My 300g build

[lpsouth1978]

My roommate and I have recently undertaken the project of setting up a 300g DD tank. We are planning for it to be primarily SPS, though it will have some others as well. It is still a ways from completion, but thought I would start a build thread here for you all.

We started by ordering the tank from the LFS. After returning the first one and difficult tank swap, the tank is finally in the house (just sitting on the floor empty. My roommate is a welder by trade, so he is working on welding a stand for it, that we will then have powder coated. Hopefully the steel will be finished (being cut) today and the welding can commence.

In the mean time, we have been working on the lighting. After A LOT of research and discussion, we decided to do a DIY LED build. This is not my first LED build, but certainly my largest. We ended up purchasing 18x multi-chip pucks from a Chinese distributor. These pucks include 4 channels each with 5 LEDs in the following configuration:

Channel 1 - 5x Cree XRE Royal blue
Channel 2 - 3x Cree Red 660nm and 2x Cyan
Channel 3 - 5x Cree XRE Neutral White
Channel 4 - 3x Cree XRE Blue and 2x 410-420nm Violet

We also ordered 96x Cree XTE Royal Blue for addition actinic supplementation. All of the LEDs will be powered using Meanwell LDD drivers and Meanwell power supplies, and controlled using Coralux Storm X controllers. We will have 3 controllers each with 12 channels. This will allow us to set up a nice sunrise sunset effect starting on one side of the tank and sweeping across to the other side.

As I said, my roommate is a welder so we purchased some aluminum parts and are currently working on welding a fixture for the lights. This will be hung from the ceiling using a pulley system so we can raise and lower the lights to get the PAR we need and for maintenance. The Light will measure 70"x30"x4"

The other things we have purchased thus far include:

300g DD tank - 72"x36"x27"
90g for sump
55g for ATO Reservoir
2x 40g breeders for QT tanks
Regal Reef Octopus 300-Int skimmer
Reef Octopus Biopellet Reactor
2x Jebao RW-20 wavemaker pumps
Jebao 12000 DC return Pump
2x Finnex 800W titanium heaters
2x Finnex heater controllers

Other things we plan to get:

Neptune Apex controller with a couple of modules
Calcium Reactor (down the road)
GFO and Carbon Reactors (Maybe)

I am hopeful that we can have the light fixture and stand done by the end of next week and then we can get it all plumbed and get it wet.

Here are a few of pics of what we have so far, I will continue to add pics as things move along:

 

[Jason G]

Interesting build. How's the stand coming along. Check out that massive skimmer. Right on! ��

 

[csantanavaz]

Update!!

 

[lpsouth1978]

Finally back with an update, though not the most exciting.

Things are progressing, even though it is slower than I would like. The stand is done and the tank is on it. We cut a piece of OSB to fit the bottom of the stand , to put the sump and other gear on. We then had a piece of 1/8" thick ABS plastic cut to fit on top of the OSB, which we glued in place and will be silicone around the edge of to make the bottom of the stand a waterproof tray.

We are currently working on getting the baffles in place for the sump. The final baffles will be in it tonight and then we just have to wait for the silicone to cure completely. Hopefully by the time the weekend is over we will have the sump, ATO reservoir, and all of the plumbing done. If all goes well we will have water in it by this time next week, though we still have to get the sand and rock.

Here are some pics of the stand, more to come.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Got the finishing touches on the light fixture yesterday and will start painting it this evening. We also ordered 150lbs of Pukani dry rock from BRS, 320lbs live sand, and a 300GPD RO/DI system. Here are a couple of pics of the light fixture with the StormX controllers in it. Once it is painted I will be able to get the wiring done and finally complete the light.

 

[nuxx]

Like the monster tank in the last pic

 

[lpsouth1978]

Like the monster tank in the last pic

Yeah, it is HUGE!! :lol2: It is actually quite the little tank.

Custom Drilled 3 gallon Picotope with 2.5g sump/Fuge, 2.5g ATO reservoir, custom Built LED w/24 Cree X-RE, no lenses, about 6 inches off the water, turned down to about 20%. It is just a pain in the a$$ to keep very stable though, so only some zoas and softies do well in it.

 

[nuxx]

Yeah, it is HUGE!! :lol2: It is actually quite the little tank.

Custom Drilled 3 gallon Picotope with 2.5g sump/Fuge, 2.5g ATO reservoir, custom Built LED w/24 Cree X-RE, no lenses, about 6 inches off the water, turned down to about 20%. It is just a pain in the a$$ to keep very stable though, so only some zoas and softies do well in it.

