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

[bimmerzs]

Ok....where did that smoothie come from, nobody has those in stock. :lol:

Cheers,

 

[DaveJ]

@bimmerzs wrote:

Tyree Auction. First one I have seen them sell, no idea if they plan on making it a regular there or not.

 

[DaveJ]

Okay some progress to report. (Photos to follow)

I am happy to say that the fish from the 140 have been transferred over to the 300. Frank stopped by this morning to lend a hand and he was able to wrangle up all the fish, minus the watchman goby, and get them into the 300. The tangs went right to work munching on the algae. I noticed no bullying or aggression with the Trigger thus far, so it looks like everyone is happy together.

I also got all the acros out of the 140 and into the 40G QT. That was a lot of work and made a huge mess.

And finally, the BK is running on the 300. I soaked it in vinegar water overnight in the tub and got it in this afternoon. I have to say it was a tight squeeze. I have to come at it at a certain angle to get it in/out, including pulling all the pvc apart etc. I may need to adjust the height of the skimmer stand as well to make it shorter.

 

[ReefGod]

Which BK did you get? Let's see some photos of it in action..

 

[DaveJ]

@ReefGod wrote:

Ive had the deluxe 250 for about a year now... its not new.

 

[DaveJ]

Updated with some photos here... Tangs have already started making a dent in the algae. One of them had its fin down the front of his belly leaning against a rock with that.."No more... can't eat anymore..." look on its face.

I also got the lighting on the QT tank hooked up and running.

I put the vortecs on the 300 as well last night. Man did those things kick up some crud off the starboard. I should have vaccumed all that out before turning them on. The tank was cloudy for a couple of hours. Nice to see the flow I have in there is sufficient to keep it off the floor. I still will need to blow it out from the LR occasionally though.


Skimmer is installed!

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Antons Skimmer Goop request... 1 day here.

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Fish in the tank! Purple Tang doesn't look nearly as big in the 300

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Sailfin way in the back.

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QT Tank... 40G Breeder with a 20G sump and the MSX160 off the 92G.

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[ReefGod]

That is a serious looking skimmer! How low do you have the vortechs to the starboard, I hate the fact that I can't point it downward, and mine doesn't really do much to wipe the bottom off. I wish I had the tunze style versitility but with a clean look of a vortech, we can only dream :roll:..

 

[DaveJ]

@ReefGod wrote:

Yep that is a big one... the pump is HUGE and weighs a ton. Figure 50% bigger or so than a Sedra 5000. The pump weighs more than the skimmer does.

On the vortecs...

The one under the wavebox sits about 6" up off the bottom, the one on the other size under the Tunze sits about 8". Its in reefcrest mode, sync.

 

[smashmix]

that looks awsome dave good job that light rack sure looks familiar seems ive seen one just like it in a friend of ours place lol i would love to come see the tank sometime

rick

 

[DaveJ]

@smashmix wrote:

Rick, anytime just give me a heads up.

 

[DaveJ]

And now for some livestock updates... MBZ came over this weekend and we attached quite a few corals and I moved several from the frag tank into thier perm homes. The plan is to keep this as a display, so unless I pre-frag something that goes into the 300G, chances are I will not frag it unless it gets to the point of bother a neighbor.

These photos were taken a few hours after lights off and under the T-5 lighting.

ATL Crown Jewel Favia

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Tyree Peace Coral Favia

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Garf Bonsai

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ORA Tri Color Valida

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Franks Unknown Blue/Green Acro

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FHI Bushy Green Acro

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Purple Rim, Green Body Montipora with Red Polyps (similar to Emmas Mind Trick but not as intense)

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Gomezi

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ORA Joe the Coral

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ORA Blue Voodoo

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Prostrata

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ORA Borialis

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Vivids Tri-Color Prostrata

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ORA Red Planet

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Tyree Fire Engine Montipora

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True Reverse Sunset Montipora

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Tyree Forest Fire Montipora

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ATL Apple Berry Montipora

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Fish2Morrow Plana

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Franks Deepwater Kryponite Acro

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FHI Predator Coral

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Franks Unknown Table Acro

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Tyree Undata

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Tyree Purple Monster

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Purple with Lime Green Polyp Secale

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[ReefGod]

Nice, finally we get to see some your treasures one by one, except the pics don't do your corals any justice, you need to invite Mark again :lol:. Is this with the recently bought camera? I think maybe the white balance is way off or you're shooting with actinics on and it smudges the colors all over the place. I get that effect with my 20K bulbs also, I find it if you shine a flashlight from the top on the spot where the coral is, it will supplement more light and the pics come out much better quality. Also if you shoot on auto more the camera sets the iso crazy high in low light conditions which is what it looks like its doing on most of the pics.

