Monkey's 300G reef

Cheekymonkey

Cheekymonkey

Premium Member
Well Its confirmed today, I bought a 300G tank.

Photo12.jpg


Dimensions are 96"long x 24"wide x 30"tall. A couple very minor scratches even when it was dry and they tend to look worse.

Came with a stand and canopy that I will be working on to make the stand slightly taller, and I will definently also be painting the stand black to match my decor.

We are moving the tank in this Sunday with the help of Joe and Terry who have volunteered so far.


The tank will have the SPS and LPS from my 120, and my favorite mushrooms, RBTA, and a couple zoa's from my 40G. Both those tanks will be taken down. Also all the fish, (not sure about the second pair of clowns though even in an 8 foot tank.
 
So my first dilemna with the new tank is Lighting


I am planning 3 towers in the tank with SPS at the top.

Also planning on using 250W Metal Halides, preferably Reeflux 12k's since we are enjoying them thoroughly right now.
There will be supplemental flourecent lighting of some kind, very possibly VHO's. But the towers will be centered under the halides.


The tank has very thick eurobracing on the top, and basically leaves me 3 openings. They are centered on the tank, and each opening is 1ftx2ft.
I don't expect to be able to keep SPS below about 18" in the tank. So I am fairly set on 250W halides.

Reflector wise, I have looked at a few things, the 2 that are jumping out at me are:

spiderlight reflectors
Lumenarc 3 reflectors
Lumenarc A3 reflectors


What I am worried about, is:

melting the eurobracing if the reflector is too big
having a reflector that won't give me the spread I need
wasting the light in such a deep tank



Anyway, I would love any suggestions, I have been looking through tanks on the Large reef section, as well as reading on Sanjay's (most of it is way over my head), and wetwebmedia. But I would love some first hand suggestions, feel free to suggest other reflectors if you think these are not well suited.


I also saw http://www.aquariumsupplycompany.com/catalog/item/3225476/2761684.htm http://www.saltycritter.com/lighting/sunlight-supply/lumen-max-3.htm
style reflectors being used by several others here on RC.

Right now I am leaning towards the Lumenarc 3's though
 
Well no replies but I'll keep going anyway.

Well we figured out the height issue, we are actually sinking them into the top of the canopy,and then a tall layer of molding will go on around the canopy to hide them.

The Lumenarc 3's I like, I am just nervous that we will focus the light too much since Each halide has to cover a 24x32" area rather than the standard 24x24. Although we are going to add some VHO supplementation.


Alright so hear is the current plan, havent decided on reflectors yet.

We will be running 2 closed loops both Hammerheads. One will service the locline along the top of the tank, 4 on each half of the tank.

The other closed loop will return through the 3 liverock towers.

For a return pump panning on a barracuda, which will return to the tank, as well as have smaller lines to run through the chiller and 2 reactors.



The electric plan is as follows using the 2 DC8's connecting to my AC3, one on the top and one on the bottom.


THE TOP
3 x250W halides
Actinic Lighting
Daytime 2ft's on the end
Fans for the Top
and LED moonlighting


THE BOTTOM
Closed Loop rock Hammerhead
Closed Loop Bar Hammerhead
Return Pump Barracuda
Skimmerpumpsx2 for Octo Extreme 300
And the Refugium Light


So I am planning on bringing 2 x 20Amp Circuits over if anyone can recommend an electrician for me if your down in central FL?
 
So heres what were thinking about for the closed loops.

The first hammerhead would have 8 locklines coming from it 4 on the back of the tank and 4 on the sides, all aimable.

The second hammerhead would spit 3 ways, we would basically stack the towers around 3/4" pvc and drill holes in it so the water came out of the cracks between the rocks.

This is a sketch my friend did for me on paint.

joshclosedloop.jpg



We picked up the tank today, I will be posting some pictures.
 
I dont see a problem with 3 halides on the tank, the light will spread some. I only have 2 on my 60x36 tank, and it covers fine. I put softies/lps where the halide isnt concentrated. The VHO supps will make it look like theres no gap in halides at all. I use the standard sized Lumenarc, and love em.

