Brhino's 300g megatank

**glarior** · 01-07-2013, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by Brhino

Great, someone with experience on this... I was hoping someone had dealt with this before. Were your tanks glass or acrylic? How bad was the dip you were dealing with? I'm curious - what was different regarding the 300g that made the manufacturer say NOT to use foam?

Glass tanks but have a full sheet under my 137g acrylic sump which runs a little over half full

I never understood why they said not to use it. I think it was a CYA for them and voids the warrenty. The other reason I did not use it was the tank is 3" taller than my 240. By having it a little bit lower it will be easier making the tanks look the same size when I finish the wall.

If you google marineland 300g dd .... I read some used foam, leveling cement or nothing. Some people said acrylic will flex more than glass and the foam is better choice. All that is really he said she said...

The gaps on the stand were very little. I could barley see light from the crack. The biggest gap might have been 1/16 on the 7ft. Its all about distribution of weight. As the 300g is filling I am not seeing any gaps now but I still have two days left to fill the tank lol.

Another note I just realized while moving my 300g tank was the plastic bottom conformed to the wood stand in the old place. Maybe that is why marineland says no to foam?

**Brhino** · 01-07-2013, 06:11 PM

hmm. Thanks. I think I better get some more opinions of large acrylic tank owners.

**Hardy85** · 01-07-2013, 06:12 PM

Hey Brhino, have you thought about substrate for this tank yet?

Thats a lot of surface area to fill, if I can make any input I would HIGHLY recommend going with Turface Pro League - Hertiage Red

You would probably need 4 bags to do a 2-3" covering of the entire tank, and they run about $20/bag. While it takes some time to clean (red dust, clean well or it clouds up water for a bit) at first, its great in my tank so far

What I like about it:
Good for plants (so I've been told)
Looks good
EASY to vac, the vacuum doesn't pick up 98% of the pieces past 1-2" off surface, so I can just vac like its normal gravel
My fish enjoy playing / digging in it
Cheap compared to most stuff

**Brhino** · 01-07-2013, 06:40 PM

I have thought about substrate. I want it to be very natural looking, I want it to be easy to vacuum, and I want it to be cheap, because as you say, whatever I pick I'm going to need a lot of it. I definitely won't be having plants in this tank so I don't need to worry about that.

**Hardy85** · 01-07-2013, 06:46 PM

Based on what you said, when you do look into it, consider the Turface. IMO it fits everything you just stated

**Sandz** · 01-07-2013, 07:08 PM

With wood and no plants, play sand after it gets some wood debris in it looks quite natural. also could use some river rock to mix in and create the look.

**250Gimp** · 01-08-2013, 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by Brhino

I think it's looking pretty good, but then James notices something - there's a gap between the tank and the stand at the center!

The gap's about 1/4" and exists at the front and the back of the stand. It seems that my 2x6 beam is bowed downward a bit. I'm not sure how that happened, and I'm not sure what to do about it. Hmm. Something to think about as I work on other stuff.

Hi There Brhino

The tank is looking great!

One thing you may want to consider to fill the gap would be some "non-shrink grout" It is cement based so it can be mixed quite stiff so you can put it in place with a knife, and it won't shrink as it dries, which a lot of cement based materials do. You can get it at most lumber yards, sucj as Lowes, Home Depot, etc..

If you fill all gaps your tank will essnetially be fully supported. If it were my own I would also put a bead of sillicone over the grout once it has fully cured, just to seal it.

You would still want to make a trim on the outside to hide the discrepency, but that is minor compared to the work you have already done.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

**Brhino** · 01-10-2013, 04:11 AM

At this point it looks like I'm going to solve the stand issue by attaching a new sheet of plywood on top of the existing one, with precision-cut furring strips in between the two pieces such that the top piece is level but still fully supported. I'm thinking that once I get that attached, before I even seal and paint it, I'm going to put the tank back up there and do a full-on test where I fill the tank by about 30 gallons a day and make sure everything checks out. If I'm going to have problems I want to know about them sooner rather than later.

My sample piece from Universal Rocks arrived today!

It's an extremely thin rubbery material. Very flexible, as you can see.

Very natural looking when laid flat, though. Look at the above picture. It was taken without a flash with ambient light mostly from above.

This time there's a lamp on to the right of the image. Notice the shadows cast by the ridges and grooves. For as thin as it is, it's still got depth to it.

My one complaint is that it's so thin in places that there are actually holes in it. Here I'm holding it up in front of my computer monitor - those white dots are where the light shines straight through. Now, this shouldn't be a problem in my tank with its black background but it's something to keep in mind.

I'm going to install this piece in my 10g betta tank and see how it looks there but on first impression I'm pretty pleased with this stuff... I could definitely see myself using it for the big tank. I haven't heard any more from Designs by Nature since the one night where they responded to me and everyone else on their facebook page, but I won't be able to order a background until February at the earliest so they've got some time to get their act together and I still may consider them.

Lastly, sailfin pleco update: got him on the glass for a nice clean measurement again just now and he's a full 6", so that's 1.25" growth in 3 weeks. Slowing down a bit, but still pretty incredible.

**Hardy85** · 01-10-2013, 10:58 AM

What's the cost for that stuff?

And does it need to be siliconed in?

**Brhino** · 01-10-2013, 12:35 PM

That piece there, which is 20"x12", cost me $33 including shipping. If I get enough for the 300 gallon tank it will be over $300. It does not REQUIRE silicone - it comes with two plastic clips that are meant to clamp it in place. I'll see how those work when I install this in the betta tank (there'll be photos of course). If I use it on the big tank I definitely will silicone it to the back, though.