Hop's 300 gallon in-wall build

[Hop]

Mysterious FishTruck Very cool! Hopefully you will not encounter the problems I had on my last build Remind me later and I 'll fire a link off to you in reference to another reefer who believes in this theory and is really going big

[Hop]

Well for the most part, all systems are go I have to switch some plumbing around due to some microbubble issues and a few minor things, but as it sits, the tank is up and running... I've really missed my big skimmer

[Bax]

Congrats on flowing water, that's great!

[Hop]

I guess I've been slacking, but to be honest, the past week has taken a ton out of me, so today was sit and veg day

Bet here are a few pics, although I will go back and document everything that's been going on, once I get a chance to clean things up and dial a few other things in.

First up is a quick pic of the wetroom running:


Full tank from the left:


Full tank from the right:


Left side scape:


The right scape:


And here is a full tank shot, stitched together. I have the full version that is nearly 9 megs, but not sure I want to put it up on my site, but I can use it for comparisons later down the road:


That's about it for now. I'll try to get the behind the scenes pics up soon as well as the putting the finishing touches back on to get my living room back to normal!

[chris wright]

Looking real good Hop.

How goes it with your skimmer, have you been able to get one yet?

Cheers

Chris

[Toddrtrex]

Looking really good Hop.

And if I may ask ( and you may have said so already ) but did you replace the sand too?

(( debating if I should do that when I re-do my 58 --- the only reason I don't want to is because I am lazy. ))

[Bax]

I like that cave on the left a lot. Looks good.

[Hop]

Originally posted by chris wright
Looking real good Hop.

How goes it with your skimmer, have you been able to get one yet?

Cheers

Chris

Thanks Chris. The skimmer is working great! I actually used the same custom GEO that I had sitting here from the 800 gallon project that never happened. It' just now getting broke back in

Originally posted by Toddrtrex
Looking really good Hop.

And if I may ask ( and you may have said so already ) but did you replace the sand too?

(( debating if I should do that when I re-do my 58 --- the only reason I don't want to is because I am lazy. ))

Thanks Todd! I need to get the wood work done, it's driving me nuts having it unfinished in the living room

Well the sand is from the old 450. It's been dried out in a rubbermaid tub since January. It's been rinsed repeatedly and sifted a bunch. Normally I wouldn't recommend using old sand, but in this case I think it was likely ok. The whole point of my SB is to be slowly siphoned out and then replaced. I figured a year or so out of each SB.

Originally posted by Bax
I like that cave on the left a lot. Looks good.

Thanks Bax!

[Toddrtrex]

Cool, mine sand bed is over 6 years old. Even though I vac it with each WC I am sure it is pretty nasty. Plus half the reason I am doing this is to get rid of my bubble algae invasion, so changing the bed might be a good thing.

Ahh, wood work, I know the feeling. Right now I have might lights ontop of little wood strips ( to get it higher off the tank ) have great visions of what I want to make to have it look finished, just a matter of doing it.

[steve the plumb]

Nice I like the lighting and the rock work.Take a small break and relax.Its hard to do everything at once

[Hop]

Originally posted by Toddrtrex
Cool, mine sand bed is over 6 years old. Even though I vac it with each WC I am sure it is pretty nasty. Plus half the reason I am doing this is to get rid of my bubble algae invasion, so changing the bed might be a good thing.

Ahh, wood work, I know the feeling. Right now I have might lights ontop of little wood strips ( to get it higher off the tank ) have great visions of what I want to make to have it look finished, just a matter of doing it.

Yeah, I'm guessing the SB is toast I too have 1X1"s holding up my temp light fixture! I'm going to make the tank look about the same as it did when the 125 was in the wall. It matches the rest of the livingroom and it's easy!

Originally posted by steve the plumb
Nice I like the lighting and the rock work.Take a small break and relax.Its hard to do everything at once

Thanks. The lights are temporary. It's only a 260 watt PC fixture. I'll have a different approach to lighting this tank. I plan on highlighting the viewing areas, not lighting the tank per se. So Odds are that I'll have a 400 watt MH and a 250 watt MH, supplemented by ACT and then LED or spots for a few other ideas.



