300g shark tank

[glarior]

I just bought a 300g aquarium. I have a good while until I put any of the small species sharks/eels (bamboo, catshark, epaulette, not sure which one yet) into the aquarium. I plan to build an algae scrubber for it for two reasons... keeping aquairum cool and keeping parameters good.

Question is... how in the world would I size the screen? The new rule is per cube of food but these guys will be eating whole octopus, scallops and all kinds of large meaty foods.

[SantaMonica]

Just weigh the food. A cube is 3 grams.

[RkyRickstr]

This is gonna be a great build. Tagging along.. please post ur progress.

My kind a scrubber too .. ;)

[glarior]

Thanks for the information for grams to cubes. I will weigh/calculate that out!


I will make a note to keep the posts coming with this build.

Okay, I will do it. I am excited on this one but have a long road ahead. Been researching the tank for ever now. Finally, found a great deal I can't pass up on.

The plan is to rebuild the floor and support it from underneath the house. This will start in the next week or two. Once that is done, I will install the aquarium. It will take ~2 days to fill with RODI water., add PVC system for eels, Mix my live sand with non live sand (cheaper that way), get the sump running and then I will figure out how and where to build the scrubber. The hardest part is the floor and bringing in the aquarium.

The tank that is replacing is my 75g and that scrubber will be installed on my 120reef.

[kerry]

I hear ya on moving the tank, We just finished the stand for my 150G and I dreaded that, I could not imagine one twice that!! Its all two grown/FIT men can do to move my 150G up to 39" tall stand.

[glarior]

I am not looking forward to that part. I am bribing my friends and work buddies with beer and BBQ to help me move lol. The trick is to say "come hang out" and neglect the tank part. Then while they are they ask, "hey, yall think you can help me move a few things real quick?"

[glarior]

Update:

Rebuilt the floor and added support from under the house. Glad I did this cause the 75g scrubber was leaking and the floor was soaked! I never knew it cause the cheap wood soaked it up.

Hope to have the tank installed this week/weekend so I can plan the sump and scrubber setups.

Pic of the stand.... used outdoor wood sealer for it. Plan to cover the front and one side in black acrylic.

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[Floyd R Turbo]

I have always been told to paint wood stands with an oil-based paint. I'm not sure that would work any better than a sealer though. Probably OK either way...

[glarior]

I have always been told to paint wood stands with an oil-based paint. I'm not sure that would work any better than a sealer though. Probably OK either way...

It claimed it was an oil based one.... lol. I was going to stain, seal and all that but used what I had in the shop.

[glarior]

Installed the tank... took 5 people and a small hole in the wall lol. I had to crop the tank photo. I used 5% tint for the back glass since I did not want to paint it. I am amazed how well tint works. My 120g reef uses it and looks amazing plus if dont right there is no salt creep.

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[glarior]

I have always been told to paint wood stands with an oil-based paint. I'm not sure that would work any better than a sealer though. Probably OK either way...

Forgot to tell you... I had the stand outside drying and a major nasty storm came and the water beaded right off! This was last week... go figure the one time I paint something it rains yet we are still in a drought ha.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Nice! That's a huge tank man, can't wait to see it up and working

[glarior]

I can't wait either. I am working on the sump design now for a fluidized bed filter sump. Once figured out I will determine if I will use a waterfall or upflow style scrubber.

[glarior]

Well, tank has been filling with water for 36 hours... half way there! Once it gets a little more I will add the salt, heater and pump to start that process.

The only downside is so far with everything leveling out I am 1/4" lower on the right side than the left. It may level out like my 120g did but we will see. I doubled checked with the OEM and it is within spec.

I am going through a few designs for a scrubber. I thought of using the in tank overflow box's for the scrubber, an acrylic box converted to a scrubbber and a 30g tank converted but I can't do that one.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Alarm bells are ringing in my head right now.

I don't know what manufacturer you are talking to but everyone I know says you want it much less than that. 1/4" is way too much for my comfort level. How would the tank 'level out'?? The only way I could see that happening is if you had the tank on foam, and you have a rimmed tank so it should definitely not be on foam.

