New 300 gallon--suggestions

[DashHills]

This past weekend at MACNA, my school was given a 300 gallon aquarium. Marineland donated the tank to ORCA, the host club, who then donated it to us. This is a fantastic opportunity. Many vendors have donated or will donate materials to help fill the tank. In the past I have operated a 70 gallon tank predominantly with softies, zoas, palys, and mushrooms. A 300 is going to be a new experience.

I have two requests from those of you with experience with larger tanks. First of all do you have any suggestions for maintaining the tank. I understand that everybody has their opinion, but I would like to hear the different ones. Secondly, I have received a difference of opinion on whether or not a chiller is needed. What do you all think? The room is air conditioned and the tank has 3 MHs, 8 T5s, and 6 LEDs.

Thanks.

 

[nuccadoc]

Congrats on the donation of the tank!

Does this tank have overflows for the use of a sump?

Maintaining the tank? Are you referring to water changes? If so you would benefit from having a 50-100 gal storage tank for fresh SW.

You are right when it comes to temperature. THere are a lot of opinions out there. Some people keep their tanks in the mid to upper 70's, some in the lower 80's. I personally do not keep a chiller on my 400, just a fan blowing across the top of the tank. It actually helps out a lot. Keeping the room cool with the A/C will help also.

What are your plans for inhabitants?

Scott

 

[DashHills]

The tank has two overflows, one each in the back corners. The sump has filter trays and biowheels on each side. There is a compartment for the protein skimmer also. We had a RO/DI unit donated with two 40 gallon collection containers, one for the fresh water and one to mix the salt.

The tank also comes with glass tops. Scott, do you use them or are the fans blowing directly on the water?

As far as inhabitants, I am planning (nothing set in stone) on making it educational. Therefore, I will try to have a little of a lot. As a school I will have to have fish, but I would also like to try to have a section for sea grasses. Scott Fellman has given me ideas on how to pull that off. Otherwise, I will probably lean towards zoa, palys, mushrooms, and rics. The SPS require high water quality that may be difficult to maintain during the winter and summer breaks. If I find that we can keep the quality up during those times, then we can add them.

 

[nuccadoc]

Sound like you are off to a good start. Don't know about the biowheels though. I have never used them but I have read comments on them causing nitrate problems. Can you set up a Fuge, DSB etc in the sump.

My 400 has three lids because I have a fairly large Snowflake and they have a reputation for escaping. So the fan does not blow directly on the water but across the top of the tank. Chillers are expensive for large tanks but seeing as you are having a lot of equipment donated, see if you can get one.

If you have has success with your other tanks you should do well with the 300. THe biggest difference is the price of maintenance, chemicals, GFO, Carbon, Supplements etc. You simply have more water to take care of.

Scott

 

[DashHills]

I am a little hesitant on the filter trays and the biowheels also. I normally do not want anything like that; however, that is what comes with the setup. So I will have to make sure that the students clean them out regularly.

It is nice to hear that you can control your heat with fans hitting your glass. Nobody has offered a chiller yet, so the fan method is familiar to me and less expensive.

As far as the fuge, I am going to have to look at the sump setup closer to determine that. I am thinking no. A DSB will probably have to be in the tank, but it is already needed for the grass bed.

 

[Ward1]

Macna

Macna

I saw this beautiful tank at MACNA and also enjoyed watching the donation Saturday night.

This tank has a lot of potential but I didn't look too closely at it. The bio wheels could probably be replaced with filter socks or have the water drain in to live rock in the sump.

It looked like there's room for a refugium under there. I have one under my 300 and is one of favorite parts of the system.

As far as cooling you will have to look at the hood when it comes in. It may already be set up with fans.

Congratulations

 

[DashHills]

Thanks Ward1. I have the tank with everything. The light fixture has fans that kick on when the internal temperature gets too high. They vent straight up and the hood has a slot right about the light fixture so that the air is being vented to the room. As far as any additional fans, it does not have them.

I would love to talk with you about the possibilities of the tank. Are you coming to the next ORCA meeting? The plan is for the school to host it.

 

[Ward1]

300

300

Thanks Ward1. I have the tank with everything. The light fixture has fans that kick on when the internal temperature gets too high. They vent straight up and the hood has a slot right about the light fixture so that the air is being vented to the room. As far as any additional fans, it does not have them.

I would love to talk with you about the possibilities of the tank. Are you coming to the next ORCA meeting? The plan is for the school to host it.

Hopefully you will not have to have a chiller but it looked like it had dual in sump return pumps. If this is the case, they can generate some heat also.

I will be at the meeting. I think Mitch is doing a class?

I will be happy to help you with any questions you have and there are a handful of super knowledgeable folks there if I don't have the answer. We are in DeLand but usually get to the meetings that are not too far away.

One thing I was wondering about is how you will maintain the tank during the summer when school is out? That may determine what type of set up you want to do.

 

[SMOOTHIE]

Get with the guys on the orca site. They will be there hands on to help you out. Gotta love a great local club like that. Congrats on the tank!