AriMiko's 300DD Upgrade

[polywise]

AriMiko43,
I use (1) fan to pull the air out of the room vented to the outdoors, and (2) passive fresh air supply feeds from outdoors to provide the supply. I tried to make the room as air tight as I could, including using a all weather door for the room. I wanted make sure the air really was coming from outside vs from the rest of the house.

As for humidity control vs temp control. I bout the dual controller & I got creative with the application. Since one fan was more than enough air movement for me. I designed a relay with a dimmer switch and connected it to both outlets on the controller, and then sent the output to the fan. When the controller calls for temp reduction the fan runs on high speed. When the controller calls for humidity reduction, the same fan will now run in a super slow setting to remove the humidity. (temp control overrides humidity control if called for at the same time).

This works well for me. Hope this helped you

 

[AriMiko43]

I have a 300DD, I wouldn't put a lot of rock on egg crate. I would put it on the bottom. Nothing worse than have to chance the rockwork collapsing because the egg create gave way.

27" deep is way more than most think. I love the tank but wish I was taller with longer arms so I don't have to dive in to service it

There will be sand, I'm not going bare bottom. The only reason I want it on the crate is to raise it up so the bottom pieces won't be buried under the sand. I also own a blue spot jaw fish and he loves to dig tunnels so I figured that would help also.

 

[AriMiko43]

AriMiko43,
I use (1) fan to pull the air out of the room vented to the outdoors, and (2) passive fresh air supply feeds from outdoors to provide the supply. I tried to make the room as air tight as I could, including using a all weather door for the room. I wanted make sure the air really was coming from outside vs from the rest of the house.

As for humidity control vs temp control. I bout the dual controller & I got creative with the application. Since one fan was more than enough air movement for me. I designed a relay with a dimmer switch and connected it to both outlets on the controller, and then sent the output to the fan. When the controller calls for temp reduction the fan runs on high speed. When the controller calls for humidity reduction, the same fan will now run in a super slow setting to remove the humidity. (temp control overrides humidity control if called for at the same time).

This works well for me. Hope this helped you

Thank you Jim, I am definitely going to copy this. It get's real humid in the summer months in my tank room. The wife agreed on doing this job as it is humid down there lol. Now, I just need to order the parts

 

[Aquatron]

Nice rock work and great job on your build

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Your build is coming along great. I have always been a fan of the 300DD. The depth of the tank is the reason i went deep in my tank. I wanted one when they first came out but at the time my money wasn't happening. Still in the top for sexy tanks.

 

[ChrisKirkland]

There will be sand, I'm not going bare bottom. The only reason I want it on the crate is to raise it up so the bottom pieces won't be buried under the sand. I also own a blue spot jaw fish and he loves to dig tunnels so I figured that would help also.

Gotcha,I place all my rock on the bottom and put sand around it. I built caves throughout so my sand sifters can make them into homes. Your idea sounds pretty cool.

 

[AriMiko43]

I got around to painting the stand but I still have to finish the doors. I also added the sand and aquascape. I am currently working on the sump which should be ready by the weekend. I am starting to fill it up since it will take a few days.

 

[ridetheducati]

Get a top down shot.

 

[polywise]

looks good. Nice and open rock work

 

[AriMiko43]

I got the sump done and drilled the side for my reeflo dart pump. I added a 2" bulkhead with a valve and union to the intake of the pump. I came off the top of the pump with a 1 1/2" pipe followed by a union then continued the 1 1/2" pipe to split 2 ways to the returns which are also on a valve. I tee'd off before the valve for the returns and added a manifold of two 1/2" valves and two 3/4" valves. The two 1/2" valves will be used the the carbon and gfo reactors and the two 3/4" valves will be used to feed my uv sterilizer and separate fuge. I have also added some top down shots of the rock. It's hard to get a good pic because I have to try and get high up because of the 3 foot width of the tank.

 

[Atomic081]

Looks Awesome!!! I love the Rockwork

 

[crvz]

the tank looks really good!

 

[leveldrummer]

This build is coming along awesomely. What size tank is that sump built from?

 

[ca1ore]

Assume the sump baffles are acrylic (as opposed to smoked glass)? If so, don't fit them in too snugly. Acrylic expands in water, so you want to keep a small gap between the end of each piece and the sides of your sump.

 

[AriMiko43]

Thank you guys. The sump is a 80g deep blue frag tank. I also did a 29g separate fuge which overflows back into the sump. The baffles are glass which are smoked. I will update some more pics tomorrow. The tank is filled with saltwater but I still have a lot of things to finish up.

 

[AriMiko43]

Time for a update and this time it has water


I have had the tank running now for a week and a half and I've been dosing Microbacter7 daily along with 2 raw shrimp in a filter bag. I am past the ammonia part of the cycle and my nitrites are peaking up. The sump is all plumbed in through a reeflo dart pump. My refugium is also plumbed in through a glass holes over flow box and overflowing back into the skimmer area of the sump. I have my skimmer in place but I am not running it yet till after the cycle is complete.


A few FTS's for you....





I installed 2 eye hooks to hang my lighting fixture from when the time comes.



The return area with the manifold for carbon, gfo and uv sterilizer. I also added a valve for whenever I need to take water from the tank for either water changes or to fill up a bag or bucket for frag dipping




Skimmer area with the fuge overflowing and the uv sterilizer.

 

[SPotter]

Ari....everything looks amazing!!!!

 

[ntrlsur]

Looks great.. I love the look for a 300dd. 2 questions for you. What kind of flow do you have through the UV? I saw that you went with the clean tubing off your manifold are you worried about algea build up over time?

 

[AriMiko43]

Looks great.. I love the look for a 300dd. 2 questions for you. What kind of flow do you have through the UV? I saw that you went with the clean tubing off your manifold are you worried about algea build up over time?

Thank you... I have the uv plumbed through a 3/4" valve off the return line before the valve for the actual tank returns. I can vary my flow, but I am going for probably 100GPH. I want to use it for parasite removal in case any get in the tank. I am quarantining all my current fish and all new fish that come in with copper. The corals that are in my holding tanks will go in once all fish have been quarantined and placed in the 300 gallon. Then I can leave the holding tanks fallow for 6 weeks and move the coral over.

Ari....everything looks amazing!!!!

Thank you Steve, your tank looks sweet. I am calling in the "professionals" to add top off water to my tank lmao :wave:

 

[leveldrummer]

approximately how many pounds of rock is that?