Jerry's 300 Gallon Deep DimensionS RR Tank Build.

[tonyscoots84]

I would of checked phosphates in the water when rock was soaking in it. Just to see...

[Mustang67]

I just added them to some fresh saltwater in a 44 Gallon Rubbermaid pail today. I will check in the in the morning.

I first bleached then acid bathed the rock, although it came in dry and looking fairly clean, there was still quite a bit of decay that came off the rock,

[tommmys]

I have been using the reef octopus 250sss for a few months this thing is a beast and works awesome. I have a 300 gallon total system volume. I just got a ATI powermodule 60" and so far its great switched from radions been using powermodule for 1.5 weeks and can see a difference in sps already

[Mustang67]

Originally Posted by tommmys

I have been using the reef octopus 250sss for a few months this thing is a beast and works awesome. I have a 300 gallon total system volume. I just got a ATI powermodule 60" and so far its great switched from radions been using powermodule for 1.5 weeks and can see a difference in sps already

I thought about them and took sometime to read over the following thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2267719

I do have the Neptune Apex system and would like to be able to control the lights with this system, so the ATI's are out for me. That being said I bought one Radion G3 to try out for now. I have a feeling though that I will hold out on adding any additional lighting until the new Kessil system comes out, which is controllable by the Apex system.

[Mustang67]

Well, while I am waiting for my tank to arrive I decided to so some Aquascaping. I bought a bunch of dry rock from BRS (Thank you Andy for the nice pieces you sent). I bleached, Acid washed, and treated the rock to remove any toxic chemicals etc.

My tank is L 72xW 36x H 27

I do have about 100Lbs of live rock from my current 100 Gallon thank that I will transfer over to the new tank.

In preparation I used a wet saw with a diamond blade to cut the dry rock.
I also used a combination of Marco's E-Marco 400 Cement and EPO Putty to secure the pieces together.
For the larger piece on the right I made a cement base for it using a small box lined with a plastic bag, poured in the mix and let it set.

Here is what I have so far, and I am open to suggestions.

[Mustang67]

[Mustang67]

[Mustang67]

[Mustang67]

Tank update, finally received my tank stand and canopy. Rather disappointed they sent me the wrong tank! I ordered the Marineland 300 DD with Starphire glass. They send me one with std glass. Par for the course though, it has not been a good experience with this vendor at all. Just going to accept it for what it is and wait for them to swap it out. At this point I just want to get it in and set up. I ordered this back in late December!

While I am waiting I have been working on the sump and lights. I will post some photos in a few.

[Mustang67]

So I have put a lot of thought and work into my lighting set up. After reading quite a bit, it seems that most often than not members really seem to like the T5/Led combo. Due to being self-employed my time is limited, so I could not go with a true DIY configuration. So here is what I did.

I have a new Marineland Red Oak Monterey Canopy. Sprayed the inside with white Flex Seal (as seen on TV stuff). I did this for 2 reasons, 1 to provide a moisture proof barrier and the second for light reflection. And It’s also much easier to wipe the inside down.

In order to mount the Radion G3's I had to cut a strip of pine or additional brace, and secure it alongside the brace that came with the canopy. This gave me a set of wooden rails to secure the G3's to. The G3's are mounted with custom brackets. I simply took some galvanized "L" brackets and added an addition bend to them. Then I took some felt strips from Lowes and stuck them to the underside of the bracket. Only the portion of the bracket that comes in contact with the LED Light has felt on it.

The T5's (Qty 8) are retrofits from BRS. They came with the necessary mounting hardware. I ran them parallel from each other, The first row are two Coral Blues, the next Coral whites. Each has its own power cord, being that I am using the Apex unit with the power packs I can easily turn off or program any row of lights.

After testing all the lights I went to lows and picked up some wire loom stuff, tucked the wires in and secured them in with wire clamps.

[ReefSalt]

Sorry to hear that Mustang , thats odd I didn't even know Marineland supplied the standard glass on the DD series. The DD series comes with only the front as starfire glass.

[Mustang67]

[Mustang67]

Originally Posted by ReefSalt

Sorry to hear that Mustang , thats odd I didn't even know Marineland supplied the standard glass on the DD series. The DD series comes with only the front as starfire glass.

