Ryan's 300 Gallon Starfire Journal

[roktsintst]

OK here goes...

My wife and I recently bought a new house and I decided to setup a bigger tank with a fish room and upgrade from my 84"x24"x24" sps tank.

I wanted a 96" x 30"x24" and i was ready to order a tank from a LFS. While scanning through the for sale forum, i noticed a post from a reefer I have always followed. His tank had been an inspiration of mine for a long time. I clicked on the thread and my jaw dropped! This was exactly what i wanted for my build. I was soo excited. Eventually, we worked out a deal on shipping the tank from Texas to California along with all his equipment. About a month later and a bunch of headaches, i finally have my new setup!

So, here it is. I bought MakoJ's setup. You may have read his Tank Of The Month thread from March 2008.

Here is the link to what i bought w/ many more pictures to come!

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=15441732#post15441732

Now, im not set it up exactly the same way, but it will be very similar!

I already run a Deltec 902 on my system now and i will move that over to the new house once the tank is ready. I will have a fish room that is 6.5'x12' very much like Brian did.

I will use his light rack but i will remove the 8 - 24" VHO's

So here are some basic specs for the build.

300 gallon, 96" x 30" wide X 25" tall. 1/2" Starfire front glass, 3/4" PVC bottom CNC'ed for Hex bulkheads for a closed Loop, 3/4" Acrylic Eurobracing, 48"long External Overflow!

Custom wall and room for the tank.

120gallon glass sump

Deltec 902 skimmer

4-400 watt Radium 20k's

4-72" SuperActinic VHO's

Dart Return to a WavySea

Hammerhead closed loop

Apex Controller

75gallon Frag tank lit by a 48" Aquatinics Constallation T5 Fixture

65 gallon Quarantine Tank

Geo 818 CaRx

ReefTek Kalk Reactor

1/4 hp chiller

Im sure there is more but i just wanted to get a start to this Journal so i have somewhere to post up some pictures!

I have the Stand Build and COVERED in Kilz2 Primer and the Frame for the wall is built! I should have the wall and door all framed out by monday and then i will have it sheetrocked and textured to match the rest of the house by teh end of the week.

Hopefully this means it will have water in it by the end of next week!!!

MUCH more to come soon!

 

[mpoletti]

Good luck with the build Ryan.

 

[roktsintst]

Thanks Mark!

Im Super Stoaked to see how it all turns out!

Im sooo sick of driving to my brother house everyday to take care of my tank. It will be so nice to have it at my house again!

 

[waynem]

He had a great tank, you will have a good challenge to match it, good luck.

 

[bullitr]

Re: Ryan's 300 Gallon Starfire Journal

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15651809#post15651809 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by roktsintst

Apex Controller
Geo 818 CaRx
1/4 hp chiller

apex controller is great when is working but it is the biggest pain in my A## right now because always messing up maybe its me but AT LEAST 20 times in 2 weeks that i have it.hmmmm
Maybe you should wait until they polished it.
I WAIT ALMOST 4 MONTHS BUT I WISH I WAITED SOME MORE!
Curt from Neptunesys are great but he can't fix everything.
geo 818 was on my wish list let me know how do you like it
1/4 hp? i have 1/3 jbj and i don't think is enough for 4 metal halide even with fan that thing will run non stop with the lights are on. i set mine @ 82 with fan running most of the time.

 

[roktsintst]

waynem - Thanks for the Luck, i will need it! I dont think i can match it but it sets me up for a great start!

bullitr - i Run an AC3 right now and i wanted to upgrade to the apex so i have time to let curt work out all the bugs. But what kind of things are you having problemes with? The setup i bought came with the BioMatix which looks sick, it just doesn't control 2 pH probes like i need!

I really like the Geo818, it is a beast and I havn't had any issues with it so far. And i've had it around a year!

