My 300 gallon acrylic tank

[bosworth]

What you need to rent is a gas powered chop saw with a diamond blade, the type used for cutting concrete. Thery are typically used for cutting driveways or pavers. It will slice through that wall in a matter of minutes. The only problem is you will have to cut a little past your drawn lines. Dont forget to hook up a hose to it when your cutting or dust will be everywhere.

 

[jnarowe]

saw that on Modern Marvels last night! :lol:

 

[psusocr]

get a core drill with a diamond bit, you can rent them. We use them all the time to dril through asphalt, concrete, rock etc. etc and we get 4-6" diamond bits that cut through like butter..

 

[steve the plumb]

HD here doesn't charge for wear on the bit.I have drilled holes before(I am a plumber after all)I did think of the wet saw.I am going to HD tomorrow to rent either the drill or the saw.I spent a few hours cleaning 300 pounds of sand.What a pain this was.I placed it out in the tank

 

[steve the plumb]

The top layer is the thin sand the bottom is the oolite

 

[steve the plumb]

Its a good 3 inches of sand 305 pounds to be exact.

 

[steve the plumb]

I should be getting the spaflex by next week(I hope)This way I can plumb my 8 way.I want to get that hole cut so I can run my drain and return lines then buy a sump.I will see what can be done.

 

[jnarowe]

Doh! That's right, you ARE a plumber! :lol:

So what I think you will find is that the fine sand will filter down through the coarse sand and you will end up with a compacted region on the tank bottom and the coarse sand on top.

 

[steve the plumb]

Jnarowe I pretty much figured that was going to happen.I started with the coarse sand because I bought 15 pound bags so they were more easy to clean.I could have split the 50 pound bags(witch I did) I chose to clean the lighter bags first.The thin sand was 40 pound bags(I used 3) I will buy more of that type of sand for my fudge.I also bought a little toy Hanna Phosphate Colorimeter.I Should get it next week.Spending all my money on this tank HE HE.(':lol:')
lol

 

[jnarowe]

I would be interested in what your experience is like when you get the Hanna. I have often contemplated getting one ,yself, or maybe a multi-meter, but have been told that they need to be calibrated a lot.

So you are putting in sand and I am taking sand out! I know cleaning it is a total PITA. I only put about 60 lbs. in my display but over 400 lbs. in my RDSB.

 

[steve the plumb]

I was thinking of going BB but I don't like the look.I am going to try to put a nice size dsb in my sump.I am concerned about what will happen 5 years down the road.Will my sand become a nitrate factory.Is sand the best thing in a tank once all of it becomes exausted.I am thinking of getting a H&S de-nitrate reactor(later on).Have you had problems due to sand getting to exausted or having to much detrius over the years.

 

[jnarowe]

It's a long story but I will try to abreviate it as much as I can. My initial plan was to copy Steve Weast's method of having just enough sand in the viewable areas of the display so that it "looked" good, and to use the RDSB as a flitration device.

The idea with the display is to vacuum regularly and replace sand as needed...so that didn't happen because I had a hard time due to the depth of my tank, and what I was supposed to do according to my own plan, was swap out 1/3 of the DSB every 6 months, thereby always having fresh sand.

The problem is that it's hard work, and terribly inconvenient in terms of access, so I never got around to it. So then I have had various issues come down on my system all at once, and decided I had better check into the sand situation. Sherman and I tested the system water which showed zero nitrates, phosphates, etc., but when we stirred the RDSB sand and sampled it, the PO4 was off the Merck chart. We pulled the RDSB sand and I got it just in time because it hadn't clumped up yet, and there was no foul odor.

My plan for the bottom of my tank now is to populate it with a variety of zoanthids, like wall-towall carpeting.

 

[steve the plumb]

Yes I have read were its good to take out your sand every 6 months.I plan maybe to do half changes in my remote dsb.That or a denitrate reactor.The thought of changing out sand is a pain.I am wondering if sand sifting cleanup crew will be enough.I know the goal is to keep the sand in the tank as clean as can be.I hope that I don't have to remove al the sand in my tank because I may aswell go with a BB tank.Less headache in the long run but not as nice to look at till all the coraline grows.What about buying a pod package,does this help.