I couldn't imagine... I'm too lazy to keep a tiny tank

 

[lpsouth1978]

On another note....

We finally have the sump under the tank with all of the plumbing roughed in. We filled the tank in order to test the plumbing last night and everything worked perfectly except for one of the drains flushing and gurgling VERY LOUD. I think I just need more small holes for the Durso and everything should be good to go.

The light fixture is done being powder coated and just needs to picked up, then I can get it all wired up. We also bought a small ATV winch, with wireless remote, for the light. All we will have to do is push a button and the light will move out of out way for maintenance.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Finally have the light done after more than a month of working on it. We had the fixture powder coated and it looks awesome! I spent the last 2 nights wiring it all up and was thrilled when everything worked as soon as we powered it up.

I simply couldn't be happier with the end result. Here are a couple of cell phone pics of the light. Ignore the 2x4's, we will be working on the hanging mount this weekend.

 

[lpsouth1978]

We are making a lot of progress! The long Memorial Day weekend certainly helped! We were able to complete the fabrication of light hoist system, get it painted, mounted and got the light hung. Now all we have to do is push a button and the light will raise to the ceiling and out of the way for maintenance. Push another button and it will lower back to the tank. This was a MUST since the light weighs approximately 150lbs.

The tank is in it's final resting spot and the plumbing is complete. 80 gallons of saltwater are mixing right now and will go in the tank this evening and then we will start refilling the cans so we can have another 80 tomorrow. Because neither of us is home during the day, it is going to take a few days to fill the tank, even with a 300gpd RO/DI. I think Jeremy is going to start building the rockwork tonight and everything should be up and running by this weekend.

Here are a couple of pictures of the tank with the light mounted and hung above.

 

[nuxx]

Looking really nice!

 

[lpsouth1978]

Finally got water in the tank. It took us a good part of the week to get the water mixed and in the tank, but we finished at about 10:00pm yesterday. There were a couple of plumbing things that we had to work out, but overall startup went quite well.

We are still waiting for the water to finish clearing up. We are using Oolite sand and it seems there was no way to keep it from clouding some. it has cleared a lot, but is still not completely clear. I have changed out the filter socks twice so far and expect to do it again before the day is over. I would like it to clear before tomorrow afternoon, we borrowed a PAR meter from a LFS and it has to be back tomorrow.

Currently, with the cloudy water, we are getting 320 PAR virtually anywhere on the sand. I would love for that to be the case once it clears up, but i am not sure that will be the case. I worry that particles in the water are reflecting light and giving higher readings.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the tank with cloudy water in it.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Finally have rock in the tank. We spent hours working on the layout and cementing the rocks into various shapes. Now we are just waiting for the tank to clear again. It is taking forever, because the RW-20's are constantly stirring up the sand. We only have them at 30%, but they are still causing the tank to cloud. here are some pics of the process and tank as it sits now.

 

[nuxx]

Scape looking good

 

[Zacktosterone]

Super cool build

 

[lpsouth1978]

Maybe someone here can help. The tank simply WILL NOT get clear. It was almost there, but then a couple of days ago it got cloudy again. It his been about 2 weeks since we added sand and water and 1.5 weeks since the rock went in. We tried using diatom filters to get whatever was suspended out, but it only helped a little and we didn't want to run them too long. it is not super cloudy, we can see right through the tank in any direction, it just has a haze. Nowhere near crystal clear water.

Any ideas or suggestions? I have not had to wait so long for any previous system to clear up.

 

[nivram]

My 300g build

Maybe try running some 5 micron socks? Or adding a reef safe "clarifier".

If you aren't running your skimmer yet. Turn it on. That should help some as well.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Maybe try running some 5 micron socks? Or adding a reef safe "clarifier".

If you aren't running your skimmer yet. Turn it on. That should help some as well.

Thanks for the suggestions. The diatom filter is rated down to 1 micron and it did little, so I'm not sure the filter socks will help. I do have a bottle of water clarifier I can try though.

 

[dave.m]

Check the filters on your RO/DI unit. They may be exhausted or not performing up to spec, meaning you are re-polluting your tank every time you add what you thought was clean water. Manually test the product water for TDS before adding to the system.

Check your GAC and GFO to make sure they are not exhausted.

Are you running pellets? Remove them. They are not useful in a new system.

Don't add any life to the system until you can get initial water parameters under control.

Dave.M