1st Salt Water Tank - Huge 300 Gallon

[blkdrgn]

My 1st post in this forum and I had to double post. Mods can you delete this one? Thanks.

We live in Hawaii and basically we're in the market for a 300g tank. If I'm going to spend the money I want it big. Right now it's mainly for our Arowana that's outgrowing our 25g. The tank will not have any sand or rocks in it. Later I plan on giving it away so I can convert the tank to salt water. I've been reading Wetwebmedia.com and Reefcentral.com. My Conscientious Marine Aquarist book comes in a couple days.

Anyways I can't seem to find pictures out there on how to setup the equipment. I'm thinking of getting the items below.

1. 300 gallon acrylic tank - 96" x 24" x 30" tall
2. Oak stand - 96" x 24" x 30" tall
3. Oak Canopy - 96" x 24" x 7" tall (not sure about the height)
4. Two Protein Skimmers - Euro-Reef RC180 24"h x 11" x 13 1/2" (Was going to get one RC500 but it will not fit the height of the stand)
5. Refugium/Sump - ADHI-60 42" x 18" x 18". Sump chamber is 17.5" x 6" and refugium is 17.5 x 22". (was going to use my 25g but I'd rather have it hidden. I can also custom make it bigger but have to find out first the opening to the stand. Got to figure out how to get it in)
6. Lighting - 72" Hamilton LT-HMA63HQI4PC. 3 - 250W 10K MH with 4 - 96W Actinic PC. (might get two. Not sure if 72" is long enough. Not sure if two 4' will fit the 8' canopy lenght wise or if just a retrofit kit is enough.
7. Iwaki pump - WP-IKMD100RLT. Flow Rate @ 4' head: 2000GPH (not sure if big enough)
8. Tunze Turbelle wave maker. Turbelle Stream TS21 6000. Come with two heads.
9. Tunze Turbelle Deco Rock. (not sure if wave maker in the bottom of the tank is good)

I had a 1/2HP Pacific Coast chiller which I can always put back but I think I might not need it. Our room has a split air which runs almost 24/7 at around 75-80 degrees.

I also heard that I don't need a wet/dry filter and I should use more sand. But mainly I'm confused with the overflow tanks. Where do the holes go? How big do I tell them when they pre drill it? Does the wave maker nozzle attach to the top of it? I'm not even sure the path for the piping for the rest of the equipment. Please let me know if I'm missing something. Also does anyone know how much the tank will weigh? Thanks.

 

[tecwzrd]

Welcome to AA

I'd rethink that sump setup personally since the skimmers would do better inside of it IMO. You can hook them up externally to the overflows (and then drain into the sump) but you shouldn't have more then 300-450 GPH flowing through them for maximum extraction performance. Alternately you could T off your overflow to drain to the simmer and sump.

Have you considered building your own (larger) sump? A 75+ gal tank could fit below depending on how your stand is configured.

I also heard that I don't need a wet/dry filter and I should use more sand.

Having more sand isn't the key, it's having 1.5-2 lbs of base/lr per gal. The base/lr within the tank houses the necessary bacteria so you don't need a wet/dry.

The powerheads and pump give you 5700 GPH (19 time turnover) which should be fine for most corals. You shouldn't have any issue with a PH lower but I wouldn't put them on both sides of the tank to avoid any circular patterns.

Fans below the tank help marginally to keep the water cool but I assume you also will have a couple of fans in the hood to keep the MH/PC lighting cool. I wouldn't ditch the chiller idea just yet with 1,134W of lighting.

For overflow I'd drill 1.5" ID holes which will give you plenty of flow (2500+ GPH). As for setup checkout www.melevsreef.com for diagrams.

Lastly there is other stock you will need like heaters, refractometers, ect...

 

[austinsdad]

Nix the deco rock. Look instead at the magnet holders which'll situate'm (the powerheads) about 5" from the top. You're right, those puppies aren't intended to be near the bottom - unless you plan on no substrate.

Also, whith that space and lighting, I'd strongly recommend a FW resrvoir tank and float switches to re-fill the sump fuge. I was able to fit a 37g tall tank under mine. Don't have to add water but every 2 weeks.

Take your time and measure again and again. Go for the largest sump (as mentioned), and hopefully a reservoir (if you're not pumping FW directly from another source). In my 6ft space, I did (from l-r) sump/fuge, skimmer and collection, and the FW reservoir. All with about 3/4" to spare. UV is mounted above it all.

PIC below is without the FW reservoir.

P.S. why 2 skimmers? Check out the Aqua C EV series skimmers. Loving mine with the collection cup.

 

[blkdrgn]

I scaled it back a little

1. 300 gallon acrylic tank - 96" x 24" x 30" tall
2. Oak stand - 96" x 24" x 30" tall
3. Oak Canopy - 96" x 24" x 7" tall
4. 1 Euro-Reef RS180 24"h x 11" x 13 1/2"
5. Refugium/Sump - Custom build it to the largest possible
6. Lighting - Two retrofit 4' 2 - 250W 10K MH with 2 - 110W VHO.
7. Iwaki pump - WP-IKMD100RLT. Flow Rate @ 4' head: 2000GPH
8. Tunze Turbelle wave maker. Turbelle Stream TS21 6000. Come with two heads.

1. With this setup is the pump too big? I'm still very confused with choosing the right size pump and if I need more than one.
2. How big should the overflow tanks be? They have options like 6" x 6" or 6" x 8", square, rounded, etc.
3. Should I get four 4ft retrofit lights sets or is two enough?
4. Will this JBJ ATO system do the job? I'm assuming that I need another tank with water.
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium...ic_top_off_water_level_controller.asp?CartId=
5. What about reverse osmosis system? Where does this go in the picture and is it needed for the ATO tank?
6. Can I just run another water line directly to one of the tanks?

