E_Aquatics
New member
I ended up ordering 8 fixtures. If 6 turn out to be enough I'll just use one for my refugium and the other I'll keep as backup if one ever failed.
Eric's 300Gal Build!
- Thread starter E_Aquatics
- Start date
I ended up ordering 8 fixtures. If 6 turn out to be enough I'll just use one for my refugium and the other I'll keep as backup if one ever failed.
E_Aquatics
New member
Thats a good idea about building a tank behind my sump that runs the entire length of the sump. I don't have much room but I will see what I can come up with.
I will have two sheets of black acrylic silicone to both side of the fuge to stop light from spreading to the other sections. The entire back of the sump will be painted back on the exterior side.
usingthejohn
New member
Thank you for sharing. As I'm getting a new tank built I'm intrigued by the use of an internal coast to coast vs external coast to coast.Here are the photos you requested. If you want to see something specific just let me know but its really simple. I used two pieces of 1/4" glass that run the entire length of the tank and then covered the front glass of the overflow with a sheet of 1/8" black acrylic to hide the bulkheads and pvc fittings. The bottom glass of the overflow I left it as is so that it doesn't create a shadow.
Sorry about the mess in the background but my garage is a mess with everything I got going on with this build.
In your opinion why aren't these utilized as much?
Should be a good one.
As far as the clear overflow bottom, the only problem is keeping it clean. It will collect algae and coralline as with all surfaces, but it will be harder to clean back there. So it still will most likely have a shadow over time.
Set up your lights correctly to offset most of the shadow.
As far as the clear overflow bottom, the only problem is keeping it clean. It will collect algae and coralline as with all surfaces, but it will be harder to clean back there. So it still will most likely have a shadow over time.
Set up your lights correctly to offset most of the shadow.
E_Aquatics
New member
Int vs. Ext C2C overflow are almost the same other than one is inside the tank (lower possibility for leaks) and the other is silicone to the back of the tank (higher chance of leaks if silicone is not properly applied). I think internal works better because you get better surface skimming. The advantage of the ext c2c is that you get more room inside the tank and won't have a shade in the back of your tank.
In my opinion C2C overflows aren't utilized as much because this is for more advanced hobbyist in the sense that this is more of a DIY project unless you have a tank custom build. It is easier and cheaper for tank manufactures to drilled a couple of holes on the bottom of a tank and put a round or square overflow box than doing a c2c int or ext overflow box. This is just my opinion but I could be wrong.
E_Aquatics
New member
You got a point there"¦ totally forgot about that. What do you mean by "set up your lights correctly" How would you place them to avoid getting a shadow?
E_Aquatics
New member
Update: 11/16/2014
Sorry for the quietness but the build has been going slow due to time constrains but I got a lot accomplish this weekend.
Stand, Canopy and doors were painted about 2 weeks ago. Two coats of Satin paint (applied with air paint gun) and two brushed coats of satin polyurethane.
Next the tank and sump were drilled and the back of both tank were painted with Latex flat black paint.
Today we brought in the tank and placed it on the stand.
Funny thing was the tank didn't fit on the stand :headwalls:. When I built the stand the front and side panels were raised 1-1/2" to hide the black trim of the tank so the tank had to slide inside the two side panels of the stand. I made the stand 8' and 1/8" and the tank is 8'. Not sure if the wood adsorb moisture or what but it just didn't fit. What I did to make it fit was cut off the portion of the black trim that goes up on both sides of the tank and that made it fit perfectly.
The black trim glass cages uses is just to "hide" the bottom bracing and silicone it serves not structural support like the trim on Marineland tanks or any other pre-manufactured tank so no worries there.
I have some pictures and a video for you guys. Sorry for the spanglish on the video lol.
Drilling the tank on Friday night. For some reason the drill bit looks crooked but it was going in straight.
Tank ready to be painted"¦
Stand inside the house (bad quality image, but it will do for now)
Rolling the tank to the front door on furniture dollies (I'am the one with the black shirt)
Sliding it inside the house.
We were discussing if 4 people was going to be enough to lift the tank 40" off the ground to slide it into the stand. We ended up doing it with 5 people. It wasn't easy but we got it done and nobody lost a finger :loll:
Trying out the canopy and to get a glimpse of how everything is going to look once is finished.
