300g Shark/Ray aquarium

[glarior]

This is the start of my first journal. I have been doing aquariums since 2000 and got invovled in saltwater 2008/2009 (I don't remember which year lol). I have learned a lot over the years and now want to take on something more advanced... sharks, rays and eels.

I highly recommend the book "Aquarium Sharks & Rays: An Essential Guide to Their Selection, Keeping, and Natural History" by Scott W. Michael

The setup at this time:


6ft x 3ft x 27" aquarium with black backing
~400lbs of fine grain sand plus ~100lbs of my current live sand
Live rock - unsure how much at this time.
Sump - in debate with bioballs, live rock and/or fluidized sand bed (what you think?)
LED lights - trying to figure out how many LED's to use
Octopus skimmer for 300g
Algae scrubber - May 1st is the release date of Santa Monica's new design/patent. Can't wait!
simple stand


[LIST=1]
step 1: locate the current 75g aquarium and rebuild/reinforce the floor.

step 2: bring home stand and figure out how to move the aquarium inside the house

step 3: if step 2 is successful I will bring the aquarium home with bulk supply of salt

step 4: install aquarium, plumbing, wait 2-3 days for the RO/DI filter to fill the aquarium.

step 5: let aquarium run for a while and add my lion, eel and puffer to the aquarium

step 6: this will happen when I think the aquarium is ready and matured, relocate puffer to reef tank, introduce shark/ray.

step 7: ultimate challenge/goal, have the sharks/rays reproduce!


Wow, seems so simple right? :hmm3grin2orange:

[Lady Hobbs]

Sounds like an awesome tank project but I know of no sharks or rays that could go in a 300 gallon.

[glarior]

Sounds like an awesome tank project but I know of no sharks or rays that could go in a 300 gallon.

The rays I am still researching.

There are only 3 sharks that can be housed in that small of an aquarium... bamboo, epaulette and catsharks. They are not active sharks and spend most of their time resting on the bottom of the aquarium. :fish:

[Surfdog]

:22: But think of all the eels you can house, boy oh boy...

[glarior]

Update: Floor rebuilding starts this weekend. 3/4 plywood on top with new 2*6 cross bracing and railroad ties put under all that to spread the weight. Might be a redneck if you use railroad ties to support the fish tank :hmm3grin2orange:

I will take pictures.

In debate... fully loaded bioball sump or fluidized sand filter. My readings say both are just as good for bacteria growth but neither remove nitrates. However, the scrubber I plan to build will. In theory I should be set...

Light fixture is going to be a DIY Cree LED setup with nothing to bright and red LED's for night viewing.

The one LFS I do business with is getting me a bulk supply of fine white sand and salt which saves money.

The scrubber design is coming. Algaescrubber.net releases a new patent design May 1st everyone is waiting for... once released I will debate between my 'I' design LED scrubber or the new design. The LED part is awesome and people are getting great results using the 660nm deep red LED's. I am building one for the 120g reef tank as soon as the parts come in.

[glarior]

Past weekend rebuilt the floor and supported it from under the house with railroad ties.

I am glad I did this... the 75g scrubber was leaking and I never knew it! The floor was already warping and going through the insulation!

Painted the stand yesterday with wood fence water seal. I plan to put thin black acrylic on the front and side of the aquarium since its going into a corner.

http://www.horsepowermafia.com/images/web/300stand.jpg

Hope to bring the tank home this week so I can figure out how big to build the sump, scrubber and all the other stuff.

[ScottishFish]

Looks a nice big sturdy frame you've built there thumbs2:

[glarior]

Looks a nice big sturdy frame you've built there thumbs2:

Glad you say so lol... I am still a little iffy on it. I think it should have more studs but been told its more than enough. I also added 1/4 plywood around the whole thing and will add some extra support in the front once installed.

[hockeyhead019]

1/4 Ply will make it much stronger... also much heavier so make sure you screw it on so you can move the stand without a fork lift hahaha

Stand looks rock solid though!

[ScottishFish]

For your own piece of mind it would maybe be worth it to put some batons across the middle from left to right, so dividing your 3 open top squares into 12 smaller ones and thus spreading the wieght a bit more? I still think it looks darn sturdy though :22:

[glarior]

For your own piece of mind it would maybe be worth it to put some batons across the middle from left to right, so dividing your 3 open top squares into 12 smaller ones and thus spreading the wieght a bit more? I still think it looks darn sturdy though :22:

What is a baton? I googled it but what I saw is not what you mean....

