Planning for 300 DD

[ChimolaFish]

Just got a 300 DD for my Japanese Dragon and will be setting it up at the end of the summer as a leather\gorgonian dominant reef tank (which is what she's in with right now). Trying to plan out all the plumbing, but a little out of my element on some of the larger equipment pieces since Im used to tanks that are smaller.

First things first: Sump will be a six foot 60 gallon acrylic sump (which I have on the 115 right now) and will be under the tank in the stand which I'll build myself. I have a 4' custom GEO beckett with an appropriately sized pan world pump, but I hate the power consumption and honestly am not too keen on having to clean the becketts out all the time just to make sure the skimmer doesn't clog and overflow. Its a 90s technology that belongs in the past. (that being said, if anyone wants to buy them, they're in excellent shape and GEO is legendary if not overrated). Feel free to dispute me on this though, definitely would like to hear everyones opinions.

My main question right now would be what skimmer and return pump(s) would all of you use? I'm leaning toward a reeflo dart\snapper hybrid and some sort of reef octopus (either ins-sump or recirculating), but right now would like to hear what the hobby generally holds as good equipment for a tank this size. Priority needs to be placed on wattage, noise, and reliability (doesn't it always)

 

[DDon]

Have you considered going with DC return pump? I was running a reeflo snapper/dart on my 240, when I upgraded to my 270 I was looking for something quieter and more energy efficient and went with the Vectra L1. Have to say this pump is super quiet and moves a ton of water.
On the skimmer side of things, I chose an ATB 1050a. With the DC pump it is very quiet as well, though the pump is a Jebao DCT which turns some people off. Can't speak to reliability yet but skimmer has performed solidly since I installed it.

 

[ChimolaFish]

I was looking into dc pumps, but most of them seemed a little too expensive for less power and features no one needs (like the ability to turn them up and down instead of restricting the output from a ball valve). Specifically, the Vectra has more wattage consumption (135w vs 105w) and is less powerful. I would assume its quieter, but its also 150$ more from BRS and I'm not sure it would be worth it. Did you like the reeflo? How much louder is it? (or are you running the vectra in the sump?)

I'll look into the skimmer. Thanks!

 

[PeterHall]

But when you turn down a dc pump it uses less electricity. If you throttle a reeflo doesnt it still use the same amount of electricity?

For my 300 build I'll probably go with a waveline 12000. I have one on my 150 and really enjoy it.

 

[ChimolaFish]

It doesn't, pumps throttled down use less electricity up to a point. If its throttled a ton, it still uses a certain amount before just breaking. I haven't heard much about the wavelines other than reading on BRS. How long have you had it? Reliable?

 

[PeterHall]

I havent had any issues with it. Its been running a little over a year continuously. I have it turned down, but its enough to feed my tank and reactors while only pulling 34 watts. Like I said Ill probably buy another one so I have a back up for my 300. The 300 came with a ReefFlo SuperDart Gold which pulls 220 watts.

 

[DDon]

I was looking into dc pumps, but most of them seemed a little too expensive for less power and features no one needs (like the ability to turn them up and down instead of restricting the output from a ball valve). Specifically, the Vectra has more wattage consumption (135w vs 105w) and is less powerful. I would assume its quieter, but its also 150$ more from BRS and I'm not sure it would be worth it. Did you like the reeflo? How much louder is it? (or are you running the vectra in the sump?)

I'll look into the skimmer. Thanks!

I liked the reeflo just noisy (didn't realize how noisy until I started running DC pump) and had seal leak but overall was reliable. I run the Vectra in sump and it is almost completely silent. As far as power consumption, I throttled back on the discharge and if I recall correctly, ran about 2.1 amps on on Apex. The Vecta is at 60% speed and running 0.4 amps. As far as whether the pump ever makes up the cost difference really depends on how long it lasts and electricity rates. Considering I have 2 reeflos sitting around now I'm not sure I'll ever recover the cost, even considering electric rates here in NorCal. Noise difference though is worth the cost for me since my tank sits in the family room and wife wanted quiet. As the saying goes, happy wife happy life.

 

[ChimolaFish]

220W? gross. But yea, not a bad back up. I was looking at the wavelines a little while back. It seems like they had a problem when they first launched where the housings would break but they seemed to have fixed it. I'l keep it in mind, too

 

[ChimolaFish]

I liked the reeflo just noisy (didn't realize how noisy until I started running DC pump) and had seal leak but overall was reliable. I run the Vectra in sump and it is almost completely silent. As far as power consumption, I throttled back on the discharge and if I recall correctly, ran about 2.1 amps on on Apex. The Vecta is at 60% speed and running 0.4 amps. As far as whether the pump ever makes up the cost difference really depends on how long it lasts and electricity rates. Considering I have 2 reeflos sitting around now I'm not sure I'll ever recover the cost, even considering electric rates here in NorCal. Noise difference though is worth the cost for me since my tank sits in the family room and wife wanted quiet. As the saying goes, happy wife happy life.

I feel ya. 150$ isnt bad if the noise is that bad. Ive never had a noisy return pump and don't have much experience with them. I have a 1262 on my 90 and sicce on my 115, and both cant be heard at all. I'll throw it into the loop since I was considering just going the in-sump route at this point since I have a ton of sump room. And any amount of heat will help offset the need for heating on a tank that large (not that it produces a ton Im sure). I just know how the vortechs break down and at their price point Im a little leary of dealing with a pump that Ill have to replace later down the road prematurely. The vectras havent been out long, so its hard to say how reliable they'll be.

You thought the reeflo was quiet before the comparison though? My 90 is in my bedroom, so all it had is the slightest of hums, but this 300 is going to have a slight amount of wiggle room since itll be in a family room or something. That being said, my 115 is in that setting and I barely hear it, so it'd be nice to maintain that level.

 

[DDon]

You thought the reeflo was quiet before the comparison though? My 90 is in my bedroom, so all it had is the slightest of hums, but this 300 is going to have a slight amount of wiggle room since itll be in a family room or something. That being said, my 115 is in that setting and I barely hear it, so it'd be nice to maintain that level.

My old tank was relatively loud period, especially the overflow as I was pushing too much water through a single overflow. I just had grown accustomed to it. When I had the 240 set up in the garage temporarily and the new tank up in the family room, I realized how loud it was. Loudest thing now are the fans on the sunpower and can hear the fans on the kessils when they are running alone which I never noticed before.
The reflow isn't excessively loud in my opinion, just louder than a DC pump.

 

[ChimolaFish]

Yea, I can handle a little bit of noise, but I don't want anything obnoxious. I'll have to budget some things out. Thanks for the advice.