300 Gallon upgrade

[dnov99]

Rich, want type of dehumidifier are you running? It cost a lot, but I purchased a Santa Fe, its energy star rated and an absolute beast. You have to make sure that its not under-rated for the area or else it will never shut off. Mine can drop the humidity levels about 20% in a few hours.

 

[Fish Brain]

The next step is to paint the panels and the bottom of the tank black. I don't want the lights of the controllers to shoot up at the tank during lights off. This was one thing that bothered me with the 215.

So I take it you are going bare bottom again with this tank?

 

[ricwilli]

Rich, want type of dehumidifier are you running? It cost a lot, but I purchased a Santa Fe, its energy star rated and an absolute beast. You have to make sure that its not under-rated for the area or else it will never shut off. Mine can drop the humidity levels about 20% in a few hours.

I have some LG cheapo dehumidifier that I got at walmart. The basement is normally not that humid. The problem is that I have that open 300 gallon tub down in the basement. The sooner I finish this build the faster I can shut the unit off.

So I take it you are going bare bottom again with this tank?

I'm not sure. What I might do is just add 3 bags of sand so that I can keep some fishs that like to be in the sand.

Now for some bad news..........

I am not happy with the hieght of the stand. I made the stand 34 inches tall and the tank is 25 inches tall. I still have to bend down too look inside the tank. I would like to raise it at least 6 inches more.
I was thinking of building a platform of 6 inches tall and putting the stand on top of it. I really dont know how secure this would be. I am really upset about this. What is the average height of a stand anyway?

 

[Fish Brain]

My standard Pine AGA stands are 28" high. Sit on a chair or couch and look at the tank, that's how most people enjoy their tank.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Rich, when I had freshwater tanks with store bought stands, I did not like how low they were. I would build risers using 2 x 6 dimensional lumber…..just like it was a joisted floor. These will hold a ton. You can finish it so it looks just like the stand. Here’s one of my old tanks (a 75) with a white 2 x 6 riser.

Now the only thing you need to do after you build one of these is to find a bunch of suckers, I mean volunteers, to come over and lift your tank and stand to put this underneath.

 

[ricwilli]

I think I'm going to take Brians advise. It will be to much work to build a riser and move the tank. Just thinking about move that tank makes me cringe.

 

[Fish Brain]

Sitting on the couch with a cold beer in your hand I'm sure will be a million times easier than building a riser, lifting and moving that tank. That tank just looks heavy, it's a giant wall of glass. LoL

 

[ricwilli]

Moving along........

Here is the tank with the bottom glass painted black.

I had to redo the plumbing again. Not all of it, just the double wye's. The returns are 1.5 inch and the returns are 1 inch.

All glued up.

I'm hoping to have water in the tank by the end of the week. I'm only planning on adding water and fish. The rocks are going to be curing in a 50 gallon barrel.

 

[howze01]

That plumbing is awesome! And those glass overflows....

This tank is already amazing, I can't imagine what's it's going to look like in a year!

 

[spotter]

looks great rich!!! What kind of paint did you use on the tank and did you do anything special to prep the glass? I will have to paint my tank when it arrives.

 

[Fish Brain]

Are you doing anything special with the overflows (painting or tinting them) or will you leave them clear like that?

 

[ricwilli]

Thanks

looks great rich!!! What kind of paint did you use on the tank and did you do anything special to prep the glass? I will have to paint my tank when it arrives.

Nothing special. Just cleaned the glass with windex and paint. I used Painter's Touch Flat Acrylic Latex Black General-Purpose Paint. I also used a roller not a brush. I've seen tanks where people used a brush and it doesn't look to good.

Are you doing anything special with the overflows (painting or tinting them) or will you leave them clear like that?

I have the covers for them in the garage. I keep forgetting to bring them in.

Today or tomorrow I plan on redoing my manifold in the basement. Its currently a 3 inch manifold. I'm going to make another one out of 2 inch and a lot less valves. I'm also thinking of replacing my Hammerhead return pump for a smaller one. I know a Barracuda will work but want something even smaller than that. Any suggestions?

 

[asonitez]

Hey rich your tank looks great man! I'm looking forward to seeing it setup! I'm awaiting delivery of my new tank now.. My tank is 30" tall though so I'm only making my stand 32" tall. Who ended up building your tank?

 

[TanksNStuff]

Wow, first time I had the chance to check this thread out Richie. I'm at a loss for words bud. All I can say is great job on everything you did.

Sorry about the war coral though. Would have been nice if that piece stayed together, but I'm sure it will grow back eventually.

 

[dnov99]

Richie, just a thought but you may want to consider doing your aqua-scape first and then filling it with water. It could be quite difficult to try and aqua-scape with the tank full of water.

 

[ricwilli]

Hey rich your tank looks great man! I'm looking forward to seeing it setup! I'm awaiting delivery of my new tank now.. My tank is 30" tall though so I'm only making my stand 32" tall. Who ended up building your tank?

Thanks. I wish my tank was tall also. It was a pain cleaning the bottom glass, but I got use to it. As of who made the tank; Craig did...... Craig WHO, you ask?....... Craiglist. LOL!
Just playing. When I picked it up from the guy, he said his lfs ordered it from him and he didn't know who made the tank. But, I'm willing to bet that it was made by Glasscage. You can tell by the horrible glue at the seams. I had to clean the glue up a little and now it looks better.

Wow, first time I had the chance to check this thread out Richie. I'm at a loss for words bud. All I can say is great job on everything you did.

Sorry about the war coral though. Would have been nice if that piece stayed together, but I'm sure it will grow back eventually.

Thanks. Yeah, it did hurt removing/scraping the war coral from the bottom glass of the tank. I wanted it to grow all on the bottom of the glass. I don't think I'll be doing again. If I can make it to this month meeting, I will bring some for the raffle. Not that it would compare to what Darrens bringing (Which by the way is one of the biggest reasons I want to go. lol)

Richie, just a thought but you may want to consider doing your aqua-scape first and then filling it with water. It could be quite difficult to try and aqua-scape with the tank full of water.

You have a point, but I'm going to cure my rocks for a couple of weeks. I really need to get that tub out from the basement. Maybe what I'll do is, when the rocks are ready to be put in the tank, I can remove most of the water and than put the rocks in.

 

[ricwilli]

Here is the tank all painted. Not to impress with it. I think to much black going on. Maybe when its all filled up with fish and corals, it will look different. I still have to add molding to the front panel. I also stopped at AO's today to pick up some loc-line for the returns. Finally, I was able to add the overflow covers.

Top of tank

I also want to take some par measurments of the AI's on my tank. I know this has been done millions of times, but I want to do it myself and keep it logged on this build thread. I'm going to take par with and without water. Again, tank measures 96L x 30W x 24H

I build this contraption to hold one of the led's since the rack is being used over the 300 gallon tub in the basement.

I placed the led in the middle of one of the four openings on top of the tank.

I might take the par readings tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

I think you will be okay with all the black,right now it is just empty and black, add the lights and coral and I believe it will come to life.

Looking forward to seeing the par readings with your fixture, both in and out of the water.

Liking this thread and build!

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

 

[Baxreefs]

I like the stand it'll look great once it's filled and lit up!

 

[lefkonj]

FYI: These rails http://www.incra.com/product_jfc_ttrackreg.htm hold the AI lights perfectly. I mounted these inside my canopy about 10" off the top of the tank.