After being in the hobby for 8 years, this is the first time I have been tankless...what an odd feeling!  Yes, it is true.  I don't have a drop of saltwater in the house and it's driving me crazy!  As many of you know, JJ (double-j) got out of the hobby and sold everything back in November.  He gave me a deal I couldn't refuse on the 380 gallon so I ended up selling my existing tanks to get ready to set up his tank.  Come to find out, there was a crack in the seam of the tank that couldn't be repaired safely so I had to look at other alternatives for a tank.  The good thing is that I was able to buy everything else sans the tank for a good deal.  But I still have to buy a tank, build a stand, buy a skimmer and a few other miscellaneous items.

Dude! What ru thinking about for dimensions? I'm building up to my next tank coming this fall, looking forward to all the new ideas coming along with this build! Welcome back some hahaha!

Is somebody babysitting your corals? I loved your previous tank; I hope it went to a good home.

Posted By Andy The Reef Guy on 12/23/2011 12:47 AM
Dude! What ru thinking about for dimensions? I'm building up to my next tank coming this fall, looking forward to all the new ideas coming along with this build! Welcome back some hahaha!

Andy, I am getting a 300 gallon Marineland Deep Dimension tank with Starphire front.  The dimensions will be 72x36x27.  I got quotes from several glass tank builders and they all came in much higher and longer lead times to build the tank.  I told my wife I would be done in 2 months and I am sticking with it.

So I suppose maintenance means fragging rights too? That's nice.

well bud i wish you the best on your build , ill i can tell you make sure u go led for lghting because that old meter for the ele. company i spun the dust off of it when them lights went on in that 538 gal . i had . i dont miss the electric bill at all. : )

I enjoyed that video of your tank, especially all the chromis! (call me weird if you want..lol) Was that a coral beauty in there or another type of angel?

Going to be good! Tangers (Jamey) on here was selling his 200 DD it had the Starphire front and sides did you look at buying his? It also has a steel stand he was selling with it.

Wasn't that tank bare bottom when you had it?

Posted By iaJim on 12/23/2011 08:27 AM
So I suppose maintenance means fragging rights too? That's nice.

Jim, I have fragging rights to my old corals along with new ones.  Believe it or not, he has more expensive taste than I do!

Posted By iaJim on 12/23/2011 09:01 AM
Wasn't that tank bare bottom when you had it?

Yes, the tank was bare bottom and I have been wanting to put sand back in it for the longest time so I suggested it to him when we set the tank up at his place.  My new tank will have sand in it as well.  I can't see myself going bare bottom again, it's just not for me.  Granted, it is easy to clean but I couldn't stand the look.

I was just pricing out those 300g too. I like the 36" depth on them. but i want it to stick out from the wall so i can utilize it more. but i also need a new house first once we move to a house we know we can live in for a long time, oh ya a 300g will be getting done might start piecing parts together now too haha, Good luck with your venture..

It's going to be a big change going from the medium sized tanks that you just got rid of to such a monster sized tank. Is this your first really large tank or have you had a big tank in the past and down-sized? So it looks like you'll be putting the tank in the area between the stairs and your old fish room? Are you going to make it visible from both sides or make the back dark. IMO, it would be cool to make it see through and have the overflows and plumbing on the ends. To be able to have corals visible from both sides like that would be really cool.

I find it interesting to hear that you're planning to go back to using MH vs. LEDs. The biggest complaint that I've heard from people about LEDs is that they don't like the more "constant" light effect that LEDs give off, and that they miss the shimmer of the MHs. That being said, I don't know any lights aside from LEDs that can make corals glow like they're radioactive like LEDs can. What are your reasons for going in this direction?

JJ's tank was acrylic, right? It would seem that someone would be able to repair that by removing the old piece of acrylic and replacing it with a new one. You, being the experienced and smart guy that you are, have probably checked into the logistics on that and determined that was not a good option but it sure would seem possible.

So you've gone from tank to tank over your many years in the hobby; what are the lessons that you'll be taking from your other tanks and changing when you put this new tank in place.

This sounds like an awesome project and I look forward to closely tracking your progress on this! Have fun Sone!

--AJ

Posted By OceansWonders on 12/23/2011 08:56 AM 
Going to be good! Tangers (Jamey) on here was selling his 200 DD it had the Starphire front and sides did you look at buying his? It also has a steel stand he was selling with it.