 

[jnarowe]

less headache and probably more control. Most people in the hobby think sand is the more "natural" way to go, and there are many successful tanks with DSBs, but I would venture to say that those are kept by reefers that are also doing other things to stave off a crash. I just find that unless you are willing to swap ou the sand, the risk:reward ratio is very out-of-balance.

Sand-sifting creatures, IMO, are just another marketing ploy. What they do is not "sift" the sand but eat the benthic animals in the sand. Once they have eaten them all, then what? And besides, just because they "clean" the sand, doesn't mean they are exporting the nutrients. The nutrients still come out the other end! The most well balanced systems I have ever seen have zero sand dwelling creatures.

And the thing I hate most (currently) are cleanup crew "refresh" packs. What a scam...They are just selling stuff they know will die off and make you spend more money and waste more lives. Ever wonder why stores don't sell snails that breed in captivity? The commercial side of this hobby has gotten us used to the idea that it is acceptable to lose animals, and just replace them.

It's sort of like the US population has been led to believe that their homes are "assets", when in fact they are actually liabilities. I call it cash flow brain washing. Then people sell their homes for double what they bought them for, and think they have made money, but the reality is the home is not worth more, their money is worth less, and they paid a huge percentage in interest for the interim. We are trained to believe that is "OK" because we are "writing it off" but the sad truth is that we are still spending the money and the concept of writing off your interest is merely a pacifier.. what are we writing it off against? Oh yeah, the money we owe the government. (ooops...off on a tangent! )

As far as pods go, you can seed your tank with local pods. You can go to any beach, flip over a rock, and scoop them up by the hundreds. We do it here, and in fact one of the major pod brands locally are NorthWest pods that have been acclimated to warm water.

I am not sure I buy into the denitrate reactor thing. Th eones I have seen are either elaborate sand/rock/bacteria filters, or sulfur. I know Steve Weast has one on his cold water tanks, but wether they work or not stills seems to be a question.

 

[Hop]

Not that it matters, but I'll be doing what has worked for me all along. About 1-2" of sand in the viewable areas. I'll stir it and syphon out crud once a month. Large volume of water compared to the bioload and pray for the best:lol:

BTW my tank should be here next week My wetroom is almost completely done, but I bet Steve has his rolling before I got mine done

 

[pcostanzo]

I do what Hop does. Only about an inch of sand and make sure I siphon regularly. Jonathan, what do you mean about the captive bred snails? I know you have a snail growout tank.

 

[steve the plumb]

I can always take some sand out and keep it for the sump.I would rather do it now then later.I know that the sand can become a nitrate factory.What about fish that like to dig.Save me the hassle of cleaning the sand.I will use filter socks on return drain.My skimmer will be oversized and I may get the H&S sulfer de-nitrate reactor.I want to start off right.My friend has his 125 for 2 years now and the tank runs fine.He has a good 4 to5 inches of sand and the sand gets moved around.I also don't want to overstock the tank with to many fish.I plan to get some gobies,mandarin,tangs,trigger fish,sea cucumber,starfish,snails,other inverts aswell.I don't want to get to many fish like I had in my old 150.I want enough fish but not overcrowd them to the point where they bump into each other.I may plan to get more fish but smaller fish.

 

[steve the plumb]

I was wondering how much sand is to much for a 300 gal tank.It looks like you guys say 1" and syphon it out often or at least every 6 months.If the sand gets moved around and the detrius gets suspended and tossed into my overflow and becomes filtered by my chetto and remote dsb then the skimmer is this good enough.Maybe I should remove 100 pounds of sand(after putting it in the tank) More work on my part but easy to do now vs later.

 

[steve the plumb]

I checked I have 2" of sand all around maybe a little more in some spots but like I said 305 pounds of sand in a 300 gal tank.Is this a bad idea in the long run will this sand give me problems.Will I have to remove it down the line.If it gets moved around and all the crap goes into my filter will this be good enough to keep the tank clean.As far as pods go I am no where near an ocean so I can't collect any.Maybe if I go down to Atlantic city I can get some from the ocean.

 

[pcostanzo]

Also since you put the sand in first, when you put the rock in make sure its not on top of any of the sand. Be able to access it all with a siphon.