Well I got my permanent standpipes made... Ahh quiet! Sealed the piping going through the wall and patched the holes. Not sure what, if anything else I'm going to do today...

[Toddrtrex]

Originally posted by Hop
Yeah, I'm guessing the SB is toast I too have 1X1"s holding up my temp light fixture! I'm going to make the tank look about the same as it did when the 125 was in the wall. It matches the rest of the livingroom and it's easy!



Thanks. The lights are temporary. It's only a 260 watt PC fixture. I'll have a different approach to lighting this tank. I plan on highlighting the viewing areas, not lighting the tank per se. So Odds are that I'll have a 400 watt MH and a 250 watt MH, supplemented by ACT and then LED or spots for a few other ideas.



Well I got my permanent standpipes made... Ahh quiet! Sealed the piping going through the wall and patched the holes. Not sure what, if anything else I'm going to do today...

Think you should take the rest of the day off.

And my SB is crushed coral!!! Going to be throwing up from the smell when I remove it.

If you look at the corners of this picture you will see the little pieces of wood holding the lights. -- and they are just laying there, fall if I move the hood. Huge PITA to put back by myself.

[Hop]

Originally posted by Toddrtrex
Think you should take the rest of the day off.

And my SB is crushed coral!!! Going to be throwing up from the smell when I remove it.

If you look at the corners of this picture you will see the little pieces of wood holding the lights. -- and they are just laying there, fall if I move the hood. Huge PITA to put back by myself.

We should start a ghetto light rack club! You think they would give us our own club forum

[Hop]

So here are just a few pics of the skimmer running. It's just now starting to take out some garbage from the tank and get a stable foam head... Just to quickly describe it again, it's a 48" tall, custom Geo w/ an 8" diameter. I'm guessing that it's pulling about 90scfm right now



And a quick shot of the bubble's 6" below the neck:



So I got sick of looking at the bare stand, so I go the lower section started today. It still needs some work, some trim and to be stained, but it's getting there I also got my AC jr. hooked up as I would always get side tracked and forget to turn the lights on/off...

[Toddrtrex]

I will see what I can do about our own forum.

That skimmer is HUGE.

The tank is looking really great, love that valley in the rock work. And that black back ground make it look so clean and neat. Really impressed. Almost makes me want to scrape the coraline off my one tank and change the back ground to black.

[Hop]

Thanks Todd. I hope to keep it clean and black. I want to emulate the feeling of a lot more water volume behind the rocks.

I plan on keeping that valley, but may put a clam in there somewhere along with some cups, growing upwards around there somewhere

[Toddrtrex]

Yea I had a valley with my 75 but the carpet anemone kind of took it over. Plus I had to put a rock in front of it to stop the clowns from digging.

[bleedingthought]

Nice skimmer!

So, what are you going to store under the tank? The cabinetry has started off nicely as well.

[Hop]

Originally posted by Toddrtrex
Yea I had a valley with my 75 but the carpet anemone kind of took it over. Plus I had to put a rock in front of it to stop the clowns from digging.

I'm still undecided on the anemone

Originally posted by bleedingthought
Nice skimmer!

So, what are you going to store under the tank? The cabinetry has started off nicely as well.

Thank you... That's where the kids pile their shoes and the wife puts other stuff Basically just storage space.

[Toddrtrex]

Originally posted by Hop
I'm still undecided on the anemone

I am a sucker for them. But I think I am going to be getting rid of my BTA -- it split into 3 --- and is now taking up too much space on the right side of the tank --- want that side to be all digis.

[Hop]

Originally posted by Toddrtrex
I am a sucker for them. But I think I am going to be getting rid of my BTA -- it split into 3 --- and is now taking up too much space on the right side of the tank --- want that side to be all digis.

I keep going back and forth. Maybe now since the N*m* movie has pretty much gone away, I'll add a couple clowns and an anemone

[Toddrtrex]

LOL LOL Good point, lucky for me that isn't a concern.

[Hop]

Guess I need to start reading up on them and see what kind I want to add

[Toddrtrex]

That would be good, and bad.

I currently have BTAs LTAs and Haddonis.

Like the LTAs and Haddonis the best, since they are sand dwelling.

[melev]

I love how clear your water is. It looks great, considering it has only been up for a short period.