PIC below is without the FW reservoir.

P.S. why 2 skimmers? Check out the Aqua C EV series skimmers. Loving mine with the collection cup.

Do you have pics of your system including the FW reservoir? I'm still trying to figure out where do the equipment go and in what order.

I had two skimmers because the Euro-Reef RC500 model was 30" and the stand was 30" so it wouldn't fit. So I decided to use two smaller models. But I heard that just the 24" RS180 would do fine. I want to stay with the Euro-Reef brand because I heard it was good.

 

[Ziggy953]

Either the Euro-Reef or the Aqua C EV Series will work very well! I like the Euro-reef myself but have looked at the Aqua Cs as well. You may want to rethink the size of the skimmer though. The RS180 will handle a heavy load 135g not a 300g tank. Also the RS series of EuroReef Skimmers are designed to be in the water not inline. The RC series can be plumbed inline but are about twice the cost. Look into the ATI skimmers they are very good and tend to be more squat.

I agree with the others...get as large a sump as you can fit under that tank. The more water volume you have the better you are going to be plus with a tank that size you are gonna need the room in the sump for all the gadgets you will undoubtable end up with!!

 

[austinsdad]

I'll try to get you a complete pic tonite with the reservoir. I use the JBJ top-off unit. I like it.
BTW, here's the Aqua C skimmer I had in mind.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=AC1191 Can handle up to 400g.

Can get it with a choice of pumps and a John Guest Speed fitting in case you want to hook up other nice stuff. Read up on this one before you decide.

 

[tecwzrd]

You shouldn't scale back the MH IMO if interested in keeping corals which I assume you will be down the road. MH lights only cover about 2-2.5 feet per bulb with the depth of your tank and about half will not be illuminated if you only use 2 bulbs.

Did you get my PM? Did you read the bold links? They cover most the equipment needed and how to set up your system including using RO/DI Filters.

The www.melevsreef.com link in particular also goes into detail on setting up the sump, hole sizes, layout, and the use of a durso standpipe to reduce noise.

The JBJ ATO is one of the best auto top off units.

Ray, unfortunately the stand is too short for that skimmer which is 32" tall. If the stand is custom I'd also raise that slightly (like to 36") to better accommodate equipment and raise the viewing angle of the tank which the middle of the tank is currently only 45" tall or below 4 ft with the top of the tank at 5 ft.

 

[blkdrgn]

You shouldn't scale back the MH IMO if interested in keeping corals which I assume you will be down the road. MH lights only cover about 2-2.5 feet per bulb with the depth of your tank and about half will not be illuminated if you only use 2 bulbs.

It's actually 2 bulbs in each 4ft retrofit unit. I will have two of them running end to end to make 8ft. But I'm wondering about fitting four units in the canopy. I don't want to buy four units until I actually see the hood.

Last night we bought a temporary 55g tank, stand, light, and Magnum 350 canister filter for the Arowana. Hopefully when we get the 300g we might be able to convert the 55g to be the sump/refugium. Is it hard to make panels with a glass tank?

If I cannot get a taller stand will going back to 2 skimmers in the sump be a good idea? Maybe make two chambers with each skimmer in it?

Funny story last night. I hooked up my canister filter but didn't check the quick disconnect valve and it wasn't closed properly. After a minute it exploded open spraying water all over the ground. Then after wiping everything up we cleaned the tank with the hose that you hook up to a faucet. My GF stopped the flow and reversed it to fill water. With the back pressure it shot out and sprayed everything. I was thinking what and idiot but when it was my turn to clean and fill the other tank I forgot and did the exact same thing only mine was worse that it also shot up to on ceiling, walls, etc. like a fire hose.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree with Micah here...I custom built my stand and wish now that I had made it about 6" taller. The taller the stand the more room you have under the tank for equipment.

 

[tecwzrd]

So 1440W of lighting. Got it.

Is it hard to make panels with a glass tank?

Are you talking about baffles? If so then no, you can either do it like this (standard silicone) or make pressure locking baffles that you can rearrange if necessary.

 

[blkdrgn]

Once again I updated the diagram. Can anyone help me design the sump/refugium baffles? Thanks for helping me.

Also can I use the Tunze Turbelle wave maker nozzle inside the overflow tanks? The overflow tanks will be either 6 x6", 6 x 8", or whatever size I need it to be. I want to cut a hole so it will hide more of the wave maker unit. Will this be too far in the back of the tank. Should I angle it slightly towards the front? I will use two facing each other like the diagram.

1. 300 gallon acrylic tank - 96" x 24" x 30" tall
2. Oak stand - 96" x 24" x 30" tall
3. Oak Canopy - 96" x 24" x 7" tall
4. 1 AquaC EV-240 Protein Skimmer - 6.75" x 10.75" x 26" tall - Comes with Iwaki MD40RLT pump
5. Refugium/Sump - 55g tank with custom baffles - 48" x 13" x 21" tall
6. Lighting - Two retrofit 4' 2 - 250W 10K MH with 2 - 110W VHO.
7. Iwaki pump - WP-IKMD100RLT. Flow Rate @ 4' head: 2000GPH
8. Tunze Turbelle wave maker. Turbelle Stream TS21 6000. Come with two heads.
9. 4 Stage Captive Purity RO/Di CP1341
10. JBJ A.T.O. JB5111
11. Aqua Medic SP3000 Dosing pump