My personal experience with my 120 (2x2x4) was that the tank was not in full contact with the top of the stand all around. For a tank 4' long or less, technically you only need to support it from the corners, 6" in from each corner minimum (from the mfr). My floor was a mess and took a lot of shimming but I didn't pay attention to the fact that the tank was actually floating off the stand on the corners. This resulted in the stress on the seams to the point where I started to see stress lines in the silicone and one really bad bubble expanding in the upper corner. I emptied the tank (3 days after moving all stock into it in an emergency transfer) and corrected the problem and set it all up again, but I still to this day have a bar clamp on one side of the tank to keep that bubble from expanding and splitting the seam.

I would HIGHLY recommend that you stop filling the tank, empty it, and make sure it's completely level in all directions and in full contact with the stand all around. That's just my advice because I basically ruined a perfectly good tank and now I live with a bar clamp on it. And it could have been worse. Since fixing the stand, it hasn't gotten any worse but the damage is done.

[glarior]

The tank is in full contact with the stand. The floor of the house actually is slanted 1/4" and I didn't realize that until now. Only way I know how to fix it would be build a new stand to correct for the floor.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Yeah I have my tank sitting right over a load bearing joist with a pole dead center back of the stand and they didn't bother to make sure the floor was level before finishing everything off so the floor is basically crowned right in the middle of my stand (DIY RC one) so I have 1/4"+ shim on one end, a little under 1/4" on the other, no shims in the middle to get the stand to be in full contact with the floor.

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/FloydRTurbo/2011%20Aquarium%20Pics/120%20Reef/Design%20and%20Build/IMG_9980.jpg

i was so focused on that I didn't bother to check to see if I could slide a piece of paper in between the tank and the stand. Oops.

I guess I have talked to guys that have had tanks set up 1/4" off level and they're fine, then I've also heard from others that had them explode on them. in my mind, better safe than sorry. Either way you cut it, unless the tank goes on the stand made by the manufacturer, you're on your own. And those stands suck so I can't see why they wouldn't warranty a better one but I'm sure they don't have time to mess with every case individually.

With your stand the only way to level it would be to make one big long shim or do what I did and get a bundle of cedar shakes from Menards and shim the crud out of it. Worked for me. Thought I had a pic of it but I don't. Just the one of the stand floating

[glarior]

Wow that is crazy looking looking picture!

I agree the OEM stands suck and I am amazed they hold all the weight.

Wound't shims compress overtime? I will see what I can find at home depot and figure out how to shim it. Need to figure out where I can put all the water cause I sure do not want to waste it.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I guess it depends on the wood used. You wouldn't want it made from balsa wood or anything like that LOL. Remember that also you are spreading the load across a wide area under the legs and cross-members. Just took another look at your stand and it has a sheet 'recessed' into the bottom, this might make it more complicated since you're going to put a sump in there, so you're going to need that entire bottom shimmed unless you remove that and set the sump on the floor directly or on a sheet not connected to the stand.

You can probably get a woodworker to make you a single shim to put under the entire stand. Not sure how much that would cost. I think it would be easier to remove the plywood base and put one long shim left to right under the front and back horizontal piece (assuming the slat is left to right) then another one between the 2 on the end that would be bumped up 1/4". Kind of like a piece-together "C" shaped shim if that makes sense.

The other thing you can do is scribe a line on the stand and plane & sand it down, but that's assuming that you never plan on moving the tank to another location.

[glarior]

The plywood is the floor :-) The stand is open inside.

I watched a video talking about it and I can can buy composite shims that are easy to insert and once leveled they are easy to break/trim.

What you think?... I can buy composite shims for the entire stand today and shim it all the way around the base if I had to.

edit: hard wood shims seem better than composite.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I don't know much about composite shims. If it were one big shim I would say go for it. I would think that many individual the composite shim would 'bite' into the wood on the stand, versus the wood shims which would slightly compress as you knocked them in and not damage the stand. Either way you're going to do a lot of shimming and snapping. I would set all the shims in place all around with the empty tank on the stand and then start filling the tank and when it's about 1/4 full check all the shims for snugness (make sure you don't start tapping them all in and loosen the other shims, etc!) then start snapping.

