300Gal in a Sunroom?

cougaran

New member
I really want to mainly do a FOWLR setup, but I do like reef stuff and have had soft corals and even kept SPS alive w/ minimal lighting conditions by keeping them very high in my 90 gal tank. I wanted to purchase a marineland 300 gal-72x36x27.
I live in the North East, where like lately we have had a 15 day stretch of no sun and mostly rain. I wanted to build a Sunroom off my house and wanted to put a large aquarium in it. My concerns is will it be too much light? It wont be getting full sun as there is a huge tree in yard that shades everything for most of the day, so in a sense there will be alot of windows but not direct sun all day. Im also not afraid to use blinds in the future if the tank became an algae pit.

I have a icecap 660 w 4x t5 bulbs (4ft)that i never had chance to setup on my old tank. Im wondering if i can place them centered and have an island setup in the tank. I was thinking of using the t5's to supplement the natural lighting and to color up the deficiencies.

Any suggestions or past experiences would be appreciated.
 
Initially, after reading the title I immediately thought algae problem. I think it'll be alright if you use the blinds during the day...but then it kinda defeats the purpose of calling the room a "sunroom."
 
I'm thinking way ahead, like if i sell it someday it would be more marketable as a sunroom style than a closed in room or heaven forbid I want to get rid of the tank at least I dont have to have someone come out again and remodel it. Besides I get to enjoy a bit of the outside with all the windows. I havent even seen any plans yet, but am waiting for them patiently from my designer. Just kind of thinking ahead, instead of saying I should have put this in or this was a complete disaster.
I'm just wondering who else has done this and likes the results?
 
reefs are in the FULL sun and they aren't at your latitude with the diminished sunlight you will be getting for part of the year. they don't have algae problems. it isn't the sunlight. it is nutrient control. reefs have predominantly algae but they also have grazers of many sorts that control it like cows in a field of grass.

they do get a lot of rain and so are shaded for days at a time. you want to have the sunlight directly on your tank.

get rid of the tree.

get a PAR meter and measure the sunlight.

see my thread about what i did using natural light.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic70159-13-1.aspx?Update=1
 
reefs are in the FULL sun and they aren't at your latitude with the diminished sunlight you will be getting for part of the year. they don't have algae problems. it isn't the sunlight. it is nutrient control. reefs have predominantly algae but they also have grazers of many sorts that control it like cows in a field of grass.

they do get a lot of rain and so are shaded for days at a time. you want to have the sunlight directly on your tank.

get rid of the tree.

get a PAR meter and measure the sunlight.

see my thread about what i did using natural light.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic70159-13-1.aspx?Update=1

i wouldn't do it any other way. you can save a ton of money and have a eco friendlier system too.
 
It took me awhile to read your natural light setup. Very nice, wish I had actual sunlight like that here.

I have to say the tree stays, I had a treecutter and friend come out several years ago to look at the tree to take it down and he convinced me I was nuts for doing it, its a very old maple tree that has about 20' span with no branches. I have since put a pool up in the yard near the tree, i have no algae problems but then again its a very cold pool as it doesnt get full sun. The sun room will allow a place for the aquarium, a few plants, and a nice place to sit and relax.

I hear ya on nutrient control, I plan on using a 300 gal rubermaid bin that I have as a refugium and go w/ a DSB w/ chaeto and few mangroves in it. I plan on using a skimmer too in the mix, but admitily one that is probably will be too small for the tank. I also have the backup idea of putting a 30 gal RDSB online if nutrients become too much of a problem.

I also plan on a DSB in the 300 gal I love the way they look and have had one in my 90 thats been up for several years.
 
Well the designer is getting to me now on his customer list...
The sunroom isnt going to be one of the kit ones but builder made.

