Questions about 300DD

[artman540]

I'd like to start off with introductions as I'm new here.

Hi, my name's Jimmy and I'm a fishaholic. I've been keeping freshwater fish for five years now and my biggest tank I've owned is a 55g with a Fluval FX5 and Eheim 2217 for filtration. Big tanks and sump filters are completely new to me and I am feeling entirely overwhelmed.

I've purchased the 300DD for the LFS and am waiting for delivery. In the meantime been reading all about setting up and other equipment needed to run a large tank.

For those asking themselves why I am on a reefer forum and not monsterfishkeepers, it seems only reefers get the DD and besides you all have amazing tanks.

Anyways, I've read that the overflows on the DD are insufficient due to the holes only being 1". I was wondering if it is possible to have someone drill the holes larger? Something along the lines of 1.5" which should double the flow and allow me to run my returns through the original overflow boxes.

I was also wondering what pump to get for the return. I was stuck in the middle of a Mag Drive 24 or a Super Dart. I have an acrylic sump that I could drill for the Reeflo but I'm kinda leaning towards converting my 55g into a sump which would need the Mag Drive.

Any suggestions?

 

[CRAZYFIZH]

There is a lot more that what you are asking about you have to decide what you are going to do with the tank fish only coral ect.if you hae marineland drill the tank you can still have warranty.i do not think you can make the holes bigger but you can have the tank drilled.what pump is up to you. Just keep in mind that the mag will put off heat into the water but you can let your mind run wild on what you want to do.if it was me i would run the dart and would try to get a little bigger sump once you start adding all of your equipment to the sump it get small in a hurry better to go as big as you can (if you are doing a reef tank)

 

[jpsika08]

Welcome and congrats on the new tank.
As stated by CrazyFish, there is a lot more things you have to consider besides the Return and Hole.

1. Sump
2. Skimmer
3. Lights
4. Powerheads
5. Pump

Etc. I would suggest reading lots of the tanks around, there are some DD's around which would help you a lot so you can imitate best practices over those systems.

In the meantime, regarding your questions
1. I think you will void warranty on the tank if you open that hole more or drill another one, maybe you still can ask Marineland to do it for you (As stated by CrazyFish).

2. First you have to decide how much turnover you want, this is defined by what will you keep inside the system, fish only? Corals? if so, SPS or just LPS? There are many options out there, for a big tank like this, a Mag Drive isn't one of them as my personal opinion, heating will be an issue or maybe not due to the system's overall water volume, though, I think there are better options, if you want to go internal you can consider a Water Blaster which are great, I run one and no heat to the water, or as many, one Reeflo pump which are great too (External).

 

[masharp1126]

I've also got a 300dd that I'm currently putting together.

I don't think you can enlarge the existing holes, at least I wouldn't ever try. I considered two options, using all four existing 1" holes for drainage or drill an extra hole in each overflow. I decided to just use all existing holes for drainage, and run my return over the side. I only plan to run 4 to 5 times tank volume through my sump, so this should work fine.

For a return pump, I'm using a Dart. I'll use it for return, as well as to feed my manifold. Approximately 1,200 to 1,500 gph to the display, and the remainder to manifold. Manifold will then feed calcium reactor, chiller, and reactors.

You might want to check out Melev's build on reef addicts, as his build has a lot of good ideas. I'm using one of his sumps and was checking his tank out a couple of weeks ago when I picked up the sump. It's looking really good and I plan to use his return ideas.

 

[biecacka]

welcome to RC!!

corey

 

[artman540]

So I got my tank and stand in. The stand builder made the canopy wrong and I had to modify it he also forgot to cut the holes for the overflows and I had to do that as well.

I want to run a Reeflo Dart and still be able to use the factory returns. Will this be possible if I set the 1" bulkheads at full siphon? Also, when it comes to putting the bulkheads together, should I glue the pipe fittings in or will they be fine?

 

[CRAZYFIZH]

You can set the drains to full siphon but you have to to be carfull about overflowing you sump depending on it sise in the case of a power outage.two things you can do the overflows are removeable so you can mod them or you can change the plumbing a little.come out of your pump with 1' or 1.5' install a inline the intsall a ball valve or gate valve to let some water back into the sump.that way you can adjust the amount of water going the you main tank.you can also build a manifold in line as well to run reactors,uv, ect
i had to do the same thing on my 450 so i can post you a picture if you would like to see what i am talking about.