Dotcommer's Reef - 300 Gallon 10' x 2' x 2' Mixed Reef Build, Scottsdale AZ

[RJT]

Brilliant idea with the pull out sump. Beautiful home and view from it.

Great quote regarding knowledge in your signature.

 

[dotcommer]

Great to see an update pal! I was getting a little worried about you. I love the idea of the pull-out sump. I definitely will be copying that idea!

Thanks, it feels good to be diving back into the build.

I am having my canopy built as well right now and its going to be a bit different than most.

I am going to try something new. Rotating MH lights.

On my 90 Gallon the MH lights are attached to the top of the canopy which swings upwards when I need to access the tank. When the canopy is up, my MH are glaring into my room, however the effect on the tank is amazing. The falloff light from the MH, creates and increible shiimmering effect on the water and looks like real world cloud coverage.

Since I love the way LED's allow for thunderstorms and cloud coverage, I can now get somewhat a similar effect with MH.

I am going to have a the lights attached to a rod that will extend across my canopy. I am going to use a Linear Actuator to rotate the lights 45 degrees within my canopy. The actuator will be controlled by my apex and will run in the morning and night to simulate sunrise and sunset and a few times throughout the day to simulate cloud coverage.

I am building my canopy large enough to have everything enclosed so I don't have light glaring into my room like the 90 Gallon. Since my basement has 10' ceilings, I am also going to use an actuator to lift my canopy 21" so I can access my tank to work on it and still have the lights on above to see into the tank. I have a few pics and will post them later.

 

[Osteoclast]

DC
The sump roller is ingenious. Enjoyed the build. And if you do not mind what is your filtration and maintance plan? Great work to date. Thanks for your time.

 

[dotcommer]

DC
The sump roller is ingenious. Enjoyed the build. And if you do not mind what is your filtration and maintance plan? Great work to date. Thanks for your time.

Thanks for the compliment. The tank is going to have a 2" and 1 1/2" drain in each corner overflow. The 2" is going the be the main drains and the 1 1/2" will be the emergency drain. The will be going into two 7" socks and will be skimmed by the reef octopus SRO500 skimmer. The fuge is going to be around 60 gallons and is on the right side of the sump, it will get slow flow from the return pump and slowly cascade back into the center of the sump where the return pump and ATO and other stuff will be located.

My maintenance schedule at first will be manual weekly water changes, and I want to incorporate the New Gen system for doing daily water changes in the very near future. Depending on how the automatic skimmer head works will decide how often I am removing the skimmer head. Currently on my 90 Gallon with an SRO 2000 and no auto skimmer head, I am cleaning it daily. I will be using the Rowaphos for phosphate removal. Its working great on my current system.

Blowing off the corals and rocks will be done every few days as to not have to much detritus settling on them.

 

[Osteoclast]

Sounds like a well researched strategy. I incorporate many of these methods as well. Good luck.

 

[dotcommer]

You gotta show pics of this hybrid overflow.

Sorry it took so long to get these pics. Its tough to photograph the weir through an empty tank, I was getting a lot of reflection. These pics were taken when I pulled the tank off the stand and was able to photograph from inside the tank.

Here they are.

 

[dotcommer]

We finally finished the canopy enough to install it on the stand.

The canopy was a long working project since I wanted the canopy to be raised up when I need to work inside the tank.

Another feature I wanted to build into the canopy was rotating MH lights to create a lighting that would mimic cloud coverage.

I am using a linear actuator to lift the canopy 20" so I can work in the tank very easily.
I am using another linear actuator to rotate the MH lights.

This was a project that needed a lot of custom steel pieces to make it happen.

I will post pics and some videos of it in action shortly.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Sorry it took so long to get these pics. Its tough to photograph the weir through an empty tank, I was getting a lot of reflection. These pics were taken when I pulled the tank off the stand and was able to photograph from inside the tank.

Here they are.

Thanks for the overflow pics. Very creative.

 

[dca22anderson]

Your pull out sump is off the charts!! Love your cool guy overflow as well! Nicely done sir!!!

 

[dotcommer]

Your pull out sump is off the charts!! Love your cool guy overflow as well! Nicely done sir!!!

Thanks, still trying to figure out the plumbing side of the sump, But I am looking forward to seeing it in action.

The overflow / weir is going to be interesting. I'm also looking forward to seeing it in action as well.

 

[dotcommer]

This week we finally finished installing three 20 amp breakers. It took a while since the aquarium is in the basement and the electric box is upstairs in the garage. My wife isn't to happy with all the holes in the walls, but I promised her they would be fixed by next week.

Here's some construction pics.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

I guess I will be getting the same fate when I run my electrical to the tank.

 

[dotcommer]

I guess I will be getting the same fate when I run my electrical to the tank.

Yep, lots of fun.....

 

[dotcommer]

We finished installing all of the MH lights, the actuator to rotate the MH lights and the canopy lift. I also started to mount the electronics on a board under the aquarium to hang all the electronics.

 

[Prodigy]

Its been a while since I updated the thread mainly because I have been focusing on getting my 90 Gallon reef dialed in. I am using it to grow out corals and to test out some equipment that I will be using on my 300 Gallon like programming the Apex, Setting up and adjusting dosing pumps, really spending the time on my husbandry skills, keeping nitrates and phosphates at zero etc... I have been growing some wild Acros and having some nice success with them.

Let's see those wild acros you been having some nice success with

 

[dca22anderson]

Love to see some of your acros too! :thumbsup:

 

[dotcommer]

Love to see some of your acros too! :thumbsup:

Here's some that I have in my 90 Gallon that will go into the 300 Gallon when completed.

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums...A3C6A5-10893-0000061B5A3CD954_zps12c3ad82.jpg

Here is a full tank shot of the 90 Gallon

 

[dca22anderson]

WOW! Those look Fantastic! Well done buddy!

 

[dotcommer]

WOW! Those look Fantastic! Well done buddy!

Thanks, still learning alot.

 

[Snookslayer85]

Looks awesome... will be following this amazing build.