300 gallon rubbermaid tank (metal) Build and question thread

ok fair enough, i am very green but at the same time experienced. Im 18 and a run my local saltwater store and i have been doing it for 8 plus years. I breed clowns, and raise all sorts of sps. Its generally more fun to be challenging. But i dont know much about the setting up on this.

The guy who i know has almost unlimited area to house the equipment and i have a huge euro reef to run the whole thing. He is paying all electricity and water bills and i just need to try this large scale as to get enough sales to purchase more frags.

I feel like for the most part plumming all the 70's together seems feasible but maybe a more work and planning. I was hoping for simplicity in initial disign but this is the saltwater hobby.

I agree though, yet at the same time i would like to purchase some local large collonies that need space, would the 25" matter if i have maybe 6" eggcrate under a 400 watt mh pendent?
 
btw i Really appreciate the advice and hopefully ill be certain what my plan is soon.

Im just a general salt adict and hes a successful buisness man with a recent addiction to coral.
 
go pick up the reef aquarium volume 3 and calfos coral prop book and start with both of those


as for the metal tank
call aquatic eco systems and ask tehm what epoxy they would use
you CAN use the metal tank but have to coat it with epoxy



also i agree superedge88 you not really planing this very energy efficiantly if oyur using a 400 watt halide im hoping you plan to use that for about 10 sq ft of tank

if oyu dont make hte tank shallow and use cost effective ways to move water all you will ahve is a moneypit
 
A few things: I had (2) 600 stainless steel tanks in my x-ray business where we mixed very corosive fixer and developer batches. My tanks never rusted. And I am certain these chemicals are more corrosive than saltwater.

I wish I knew where to research this, I'm not sure if it will leach heavy metals into a reef environment or not, but in my mind I feel like my 600 gallon tanks would work. (but have no scientific proff to back that up) so dont try it...

Another thing due to temp, consider your lighting needs, and drastic temp changes.

IMO, if you have a warehouse and its all free to you, invest a little money. Buy a few rows of 65 gallon tanks, like 6 or them... Have them drilled and plumb them all into a big refugium / sump. Use One powerful pump to direct water to top tanks, etc...

Use a powerful skimmer in the sump.

Put lighting over each tank, heat sump with a good heater. And do it the right way. Take your time. Go slow...

And have fun with it.
 
The steel will leach things like chromium, iron or nickel into the water. Not good. How long are you planning on having this set up? Once you set up a system this size with all the plumbing, light fixtures, racks, and various hardware it is rather permanent and a HUGE pain to take apart.
 
okay so far we have a 30 gallon on a stand, 75 gallon with a 40 gallon sump beneath it, and the 300 rubbermaid tank.

Is a calcium reactor a must early on,

also is airborn chemicals a problem with open tanks.
 
well he has barrels of chemicals about 40 feet away from the tanks and the air sometimes smells of them. He has very good circulation but could this be a negative factor?
 
I have used a metal sump on a display system for fw and sw ...it has been used for sw for approx. 6yrs...its volume is approx 400gal...it was not even ss metal..all I have done is line it with 45mil. pondliner..I run approx. 250 gals in it now..this is an inexpensive method to play around w/ frags and grow out...
Just keep it simple since you are starting out!!!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13759450#post13759450 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FIJI Reefing
well he has barrels of chemicals about 40 feet away from the tanks and the air sometimes smells of them. He has very good circulation but could this be a negative factor?
Click to expand...

I'd be a little worried, what kind of chemicals are we talking about?
 
wow chmical vapors are very scary..You need to elaborate on what exactly your friend does here in this warehouse..
 
he mixes chemicals for a detailing buisness of his. Could be any number of things, so in response we are room around the fish area to keep it separate.

also we went with the 300 gallon round rubbermaid which is 5' by 6' and 24" high. Its perfect IMO as i will use egg crate. Also i plan on a 70 gallon sump with a large calcium reactor and a euro reef skimme at 300 gallons. The intake will be 2" pvc and it will be surface skimmed as to prevent flooding in a power outage.

Also will a greenhouse type room be affective. I mean we can make an actual room or we could make a metal framwork covered in a thick plastic almost looking like a greenhouse. Any ideas.

I will start mostly occupy myself with zoas and ancan lords and try higher end sps.
 
also, we have started framework on what will be the room for this coral propogation hobby. This is progressing and i will document and take pictures of the entire thing.
 
all metals corroad over time even stainless and titanium. if your going to use the steal tank the rino lining would be the easiest way and probably the most cost effective.
 
You say you have a rubbermaid tank...that is metal? I am skeptical, I didn't know rubbermaid made metal tanks, its not really their thing, plastics are what they do.

This link is not for a metal tank either. Am I just misunderstanding you here?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13743228#post13743228 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FIJI Reefing
says that the rubbermaid metal tanks dont rust. would it still leak chemicals in?

http://justkansas.com/farm-agricult...rubbermaid-livestock-water-tank-abbyville-150
Click to expand...
 
hold on you guys misunderstood me..

i bought a 300 gallon rubber, round container that is grey and made to hold the pressure of 300 gallons. This is not corrosive and used by many in the coral propogating community. i did not buy the metal for obvious reasons
 
also would a dedicated space in the sump with mandroves, a deep sand bed, and live rock for structure make a noticable difference. I was thinking chaeto and mangroves in large numbers. This would be filtration with a euro reef. Seems like a good choice even if mangroves absorb nutrients very slow. I could also try xenia in large populations and maybe a clam or too for some nutrient export. Does that sound affective?
 
Re: 300 gallon rubbermaid tank (metal) Build and question thread

I think this sentence is where you went wrong...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13742621#post13742621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FIJI Reefing


We grabbed a metal 300 gallon tank (8 feet long, about 3 wide by 2 1/2 tall) <--- very rough estimate except for length.

Click to expand...
 
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