300 gal upgrade in progress.

[KSzegi]

I've finally made some real progress on the upgrade and just have to share with people who can fully understand my excitement! Plus I think it will help me stay both motivated and patient while it comes together over the next couple of months. Someone may quite possibly help me avoid a mistake in the process too!

Several months ago I purchased a used custom 300 gallon tank - deep dimension with eurobracing and external coast to coast. Turned into quite the project to get the tank cleaned out but it is finally looking like it was worth all the work! Plumbing, water and sand in last week. Yesterday I added about 80# of fresh live rock and a seeding of live sand. I am now contemplating how much more rock I will add new and how much I will transfer over from the 180 it is replacing.

Went with a water blaster pump and the bean animal system ..... wow, what an amazing difference .... I know it was supposed to be silent but guess I was still a bit skeptical. Not any more - can't hear a thing!

Ordered the new light today, am breaking the piggy bank open and went with a Genesis T5/led. Never thought I'd spend that kind of money on a light but hubby, God bless him, gave the okay - and he's a 'go big or go home' kinda guy so we decided to do it once and do it right. Poor Tim at Aquatics Elite was a real trooper putting up with me making the decision! What a great guy! Now the next 6 weeks is gonna be an awfully long wait ....

Stand will be done in black walnut, made by my dear ole Dad who is a great woodworker! Haven't decided yet upon a canopy ..... I don't want one and hubby does ..... I've said ok as long as it doesn't drive me insane trying to maintain the tank! Kind of a shame to hid the new fixture in a canopy though too .... so maybe that will change his mind! :bigsmile:

Well, thanks all for letting me share!

Heres a few pics documenting the progress.
Tank first in the house prior to clean-up!

Cleaned, painted, plumbed and filling!

Plumbing

 

[montethemoster]

Awesome build so far!! Keep up the good work and updates.

 

[florida reef]

Ohsnap. Looking good! If this is going to look anything like the reef to the right, we're in for another great build thread.

 

[xmetalfan99]

I love coast to coast overflows. Can't wait to see how the build progresses.

any ideas on other equipment.

 

[secretreefer]

Tag, you're it. i'm following along on this ride!

 

[KSzegi]

Thanks everybody!! Gonna be even more fun sharing! I'm hoping that I can make it even better than my "reef to the right". That was my first reef and I'm hoping to apply what I've learned, both good and bad!

I'm real excited about the overflow, it gives so much more usable room in the tank and from what I understand will be a lot more effective. As far as other equipment ...... I'm going to give my current skimmer a try for awhile and see if it is big enough. I have a bk mini 200 on the 180 and it more than keeps up with that. If I have to replace it I will probably stick with the bk and go a supermarin200. I've only dealt with a few skimmers and other than the worthless ones I started out with (one of those lessons learned) I've really like the swc cone i have on my 90 but I love the bk on the 180, it has just been too easy and works great. For powerheads I have 4 mp 40's - hoping to run one at each end and two on the back. Really, other equipment is minimal - running carbon passively, gfo in a tlf reactor. Will be using a liter meter III to set up my top-off and dosing. With this size tank I will probably be considering kalk or eventually a calcium reactor but for now I'm happy with just dosing two part!

Have a TECO tr20 chiller on the 180 that will transfer over ..... but hoping without the halides that it won't be needed much!

Not too exciting but when camera is charged tomorrow will post a pic of the sand and new rock! :bigsmile:

 

[KSzegi]

Majority of the new rock .... put it in the tank Wednesday evening along with a live sand seeding over the dsb already in the tank. Nitrates 20 today.

Had higher expectations from the rock but still some decent pieces..... and I chalk it up to another lesson .... hand pick the rock you want if at all possible! :bigsmile:

 

[thewackyreefer]

Wow, that's an awesome setup. Do you know who manufactured the tank? I've been finding it pretty difficult to find anyone willing to build an external overflow unless it's an acrylic tank.

Keep the pics comin!

 

[KSzegi]

Thanks! I believe the guy I bought it from said it was OCEA that had made the tank - in Alabama.

 

[Aquaph8]

Sweet setup. Love the height of your stand. Your gonna love it higher up. Makes it harder to reach in but the view is worth it. Good luck with the transfer.