For flow, I'll say what others will say... check into some Tunzes, before you committ to the hammerheads. The wattage is so much more than the Tunzes. They cost about the same also if you factor in the cost of an OM4 or OM8way. You get more GPH also from the Tunzes.....
 
Glad to hear the halides sound alright to you someone else.

I'm pretty set on not having any powerheads showing in the tank. I figured the power I was saving by doing the 250's instead of the 400's could justify the extra power on the pumps.
 
Might be worth checking out the EcoTech Marine Vortech pumps. They are supposed to be at least as good as the Tunzes and made in the US.
 
I actually have two Vortechs. The made in USA goes a long way for me. Unfortunately I am too afraid to put them on 3/4" acrylic after hearing some horror stories.
 
Well about 2 hours and 6 beers later I have the entire tank scrubbed the first time, (probably first of many) with Novus.

The tank has turned from foggy to glassy with some scratches now, major improvement, major sore elbows. Pictures coming soon.
 
Not sure anyones reading but I will keep posting so I can look back at it later...

Well heres some pictures of the move, I can't figure out how to move the ones over from my iPhone, these are all pictures Terry (tricky) took.

So heres a theatrical shot of the transaction
IMG_0485.jpg


This is all the stuff loaded into Joes Truck and Trailer
IMG_0486.jpg

IMG_0488.jpg



Terry also likes making fun of my Italian Sign Language

IMG_0497.jpg

IMG_0499.jpg

IMG_0501.jpg



And Lastly, the rare picture of Joe smiling, yes smiling for a picture, that must be how excited he was about carrying a tank :)

IMG_0502.jpg
 
I like the idea on setup and would not worry about the metal halide melting your euro-bracing, although you should leave them some distance off the water. What about supplementing with t-5's for some of the higher light sps. What about flow? I saw a really nice 300 a while back that had a tunze wavemaker on it that was working really well with that size tank.
 
OceanDweller, we had considered the Tunze's and then decided to go with 2 closed loop systems. We are thinking about using an oceans motion 8 for the 8 closed loop returns around the top of the tank.
At some time later we are considering a Tunze wavebox to add a little bit to the motion of the water (not so much for waves).
As far as T-5's we are either going to be supplementing with T5's or VHO's. If we go T-5 we will mix some 16k's with some actinic. Might help give the light a little more spread compared tot he halides, but we don't want to wash out the blue of the 12k's.
 
So we got the stand over to my friend George's workshop. Took a look at the stand the previous owners used, and we think we are going to be building a new stand. This time at 36" tall to be a little more workable under the stand. We are going to be using the doors off the old stand as well, but we are going to be painting all the new work black.

Right now we are debating whether or not we want doors in the side of the stand, as holes might take away from the integrity of the stand, but at the same time might make owrk inside the stand just that much easier.
 
My stand on my 450 is 42" tall and I love it. I also have a 230 gallon tank underneath (sump/fuge) So I needed the height. Good luck with your build.
 
Thank you Thor. We are trying to decide sump wise, we have an acrylic 48"x18"x18" that will work and fit the skimmer and reactors, and then we were going to be adding a separate fuge, elevated over some other stuff.

The other option is to go with a 125G tank but then we end up limited for space as far as pumps, and other equipment go. We want to try to keep everything inside the stand.
 
also just giving a heads up. I run a super dart as my return and love it. I was going to do a barracuda, but tangers found out about super darts. Just an idea to look at.
 
yeah the wattage was the huge difference for me. Plus the darts I have been around have always seemed to be a little bit quiter also. If you have a dart all you have to do is contact reeflo and its like 30 dollars to get a new propeller. I have nothing but super darts on my system. From the closed loop, skimmer and return. Love them and love the wattage. HTH
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

adova
300g DIY Acrylic Tank Recommendations
Replies
5
Views
141
griss
griss
U
New build
Replies
3
Views
304
griss
griss
S
Looking at building a diy wood tank and stand
Replies
1
Views
316
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
Brian60077
Big project starting today......
Replies
7
Views
187
Dustin07
D
Tamara Marshall
Comprehensive Article About Aiptasia - Manta Systems Article
Replies
0
Views
106
Tamara Marshall
Tamara Marshall
Back
Top