Thanks Jamie!  I saw his tank for sale but I wanted to go with a bigger tank since I was prepared to do a build on a 380.  Downsizing to 300 gallons was bad enough. 

I can completly understand that.  The 350 I have dosn't look nearly as big once it's in the wall, and yours being only viewable from one side will make it seem even smaller.

Oh if your going to go with the MH, led t5 thing check out the light I have on mine, it's super clean looking with the lumenbright reflectors built right in one cord to the fixture from the ballast box which contains all the ballast.

Posted By slovan on 12/23/2011 09:06 AM

Posted By iaJim on 12/23/2011 08:27 AM
So I suppose maintenance means fragging rights too? That's nice.

Jim, I have fragging rights to my old corals along with new ones.  Believe it or not, he has more expensive taste than I do!

I'm not sure how that's possible.  ;-)

--AJ

Posted By snowman82 on 12/23/2011 10:23 AM
I was just pricing out those 300g too. I like the 36" depth on them. but i want it to stick out from the wall so i can utilize it more. but i also need a new house first once we move to a house we know we can live in for a long time, oh ya a 300g will be getting done might start piecing parts together now too haha, Good luck with your venture..

Hey Chris, good to see you are getting back in with a nano.  I hope you find a house soon so you can set up a large tank!

I have a smidgin of insite on the 300 deep dimensions tank in a wall. According to the Fish Shack in Manchester, Bob said Marineland informed him I was the first in Iowa to get one of these back in May of 2008. The tank, in all it's glory, is kick ass. I had Starphire glass in front and the 2 sides since mine went into the corner of a basement wall where the side and front pannel were viewable. The tank later cracked, not sure how or why but that resulted in me downsizing to a 24" depth. Reason being is that with the 300 DD, with the heigth and depth of the tank...being in wall with no front access - it made it incredibly difficult to get to things towards the front of the tank. Trying to catch fish was a challenge as well. (you can only stand on a step stool for so long trying to catch those buggards). That tank was freshwater for my frontosas. Just some insite to consider when placing a large, deep tank in your wall. It does look smashingly sweet when all said and done, and garnishes a lot of ooohs and aahhhhs. In the end, I just didn't want to constantly battle the heigth/depth in wall limitations I had. Made me not want to do maintenance. Not sure how far Manchester is from you, but when I worked with Bob at Fish Shack , I got one heck of a deal on that tank with starphire and black silicone...and he was superb in helping me with the exchange when I needed service from him.

Posted By AJ on 12/23/2011 10:36 AM
It's going to be a big change going from the medium sized tanks that you just got rid of to such a monster sized tank. Is this your first really large tank or have you had a big tank in the past and down-sized? So it looks like you'll be putting the tank in the area between the stairs and your old fish room? Are you going to make it visible from both sides or make the back dark. IMO, it would be cool to make it see through and have the overflows and plumbing on the ends. To be able to have corals visible from both sides like that would be really cool.

I find it interesting to hear that you're planning to go back to using MH vs. LEDs. The biggest complaint that I've heard from people about LEDs is that they don't like the more "constant" light effect that LEDs give off, and that they miss the shimmer of the MHs. That being said, I don't know any lights aside from LEDs that can make corals glow like they're radioactive like LEDs can. What are your reasons for going in this direction?

JJ's tank was acrylic, right? It would seem that someone would be able to repair that by removing the old piece of acrylic and replacing it with a new one. You, being the experienced and smart guy that you are, have probably checked into the logistics on that and determined that was not a good option but it sure would seem possible.

So you've gone from tank to tank over your many years in the hobby; what are the lessons that you'll be taking from your other tanks and changing when you put this new tank in place.

This sounds like an awesome project and I look forward to closely tracking your progress on this! Have fun Sone!

--AJ 

Posted By OceansWonders on 12/23/2011 10:50 AM
Oh if your going to go with the MH, led t5 thing check out the light I have on mine, it's super clean looking with the lumenbright reflectors built right in one cord to the fixture from the ballast box which contains all the ballast.

I saw your light fixture in your build thread, it is sweet!  I would look into it but I still have my AI modules left from my previous tank so I plan on incorporating them into the new build.