Wanted to share my new 300 gallon reef tank

[bob21115]

Long first post but worth the look.

This is my second attempt at a large reef tank. My first tank was bought used on eBay in Oct of 2003. One of those just add water and live stock. The tank was a 240 Clarity Plus acrylic tank about 10 years old and I was the third owner, so I found out later. After a large water change sometime in April I noticed a crack in the side. Thank God it wasn't leaking.

Crack in old tank


I found this crack in the morning and spent the entire day in a panic. Long story short:

My wife said order a new tank. I got lucky and a local tank builder felt sorry for me a said they could have a tank done in a week. It would be a 300 gallon 96x24x30 all side ¾ in and top and bottom ½. I spent a whole next day finding 2 150-gallon Rubbermaid stock tanks and plumbing them together. At about 3 am I had all live rock move into one tank and the livestock into the other tank. Here comes the first mistake: After removing all of the live sand I dumped a 5-gallon bucket of live sand in the tank with the livestock. Needless to say I lost all my fish but on female gold stripe maroon clownfish.

I knew the old stand wouldn’t hold the new tank, so a new stand was built. The new tank was delivered on a Monday late in the day. I spent 2 or 3 days pluming the tank to one of the 150-gallon sumps in the basement below the tank.

Tank on new stand sand bed, LR and water in.


This is our cat Smitty. I came home from HD and this is what I found.

[bob21115]

I have no construction skills and did not know what I wanted to do about a hood. After some thought and approval from my wife, I started to frame in the tank to make look like it was built into the wall.







I wanted it to take up the whole wall and since the wall was 10 ½ feet long I made the stand 2 ½ feet longer with the plans to put shelving on the left.


I got the framing done and the dry wall up(green board). I found the only way I could gain access to the pluming under the tank was to put door on the front. I bought some shelving and put it in place.




Lighting
3 250 watt HQI 10k Usihio
4 130 watt VHO actinic

Water flow
2 Tunze 6080 (2 stream rocks in sump purpling up)
1 Mag 7

Sump/refugium
150 gallon Rubbermaid Stock tank
100 lbs live sand
200 lbs live rock
tons of macro

Equipment
Deltec PR509 Calcium reactor
Deltec FR509 Fluidized Reactor (ROWAPhos phosphate remover)
Top Phatom Protein Skimmer
TUNZE Osmolator Universal 3155 (auto top off)
TUNZE Calcium Dispenser

After the tank was running for a week or so my wife decided she didn’t like the shelf on the top left. I suggested a 30-gallon Sea Horse tank. She said that would be awesome. So I ripped out the shelf and found a glass tank. Its lighted by 2 65-watt PC lights 1 daylight and 1 actinic bulb. I put some LR and Macro in it. It’s plumed to the 300-gallon system. Ill put a chiller on it before the horses go in and let it run for month to build up the pod population.



Due to the addition of LS from the old tank and 200 gallons of new water I started to have a Phosphate and nitrate problem. That’s when I added the FR509 and the ROWAPhos. I will be adding 2 more Fluidized Reactor in the next day with Nitrate sponge and GAC.

Tank parameters
Temp 79 – 80
Salinity 1.025
PH 8.5
Calcium 530 and dropping (I’m only running co2 for 4 hours a day now)
Alkalinity 10
Phosphates .02 and dropping
Nitrate 50 and dropping

As you can see from the last picture quite a few of my corals made the move. Partly because I move them into a 39 gallon tank and not the 150 gallon stock tanks.

Not thinking about the recycling of the tank and missing my fish I re stocked the tank, luckily most were bought after the Phosphates came down.

FISH
2 Gold strip Maroon Clowns
2 Orange Skunk Clowns (From my 39)
1 Blond Naso Tang
1 Hippo Tang
1 Powder Brown Tang
1 Purple tang
1 White-freckled Tang (Acanthurus maculiceps)
4 Schooling banner fish
1 Six line wrasse
1 Leopard wrasse
2 Common cleaner wrasses
1 Flame Angel


Inverts
Tiger Tail Cukes
6 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
4 Coral Bannded Shrimp
12 Peppermint Shrimp
?? Blue and Red Hermit Crabs
100 Mexican Turbo Snails
!00 Cerith Snail
100 Nassarius Snails
?? Asteria Snails



Here is a link to the web cam that runs 24/7 on the 300 gallon tank.

