DaveJ's 300G Build

[DaveJ]

This build actually started in November 08 and is now up and running, though not 100% complete.

The basic stats:

Tank:

300G Marineland Deep Dimension Tank, customized with side overflow box and Starphire on the 3 viewable sides (both long sides and one end). The tank runs 6'x3'x27" Tall and has dual overflows in a square box on one end.

Stand:

3" Box Steel frame with a plate steel bottom pan. The tank has no braces along the length and runs 8'x3'x34" tall and sits on 3" blocks to give it additional height and allow clean-up access underneath the stand. The bottom of the stand contains a 3/4" plywood drip pan in which the sump sits. The pan was epoxy sealed and painted to prevent any leaks/drips etc. The stand was painted using a high impact resistant black paint.

Lighting:

3 LumenBrights reflectors
3 250W IceCap MH Ballasts
3 IceCap 660 Ballasts
8 39W T-5 Bulbs above Tank
4 54W T-5 Bulbs above Sump

Flow:

1 Reeflo Hammerhead Return Pump (feeds 300G, Frag Tank, Chiller, Refuge and Media Reactors)
2 Vortecs
1 Tunze Wavebox 6212
1 Polario
1 Tunze 6125

Sump:

7'x30"W24"T Trigger Systems 1/2" Acrylic Sump with multiple chambers. Overflow feeds into a chamber, which feeds the Skimmer Chamber. Water than travels over a 4' DSB section which included 6" of sugar fine sand and then through a bubble divider into the return section. Drain built in on end allows for easy water changes, simply hook up a 1" hose and drain. Height of drain allows for 50-55G of water to drain out of sump.

Misc Details:

Tunze Osmolator ATO system attached via Magnet in the return section.
Bubble King 250 Deluxe Protein Skimmer
300lbs of Marshall Island and Bali Alor LR
Starboard Bottom

 

[DaveJ]

Let's start with the Stand itself. A friend in my local club is friends with a metal fabricator here in Fort Worth. After a few discussions and explaining what I wanted, we drew up a design and he had a structural engineer friend of his review the specs and design, made a few changes before approving of the weight requirements etc for the materials used. We made special pains to insure that the materials would hold up over time, given the requirement for no vertical supports down the length of the stand itself. This allows for total access and removal of the sump if that should ever be needed, but he did suggest we put a cross piece in the top at the end of the tank so the full border of the tank was supported completely. Stand actually only took 2 days to complete and was finished well before the tank showed up.

Steel Stand (unpainted)

 

[DaveJ]

Next, I borrowed (stole) a design I found here on RC for the light rack/fixture. The lights are going to be housed in a canopy, but I decided to utilize the design and further modify it to allow it to slide out for light changes and getting into the tank from above. Since this will be sitting in the middle of a room, a lifting mechanism was not an option. I toyed with a hyrdaulic lift idea for about half a minute, then decided against it.

I designed and spec'd out the needed parts and purchased them from eztube.com. I went with the composite connectors based on the other guys design, though now that its up and finished, I would recommend the steel core connectors for added rigidity. I had to put a couple of support plates into the rack to avoid sagging over the length of the rack itself. Currently there is a 1/4" sag in the rack which doesn't seem to be effecting the lighting at all. Since I was able to use a single run of the aluminum tubing on both sides, I am comfortable with the stability and strength at this time but it was a little worrisome until it was up.

Tubing all laid out and cut... you'll see the assembly and wiring, lighting etc go in down the thread.

 

[DaveJ]

Next was the painting of the stand.

And the building of the sump pan. Again this was epoxy sealed.

Then the tank arrived... the garage was filling up fast...

 

[jungliztkruger]

i'll enjoy watching as this progresses

 

[DaveJ]

The next big step was getting the room ready for the tank. I am utilizing my formal dining room as my tank room and running some things through the wall into a utility room. The room up this point had been carpeted. I told myself if I was going to install this big of a tank, I was going to make sure it was set on tile and not carpet. Carpet tends to stain and become a mess and there was NO WAY I was going to remove the tank to replace carpet.. so tile went in. Due to existing systems already in place, the tile is going into place in two stages, first was everywhere there wasn't a current tank and then once the new 300 was up, I would remove the old tank (140G) and the frag tank (65) and finish the tile, then re-install the frag tank and plumb it into the new system.

After talking it over with a client of mine, a tile manufacturer and importer, we decided that due to weight, water spillage and wear and tear that porcelin tile was the way to go. Some of the natural stone could handle the weight, but most of the natural products are porous and require sealing from time to time. Since the primary place I would need to re-seal every few years would be under the tank, we went with a product with a lifetime no stain warranty. I did use natural stone borders however.....