Anyone have any suggestions as far as plumbing in the room before it gets built. I was thinking of a drain in the floor and going with a concrete floor to support the weight of the tank. Would u recommend running a tube in the concrete from the tank to the sump and then put the piping in or conceal it somehow in the walls of the sunroom? Are you guys using actual pvc stuff for the whole run or using spa flex for some of it?

I have a 300 gallon rubbermaid stock tank that I would like to use in the basement as a sump. Im going to go with mostly a FOWLR setup so I'm guessing I wont need a huge amount of flow in the tank. The distance from the tank to sump would be about 15' w/ a 8' to 9' drop. Not sure what size the marineland drains are... Also I imagine you would run 2 seperate pipes in case one gets blocked, right?
 
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check out the silent and safe overflow thread. i have 5" in the 700 gallon and it is just enough. the more capacity you have the quieter and safer you can make it.

more, bigger overflows is better.

i used a lot of spaflex and am very happy. maybe it will help too when we have the big quake.

the floor drain is a good idea. i would run the pipes in the floor and make them oversize. use sweep 90's as you may someday need to clean them out. lots of stuff grows in them. over time.

Carl
 
Still in the planning stages here... Anyone have a thought as to WHAT SIZE PIPE I should use in the concrete that will give me enough options to run drain and return lines in? I was thinking of running spaflex in a large pipe in the cement that runs from aquarium to basement area. I'm guessing most people use 2 lines to drain and 1 return (IF im wrong PLEASE TELL ME NOW..lol)

Like I said previously I'm looking at getting a Marineland 300Gal which has (4)1" holes.

I'm not looking for a huge amount of flow through tank and already own a Gen-X PCX-40 (Mak4) Max. Flow--1190 gph w/ 3/4" MPT / 3/4" MPT.. not going to be too much of a drop to basement. PLease dont flame me too bad, i know its a bit undersized for the tank. I was thinking of the possibility of buying another one and have 2 return lines running.. Does 2 return lines each with its own pump work ok or is it going to be possible to get away with the one?

Please help..thanks in advance...
 
Hey cougaran

Regarding you plumbing question... I would run four pipes down to the basement. Two from the overflow and two returns. You could use one as primary and the other as backup.

That's what I'm doing. I'm running four 2" pipes as I am using a 1hp pump but depending on the pump you choose will determine the pipe to use. I would use minimmum 1" and 2" if possible.

I have a couple of those GenX pumps and I think they are not going to provide much flow if you run them from ~10 feet below.

Make sure you have adequate support for your floor.

Hope this helps

Regards

Jan
 
Thanks for the reply. I had almost long given up on this thread..lol.. I think whats going to end up is Stage One throwing the 300 in the living room--definately with proper support. I get kind of worried if a disater could happen with so much water in the living room, talk about major damage to wood floors, rugs and electronics. I'm going to rip up a section of the rugs and go with ceramic tile. Fortunately, where I want to do this in the living room will eventually be modifed to be the entrance for the Sunroom(Stage Two), so its not as big a deal. When I get the builder to do the work I might be able to have the final phase being the removal of the wall, but I have to see if that all is possible. For firm grounding in the sunroom I'm looking at LEVEL concrete flooring with a very large tube for the drains and returns. I may have to bump up the pumps. At the time of the initial post I was thinking low flow, but now with the thoughts of a large Super Reef Octopus XP 5000 EXTERNAL Cone Protein Skimmer, I'm going to need enough flow to feed that thing.
 
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Well It took forever to plan and start but the construction guys are diging..YEAH... I still have my 300 gal unfortunately being unused, but I may fairly soon go with an even bigger tank. So I'm over building stuff in hopes of doing a really really big tank some day soon.

So far I'm having built a solid concrete floor with ceramic tiles on top. I will have a floor drain somewhere in middle of floor. For tank drains/returns I'm going with 2 x6"conduits where I will eventually run 2x2" spa flex through. I'm telling builder i want to go with 45 degree angles to make it easier to thread and less pressure on spa flex.