As far as the 1/4hp chilller goes. That is what i ran on my 210 and it never came on, in fact, i havn't even had it connected for 6 months and i havn'thad an issue keeping the tank below 82. im gonna try to keep the tank closer to 77 this time so im sure i will need it for the heat spikes. I am using 2 dual 400 watt ballasts, so im gonna stagger the run times to reduce heat. I also have a 110 CFM exaugst fan that will be running non stop in the room to keep humidity down so i can use some evaparative cooling running fans over the top of the display. I can upgrade to a bigger chiller no problem, but until the 1/4hp proves it can't hang, im not gonna jump the gun and buy a bigger one...

 

[bullitr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15653038#post15653038 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by roktsintst

bullitr - i Run an AC3 right now and i wanted to upgrade to the apex so i have time to let curt work out all the bugs. But what kind of things are you having problemes with? The setup i bought came with the BioMatix which looks sick, it just doesn't control 2 pH probes like i need!

I really like the Geo818, it is a beast and I havn't had any issues with it so far. And i've had it around a year!

As far as the 1/4hp chilller goes. That is what i ran on my 210 and it never came on, in fact, i havn't even had it connected for 6 months and i havn'thad an issue keeping the tank below 82. im gonna try to keep the tank closer to 77 this time so im sure i will need it for the heat spikes. I am using 2 dual 400 watt ballasts, so im gonna stagger the run times to reduce heat. I also have a 110 CFM exaugst fan that will be running non stop in the room to keep humidity down so i can use some evaparative cooling running fans over the top of the display. I can upgrade to a bigger chiller no problem, but until the 1/4hp proves it can't hang, im not gonna jump the gun and buy a bigger one... [/B]

the module EB 8 are not working properly it might be bad so i have to buy another one and return the one that i have and the internet are really a PIA to set up with Uverse.
my room temp on summer is at 80 to 82 maybe that is why my chiller have to work so hard.

 

[roktsintst]

Just to get some pictures in the Thread, here are a few shots of my existing tank...

 

[fishkid6692]

looks great! your current tank looks great too! what d you plan on using for flow?

subscribed.

 

[Lightsluvr]

Congrats!

Congrats!

You'll love the AGE tank. I have a 96" 350G hybrid and just love it! Great quality...

Tagging along...

LL

 

[roktsintst]

Hi again Matt! For flow, im gonna have the closed loop on a Sequence Hammerhead, a Dart Return to a Wavy Sea, and 2 6205's on the sides!

here is my fish list too...

This is what i have
Blond Naso Tang
Orange Shoulder Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Regal Angel
GoldFlake Angel
1 lyretail anthias
1 dispar anthias
2 purple queen anthias
4 clowns hosted in frogspawn
and a wrasse.

Here is what EVENTUALLY i would liek ot add
Black Tang
Conspic
Tinkeri Pair
2 more Regal Angels
trio of Flame Wrasses
pair of Rhomboids
Pair of Lineatus's

 

[fishkid6692]

i can't wait for you to get that conspic! it's one of my favorite fish. though i think you should add a centropyge or 2 to the list.

 

[roktsintst]

You dont think it's much do you?

And what would you suggest for a centropyge?

 

[roktsintst]

Maybe a potters or multibar... or maybe a Resplendent! How much are those anyway. I know RCT doesn't have any, but when they become available, what is the average cost?

Oh and i forgot to add a trio of fathead anthias to my list.

 

[fishkid6692]

i would maybe cut back on the wrasses and anthias. but for the most part i don't think thats too much for a 300g. also maybe cut back on the large angels. and for the resplendent angel i think they go for around 5 grand lol. if you find somewhere to get them LMK. for a centropyge if you could cut back on the anthias, wrasses and large angels i would get a pair or trio of joculators. if money is an issue then i would go with maybe an eibli? potters are nice too. try to pair them up.

 

[roktsintst]

5 grand! I didn't realize they were that much! I would rather have the anthias and wrasses though. Maybe eventually i'll get in Interruptus.

 

[fishkid6692]

i would still cut back a little on the anthias and wrasses.

 

[Jimng]

Nice Tank, and great frags.....especially those on the magnet....

 

[roktsintst]

haha, thanks Jimng!

 

[eagleONE]

Very nice Ryan. I'll be looking forward to this.