DaveJ's 300G Build (Build has officially begun - In Process)

:shock: Pretty cool Dave. It's hard to get a sense of scale - I know it's big but, this is neat.

Are there plans for a stand skin and canopy at this point?
 
@DheereCrossing wrote:
:shock: Pretty cool Dave. It's hard to get a sense of scale - I know it's big but said:
Canopy should be done and up next weekend. The rest of the skin will go up as it's finished. The canopy is the most important part, then the cabinet between the tank and wall. The skirt will follow.
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Just a quick update here.... Hank and I will be applying the sealant and finish on the canopy this week. It should be up by Weds hopefully.

In the meantime, I have started to experience a bout of diatoms on the DSB and a bit in the main display of the tank. Ugly as sin, but quite normal. I have added a few conchs into the DSB section and my first batch of clean up crew will be arriving at the end of the week, some cukes, ceriths and nassarius vibex for the DSB.

I have placed a handful of corals into the sump on a frag rack, some acans, some chalices, montis and some zoanthid/palys. They seem to be doing well with the lighting under the tank, so it looks like I'll have a nice place for zoanthid growout once things get going.
 
Thanks guys...

Well the canopy is still not complete, so I'll just leave it as a surprise when it is done and up. I will say it looks really sweet though. My diatoms are calming down on the glass and sand in the sump, but still going strong on the LR.

I have added some clean up crew, some ceriths, nassarius, a couple of cukes and some conchs.

I am also happy to announce that we have fish life in the tank now too, a lawn mower blennie and a Sri Lankin Fairy Wrasse.

I'll post some photos later this weekend most likely.
 
First photo of something swimming in the new tank...

While picking up some corals at Fish2Morrow, I spotted some nice Blue Throat Triggers they had. I picked one out of the softie display they have there. Turns out he had been in the store for about a year, so that sealed the deal. He was very colorful, very fat and healthy looking. So Helen managed to 'fish' him out and I took him home. There was a bit of a concern after I got him home and temp dipped. When I put him in, he was gasping. I think it was a case of move stress more than anything. He wondered around a bit and settled into the rocks. I left him alone and turned out the lights and went about my business. I checked a couple of times before bed to make sure he was still with the living and by 2am was pretty sure he was going to be fine. I woke up the next morning and checked on him. He was back in the rock work and I couldn't see his gills or front fins so I could tell if he was still alive or not. Left and hit the gym, than came back and sure enough he was peeking back at me when I peered into the rock cave so he was just fine. He hid in the rocks most of yesterday and today has been coming out quite a bit. He is still shy, but has given the entire tank a few laps and is acting like any normal shy Blue Throat does.

Here is a photo of him.

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I also added a few clams, two huge Corceas I got from Frank along with a little Maxima. There are also a handful of SPS in the tank now. I haven't seated them to the LR yet as I need to check on how happy they are in their current placements. I'll epoxy them down in good time and may just epoxy bases on them for a few weeks in case I need to adjust their height.
 
Here are a couple eye candy photos of some new corals coming in next week.

Hugo's Natusa

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Tubs Pink Smoothie Digi - Yes Hank, I'll frag you a piece once it grows out some :)

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Here are some updated photos... the diatoms have really gone down, just a bit in the sump now and a little on the surface of the sump itself. I need to get my tangs into the main tank as soon as possible to start hitting this algae that started growing. You'd figure with 2 weeks of being dry, freezing temps, all the living stuff on the rock would have died off......

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And my new clams via Frank.

Two very big Croceas

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One small Maxima

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Tonights update.....

We have a canopy frame up boyz and girlz...... Hank put the finishing touches on it the last couple of nights and we loaded it up and got it installed tonight. I am really happy with the look and the finish on this canopy, the cherry wood really looks nice. The doors and the end cap will be completed at a later date. We purchased some really nice vaneer for the door panels etc but will do it all as the last step to completion due to the process needed to adhere it to the backing plywood. It will be easier to do all at once, so the core frame will stay like this for a time. We will be installing piece of plywood on top of the canopy next week or weekend and install fans at that time as well.

Next on the stand punch list is the side cabinet. I'm hoping we can get that up in the next 2-3 weeks and will post photos once its up and in place.

Here are some photos...

To give some scale in the room...

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Look at that shiny cherry finish.....

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Back cabinet for the ballasts. This will have a pull out shelf that will be installed sometime next week or so and I'll screw the ballasts down or set them on tile for improved cooling.

3 Icecap 250W Ballasts
3 Icecap 660 Ballasts

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In order to slide the rack out enough to change bulbs and put livestock into the tank, we set the rack up on these sliding brackets. I took the rack pictured above and fabricated two 2" slats which I riveted to the rack itself. The rack sits on the sliders using those 2 slates. We will devise a safety catch to prevent the rack from sliding too far from side to side and install a safety cable to catch it should something break loose....

We also over estimated the depth needed inside the canopy. The lights as they are now are at the lowest point they can be, we will be installing a second slider level about 5" higher than the one pictured as soon as we can get to it to raise the lights up for a bit better coverage in the tank itself. This will also provide more hand space to get into the tank without sliding the rack out.

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Next steps.. this weekend I will begin transferring all the fish and shrimp over from the 140 into the 300. I'm looking forward to getting my tangs into that tank to knock out that macro algae growth. I think they are going to be quite happy with the readily available source of greens for the near future.

On tap for the weekend, get the fish over do another 60G water change and get the 40G QT system up and running.
 
Part of this install.... is going to be a 40G SPS suitable, QT tank. The 30G QT I have is fine for some things, but the SPS never has done well in it so I am redoing it completely.

With that in mind I purchased a 40G breeder and built a stand for it. The stand is nearly complete, should be done tomorrow and ready for paint. I'll get that installed and loaded on this thread over the weekend, but to whet the appetite, here is what a little too much force, a few beers and two morons can do while drilling a tank...

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Oppppps....... Luckily I was able to get a replacement and get it drilled yesterday along with 2 other tanks that Wes brought over. The drill bits work well.

As a footnote... we also burned up an electric drill..... I highly recommend an electric drill for this kind of thing as it was plowing through the glass at a good clip before burning up :)
 
@Wes wrote:
[I]@DaveJ wrote:[/I][quote="...to whet the appetite said:
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touche, lol, sure was fun though"]

Yep... and you did manage to actually hold a tool for a few minutes before I took it away from you to avoid you hurting yourself. So you are on your way to earning your 'Man Badge'.
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Dave, I may have missed the planning stage for the flow in the last 6 pages, but what will you be using for the water movement inside the display?
 
@ReefGod wrote:
Dave said:
A Tunze wavebox, 2 vortecs and that Tunze 6205 I won at Nextwave ultimately.

Right now the wavebox, 6205 and polaris are keeping things moving pretty well. I'll put the vortecs in when I move the fish and get the QT setup and some of the corals transferred over.
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