For electricity I'm a little unsure on. I was thinking of 3xseperate 20amp circuits that are run to behind tank. I will have a sump in basement and have all the pumps and most of the equipment downstairs. Would 1 seperate 20 amp circuit in basement be enough here or probably go with two. Im now thinking 2 as large pumps, protein skimmer, and heaters. Would i really need 3xseperate circuits for behind tank for lights and such or just stick to 2. I'm not really sure when you go real large how much power do you really need for lights-- lets say worse case scenario 4' depth tank.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated...
 
Anyone have any thoughts on electricity needs...

Contractor told me today that threading 2x 2" spaflex through a 6" conduit is a pain so he is thinking 4 x 3" or 4" conduit to run 2" spaflex in singlely...
 
Somewhat depends on what your running but if your going with the 1hp return idea above you'll need a dedicated circuit, another for the heaters and a third for lighting skimmer and accessories. I thing 1hp is way overkill, a barracuda should be fine at 1/4 hp, also much less on power. So minimum 2, 3 is probably a good idea. I would say 4 if you were running metal halide lighting for a full reef but being fish only you shouldn't need the power. I have set up a number of 1k gal systems with a circuit for heater 1 for eaxh individual 1-3 hp pumps and another for accessories and only had a problem once in India and that was the grid...

Why are you using conduit? Personally I hate spa flex, especially when it gets to the larger diameters. It always wants to bend where it wants, pretty much won't go straight and can be a bit tricky to glue. I would hate trying to thread it through another pipe for 2' so I know why your contractor doesn't want to for 15'. Enough of my rant, if you don't need it for something special there isn't much benefit from normal PVC maybe 1 ft of head pressure and you should get a pressure rated pump anyway so maybe 50 gph difference. Not running conduit and flex could save you some cash too. Also only 1 return is really needed, especially 2", but look into the bean animal return, it uses 3 pipes and has become fairly popular.
 
I would love to see how this comes together for you. I've been brainstorming for years how I would love to build a sunroom and place a large aquarium in the center of it. My previous tanks all looked the best when the sunlight came through the windows and lit up the tanks.

My largest unknown is how to deal with the humidity. How would 300 gallons of 80 degree water affect the condensation on the windows of your sun room when it gets below freezing outside? Would all of the windows in the sun room turn into a frosted mess?
 
Epic-Appreciate your thoughts. I'm now thinking that 3 circuits for tank area, this will cover any lights especially future proofing everything. 3 circuits for sump area to cover heater, pumps and skimmer.
As far as running conduit is its going to be burried under a ton of a concrete floor. One end of the conduits will be behind tank the other would lead into basement/sump area. I figured spaflex would be easiest to run in case of any repairs in the future. If anything leaks it would be a bear to repair. Im going to use 45 degree angles to help ease the process instead of 90 degree elbows. Didn't know it was that much of a pain, So im guessing that 4" conduit will be much easier than 3" conduit to thread 2" spaflex through. Unless of course you know of an easier way?


Victor- Originally I was thinking same thing. However, I use a glass canopy and will be using minimal lighting for fish only, so I won't need the super powered evaporating halogen machines. If it becomes an issue then I found in one of the threads some type of venting system that will help with humidity issues.
 
Spaflex would be easiest to repair but there shouldn't be a need to repair it as long as it's not cut into in another home remodel. The thing with spa flex is it comes in a 3-4' coil, and it likes to keep that shape. The larger diameter you go the harder it is to get it to go another direction so trying to push that much through another pipe will be a bit odd. You can warm it up with a heat gun and it gets more flexible but for a straight run, straight pipe is better. I made the mistake of trying to plumb my old 180 with all spaflex and it was somewhat a pain to work with it in tight spaces. These days I use spaflex where there is an odd angle and a normal fitting wouldn't work and rigid for everything else. In general I dont use more than a 2 foot section. It sounds like your getting this job contracted out so maybe discuss what they think would be best.
 
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