My 1300 gallon addiction: A Miami reef build story.

I don't remember if I provided a formal list, but I thought there was a somewhat comprehensive description throughout. In any event...Here's a basic rundown of the equipment:

Skimmer - Custom Bashsea 48" x 10" becket run with Waveline DC12000
Reactors - Bashsea (I think like 6" x 18" chambers)
Bio tower - Custom Bashsea 48" x 12" run with Waveline DC12000
Lights - 2 x 400 watt reefbrite ballasts pushing 400watt 20k Ushio bulbs inside of large lumenbright reflectors + one 24" x 8 bulb T5 fixture with ATI bulbs between halides
Sump - Custom Bashsea with filter sock modification (approx. 130 gallons)
Refugium - 90 gallon HD polypropylene container by Myton Industries
Return pump - Reeflo Hammerhead
Pump for manifold/accessories - Reeflo Dart
Chiller - Universal Marine Industries titanium heat exchanger with 1.5hp outdoor Amana compressor with Ranco commercial temp controller
Closed loop pumps - 2 x Waveline DC 12000
All valves - Asahi
Water mixing station - 250 gallon Vertical tank with Iwaki 1140gph recirculation pump
Frag tank - 20 gallon custom run off manifold
RODI - BRS 6 stage Universal Water Saver Plus
Stand - Cuatom steel stand with liftable walk boards running length of tank
Doser - Bubble Magus T11
Half the rocks were Marco dry rock and half were a buddy's private stash

I think that's everything off the top of my head.
 
How has your experience with Bashsea products been? I'm looking at a custom sump and their 8-30 twisted skimmer.
 
Danny how do you maintain your calcium levels? I never had any luck growing coraline algae in the past and I imagine with a large tank like that Bionic would not be very cost effective.
 
Thanks so much for the well wishes everyone, it's really appreciated!

bfrench - So far the experience with Bashsea products has been really solid. the reactors are great, and the Skimmer is a beast! I also like the Nitrate reactor, but as the tank is still relatively young (6 months) I don't think s its operating at its full potential. Overall, I'd absolutely recommend his stuff.

Rybren - Haha, thanks, except for this one I have to spot feed every 2 hours or so!

Psirex - The grey bin can hold about 110 gallons or so maxed out, but I have it running at a constant 80 or so.

Locito277 - Right now I'm dosing two part (really three part) with Alk, Cal, and Mag. I will be using the BRS calcium when I run out of the Ocean Blend I got from a friend. Honestly, its not too bad at the moment, considering I dose about 80-100ml a day of both Alk and Cal, since I don't have a ton of corals in there. That amount keeps me at 410-450ppm through the day. When I start to really need more, I will probably go the Calcium reactor route...Looking forward to seeing your tank setup! I by chance was at Pedro's today for a few and took another look...its sweet!
 
Thats a lot of 3 part dosing on your end. I cant wait to close on the property here. Need to close to tke don the wall to bring the tank in. He took my 240 today to work on as well. Hyped but my wallet aint LOL
 
That sounds so familiar!!! I know exactly the feeling, both in taking down walls during planning even before I'd closed on my house, and the light feeling in my pocket during the build. It's going to be awesome though! Lol

Right now the two part isn't too bad only because I got 2 x 5 gallon buckets of Alk and Cal, and they've lasted me a while. They're getting close to the end so I will probably switch over to the BRS until I really start stocking the tank heavily with stonies...then it's likely a large GEO calcium reactor or something.
 
Would you recommend I set it up originally with the calcium Reactor? What do you think of a Kalk reactor? Looked up Miracle mud pricing but I was thinking you could get half of the suggested mud instead of the full 100 lbs you had referred to. I believe the Caulerpa had a lot to do with my tanks success in the past. Also when will you post more pics?
 
Locito277

That's a good question, and I think there are several things to consider when deciding. How long do you think you'll take to really stock the tank with calcium sucking stonies/corals/clams? You will have a large system requiring a large and relatively expensive reactor compared to a Doser, so maybe you get the Doser and go two part for a year or two until the dosing requirements really get big; or you spring for the calcium reactor up front and have it running on a very low "setting/calibration." I think there are advantages to both, but the rationale I used was that in a year or two when it really doesn't make sense to dose so much two part, switching over from Doser to reactor only means I spent the extra couple hundred bucks plus two part cost, and can now still use the Doser to add things like trace elements or phyto to the tank...it won't go to waste.

It's really a personal strategy decision but when you're talking about large tanks like we have over 1k total water volume, every decision can be that much more costly if not thought out.

Pics coming!!!
 


Leather coral that started about the size of a baseball in my 210 in March 2014, and is now the size of a large dinner plate.



Green birdsnest that is growing great under the halides, has doubled in size in 2 months.




A few acropora doing well but I'm trying to dial in the water changes to keep the trace elements steady so they color up to the max. That large blue green stag in probably my favorite...courtesy of Pedro. It's about 10-12 inches easily and doing well.



Hydra Aquatics pink lemonade acro. The iPhone pics don't do any of these corals justice...this one is pink and neon lime green.



World Wide Corals grafted monti...looking forward to this one growing out as well.
 

Lyretail Anthias


Red Tail tamarin Wrasse (Stock photo because it buried itself the minute I put it into its new home). Looks identical. Hopefully it helps with the recent small outbreak of rust/brown flat worms.
 
The tank and its inhabitants look really nice! I have one question though, have you considered using an algae scrubber for this tank?
 
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