I was looking for. I really didn't want a bulkhead with a barbed fitting, as I like to have more control over directing the piping to where I want it... I found a nifty way around that, though. I was afraid to dremel, though, since I know they temper the bottoms of the tanks after the holes are drilled. I can't wait to see some pics, Ashley. What monster fish are you putting in there?

 

[doodoobrown]

the monster fish are in the 200. i had to start getting frozen shrimp from the grocery store for my puffers!!!! that tang is an eating machine too. the 300 is going to be my reef. i am looking forward to letting my clams, especially gigas, get MASSIVE. probably have tons of fish in there too. when i break down the 75 and sell my mhs and euroreef i am going to get an mr3 i think. thast the plan anyway. i may need some help setting it up gary. well see

 

[doodoobrown]

water is finally running and no leaks!!! now i just have to work on air bubbles and noise. most of which will be fixed when iget a sump from gc and not use a rubbermaid bin from hd. so far so good.

 

[doodoobrown]

tank has been cycling for around a month now and is ready to roll. my new t-5s should be here on tuesday. once i get them set up i will be moving all the goods from my 75 down. that shouldnt be to much of an ordeal. i still need to clean up some more things and work on my om loop but i am making a little progress. i will try and post pics once the move begins.