 

[VegasRick]

Looking good. Looks like your off to a good start. FWIW I run 400w halides with no chiller and temp stays under 81.

 

[KSzegi]

Not much to report but have done a few more things to get ready for the 'big move'! Added a detrivore kit, some mixed pods, snails (nerite, cerith, nassarius & a large fighting conch that was bulldozing too much in my 90) and a group of 5 chromis. Also added just a little bit of light .... had a couple of old pc's sitting around so threw those over the tank and running them for about 6 hours a day.

Nitrates have gone down to around 2 but phosphate is running about .17. Have a new reactor on it's way to get hooked up to bring that number down. Also have a new heater on its way since the tank is only running at about 73-74 degrees and I'm gonna need to bump that up before making the transfer.

New light is due in around the 11th or so of November ..... but I'm thinking maybe I should make the move and use the old lights for a couple weeks to lessen the stress? Let them settle in a bit to the new home before changing the lights out on them too..... maybe I'm being too cautious but the whole transfer is really getting me nervous. Everything is doing so awesome in the 180 right now that I want to do everything possible to make a smooth transfer! I'm paranoid that I'm going to lose livestock.....

The lighting on the 180 is a current outer orbit fixture - 3 x 150, using AB14k bulbs & 4 x 96w pc's, using the 420's .... supplemented with a reefbrite 50/50 vho and a regular reefbrite all blue. Moving to the 300 will be going under the Genesis T5/led fixture and keeping the reefbrites if needed.

Anybody have any advice? Go with old lights first ..... or just go with new light and dim down for awhile and acclimate slowly? I don't have a par meter to really compare but I'm going to assume that the new light will be higher! :bigsmile: I know that even when I move frags to my 90 which is lit by a 6 bulb ati ...... if not careful about placement they will bleach out for awhile.

 

[KSzegi]

Well, today was the big day ...... finally made the transfer from the 180 to the 300! Back is aching and house looks like a hurricane hit it but the transfer is 99% complete! Tomorrow I finish moving the equipment - skimmer, dosing pumps etc., try to get the last two fish - my hoevens wrasse pair - that eluded me today by hiding in one of the large rocks that I'm not moving over ..... and placing the last of the corals that are temporarily in my 90 gallon.

Not perfect but I'm happy with a hard day's work!

 

[Aquaph8]

looks great congrats on the upgrade.

 

[KSzegi]

Thanks!!

 

[spanko]

Very nice. You have some plumbing skills my friend!!!

 

[snyderusaf]

slightly jealous! Congrats on the upgrade

 

[bige]

Looks great!

 

[KSzegi]

Thanks all!!

No real plumbing skills ..... but learned a lot of what I didn't want to do from the 180 .... and tried to do my research and get it done right this time!!

Got the rest of the equipment moved over today and am very pleased that all of the coral looks happy and fish are content! I had figured the fish might hide out for a day or two but they actually are out more now than they were in the 180, guess they appreciate the more open scaping and the extra room to roam! Other than my pair of clowns anyway who have not found their anemone yet .... for a couple of fish who would never leave it before, they aren't being very smart about finding it again!

Must say I am so so much happier with the room in the new stand ..... the added height not only makes the tank better for viewing, but will make working under the tank a lot less of a headache!

Anxiously awaiting the new light now, should be here yet this week I'm hoping ... will update again when it arrives!

 

[KSzegi]

The new fixture finally arrived!! Had a bit of issues during shipping but Tim at Aquatics Elite has been just fantastic about making things right! Got it hung over the tank on Saturday and currently running it at only 40% to begin acclimating the tank to it. Really didn't know where to start with it - but all I know is seeing it at 100% - thank goodness its dimmable! :bigsmile:

So thought I'd post a picture of it over the tank. Excuse the cyano outbreak - first time I've had to deal with one and I'm not sure what's causing it. My nitrates are zero, phosphates at .03. But did just check the tds of my top off container and it was at 500 ...... so took that offline and will have to replace it I guess. Gotta say I always knew I was lucky not to have any issues with it ... but boy, it sure sucks!