600 gallon plywood Down Grade!
- Thread starter Cougarman
- Start date
DamnPepShrimp
Moved On
Fish and corals look good, but man that tank is CROWDED!
Ok so I finally got the glass. Took about 6 weeks longer than expected.
1st I built a stand for the tank and cut a hole in the corner for the future over flows.
Then I put the bulk heads in the bottom sheet. Easier to do before the tank is made. I also put 5/16 dowel under the bottom glass to raise it off the stand.
Then I siliconed the edges and built the tank.
Since I was solo in building this I needed a method of stabilizing the glass while the silicone set. I decided to use some 90 degree aligners used for framing. They worked perfectly. I was pretty proud of myself considering it's my 1st time working with this stuff. I'll save most of the gloating til after I fill the tank though.
I let it dry over night. tonight I'm going to silicone in the bracing across the top edges of the tank.
1st I built a stand for the tank and cut a hole in the corner for the future over flows.
Then I put the bulk heads in the bottom sheet. Easier to do before the tank is made. I also put 5/16 dowel under the bottom glass to raise it off the stand.
Then I siliconed the edges and built the tank.
Since I was solo in building this I needed a method of stabilizing the glass while the silicone set. I decided to use some 90 degree aligners used for framing. They worked perfectly. I was pretty proud of myself considering it's my 1st time working with this stuff. I'll save most of the gloating til after I fill the tank though.
I let it dry over night. tonight I'm going to silicone in the bracing across the top edges of the tank.
Reeftanks6
Active member
Beautful tank. Nice to see you post again. Cant wait for the other tank to go up should be great
Hello Everyone. It's been a while since I posted. The self built 300 gallon has been running for about 6 weeks. I had an issue with a small leak at the base of one of the sides. I had to drain the tank and repair it. I've since added a 4foot clamp across the bottom of the tank to ensure that side stays sealed.
I've also redone the entire sump/refugium area. I took out the glass tanks and replaced them with a 150 gallon rubbermaid live rock refugium and a 100 gallon rubbermaid sump. I moved all the live sand to the 130 gallon that I have plumbed in-line. It is now a 130 gallon sand bed. Overall the total water volume is close to the same, about 1000 gallons, but I've been able to reduce the amount of space being used in my basement.
As far as the livestock. Unfortunately I lost my moorish idol after probably about 4.5 yrs. I'm not sure when he died, I never found a body. I just noticed one day that he wasn't there and I couldn't remember tha last time I saw him. Very sad.
I also lost my copperband butterfly which I had for several years. Just found him dead one day. After an infestation of aptasia back into my display tank, I decided to replace him with another. I haven't seen the new copperband eat any prepared food, but he's holding his own in the crowded tank. Hopefully he'll keep the aptasia at bay.
I removed 3 of my unicorns from the display and put them into the new 300 gallon. I also added all the fish from my 130 to the new tank. I also picked up a baby ABT, juvy lieutenant, and new Fowler's.
My Powder blue was looking a little skinny, so I moved him form the display to the 130 gallon sandbed where he'll have less competition for food. He'll spend some time there til I can fatten him up again. MY Fowler's is also in the sandbed while I acclimate him to the tank condiditons. Hopefully he'll survive. I've had poor success with those fish so far.
In the display tank, the annulatus unicorn is still growing. He's the biggest fish I've ever seen kept in a hobbiest's tank. In the near future, I'll have a monster tank suitable for him.
As far as the corals go, the softies and LPS are doing well, and the sps are stable. The montis are rebounding from quite a bit of bleaching, the red monti cap has probably doubled in size. The acros however are still slow to recover. They definately did not like the change from 600 to 300 gallons. I've begun feeding the corals more frequently in hopes of stimulating some growth.
Anyway, here are some new pics.
Display tank
I've also redone the entire sump/refugium area. I took out the glass tanks and replaced them with a 150 gallon rubbermaid live rock refugium and a 100 gallon rubbermaid sump. I moved all the live sand to the 130 gallon that I have plumbed in-line. It is now a 130 gallon sand bed. Overall the total water volume is close to the same, about 1000 gallons, but I've been able to reduce the amount of space being used in my basement.
As far as the livestock. Unfortunately I lost my moorish idol after probably about 4.5 yrs. I'm not sure when he died, I never found a body. I just noticed one day that he wasn't there and I couldn't remember tha last time I saw him. Very sad.
I also lost my copperband butterfly which I had for several years. Just found him dead one day. After an infestation of aptasia back into my display tank, I decided to replace him with another. I haven't seen the new copperband eat any prepared food, but he's holding his own in the crowded tank. Hopefully he'll keep the aptasia at bay.
I removed 3 of my unicorns from the display and put them into the new 300 gallon. I also added all the fish from my 130 to the new tank. I also picked up a baby ABT, juvy lieutenant, and new Fowler's.
My Powder blue was looking a little skinny, so I moved him form the display to the 130 gallon sandbed where he'll have less competition for food. He'll spend some time there til I can fatten him up again. MY Fowler's is also in the sandbed while I acclimate him to the tank condiditons. Hopefully he'll survive. I've had poor success with those fish so far.
In the display tank, the annulatus unicorn is still growing. He's the biggest fish I've ever seen kept in a hobbiest's tank. In the near future, I'll have a monster tank suitable for him.
As far as the corals go, the softies and LPS are doing well, and the sps are stable. The montis are rebounding from quite a bit of bleaching, the red monti cap has probably doubled in size. The acros however are still slow to recover. They definately did not like the change from 600 to 300 gallons. I've begun feeding the corals more frequently in hopes of stimulating some growth.
Anyway, here are some new pics.
Display tank
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