Just need to get the doors installed and once the plumbing is done the tank will only be about 6 inches off the wall.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAacFRu7Mtk&feature=youtu.be
Sorry for the quietness but the build has been going slow due to time constrains but I got a lot accomplish this weekend.
Stand, Canopy and doors were painted about 2 weeks ago. Two coats of Satin paint (applied with air paint gun) and two brushed coats of satin polyurethane.
Next the tank and sump were drilled and the back of both tank were painted with Latex flat black paint.
Today we brought in the tank and placed it on the stand.
Funny thing was the tank didn't fit on the stand :headwalls:. When I built the stand the front and side panels were raised 1-1/2" to hide the black trim of the tank so the tank had to slide inside the two side panels of the stand. I made the stand 8' and 1/8" and the tank is 8'. Not sure if the wood adsorb moisture or what but it just didn't fit. What I did to make it fit was cut off the portion of the black trim that goes up on both sides of the tank and that made it fit perfectly.
The black trim glass cages uses is just to "hide" the bottom bracing and silicone it serves not structural support like the trim on Marineland tanks or any other pre-manufactured tank so no worries there.
I have some pictures and a video for you guys. Sorry for the spanglish on the video lol.
Drilling the tank on Friday night. For some reason the drill bit looks crooked but it was going in straight.
Tank ready to be painted"¦
Stand inside the house (bad quality image, but it will do for now)
Rolling the tank to the front door on furniture dollies (I'am the one with the black shirt)
Sliding it inside the house.
We were discussing if 4 people was going to be enough to lift the tank 40" off the ground to slide it into the stand. We ended up doing it with 5 people. It wasn't easy but we got it done and nobody lost a finger :loll:
Trying out the canopy and to get a glimpse of how everything is going to look once is finished.
Just need to get the doors installed and once the plumbing is done the tank will only be about 6 inches off the wall.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAacFRu7Mtk&feature=youtu.be
jamesamantha
New member
Beautiful setup! I would google "Marco rock slime" and read some of those threads. Consider cycling the rock outside the tank or at least don't add sand to your tank for a few months. I had that rock in a cube and had a year of unrelenting nasty slime. Not trying to be a downer...experiences do vary with Marco rock.
Looking forward to your progress! Should be awesome...
Looking forward to your progress! Should be awesome...
Shawn O
Active member
When your wife said "Did you measure it right?" I almost died laughing. Mine would have said "Good job Einstein! Measure once, cut twice." Must have been a sinking feeling you had at that moment. Glad you got it fixed. It's looking great so far. Are you putting doors on it or pop out panels?
E_Aquatics
New member
Thank you all!! When I first heard the tank didn't fit I wanted to die lol I didn't even want to think about taking the tank off the stand and making modifications to the stand. Im glad it was an easy fix.
I was cracking up when I first heard my girlfriend in the video saying it didn't fit. I think she was more surprised than me lol.
tangtang clown
New member
Looking Good Eric! How, "End the End" did you make it fit? Did you take off the side trim? I read above about how you removed some of the now load baring black trim.
When did you have to drill holes? Just curious cause I made the back of my 125 look " swiss cheese" style.
Thanks for motivating me to upgrade from my 125!
When did you have to drill holes? Just curious cause I made the back of my 125 look " swiss cheese" style.
Thanks for motivating me to upgrade from my 125!
E_Aquatics
New member
E_Aquatics
New member
So Im about to start cutting glass for my sump and before I do that I wanted to share the design or placement of the baffles to see what you guys think. Im pretty much set on the order everything will be placed. I mostly need help with the height of the baffles and whether or not I should keep that at that height or lower them.
Click on the image to make it bigger
Click on the image to make it bigger
E_Aquatics
New member
Got all the baffles cut out…
skizzard22
New member
I have been Following along since the beginning! It is really inspiring to see you do all this yourself! I would love too, i just don't know if I have the patience. I am looking forward to seeing you stock this thing!!
E_Aquatics
New member
Sometimes I wish I would had gotten everything already done (tank would probably be filled by now) but I enjoy doing things myself so Im okay with the extra time its taking to get it all done. It'll be worth it at the end or at least I hope so :fun2:
