My 300 Gallon Nightmare!!!
- Thread starter rberrie
- Start date
jbrown11352
New member
Where are the pics of todays progress? Your teasing us! LOL
Now We're Cooking!!!!
Now We're Cooking!!!!
OK!!! Now we're on the move!!! We finished all of the systems except for the UV, the reactors. some of the Aquacontroller stuff, which includes the electronic actuated ball valve because the Aquacontroller controls the ball valve for the closed loop. For some reason, the outside Aquacontroller HD4 box is not responding to commands. The fuse is ok so it might be the length of the telephone cord that connects all the boxes together. The other two boxes are working. I will speak with Kurt and figure out what to do. Everything else is in place and working great.
I collected over 400 pounds of rock over the past month and I have been curing it outside in my side patio. Most of it is Haitian lettuce rock and looks great! It is very fragile however and will be used as ledges and interesting shapes on top of my Kaelini and Marshall Island.
Most of the rock was placed in the aquarium to continue to cure without any sand. I will be using only 60-70% of the best pieces to aquascape once the rock is cured. The rest I will sell. In a few days, i will be placing a whole bunch of snails and crabs to help curethe rock and cycle the tank.
Once the rock is fully cured, in a week or two, I will remove all the rock, drain the tank and clean all the detritus out of the tank. Then we will select the best pieces of rock and aquascape a center island with two sloping sides with caves and ledges.
Enjoy...I certainly am!
With the MH off and just the T5 actinic and daylight bulb.
Now We're Cooking!!!!
OK!!! Now we're on the move!!! We finished all of the systems except for the UV, the reactors. some of the Aquacontroller stuff, which includes the electronic actuated ball valve because the Aquacontroller controls the ball valve for the closed loop. For some reason, the outside Aquacontroller HD4 box is not responding to commands. The fuse is ok so it might be the length of the telephone cord that connects all the boxes together. The other two boxes are working. I will speak with Kurt and figure out what to do. Everything else is in place and working great.
I collected over 400 pounds of rock over the past month and I have been curing it outside in my side patio. Most of it is Haitian lettuce rock and looks great! It is very fragile however and will be used as ledges and interesting shapes on top of my Kaelini and Marshall Island.
Most of the rock was placed in the aquarium to continue to cure without any sand. I will be using only 60-70% of the best pieces to aquascape once the rock is cured. The rest I will sell. In a few days, i will be placing a whole bunch of snails and crabs to help curethe rock and cycle the tank.
Once the rock is fully cured, in a week or two, I will remove all the rock, drain the tank and clean all the detritus out of the tank. Then we will select the best pieces of rock and aquascape a center island with two sloping sides with caves and ledges.
Enjoy...I certainly am!
With the MH off and just the T5 actinic and daylight bulb.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7077832#post7077832 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by alien9168
Looking good.
Are you going to use a standpipe to adjust the water level in the overflow?
-alien
We raised the standpipe to raise the water level in the overflow to cut down on the noise. It worked like a charm! The tank is almost silent. We did not have room for a durso pipe in the overflows because the holes were 2" and the return was 1". The drains were supposed to be 1.5". Anyway, there wasn't any room for a durso, so we just made a standpipe with a 45 degree intake and that seemed to do the trick. The overflows are surrounded by eggcrate to prevent critters fron getting into the overflows and clogging the drain.
Thanks for tagging along.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7079931#post7079931 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Richard, your tank is too full.
Everything looks great. Don't worry about microbubbles right now, as these will clear up on their own within 14 days as everything slimes over. I see you have some sponge material in between two of the bubble trap baffles.
Marc,
Again thank you for tagging along, your input is greatly appreciated. You have been a source of information, inspiration and a great sump!
The rock being cured is way more than I will need, however in order to create the kind of aquascaping I have in mind, I needed a large selection to be able to choose the best cured pieces. The rest will be sold. I will probably only use 60-70%.
Strangely enough, there are little or no microbubbles. The skimmer is starting to pull some gunk out only a few hours after I hooked it up. Everything is working beautifully. The only concern I have, is that there seems to be a lack of any living organisms among the rock. I checked this evening with a flashlight, and could not find anything moving around. I hope my rock is still bioactive.
The black material between the baffles is a very wiry floss that helps reduce bubbles and traps large debris. I will be placing a 100 micro filter bag in the sump in the next few days depending on the detritus load.
Jeff,
Please give me a link to your setup. I would love to read about your system. I am inclined to continue to be patient and wait before adding livestock to the aquarium for a few months other than a cleanup crew. I beleive that a tank should be well seasoned and very stable before adding livestock. The only real problem I have is that i have two other tanks that I would like to breakdown as soon as possible. Way too much maintenance and money, effort, etc. I was hoping to add most of the livestock from these tanks to the 250 as possible.
We'll see how it plays out. Thanks for your comments and support.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7080084#post7080084 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NexDog
That rock is very original. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Your room is beautiful - Tank, Entertainment Center and a Bar......perfection.
Laurence,
I really appreciate your comments! I have been following your thread for months. I have learned a lot form you and really enjoyed seeing the build from the ground up. Not to mention the patience and cost of building a tank like yours in Japan where so much had to be shipped from the U.S.
