Nick's 300DD

Very nice... Now lets fill it with corals all ready!!!!!!!

it is solid now but leveling it was a b**ch.  I officially now know why most people complain about metal stands.  Dorks make them and do NOT make the legs level with each other.   It is level and solid now, but geeze!!!  back right leg was at least a 1/4 inch off from the rest of the legs so there was a real danger of the back corner breaking due to stress.  EVEN after the foam.    All the legs were varying levels so we ended up with all kinds of shims to get it level.

But it was stable, level before water, and still level after we put that much water in it, so it is good.  NOW he needs to plumb it up and do a sump.

I think one of the biggest things if you just HAVE to have a metal stand is this.  once it is built you put a sheet of mdf, or whatever you want on the top of the metal directly, then make SURE the board is totally level and shimmed right, THEN a nice piece of foam ( I like the 1/2 thing high pressure foam, usually blue in color),  Then put the tank and shim the bottom of the legs.  OR, have the builder put a flat piece of sheet metal and level out perfect and weld it to the top of the legs.  SOMETHING so it is not so flaky.  And whoever in the world was dumb enough to BOLT one of these together with bolts is insane.  Weld it all, weld it good.  NOT a fan of the bolt thing.

saying all of that, I will probably never have a metal stand.  I would have to see one built better than any I have seen to date to even think about it.

That tank is going to look awesome Nick! 

Well just a small update today... got my base floor in and painted, Ordered Acrylic for my sump... Tyler at Elite Aquatics is awesome and said he would hook up a few cuts for me =) Also got a return pump from Eric from Aquarium Creations he hooked me up with a great deal on a Jebao DC 12000! Supposed to be dead silent and push near 3000gph



I'm having a little bit of a hard time thinking about what to do with the canopy... Because I have can lights above the tank...
I could make the canopy a little lower profile around 12inches *The total clearance to the ceiling is 18 inches* but debating going to the ceiling because in my mind I'm going to basically have to stick my torso in the canopy to get to things in and out of this tank every once and a while, being that its so deep.. but not sure I want to mess with the ceiling lighting...



Also started working on my rock a bit today... its a bit hard to see in the pic, but started building a little tower. the plan on this tank is to keep all rock work under 18inches to allow for some good coral growth... also waiting for a few prime cuts (Flat cut on one side) from macro rock to finish out the rock work hopefully I can get those in by next week





Edited by Nick801 - January 18 2014 at 4:42pm

How did you cut the rock? Did you put the rocks on acrylic rods to build the structure?

Going to be an awesome set up Nick!  My dream tank is 60" x 30" front to back x 24" tall.  Hope you have it done the next time I'm able to come down to UT so I can stop and see it!

Well I'm still playing with rocks a bit today.. got the box of the sump done, Thanks to Akira for coming over to help - and *He also decided to help me move my can lights!* Super excited about this because now I'll be able to take the canopy to the ceiling...  also got a few little plumbing parts today..


These Action Plumbing manifolds are usually used for sprinkler valves and can be found at Sprinkler Supply or Sprinkler World, I'll use this one to feed a calcium reactor, a media reactor and a UV...

Well today.. Tyler AKA Elite Aquatics seriously hooked my sump up!! Its amazing to watch the guy work, I've never seen such a perfectionist move at such a quick pace! His sumps are amazing in person but its even more amazing to watch them be built, talk about skills =) I wish I would have had him build the whole thing though!








Edited by Nick801 - January 21 2014 at 11:57pm

Its 4ft by 2ft