New 300 gallon tank project
- Thread starter mdh0215
- Start date
melev
Well-known member
Very nice build thread. I love your plumbing from the basement to the display tank.
For the future, if you get a spot that is too tight for unions and ballvalves, just stagger them. That provides the necessary space.
That chip you discovered was very strange. Glad you saw it early on and could get a replacement tank.
What happened with the partially covered air vent? Did you seal it off and install a new register somewhere else?
What is the underlayment beneath the frag tank? It's orange with black circles.
Congrats on getting the tank up and running. Now you can sit back and enjoy, right? :lol:
For the future, if you get a spot that is too tight for unions and ballvalves, just stagger them. That provides the necessary space.
That chip you discovered was very strange. Glad you saw it early on and could get a replacement tank.
What happened with the partially covered air vent? Did you seal it off and install a new register somewhere else?
What is the underlayment beneath the frag tank? It's orange with black circles.
Congrats on getting the tank up and running. Now you can sit back and enjoy, right? :lol:
cayenne
Premium Member
The partially covered air vent became the plumbing access hole from the first floor to the basement. There was a second register in that room so we are running on one of them, and the other one was diverted to the fish room.
What you see on the frag tank is two things. I will take better pictures once I get all of my SPS out of it. Right now it is isolated from the main system and everything is being treated prior to going the DT... Anyway, the orange that you see is a Yoga mat which seems to work very well for small flat bottom tanks instead of foam. The black circles are silicone "dollops" the tank was designed like an Elos with a second "floating" bottom pane, so what you see is the silicone used to seal the two pieces of glass together on the dry side.
I hope the sitting back and enjoying part is coming one day... I still have a ton of work to do before making it presentable, this weekends goal is to get all of the electrical boards cleaned up and see if I can figure out how to get my Tunzes to stop stirring up sand everywhere. I am hoping I won't regret going with Oolitic sand. Time to start laying out some wire duct.
cayenne
Premium Member
It's been several weeks since my last update, and they have been several VERY LONG weeks. I have been all over the country for work every week, and every weekend is spent trying to get this project cleaned up a bit.
We made good progress this weekend, and I am finally not embarrassed of the mess that has been present for the last couple of months. Also, the old 150 was broken down yesterday and is now at it's new home.
Most of the coral is out of the frag tank and in the display at this point. New growth is already evident, PE is good, and the colors are starting to come back as I get the chemistry dialed back in... Fighting water clarity issues though, the water column always has a lot of particulates in it. I am hoping it starts to clear up, been running two carbon reactors, and this week I am going to run filter socks on both drains as well to see if it helps.
Sump Room
DIY Probe Holder using acrylic and a Tunze Magnet
Bubble King doing it's job.
Equipment Room
Finally got my calcium reactor back online today. I have been waiting for the new electronic regulator to come in for a month. Pretty cool toy though.
Electrical Board
Frag Tank and 40G Fuge
We made good progress this weekend, and I am finally not embarrassed of the mess that has been present for the last couple of months. Also, the old 150 was broken down yesterday and is now at it's new home.
Most of the coral is out of the frag tank and in the display at this point. New growth is already evident, PE is good, and the colors are starting to come back as I get the chemistry dialed back in... Fighting water clarity issues though, the water column always has a lot of particulates in it. I am hoping it starts to clear up, been running two carbon reactors, and this week I am going to run filter socks on both drains as well to see if it helps.
Sump Room
DIY Probe Holder using acrylic and a Tunze Magnet
Bubble King doing it's job.
Equipment Room
Finally got my calcium reactor back online today. I have been waiting for the new electronic regulator to come in for a month. Pretty cool toy though.
Electrical Board
Frag Tank and 40G Fuge
cayenne
Premium Member
This forum has been way too quiet lately, so here are some new pics just for the sake of making some noise...
Melanie and I went on a shopping expedition yesterday and acquired a few new acro's and milli's , as well as a new Acanthurus Monroviae and Acanthurs Fowleri tang. Pics below of the Monroviae, but the Fowleri is shy and refuses to come out of his hiding place to take a picture. Lost a nice Blonde Naso Tang that I just purchased, so these two will fill the stocking list as far as tangs go...