The rock is Haitian Lettuce Coral. I live in South Florida, about an hour from Miami. The main importer for this rock actually helped to deliver my tank. He is moving to Puerto Rico to run a fish farm or something and was selling all of his rock for $3/lb. I ran down to him on Monday and cherry picked the best he had available out of 3000 pounds. I was supposed to only buy 100lbs or so. I ended up with 274lbs.!
The rock is gorgeous and very light. But it is very fragile. I will use it on top of other more heavy rock.
Thanks for tagging along and I really look forward to hearing from you again.
As far as aquascaping goes, I believe in negative space. I think that it is dramatic and aesthetic to have wonderful rock structures without dominating the tank with rock. Allowing open space and sand be part of the overall look of the aquarium. Some people try to create micro environments or a slice of a reef which incorporates very dense rock and coral design. And then there are others that are trying to create macro reefs or miniature reefs that give a broader view of a reef environement. Where open space and sand are more pronounced. I prefer the latter.
Steven Weist's oregonreef.com has been my main inspiration for this aquarium. It is amazing what one can accomplish with vision. He is the apex as far as i am concerned in home reefs. I hope to have only a fraction of the success that he has with his reef.
The following are photos of aquascaping that I have found most interesting and appealing.
Unknown origin, I beleive that this is a Japanese tank. If anyone knows the origin of these tanks, please let me know.
Steven Weists Aquarium:
This tank is the closest to what I want to accomplish. The dimensions of this tank most closely resemble mine and I think that this tank has great potential. Again I saved the photo without an address. So its origin is unknown.
Steven Weist's oregonreef.com has been my main inspiration for this aquarium. It is amazing what one can accomplish with vision. He is the apex as far as i am concerned in home reefs. I hope to have only a fraction of the success that he has with his reef.
The following are photos of aquascaping that I have found most interesting and appealing.
Unknown origin, I beleive that this is a Japanese tank. If anyone knows the origin of these tanks, please let me know.
Steven Weists Aquarium:
This tank is the closest to what I want to accomplish. The dimensions of this tank most closely resemble mine and I think that this tank has great potential. Again I saved the photo without an address. So its origin is unknown.
mike660r
New member
The true reality of having rock walls and columns is that it doesn't allow for places to put corals. You never truely know how a coral is going to grow and if you are going to have to reposition it down the road. I had started off my 180 gal tank with close to 375 lbs of LR. It only took a year of good SPS growth to figure out that I had way to much in there. I know that new tanks look so much better with something in them. Most of the time rock is the easiest thing to install to give the appearance of substance. However, down the road once corals are growing good. You will find yourself taking everything apart to aquascape the tank all over again. I just wanted to speak my opinion since you are in the aquascaping phase.
Your system looks like a work of art. I truely enjoy a well thought out installation.
My hat is off to you and your helpers.
Mike C
Your system looks like a work of art. I truely enjoy a well thought out installation.
My hat is off to you and your helpers.
Mike C
Mike,
Your comments are excellent and I totally agree. I hope you can see from the examples I posted above that I want to provide plenty of space for coral growth and negative space in general. The rock in the tank at the moment is only to cure and then choose the best pieces to create a macro environement.
The last three photos are close to the layout I am trying to achieve but I agree that I will have to make them much shallower to allow for growth.
I think that the design will evolve over time and I am giving myself a lot of time to design and redesign the rock work to achieve the best balance. I have found that what you originally planned very often changes as you live with it for some time. I will allow for these changes by not anchoring most of the rock until I am satisfied that it is what I ultimately want.
You will see a number of variations in the rockwork over the next few weeks and months. This will allow me to cycle the tank and keep me busy rearranging the rock so that i will not be so impatient as to add livestock prematurely.
The one real disadvantage to my system that the other ones pictured above have is depth. I really wished I had made the tank deeper. Currently it is 24" on the sides and 32" at the front of the bow. I should have gone at least 30" and 36" respectively. There were many factors involved including trying to work the other systems into the wall unit and make my wife happy. ie. the Media section and the bar section.
Compromise is an evil word, but necessary in order to survive!
Your comments are excellent and I totally agree. I hope you can see from the examples I posted above that I want to provide plenty of space for coral growth and negative space in general. The rock in the tank at the moment is only to cure and then choose the best pieces to create a macro environement.
The last three photos are close to the layout I am trying to achieve but I agree that I will have to make them much shallower to allow for growth.
I think that the design will evolve over time and I am giving myself a lot of time to design and redesign the rock work to achieve the best balance. I have found that what you originally planned very often changes as you live with it for some time. I will allow for these changes by not anchoring most of the rock until I am satisfied that it is what I ultimately want.
You will see a number of variations in the rockwork over the next few weeks and months. This will allow me to cycle the tank and keep me busy rearranging the rock so that i will not be so impatient as to add livestock prematurely.
The one real disadvantage to my system that the other ones pictured above have is depth. I really wished I had made the tank deeper. Currently it is 24" on the sides and 32" at the front of the bow. I should have gone at least 30" and 36" respectively. There were many factors involved including trying to work the other systems into the wall unit and make my wife happy. ie. the Media section and the bar section.
Compromise is an evil word, but necessary in order to survive!
