help with equipment selection for 270 gallon

Zacktosterone

Zacktosterone

Active member
after much debate, tossing and turning, and a great annoyance to my wife :), Ive decided that I'm going with a 270 gallon reef. this tank will measure
72"x 36"x 27" it's not the marineland one... and the internal dimensions measure 270 gallons. 70.5"x 34.5"x 25"(full).

I'm going to be stocking the tank as a mixed reef with a focus on sps but not entirely.

My issue now is to figure out the replacements in equipment needed.

- i need a return pump, the drains will be a herbie with 1.5" plumbing, this return pump will also split into an inline fuge/frag tank. i would prefer an internal pump but if i have to go external i will. the pump is not directly uner the tank it's in the room behind the wall it's touching so there's a small amount of travel, maybe an extra 3-4 feet
- I need more lighting, I've got 3 3rd generation radion pros right now so i need to know if i should sell them or I should go with more radions... or add lighting to them.
- more pumps! i have 2 rw-15s right now and i'm thinking i should grab 2 more, any thoughts?? maybe just 2.

the scape will not be full with rock but not minimalistic either.
if i think of other questions i'll ask
 
Hey Zack I'm in the same boat, planning for a similar upgrade a little farther down the line. I was planning on keeping my radions and T5 and just expanding that and staggering the radions with halides that will only be run a few hours. I was also debating 2 return pumps instead of one massive one for redundancy. Skimmer wise lookin into life reef 30-36 for simplicity and track record.

Not necessarily posting recommendations per se but what I've been thinking to promote discussion. Dimensions I'm considering are nearly identical to yours maybe a tad longer. Some sea swirls along the back are also up for consideration.
 
Discussion is great. How does 3 radions with 2 lumen bright reflectors. I'm just confused as to what reflector. Could I get away with a mini.... or do I have to go with a large at that point. Or is there a better reflector. I kind of want 4" per side that's free. Don't want to put the radions right on the edge
 
I was going to stagger them. I would go large if enough room and just run the radions perpendicular with wide lenses. I wouldn't buy radions for this purpose but run what you brung;)

You could easily fabricate a rack with extruded aluminum tubing that could accommodate all your lighting needs.
 
rovster said:
I was going to stagger them. I would go large if enough room and just run the radions perpendicular with wide lenses. I wouldn't buy radions for this purpose but run what you brung;)

You could easily fabricate a rack with extruded aluminum tubing that could accommodate all your lighting needs.
Click to expand...

Even staggering them perpendicular, I don't think I can find an effective reflector that isn't overwhelmingly big... or too small. I need an 18x18 reflector o think. It still needs to cover 36x36
 
im actually going to order the ecotech vectra L1 .. can be run submerged or not.... plenty of flow and power and dead silent (just saw one running at an LFS, I was waiting to see one in operation before I decided) .. can be run as straight return or as a closed loop.. has both options already in it! and its completely controllable! no more using choke valves to control the flow from the return! and no wasted electricity either. 3100gph my tank is 240g long.. pretty similar volume.. but mine is 8ft... I currently use a mag 18 as my return... not bad but I hate using a ball valve to adjust flow and I hear a slight buzzing from it
 
for lighting... with those dimensions i'd think 3 radion xr30 pro with 120 degree lenses would be enough... im assuming you have the lenses already... a 6 foot tank seems like 3 of those would be perfect
 
do you have a lot of shadowing? I ask because I saw another build on here where the owner had a 7ft tank with 3 radions... he took the stock lenses off because they didnt cover enough area... changed to the 120 degree lenses and had no more shadowing .. I think he also turned the lights the long way in the canopy also
 
druzzelle said:
do you have a lot of shadowing? I ask because I saw another build on here where the owner had a 7ft tank with 3 radions... he took the stock lenses off because they didnt cover enough area... changed to the 120 degree lenses and had no more shadowing .. I think he also turned the lights the long way in the canopy also
Click to expand...

I'm not sure yet. I still need the tank
 
druzzelle said:
for lighting... with those dimensions i'd think 3 radion xr30 pro with 120 degree lenses would be enough... im assuming you have the lenses already... a 6 foot tank seems like 3 of those would be perfect
Click to expand...

I went with 6 over my tank and don't think 3 would provide very good coverage...but then again the XR30 pro wasn't out nor the 120 degree lenses.
 
thats why I emphasized the 120 degree lenses... i think they add 45 degrees or so more coverage than the stock lenses have.. the difference with those lenses is huge
 
Zack, If I may, take a good look @ where this will sit in the room, mark it out on the floor with something @ the corners.
I was going to do the same dimensions until I did the layout, I wound up going 30" instead of 36".
Dropped me down to 252 gallons but a 36" tank is a bear to work on & I'm 6'4".
 
Its going here.




and yes I agree that that is 100% annoying i've considered how annoying it will be so I may either design an apparatus to work on the tank or build a strong enough stand to hold me when i step inside of the tank lol
 
No way will 3 radions cover that in the long run. Way too much shadowing. I looked at radions when I switched to LEDs and thought four should be enough for my tank. 48/48/24. Was told 6 to start but 8 would be better.
Thing with leds is I think we need more than we originally thought. I'd count on 18/18 area or so that each unit will light properly.

Corey
 
Hey Zack,
I just completed a similar size build (72"×36"x24"). Running bean animal (1 1/2") with a single 1 1/2" return over the top. Return pump is vectra L1 which also supplies 2 reactors and eventually a 40b fuge or frag tank. Went round and round on a skimmer and finally settled on the ATB 1050a. For lighting I also wanted to use some of my existing lights which are Kessel 360we(supplemented by T5 retros) Ended up putting an 8x80 watt ATI sunpower over the tank and used 3 of the kessils in front angled in and will be putting 2 other kessils behind the sunpower. For in tank flow using 2 Gyre 150s and will be moving 2 MP40s over as I move livestock out of old tank.
Just thought I would share for ideas.

Dale
 
DDon said:
Hey Zack,
I just completed a similar size build (72"×36"x24"). Running bean animal (1 1/2") with a single 1 1/2" return over the top. Return pump is vectra L1 which also supplies 2 reactors and eventually a 40b fuge or frag tank. Went round and round on a skimmer and finally settled on the ATB 1050a. For lighting I also wanted to use some of my existing lights which are Kessel 360we(supplemented by T5 retros) Ended up putting an 8x80 watt ATI sunpower over the tank and used 3 of the kessils in front angled in and will be putting 2 other kessils behind the sunpower. For in tank flow using 2 Gyre 150s and will be moving 2 MP40s over as I move livestock out of old tank.
Just thought I would share for ideas.

Dale
Click to expand...

I'll check out that return
 
Sorry, but I don't like the tank location. This is far too busy a spot for a tank. All the constant rushing past of people will be upsetting for the fish, and there is no place to set up dedicated seating for viewing the tank. It will always be an afterthought in the corner of your eye.

Dave.M
 
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