Using standard wood shims they will compress slightly, but that works to your advantage as the pressure will even out all around. For the really high spots, I take 2 shims and put one in from each direction to eliminate the 'slant' I guess is how I would put it. If you stack 2 shims they are flat on top and bottom so the weight it evenly transitioned to the floor if that makes sense.

[glarior]

10-4 see what I can do.... now where to put all this RO/DI water........ hrm

[Floyd R Turbo]

Well $2.50 for a 5g bucket at home depot or a couple of 44g brute trash cans works great. Either way gotta spend some cash to save that water but you'll get peace of mind and extra water storage as a bonus! Or just ask around your local club to see if you can borrow

[kerry]

Go for the 30G or 44G brute can!!!!! You will use it.

[RkClimber]

The plywood is the floor :-) The stand is open inside.

I watched a video talking about it and I can can buy composite shims that are easy to insert and once leveled they are easy to break/trim.

What you think?... I can buy composite shims for the entire stand today and shim it all the way around the base if I had to.

edit: hard wood shims seem better than composite.

Composite shims are the best type to use vs wood. I use them in any indoor or outdoor situation and are perfect for your use. They don't rot, split, compress, critters don't eat them, and they are easy to work with.

[glarior]

Composite shims are the best type to use vs wood. I use them in any indoor or outdoor situation and are perfect for your use. They don't rot, split, compress, critters don't eat them, and they are easy to work with.

Yea, I read some more and agree. I talked to my LFS/friend and he told me which ones to get.

Shimming is PITA! I worked on it for 3 hours and its still not perfect. I am 100% amazed how off the setup was. I used the doller bill method to check gaps and then started with composite shims.

One thing I have learned if you have a big tank... either have lots of extra clean trash cans on hand or have friends with fish tank trash cans you can borrow and a huge water pump.

[kerry]

I have a pool/spa pump connected to my brute cans.

[glarior]

I have a pool/spa pump connected to my brute cans.

Yea I have a sicce 5 that I transfer the water with. Works very well!

Update:

Tank is shimmed to +/- 1/16 of an inch but the 4ft level bubble was in the center at all my points.

I put the water back in, added 2 buckets of salt, pump and heater to mix it. Tonight I will install the sump then add the sand. Maybe by tomorrow it will be fully running? Only time will tell

[glarior]

As of last night the tank is running/filtering!

[glarior]

The snake I found while moving the tank in the house

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Starting to fill the tank
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The scorpion that ran out while shimming
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The tank with sand added (still have 100lbs more)
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[glarior]

Tank has been running good. I finally added my first upflow/LED scrubber to it as of last night.

After all that work... I will be moving the tank next month to a new place. I plan for a in wall installation and have a room dedicated for my tanks. If I do that I am going to upgrade my current 120g reef to 180 reef and add new scrubbers lol.

[glarior]

with that said the shark/ray are on hold until everything is done. No point in stressing them.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Dang! Looks like you have an excuse to upsize and jazz it up though. That would be about the only reason I would want to move to a new house LOL

[RkClimber]

The snake I found while moving the tank in the house

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Starting to fill the tank
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The scorpion that ran out while shimming
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The tank with sand added (still have 100lbs more)
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Dude, where in the world do you live, in Arizona? I hate snakes but that one looks nice. Did you get him a tank and keep him? Tank is coming together nicely.

[glarior]

Dude, where in the world do you live, in Arizona? I hate snakes but that one looks nice. Did you get him a tank and keep him? Tank is coming together nicely.

Haha, nope.... good Ol' texas.


Update on the tank.

I am moving it... haha.

Got a new place on my property and I plan on having a real fish tank room with my two tanks built into the wall. Hopefully, by end of July I will start on the wall build. I also selling my 120g reef setup and bought a 8ft 240g tank to put in the wall instead of the 120g. I am going to need one big scrubber to keep up with the 300 shark/ray/eel and the 240 reef! Going to be sweet. I will keep posted as time goes on