my 300g reef build.

[mos90]

i wanted to snap a few photos of my 300g reef build. i still have a few more weeks to go before its ready for water but its coming along.

i just moved to a new house after 15 years in october and had to transfer my 125 and 28g nano to temporary holding tanks at the new house. i had the 300 setup at the old house as a ray and cichlid fresh tank. i decided to sell of my fresh stock and just stick with salt.

here are some progress shots. i plan to slide the tank into place by the end of the week and finish up the plumbing and electrical. hopefully there will be no leaks.

supplies and water holding room

fish and rock holding tank 150g

coral holding tank 75g

 

[mos90]

plan to sand the new walls on the sump room and paint tonight. should be ready to fill this weekend.

my family is coming into town for christmas, need to finish up before my wife kills me.

 

[mos90]

update. the plumbing is done, light is hung, tank is in place. all i need to do is start filling and program apex.

i decided to go with a reef octopus sro5000 ext skimmer. should be here next week some time.

here are a few more pictures

 

[Mikeeeee]

Looking good!

 

[2klude]

What is your lighting setup amd tank dimensions. I have kept african cichlids for a few years and thinking of converting to a 300g reef. This journal sould come in handy.

looking forward to your updates... thanks for sharing.

 

[mos90]

the tank is 96"l x 30"d x25"h i used a hamilton cebu sun mh/t5 6' light with 3-250w mh's and 4-80w t5's.

i wasnt going to build a sump room but i decided it would be much easier for maintainance and give me more room for external skimmer/pump/carbon/gfo reactor exc.
also with the reeflow hybrid pump i can switch impellers from 4500gph/6000gph. i will only have to use 1 pump for everything. right now at 4500ghp it should be more then enough to run my skimmer / sump and reactors. plan to start filling tonight.

cross fingers for no plumbing leaks. wouldnt be fun to drain the tank and move it back out for repairs.

 

[2klude]

Fingers crossed bud... cant wait for further updates. This setup is shapeing up to somthing similar to what I want to achieve with my 300.

I also would rather run a 6' 3x250w reflector but was unsure of the light spread. I figured to just keep my rock scape under 6' and I would be ok. What type of corals do you plan to keep?

Sorry for all the questions... I'm pretty green when it comes to SW setups but doing my research and asking alot of questions lol.

 

[mos90]

she is alive!!!! filled and running. temp at 78, sg at 1.023, ph at 8.3. i did have a few small leaks by the pump but were easily fixed in 20 minutes.

i need to add substate and some dry base rock sometime in the next few days.

the reefflow barracuda pump is rated at 4500 gph is way to much flow for the overflow to handle which can supposedly handle 3000gph . i have the pump thottled down to about 1/2.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

What size PVC are you using for your drain?

 

[mos90]

It has 2 drains each 2" PVC.

 

[Aquatron]

Getting better all the time

 

[2klude]

It has 2 drains each 2" PVC.

I would convert those 2 drains to a herbie overflow and at 2" will easily be able to handle 4500gph. All you would need is a gatevalve.

 

[mos90]

Hmmm. I've never seen 1 before. I really don't need 4500 gph threw the sump. 2500 is enough.

New skimmer pics

 

[Jooce01]

Holy mother of reefs! That fish room looks awesome. I would easily mistake it for the back room at a fish store.

 

[ERivera65]

Looking good! I'm tagging along for this build. I love the sump, is it a trigger systems sump?

 

[mos90]

yes trigger system, i had them make a custom for me with 2" drains and 1.5" return. it is 48"x24"x20".

i found another small leak on 1 of the overflow elbows. pain to get to but i had to use silicone to seal it up. so far 2/4 screw in fittings leaked but none of the glued.

 

[mos90]

More pictures. Light are 2 ati blue plus and 2 Hamilton 420 actinic.

Need to tie some wires up.

 

[mos90]

i just finished plumbing the skimmer. i plan to start it up tonight. ill snap a few pictures.

the rock in the tank now is dry rock from bulk reef supply. 50lbs. i just laid it out until i get a chance to scape it. tonight i plan to move some cured rock over from the 150g holding tank.

ive noticed the start of diatoms. the cycle is under way. ive been dosing prodibio bio-digest weekly to help the cycle along.

 

[Justin1386]

Very nice setup it's clean and simple.
Are you going to harvest your own live brine to feed that beast?

 

[Justin1386]

Very nice setup it's clean and simple.
Are you going to harvest your own live brine to feed that beast?