 

[DaveJ]

@ReefGod wrote:

Yup.. under T-5 ATI Blue Plus and Actinics and with the new camera. I'll take some with the MH at some point. I'll probably coax him over with a frag to shoot the baseline photos if I can't get some good shots. Even with my new camera, I still have issues with mid-tank focus etc. Its kinda frustrating, but either I am not understanding how it works or the camera is malfunctioning

These were just to start the ball rolling.. there were half a dozen or so more that I didn't shoot... My rainbow acro, hugos nasuta, vivids rainbow acro, birdsnest, rainbow stylo, pastel peace coral etc... I'm moving things over a bit at a time and once its loaded i'll do all the baseline shots for growth comparisons.

 

[DaveJ]

And a few never before shown gems I have been sitting on, quietly growing out and nurturing into fine specimens

Raspberry Fruity Pebbles Chalice

Raspberry body, Ice Blue Swirls (under higher light), Yellow/Orange/Red eyes.

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Golden Child has Pink Eye Chalice

Green/Gold base with Bright Pink Eyes

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DareDevil Chalice

Bright Red Base, Yellow/Orange Sprinkle Eyes

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[washingtond]

Your tank has really come along and cannot wait to see it in person. Maybe when Frank is having his sale Tippie & I could drop by and see it sinice we will be close by. I will bring my camera to take some pictures while there.

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[DaveJ]

@washingtond wrote:

You bet, you're both welcome anytime.

 

[DaveJ]

Here are some shots of some of the same corals above, plus some additional ones under MH lighting...

Tyree Peace Coral Favia

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ATL Crown Jewel Favia

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Tyree Pastel Peace Coral Favia

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African Blues Zoanthids

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Acan Lord

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Rastafarin Chalice

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Franks Deepwater Kryptonite Acro

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FHI Predator Coral

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ReefExotics Rainbow Acro

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ReefExotics Napa Valley Grape Acro

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ReefExotics Mint Cherry Acro

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[DaveJ]

Frank made a surprise visit tonight with Smashix and we broke down the 140G. First we got the remaining livestock out of the tank, a single surviving chromis (out of 12) and my watchman goby (pink spot). The chromis went into the frag tank to keep the yellow tang company and the goby went into the 300G with his old pals. We then drained the water, then scooped out all the sand. Those of you who have seen the tank know that I had a pretty substantial DSB, it was 6-7" in most spots over the entire bottom of the tank. Surprisingly, the process wasn't that bad. It was a lot of work mind you, but the smell wasn't all that bad at all. You know the sign of a good sandbed when the bottom levels are pretty clean. There was some discoloration and a bit of a skimmer smell, but really it wasn't bad at all. No huge spots of black sludge. The sand was packed down pretty well in areas, but not rock hard so I can only surmise the bed was doing its job very well over the last couple of years in breaking everything down that made its way into it. Anyway, we then cut the PVC and hauled the tank out to the garage along with the stand. The chiller is currently in the garage and will be plumbed into the new system as soon as the frag tank and new plumbing is done.

It was kind of bittersweet to see this go. I'm very thrilled with the new tank of course, but there is always a sentimental attachment to a tank that has served you well and you spent so much time and effort on for a period of years.


Here is the before...

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And afterwards...

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And the old tank waiting for its new owner...

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[ReefGod]

Wow Dave, keep the pics coming! That rainbow acro really is a spot on a plug, did Rich actually send it to you that size or did you loose some of it?

I've been meaning to ask you; haven't seen a Ca reactor on this build and I know you're not a big fan of one, what are you doing for this tank to keep the params up?

 

[DaveJ]

@ReefGod wrote:

Yep.. that rainbow is what I was shipped... its about 1/2" tall and about 3/4" encrusted. It was a replacement for one I purchased last summer... Rich and I had gone back and forth for a long time on the replacement and we finally got things together for it. I was happy we got the replacement finally and it arrived in good condition, but I was a little surprised and disappointed that it wasn't an actual frag like that Napa Valley Grape with some branching structure. So long as it grows and arrived healthy I guess

No reactor.. I have not changed my mind on one. I am utilizing the same method I did before, dosing with my Litermeter for the new tank. The LMIII will handle the additional volume and with the water volume the new system has, the larger doses won't effect the tank since they are done 40 times a day and not in single large volumes. About the only thing I may change is going with larger containers for the solutions. I currently run 2.5 G and on the old system those lasted about 3 weeks before I needed to mix up more. I may switch to 5G containers... we will see how fast things get used up.