Our new inwall 300g

[ewrosen]

Hi Everyone,
I have been browsing the forum for quite a while now and I am ready to post my first build. I have learned so much from reading about everyone's builds and now I would like to post mine as well in the hope that someone might get some ideas...good or bad.

My wife and I live in Wake Forest NC. We built a house a few years ago and I had the builder setup the office so I could put a tank in the wall. Unfortunently we ran out of money for a tank so I have had a few years to plan the design.

I have had two other reef tanks in the past, a 70g and a 120g. There are many things I want to do with this tank I was unable to do with the other two

1. Do it right from the ground up
2. Make the tank as energy efficient as possible....
3. Have my own RO system
4. Built the tank to be as self sufficient as possible

The tank is a 300 gallon Marineland/Perfecto reef ready tank that I purchased through a LFS. The tank sits on a fabricated steel stand I made with my brother. The stand is setup to hold my old 120g tank as the refugium below the main tank. The stand sits in the garage on a concrete slab I had reinforced when the house was built.

The tank and all the gear sit in the garage and I am currently working on building a room around the whole system as the garage is not insulated.

Equipment so far

1. Reeflo Orca 250 skimmer. The LFS I go to has one of these and it's awesome
2. Two Reeflo darts for my return pumps. These two pumps are redundant to each other and they will be connected to different electrical circuits.
3. Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper Elite system to automate as many aspects of tank maintenance as possible
4. 3 Lumen Bright Finished DE Pendants with 250watt bulbs

Here are some pictures

<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/206608tank_shipping-med.jpg" />

<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/206608front_wall_done.jpg" />

<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/206608stand_floor-med.jpg" />

<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/206608front_wall_inprogress-med.jpg" />

<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/206608welding_frame-3-med.jpg" />

<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/206608stand_done.jpg" />

 

[ewrosen]

Plumbing Pic

Plumbing Pic

Hi all,
I forgot to mention that if anyone wants a more detailed pic of some part of the tank please let me know and I will post it.

Here is a pic of the plumbing while it's still in construction. As you can see if have pumps and each one has three returns to either the right side or left side of the tank. The current plan is to alternate these pumps on a one hour schedule.


<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/206608plumbing_1.jpg" />

 

[reefpimp#1]

I'm gettig the same tank in a week. mi'm trying to build a wood stand now.
could u give me the exact dimensions of trim edge to trim edge front to back and end to end this would save me some time and headaches.
maybe i can tag along with u and share are similar builds.

 

[ewrosen]

I will that information for you tonight. I really like the tank. Just FYI...be sure to check your tank carefully for scratches when you pick it up. The first tank I received had two sets of fine scratches that ran down the front of the tank where it looked like some straps had rubbed against the glass in shipping. I didn't notice this until I had the tank up on the stand and full of water Marineland did a good job with the RMA process though and I received a replacement tank fairly quickly.

-Eric

 

[reefpimp#1]

will check. tank shows up friday.
goal is to have it set up and 150 tranfered over this weekend. gonna be a busy weekend!

 

[sunsetSPS]

nice start. Keep us posted

 

[ewrosen]

Hi reefpimp#1 here are the dimensions of my tank from the trim edges. The tank itself is slightly smaller then the trim.

72 3/8" Long
36 1/4" Wide
27 1/2" Tall

Hope that helps

 

[ewrosen]

Weekend progress

Weekend progress

Hi all,
Here is a pic from my weekend progress. My plan is to put doors infront of the main tank and sump. Does anyone have any suggestions for building doors infront of the tank or know where I can find some prefab doors? They need to be high enough for me to work on the lights and get in the tank. I am thinking I might have to make them myself. I was also thinking about some sort of door that would be hinged on the ceiling and you would lift it up to get to the tank.

Thanks for looking


<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/206608wall_in_progress_5-med.jpg "/>

 

[rastarainy]

lookin good. when do you get your light fixture and what lighting are you usin?

 

[ewrosen]

Hi rastarainy,
I ordered 3 Lumen Bright Finished DE Pendants for the tank. I am going to run 250 Watt double ended bulbs but I haven't decided what kind yet. I am also going to run 4 VHO 50 Watt bulbs. I bought the Lumen brights because they work better about 18" off the tank and this should keep the tank a little cooler. I can post some pics if you are interested.

-Eric