Project 300 is underway!!!

robchuck

Active Member
The Multicolor Angel is becoming less and less shy, but it's still very difficult for me to get a good pic of this fish without it darting back into the rocks. This fish has been a model citizen since its introduction into the tank (it's only been a few days though), and I have yet to see it nip at anything or show any signs of aggression towards any of the fish. Here is the best photo I have of it yet:
 

robchuck

Active Member
This is the first of many posts in which I will repost the photos that were lost in the message board upgrade.
This is where the tank was set up. That column became one corner of the tank room and the tank is viewable on the left side and the front pane.
 

robchuck

Active Member
the first part of the project was to create a temporary living space for the livestock. So I set up a pair of 100g Rubbermaid stock tanks to hold all 400 lbs. of LR, all of the coral (mixed; and some of the colonies are the size of a serving plate!), and several large tangs (Yellow, Purple, Hippo, Foxface, and a 9-year old Desjardini Sailfin).
Here is a picture of the temporary holding tanks I set up:
 

robchuck

Active Member
Here is a shot of the tank laying on its back in my garage awaiting a cleaning. For as dirty as the tank appears in the picture, there are almost no scratches and no signs of deflection.
 

robchuck

Active Member
The stand is built almost entirely of 2x4's. This picture gives a little better idea of how it's built, but at this time, it was still awaiting cripples to be laminated to the outside of all the vertical 2x4's.
 

robchuck

Active Member
Here is what the back side of the fishroom looked like after the wall was framed and the drywall went up. Notice the cripples added to the stand.
I should also mention, that I couldn't start working on the shorter side wall until the tank was in place, because there wasn't enough room to move it into place otherwise.
 

robchuck

Active Member
The tank was moved into place this past Monday (4/4). Originally, I had laid 1/2" styrofoam beneath the tank, but in four seperate sheets (as that was the only way I could get enough foam from Home Depot). Unfortunately, each sheet of foam compress a little differently from the others, so I had to come up with another solution. I have family in commercial waterproofing (which coincidentally uses lots of foam and other compressable materials), so I consulted with my dad and he suggested that I use a sheet of 1/4" polyester. That was placed under the tank last night, and it works likes a charm!
Here is how the tank looked Monday evening (4/4) sitting on the foam with a 100 gallons of water or so compressing the foam.
 

robchuck

Active Member
This shot is of the right corner overflow. Inside is a 1-1/4" Durso Standpipe that drains through a 1" bulkhead, and there are two other 1" bulkheads through the bottom of the box. One of them is 1/2 of the closed loop intake. You can see the inlet for that intake plumbed through the side of the box. The other contains the plumbing for 1/2 of the closed loop's output. That plumbing terminates in the eductor seen in this pic. The Wavebox is also mounted and visible in this pic. It's hard to see it's exact location, but the box is about 12" in from the front pane and about 6" away from the overflow box; basically centered on that pane.
 

robchuck

Active Member
This is how the tank room looked from the perspective of coming down the stairs before the side wall was built. No, I didn't have a Cheech & Chong moment, but all of that "retro" tile, shag carpeting, and dark paneling gives everything in the family room a nice brown or yellow tinge. (We've since renovated most of the room).
 

robchuck

Active Member
Here is a shot looking down the length of the tank's stand. You can see most of the plumbing in this shot. And just because I got the purple primer almost everywhere doesn't mean I'm a bad plumber, just a sloppy one! The good thing is I only had one leak and it was a threaded connection (something a little bit of 2-part epoxy took care of).
 

robchuck

Active Member
This is the calcium reactor, it's effluent chamber, and the 20 lb. CO2 canister sitting in their spot in the stand. You can also see the Iwaki MD70RLT closed loop pump and the sump in the background.
 
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