ORA Pearlberry
Female Clarkii giving me the eye... I guess I am bothering her. She is right about 5.5" inches and fat as can be.
Melanie and I went on a shopping expedition yesterday and acquired a few new acro's and milli's , as well as a new Acanthurus Monroviae and Acanthurs Fowleri tang. Pics below of the Monroviae, but the Fowleri is shy and refuses to come out of his hiding place to take a picture. Lost a nice Blonde Naso Tang that I just purchased, so these two will fill the stocking list as far as tangs go...
ORA Pearlberry
Female Clarkii giving me the eye... I guess I am bothering her. She is right about 5.5" inches and fat as can be.
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NbMaxx13
New member
Excellent pics brother! ... really glad to see someone utilizing a QT tank...... What about the corals? What are you doing to be sure to rid yourself of pests before the corals enter the display? This is something I think a lot of newer reefers don't know enough about until too late, would probably be helpful to a few folks if you shared your method, and I am always curious to see how everyone does it in thier own way..... Again .. Tank looks great .. you guys are doing a great job...
JagerEinheit
New member
Beautiful corals, did you get those from UA or out of richmond? glad to see the system thriving after all of your hard work.
cayenne
Premium Member
My standard procedure these days for new corals, is a standard dose of TMPCC, followed by a 1.5x concentration of TLF Revive, then finally an Iodine dip. After each of these steps I inspect the coral and the container for possible pests. If I suspect anything at all, I will then close the valves to isolate the frag tank from the rest of the system and inspect further under MH lighting. I can then treat for red-bugs or AEFW if needed from there without risking anything on the main system and remaining completely isolated.
Thanks for the compliment. Most of the corals came from local club members, the internet, or other stores across the country. Haven't visited UA in quiet some time now, try to visit the Richmond stores and VA Beach stores when we have time though...
cayenne
Premium Member
As we have been taking all of these picture throughout this project, I have become more and more disenchanted with my Point & Shoot camera. Today I finally bit the bullet and dropped the cash on a new DSLR. Here is a couple of pics that I shot this evening, still learning everything on it, but so far it has performed wonderfully with my limited knowledge.
All of these were taken free hand with the standard 18-55mm lens, but I did breakout the 55-250mm lens and tripod earlier and had some fun with it.
All of these were taken free hand with the standard 18-55mm lens, but I did breakout the 55-250mm lens and tripod earlier and had some fun with it.
Virginia Reef
New member
Nice pics with new camers.
Don't know which of you pulled the trigger on the Midas Blenny but you will love it. I used to have one. It had a habit of backing into its very skinny cave and sit there with its head out looking at us. Love the body swimming pattern as well.
Don't know which of you pulled the trigger on the Midas Blenny but you will love it. I used to have one. It had a habit of backing into its very skinny cave and sit there with its head out looking at us. Love the body swimming pattern as well.
JagerEinheit
New member
Any updated photos or information for the new month? 
cayenne
Premium Member
Been awhile since I did an update... Been focusing on fine tuning things, and working on the overall stability of the system.
Last weekend I added 60 lbs of larger grain aragonite to cover most of the sugar sized sand that was originally used. In a high flow tank, it was impossible to have nice clear water with. the sugar sized sand. Seemed like there was always sediment floating around.
Added a 1000W Titanium Heater this morning to the system. Now that cooler temperatures are creeping in on us, the system was fluctuating 3-4 degrees a day, and struggling to keep temperature when the MH's were off. This will fix that
Here are a few pictures I snapped quickly this afternoon. They are slightly over saturated, and I was taking them free hand without a tripod, but overall they came out okay.
Tang Playground
Blennies Hanging Out
Last weekend I added 60 lbs of larger grain aragonite to cover most of the sugar sized sand that was originally used. In a high flow tank, it was impossible to have nice clear water with. the sugar sized sand. Seemed like there was always sediment floating around.
Added a 1000W Titanium Heater this morning to the system. Now that cooler temperatures are creeping in on us, the system was fluctuating 3-4 degrees a day, and struggling to keep temperature when the MH's were off. This will fix that
Here are a few pictures I snapped quickly this afternoon. They are slightly over saturated, and I was taking them free hand without a tripod, but overall they came out okay.
Tang Playground
Blennies Hanging Out
