TiberianSun
Premium Member
Well the wife and I decided to do an upgrade prior to the holidays so we placed an order for a 300G cube tank (48x48x30). This tank will be used to replace a scratched 150G that was in our entry area. Here are the tank & equipment specifics:
48x48x30 Cube
Made by AGE and ordered through Mid Cities Aquarium
1" PVC bottom
3/4" starphire glass on the front & sides
2 wet overflows
2 dry overflows - sized to allow MP60's to be mounted inside
Lights - 4 Build My LED Custom Spectrum
Lights - 1 Build My LED Ac
Sump - Tideline
Skimmer - Reef Octopus Diablo DCRS 250 Recirculating Protein Skimmer
Return Pump - Diablo DC 10500
Skimmer Feed - Sicci Syncra Silent 2.0
Heaters - 1 800 watt & 1 500 Watt
Controller - Apex
Flow - 2 MP40's (we might end up having to change one out to a MP60)
Getting things started meant getting a stand design and built. Part of the tank will sit on a rock peninsula then the rest will sit on a steel stand. The plan is to house all of the tank's equipment under the stand while also leaving enough room on both sides of the stand for sitting/standing area.
This is where part of the tank will be sitting. The area over the rock peninsula is somewhat suspended which is why you see the foam pad under it. I know once I get the tank filled it will compress some which is what we were planning.
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Steel delivered:
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Steel cut (some of it):
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The stand will be broken into 3 sections with a wood topper under the tank. We had to build it this way because the largest entry to the room is shorter than the height of the rock peninsula. Also this allowed us to have a method to level the tank separate from the base of the stand and by default also gave us mounting areas for lights underneath.
Top layer of the stand. Note the notch on the back for the drains. This level spans between the steel stand and the rock peninsula.
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Middle layer of the stand:
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Bottom of the stand:
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Finished Stand:
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Final with the stained wood topper. My helper crew decided to pose to show how strong the stand is!!
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Once the stand was in place we started putting the equipment in underneath it. We ended up installing a pond liner under the stand incase the sump overflowed. Thanks to my wife's measuring everything fit perfectly and we even have enough room to slide in and sit down under the stand.
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The tank got delivered on a Monday night. It took myself and 5 guys from Mid Cities Aquarium to get the tank out of the van, up the stairs and into the house. We only have one option to get the tank into the house which is through the front door. The bad news is we would have to take it up 6 concrete steps that also has a rock wall on one side. The good news is the door opening is wide enough and the final resting point for the tank is within 4 to 5 feet of the door.
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With the tank in place we started the plumbing on Tuesday night. Now we had already drawn out the plumbing and bought all the fittings. We had hopes of no last minute or oops trips to Lowes for plumbing parts but.....that didn't happen. We ended up having to make 2 extra trips.
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Not sure if you can see them but just below the valves is where we transitioned to 1" for the sump fittings. We used a PVC flexible line that has 1" couplers on both ends. Made the installation of the drain lines nice because they allowed for some mis-alignment. These are okay for the drain side but the manufacturer says they shouldn't be used in applications involving constant pressure.
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Finished plumbing minus the UV. We are not getting the flow out of the DC return pump and we are 97% sure it because of the abrupt wall it's hitting at the "T" fitting. I'm going to let it run for a while but will most likely be changing it out to a true "Y" fitting.
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My major oops moment. I had the slip portion glued together then realized I forgot to put on the threaded part to attach it to the skimmer. We had to sand down the outer edges so we could fit a standard coupler on the end.
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We let the plumbing setup overnight and started putting rock and sand in the next night. All the rock came from the original tank. We added more rock from our other tank as well. With some water from the other tank, live sand, and the rest of the water that had been mixing up for a few days we were able to get the tank filled that night.
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Until we can get a class top we are using a netting material to keep any jumpers in the tank.
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And here are some happy tank mates:
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Lessons learned:
1 - Plan plan plan but you will still need a last minute trip to Lowes
2 - Plan to use no "T" connectors
Pending modifications:
1 - We've got some more rock to add to the tank
2 - We are considering a new light mounting method that would suspend the lights 12" above the tank
We still need to address a glass top but other than that it's been a fast & furious 5 days.
