MMcDonald 285 gallon Plywood Build Thread

I didn't mind the cost at all. If I am going to the trouble to design and build a 300 gallon tank, it better be freaking awesome when I am done. Lumen Bright reflectors unless there is something better.... but... this is a depth thread...

Believe me, as I am designing all of this you will all have chance to critique it all.

M

 

WOW! this thing is going to be insane! im excited! any idea on when the build thread is going to emerge? i am going to stalk 3reef to get the first post on it

 

Go as tall as you want to. FWIW 250 watters with good reflectors will easily get enough good light to the bottom of a tank even 36" tall.

So, what construction methods will you utilize for your woody?

 

make sure you have a plan for getting stuff placed on the lower half of the tank, I know GoToSleep uses a mask and snorkle with his wife holding his ankles

question: why did you decide to do a DSB in the tank versus a RDSB that could be isolated if there was ever an issue possibly caused by the DSB and potentially risking all the livestock in the tank in a single fell swoop? Not saying there is anything wrong with your plan, I just like the way you plan things out and was curious to the thought process.

 

I haven't decided anything for sure on the DSB. That is my opening concept. Like I said, the purpose of this thread is to determine water depth. I am going to play around 30-36" water depth as my design range and see how it comes out.

With respect to the DSB, it comes down to volume efficiency. My entire "equipment room" has to fit under the tank. The "84x24" foot print is all I have to work with. If I go RDSB in the refugium, it will be much smaller. More to come on that debate separately.

M

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Don't know if your a tall person or short but you need to take in account how far you can reach in a tank. Mine is only 30" so I have to watch what deodorant I have on then I reach for the bottom of the tank as my hole shoulder is in the water.

Just keep that in mind.

 

for depth, the important questions to me are

how far are you willing to reach (I'm not going to let my face get in that water personally)

and

what kind of coral do you want on the bottom? a lot of coral likes lower lights... if you plan on only keeping high light demand corals, by all means go bright, but if you want some LPS or others that are lesser demanding you'll want that lower area for them. either by it being too deep for your lights or by having smaller wattage lights... give and take.

I'm wondering the same thing. If anything happens w/the DSB and it's in a large DT you're basically screwed. I wouldn't do it personally but others do.

A DT this large should have a nice sized cabinet under it so I would assume a nice sized sump/refugium... nice place to put the DSB IMO.


It will also, essentially, remove any possibility of rearranging your aqua scape down the road practically.

 

Ya, that is a lot of area for a DSB. Not saying I wouldn't do it, but may be unecessary. 3" in a tank will still denitrify. Mine bubbles all day. 3-4" will still give benefits with less chance of problems of a truly deep bed like 6". I have very little experience on this matter. I don't necessarily buy all the horror stories. Seems to me those with problems are cause by not maintaining it properly with clean up crew and feeding right.

Even still, why risk what will eventually be a very big tank with eventually a very large amount of life in it? It seems to me DSB don't go bad overnight, but after many years. 5-6 years down the road would be a very bad time to start having problems in a very big tank. You could very easily fit a 75g fuge under your stand with another sump and have a 6" bed that would be very effective and still be able to be isolated and removed if need be.

More just thinking out loud, and not so much facts based on my experience.

And oh ya...... you don't waste any time do you???

 

I personally wouldn't do a DSB. Every one I have seen that has been up for over a couple years has mini crashes. A mini crash is still a crash of sorts.

I have long arms since I am tall, but I don't know if I would go more than 30" tops. Now if you can make it big enough to be able to at least stick your head all the way in, then you could do over that 30" height easily. It just depends on how wet you want to get.

 

as i only have 6x 54w T5s i would not go deeper then 21ish. its also hard for me to do stuff inside the tank when its so deep.