[Surfdog]

I had a steel stand for my 300, it alot of weight. I had a roll out cabinet (shell) for looks. As to baton, i believe its additional cross members making more squares and helping distribute the weight...its a lot of weight!! Grats on getting it going!
thumbs2:

[glarior]

I had a steel stand for my 300, it alot of weight. I had a roll out cabinet (shell) for looks. As to baton, i believe its additional cross members making more squares and helping distribute the weight...its a lot of weight!! Grats on getting it going!
thumbs2:

Steel would have been nice.

Yea, I was thinking about doing that.


Update: picking up the tank today. Have friends coming over Sunday to bring it in the house...

[ScottishFish]

Sorry I never realised you replied asking what a baton was, just another big hunk of wood, like you've already got going from front to back. Was just an idea for extra weight distribution :22:

[glarior]

Tank was moved into the house yesterday! Took 4 friends plus me to move it in. I am going to add a few more 2x4's to the stand.

I won't be working on the setup much this week as I need to prepare for a land speed race this weekend.

Post more info/pics soon.

[Surfdog]

Looking forward to seeing this progress. BTW, what did u end up paying for the Tank alone?
:22:

[glarior]

Looking forward to seeing this progress. BTW, what did u end up paying for the Tank alone?
:22:

750 and gave them some old fish tank stuff I had collecting dust since I am to lazy to post on CL :hmm3grin2orange:

The tank is the cheap part.... all the stuff to make it work is what adds up!

[Hpimichael02]

The tank is the cheap part.... all the stuff to make it work is what adds up!
isnt this the truth, i just bought two 55G tanks with a stand for $100, to get them up and runnings is a few extra $$, i cant even imagine a 300G tank,the cost of everything.

[glarior]

Installed the tank... took 5 people and knocked 2 small holes 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 done right there is no salt creep.

http://www.horsepowermafia.com/images/web/tankinstall1.jpg
http://www.horsepowermafia.com/images/web/tankinstall2.jpg

[Crispy]

sweet tank! gonna be running a sump?

[glarior]

sweet tank! gonna be running a sump?

Yes. Plan for a fluidized sump with algae scrubber.

Once I figure out how big of fluidized bed section I need I will build it out of acrylic. I just posted about sizing on another forum... hope I get a responce.

So far the design goes... dual return ---> filter floss ---> skimmer ---> fuidized bed ---> triple baffle ---> scrubber ---> dual return pumps

[Hpimichael02]

whats the footprint ?

[glarior]

whats the footprint ?

18sqft tank
10sqft sump - unless design changes

[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.

[glarior]

Took the water out of the aquarium and started to shim the entire stand.

I would recommend everyone to shim their stands from now on. I am amazed how off everything really is. I used a dollar bill to check for gaps and then added the shims. I used the composite ones from home depot which are not expensive.

Hopefully tonight I can resume filling the tank

[cuckoochews]

Just want to say that I'm really enjoying this journal and look foward to checking the progress each day! Thanks! thumbs2:

[glarior]

Just want to say that I'm really enjoying this journal and look foward to checking the progress each day! Thanks! thumbs2:

Thank you! I need to post more pics soon

[Cermet]

Just saying (sure you got this covered) the tank will weigh near 3000 lbs - more than many small cars ...over build your tank stand and I assume it will be sitting on a thick concrete level surface - if it shifts at all, that will 300 gals of salt water, all the fish and live rock ... .

By the way, I thought live rock and algae scrubbers consumed nitrates?

[glarior]

Just saying (sure you got this covered) the tank will weigh near 3000 lbs - more than many small cars ...over build your tank stand and I assume it will be sitting on a thick concrete level surface - if it shifts at all, that will 300 gals of salt water, all the fish and live rock ... .

By the way, I thought live rock and algae scrubbers consumed nitrates?

Yea everything has been reinforced. I also added more stand supports.

Correct, LR and scrubbers consume nitrates. Since I won't have much live rock the scrubber is a must unless I want to do water changes all the time... which I don't lol

[glarior]

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]

Some pictures and update.

The snake we found when moving the tank in the house. Very non-agressive and we were able to hold it lol.
http://www.horsepowermafia.com/images/web/01.jpg


Started filling the tank
http://www.horsepowermafia.com/images/web/02.jpg


I started shimming the tank and look what came running out.... this one drowned... I hate these things. Also that shim is 1.5" wide
http://www.horsepowermafia.com/images/web/03.jpg


How the tank looks as of last night with the addition of 360lbs of sand. I still have 100lbs more.
http://www.horsepowermafia.com/images/web/04.jpg

[MLBfan]

That tank is even bigger than I thought. It looks nice...

and cool snake.