Yeah the LFS thought the same, its the distributor that has been the main source of the issues. Here is a pic, both sides say STD, then I thought perhaps not and looked at the glass and I do not see the green tint on the sides.

[ReefSalt]

thats a big screw up ,and a job to take it out and put the new one back in.

When I look at mine its almost clear all the way through from end to end slight bluish hue due to lights..

[Mustang67]

Thank you, good to know. I will be sure to check when the replacement comes in.

[Mustang67]

Quite a few updates:

I built about a 7ft x 5ft base/ platform to raise the tank up 12 inches which I feel was a great idea. The tank is in perfect view, no need to squat down to see everything.
The platform is built out of Qty. (2) 2x10's sandwiched, glued and screwed in together. 3/4 plywood on the bottom and on the top. Spaced and secured 16 inches apart. This helped with not only providing a better view of the tank but also helped spread out the weight of roughly 3,850 lbs. across the floor.

I prepped and sprayed the stand and base with 2 layers of Flex Seal, black for the stand and white for the canopy to help with light deflection. I also did this to help with salt residue and moisture.

Installed my 75 gallon DIY sump, I had a Regal 250sss skimmer, but had to return it and go with a Skimz Monzter 253DC skimmer due to clearance. I am very pleased with the new skimmer, after 72hrs its preforming very well.

Lighting has been set up and configured, the 5x Radion G3 lights have been mounted inside of the canopy along with the 8x T5 lights. 4x ATI 39w coral plus, 4x ATI 39W Blue Plus. Lighting is now plugged into and controlled by my Apex Neptune system. I love the Apex system.

Pulled out all of the 5 year old live rock and sand out of my 100 Gallon and put it in the new tank. Plumbed the tank, started it up and 3 weeks later all is well.

Next Steps, at least the ones I can remember.
• Install and set up a new breaker box 2x 20 amps.
• Order the new Red Dragon 230W pump as soon as it is available, hopefully soon.
• Make another DIY sump, one made out of Acrylic and one that will give me more clearance and a bit more volume
• Wire maintenance, wire maintenance, and more wire maintenance.
• Build and install a box for all of the Apex components.
• Completely re plumb the sump tank, now that it’s up and running and have a clearer understanding of what I want and what works best for the tank, I will take the time and properly plumb the new sump and I believe I have a few slick ideas.
• Install and plumb the emperor Aquatics UV 80watt sterilizer. Have a few slick ideas for this as well.
• Make a special DIY filter for any media, it will be a quick disconnect type and will probably make it out of an empty 10gallon salt bucket,
• Add 2x 10 Gallon DSB buckets with quick disconnects as well, they will be plumbed off to the side of the tank
• Design and install a R/O salt mix station… A summer project.

Lastly tank is up and running, everything looks good, all fish are healthy and doing well. Need to read up this weekend on Anemones and a few soft corals that I have, they are doing ok, but not looking great where as others are and thriving????

[Mustang67]

[OllieDog]

Are you planning to run the sump in stand?

[OllieDog]

Nevermind. I didn't read far enough... have you tried to get the skimmer cup in and out? Or the whole skimmer? That was my biggest problem with my 250DD.

[Mustang67]

Yes so the skimmer does not come out unless I pull the sump. I can get the lid off, pull the cup off, but not get the cup out of the sump. So for now I hook up a 3/4 ID hose to my shop vac and suck it out and man does that smell lovely. I am going to build a DIY Acrylic sump to fix the problem. If only Marineland went another 6 inches in height on the stand.

[jschultzbass]

Let me know how you like the Skimz. Their line looks pretty nice.

[2012Denali]

Looking good

[Mustang67]

Originally Posted by jschultzbass

Let me know how you like the Skimz. Their line looks pretty nice.

I don't have anything to compare to as this is my first professional Skimmer. However I can say this, it runs great, easy to tune, quiet, and produces very, very well. I have 30 fish in the tank, feed twice a day and all levels are remaining stable. I also like the fact that it is controllable, only minor complaint.... The directions are less then helpful.

[shocker444]

Nice build looks good

[Mustang67]

Originally Posted by shocker444

Nice build looks good

Thank you, going to build a new sump over the next few weeks. Once I get that done I should hopefully get on cruise control and make just minor changes when needed. That's the goal anyway