Before the carpet came up...

Then the fun started and the carpet and old tile was removed and the new tile laid down. Here are a few in-process shots and the final product before the tank went in.

 

[DaveJ]

And the final product, after grout and dry/buffing.

 

[Minibus]

Looks like the start of a great build!

I wanted to ask if you were going to do anything in addition to painting the stand? Like those truckbed liners?

 

[DaveJ]

Now that the floor was ready for the tank, I broke off from the system to do some support work. A tank of this size requires a lot of water, so I stole yet another idea from the gent I stole the light rack idea from and installed a similar system. It consists of 2 105G water storage containers plumbed together with a single pump to fill from the RO/DI into a saltwater mix tank. Using plumbing and valves, I put in two manual fill spouts and an output for a hose. When everything is completed, I will also plumb this fill line into the sump itself. So while the draining of the tank will be manual with a hose, gravity drained out the door, the filling with be done with a pump through PVC directly into the sump itself. No more barrels or carrying water......

I installed a 4x8 sheet of plywood on the wall in the garage and epoxy painted it. Then installed the new RO/DI unit from BRS on the wall, plumbed it into the water heater feed/drain. The stands painted with an exterior paint, not epoxy.


Two Water Tanks

Building the stands for the tanks... my buddy Hank helped me with this piece... he had all the tools and skills... now I have both after a bit of investment and rediscovering my woodshop knowledge.

Finished, painted and placed in the garage...

 

[DaveJ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14983607#post14983607 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Minibus
Looks like the start of a great build!

I wanted to ask if you were going to do anything in addition to painting the stand? Like those truckbed liners?

I thought about it... but after discussing it with the metal guy, he assured me once the paint I used was completely dry, it would be hard enough and protective enough to handle the job. The liner is a good product and a good way to go, but is probably overkill if you are not going to be banging it and stuff. The stand will be encased in a wood skirt, so there will be little wear and tear on it. The high impact, heat paint I used should be fine. I can always touch up anything that does end up chipping it.

 

[DaveJ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14983575#post14983575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jungliztkruger
i'll enjoy watching as this progresses

The nice thing is you'll get about 80% of it all up front I'll be posting for a few more hours and tomorrow to get it up to date.

 

[panaboy95]

where did you get those water tanks?

 

[DaveJ]

Then I took a break... well not really.. but back to the tank itself. A group of friends from the local club helped move the stand and tank into the house.

Had to remove the door of course... and then we used suction cups which made carrying the thing much easier... some shots of the move itself from the garage into the house.

 

[DaveJ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14983686#post14983686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by panaboy95
where did you get those water tanks?

A local place called Chappel Supply... they specialize in water storage for farms and stuff.

 

[DaveJ]

Then we got the pan set in.... and about a week later the sump was ready and put into place.

 

[DaveJ]

Then of course came the obligatory Mermaid shots. My club had a little nomination process and we drafted one of our members to pose in the tank. As luck would have it, I also got a friend of a friend to do a little posing as well.... just for laughs. Both were good sports about it.

 

[DaveJ]

Then it was time to morph into a plumber... a friend of mine who owns the LFS down the street was kind enough to plumb the main tank up while I worked on the water change system. It took a couple of long nights but everything got plumbed up with only one little leak that required a redo near the return pump. All in all, it was one of the easier plumbing jobs I had done, I guess practice does make perfect.

Water tanks..

 

[DaveJ]

Tank Plumbing....

Basic plumbing job really... 2 1" drains into a single 1.5" pipe connected to the sump. 1.5" drain plumbed into the Hammerhead, and 1" from the Hammerhead up the 1" returns. I put unions and union/valves at key points to allow removal of the sump or pump as needed.

Sump Drain

Return Pump.. you'll notice the capped off T, that will feed the frag tank and equipment room when this is completed.

 

[DaveJ]

And the obligatory plumbers crack shot to wrap up the initial plumbing requirements.

 

[DaveJ]

Then the LR came in. I managed to find some Marshall Island LR, vivid aquarium broke down one of their older sump systems and I happened to call them at the right time and was able to secure about 100+ lbs of it. I substituted the Bali Alor LR for the rest, it is very similar in structure and density to the Marshall Rock, so it matched very well. I also added some Tonga Slab that I had held at the LFS for a few months and some other select pieces I picked out.

MI LR..

Bali Alor

Boxes of LR