[glarior]

its filtering!

Have both pumps running and everything is working like it should! Woohoo!

Now to wait for the water to clear up from the sand

[Hpimichael02]

wow, that thing is massive. 360lbs of sand thats allot of sand- what sand did you use?

also scorpions are beasts. i used to have a couple of those in my 150G tank they are dangerous.

[ScottishFish]

Nice tank! I would crap myself if a scorpion ran out!!!

[glarior]

wow, that thing is massive. 360lbs of sand thats allot of sand- what sand did you use?

also scorpions are beasts. i used to have a couple of those in my 150G tank they are dangerous.

I used fiji pink live sand. The one I was going to use at first was a fine bright white sand but the cost was the same as live sand. I have ~100lbs more from the old tank I transfer over too. That way the stingray will have plenty of area to submerge. Plus, helps hide the PVC system for the eels.

Yea, I hate scorpions. I have been stung to many times and its never fun. Guess that what you get for living in the country :hmm3grin2orange:

[glarior]

Nice tank! I would crap myself if a scorpion ran out!!!

I did jump back because I was not expecting that. Plus, I was working that corner, took a few minute break and it ran out when I started again. Thankfully I had my feeding tweezers right by me.

[Crispy]

looking sweet! glad to finally see it running! :18:

[glarior]

Added the eels last night and the lionfish.

I think I like large eels more than small eels. The Tessalata was happy and relaxed in the new tank. The ribbon eel went nuts. About an hour after adding the ribon it ended up in the bottom of the overflow box. It took me 30 minutes to get him out of there. I added the eggcrate lid to prevent that happening again and within 10 minutes the ribbon eel jumped onto the floor! Added him back to the tank, added plastic window screen over the tank. 300g and it still wants to jump out!

See if he is in the tank when I go home today.

So far going good. Tank not ready for nice pictures yet.

[Hpimichael02]

sounds good, those are some lucky eels. so cycling is done already ?

[Surfdog]

lookin great!!! You will need a permanent cover as all your eels are suseptable to falling out as they explore. I've had my Big Oscillated bump the glass top hard on my tank, lifted it a good 4 inches. I now have 5lb lead bars I place on top of each side. I believe they are very curious and I was warned from the get go by the guy;s at my local LFS. Lookin forward to the end result!!!!
thumbs2:

[glarior]

The tank should not need a major cycle because I used the LR, LS and bioballs from the old tank. Time will tell

@surfdog

Yea, I ended up using the egg crate and wrapped with plastic mesh screen with weight on top. That way the tank will stay cooler during the summer. I am just amazed the big eel is so relaxed. I watched him check out the tank but never went nuts like the ribbon eel did.

The hard part is feeding them. Before the fish/eel were in the same area and now they are spread out lol.

[hockeyhead019]

I can imagine it'd be tough to feed everybody in a tank that size! Can't wait to see some pictures and congrats on getting the monster up and running!

[glarior]

Well.... dun dun dun....

I will have to move my 300g & 120g aquariums.

It’s for a good reason... Got a new place on my property lol. I will slowly move into the new place hopefully next month and eventually tear down the old place. The fish's won’t be too stressed on that vs having to move long distance. The sharks and ray will have to wait until I move and get settled in again.


I am in debate on the installation of the new setups. I am thinking of upgrading my 120 reef to a 180 reef and do a in wall installation for both tanks. Not 100% sure at this time. I keep looking at the floor plans, removed the 4th bedroom walls so there is potential for a custom all aquarium room setup. I will know for sure within the next month or two.

Do I have a show of hands who wants to help move the setups hahah :hmm3grin2orange:

I think my friends are going to boycott me when I call and ask for help again

Bright side its good exercise

[glarior]

Latest update.

I will take a pic of the 300g as it is and then start a new thread on here for the new setup.

I am selling my 120g reef tank cause I bought a 8ft long tank for a reef tank yesterday.

Starting 2nd week of July.... I plan to turn a bedroom into a fish room. I am going to tear out the wall, push it back 4ft to give the living room more space. Then I will build the 8ft and 300g tank into the wall with full access from the old room. I will add fancy picture frame style molding to make it look like a moving picture.

The 8ft tank will be a reef setup while the 300g will still be for the shark/ray/eel.

I am excited. I have been wanting to do this for years and finally I can! All those days of skimping on food, saving money and being cheap are paying off! Sure easy to spend it vs save it haha.

[glarior]

A few months late on starting this project. I will do a final post of what everything looked like before I moved the tanks.

I made a new journal entry for the full wall build.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?p=1093032#post1093032