48x48x30 Cube
Made by AGE and ordered through Mid Cities Aquarium
1" PVC bottom
3/4" starphire glass on the front & sides
2 wet overflows
2 dry overflows - sized to allow MP60's to be mounted inside
Lights - 4 Build My LED Custom Spectrum
Lights - 1 Build My LED Ac
Sump - Tideline
Skimmer - Reef Octopus Diablo DCRS 250 Recirculating Protein Skimmer
Return Pump - Diablo DC 10500
Skimmer Feed - Sicci Syncra Silent 2.0
Heaters - 1 800 watt & 1 500 Watt
Controller - Apex
Flow - 2 MP40's (we might end up having to change one out to a MP60)
Getting things started meant getting a stand design and built. Part of the tank will sit on a rock peninsula then the rest will sit on a steel stand. The plan is to house all of the tank's equipment under the stand while also leaving enough room on both sides of the stand for sitting/standing area.
This is where part of the tank will be sitting. The area over the rock peninsula is somewhat suspended which is why you see the foam pad under it. I know once I get the tank filled it will compress some which is what we were planning.
alt="">Steel delivered:
alt="">Steel cut (some of it):
alt="">The stand will be broken into 3 sections with a wood topper under the tank. We had to build it this way because the largest entry to the room is shorter than the height of the rock peninsula. Also this allowed us to have a method to level the tank separate from the base of the stand and by default also gave us mounting areas for lights underneath.
Top layer of the stand. Note the notch on the back for the drains. This level spans between the steel stand and the rock peninsula.
alt="">Middle layer of the stand:
alt="">Bottom of the stand:
alt="">Finished Stand:
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">Final with the stained wood topper. My helper crew decided to pose to show how strong the stand is!!
alt="">Once the stand was in place we started putting the equipment in underneath it. We ended up installing a pond liner under the stand incase the sump overflowed. Thanks to my wife's measuring everything fit perfectly and we even have enough room to slide in and sit down under the stand.
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">The tank got delivered on a Monday night. It took myself and 5 guys from Mid Cities Aquarium to get the tank out of the van, up the stairs and into the house. We only have one option to get the tank into the house which is through the front door. The bad news is we would have to take it up 6 concrete steps that also has a rock wall on one side. The good news is the door opening is wide enough and the final resting point for the tank is within 4 to 5 feet of the door.
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">With the tank in place we started the plumbing on Tuesday night. Now we had already drawn out the plumbing and bought all the fittings. We had hopes of no last minute or oops trips to Lowes for plumbing parts but.....that didn't happen. We ended up having to make 2 extra trips.
alt="">Not sure if you can see them but just below the valves is where we transitioned to 1" for the sump fittings. We used a PVC flexible line that has 1" couplers on both ends. Made the installation of the drain lines nice because they allowed for some mis-alignment. These are okay for the drain side but the manufacturer says they shouldn't be used in applications involving constant pressure.
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">Finished plumbing minus the UV. We are not getting the flow out of the DC return pump and we are 97% sure it because of the abrupt wall it's hitting at the "T" fitting. I'm going to let it run for a while but will most likely be changing it out to a true "Y" fitting.
alt="">My major oops moment. I had the slip portion glued together then realized I forgot to put on the threaded part to attach it to the skimmer. We had to sand down the outer edges so we could fit a standard coupler on the end.
alt="">We let the plumbing setup overnight and started putting rock and sand in the next night. All the rock came from the original tank. We added more rock from our other tank as well. With some water from the other tank, live sand, and the rest of the water that had been mixing up for a few days we were able to get the tank filled that night.
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">Until we can get a class top we are using a netting material to keep any jumpers in the tank.
alt="">
alt="">And here are some happy tank mates:
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">
alt="">Lessons learned:
1 - Plan plan plan but you will still need a last minute trip to Lowes
2 - Plan to use no "T" connectors
Pending modifications:
1 - We've got some more rock to add to the tank
2 - We are considering a new light mounting method that would suspend the lights 12" above the tank
We still need to address a glass top but other than that it's been a fast & furious 5 days.
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