Click here for web cam.

Lights turn on at 8 am EST and off at 10pm. If you see a black screen with a green dot the lights are off.

[bob21115]

Here are some more pictures of the tank and Sump

This was taken from above the seahorse tank, the picture shows the HQI and VHO lights above the tank.

Inside above the tank


I was trying to show behind the tank where I can walk. The black area toward the middle of the picture is the opening to get behind the tank.

Inside behind the tank


This allows access to the Seahorse tank.

The Left top side of the tank


This allow access behind the Shelf and to the Web Cam
The left lower side of the tank



This is the sump in the basement



This is the equipment next to the sump

[bob21115]

The camers is just behind the self with all the boxes in it.
This is a picture of the web cam


This is a updated Front Shot



I got some new friends today.

Green Banded Goby


Helfrichi Fire Fish


Yellow Headed Jawfish


Front of Seahorse Tank

[gwen_o_lyn]

Wow very nice tank!! Enjoying the live cam! Love the new friends too!!

I couldn't get the link for the white freckled tang to work.

[bob21115]

Looks like the website is having problems.

[fat walrus]

cool tank, but got same problem as gwen. i do have one question...why did you choose to place the tank so low?

[bob21115]

When sitting in the living room you can see right into the tank. Also I sit infront of the tank on a foot stool. The tank is taller that the old one and I could barely reach the bottom of the old one when it was on a higher stand.

[fat walrus]

perfectly good reasons, just as i had suspected. it seemed like you really thought it out.....i was hoping for a new secret! lol

[wildeone]

I like the way that is setup. I can see that kind of setup in my apartment once my wife kicks me out for my reefing addiction! Are you having any issues with the lights generating too much heat in the tank?

[bob21115]

Tank stays at 79 with out a chiller. The sump in the basement help with the cooling. I have fans to put in the back of the tank to vent across the tank to the sea horse tank.

[wwest]

very nice tank, i wish i had the room and the money lol :-) but i love it..

[kj_yoda]

very cool tank and cam idea

[Rob]

great looking setup...
is there room to get behind the tank?

from the pics it looks like you really only have access to the one side...

[bob21115]

great looking setup...
is there room to get behind the tank?

from the pics it looks like you really only have access to the one side...

From the right side there is a 12in opening from the floor to the top of the tank. I get bebind the tank from there and can walk on the back of the stand to feed clean and the like. The other side of the wall is opne my daughters room. My wife loves the tanks just a little less than I do, she wouldn't let me turn her room into a fishroom. I wanted that built in look and this seems top work. Some days I hate it because it isn't really easy geting in and out (12in opening and Im 11 3/4in thick), but I dont spend alot of time behind the tank.

Future plans are repalceing the shelf on the right with another tank(I plan on puffers). My wife want to put a plasma tv above the tank in the open space.

[ZeroKoolNYC]

Beautiful just beautiful!

[Rob]

Shawn, cool..
well it looks like its closed in, so i have to say, great design.
especially for someone who is new to building stuff like that...
awesome..

maybe you can pull out the video camera and do a tank tour video for us..

[bob21115]

Im going to try and get the rest of the drywall sanded and painted today.

[Scott]

Shawn, what a great overview of your current tank and how it got there! Love the setup.

[bob21115]

Wow very nice tank!! Enjoying the live cam! Love the new friends too!!

I couldn't get the link for the white freckled tang to work.

and Fat Walrus

The link is working now. White-freckled Tang (Acanthurus maculiceps)

[bob21115]

Its official the Seahorse tank is a Seahorse tank.

Katherine and I got him/her on Saturday during our Eastern Michigan Reef stores road trip. It’s a Hippocampus erectus or more communally a lined seahorse, we got him at Atlantis Fish Shoppe in Clawson MI. Dean the owner was very helpful and he is going to try to get 3 more and some pipefish I’ve been looking for.

He’s been eating well since I started hatching BBS, he didn’t like the frozen BBS. Hopefully when he is in the company of other seahorses he’ll start to take frozen food again.

Orange Seahorse

[fat walrus]

very nice seahorse.

[pham411]

one day.................

[m8298]

Let me get this straight, your wife told you to order the 300 gallon. Your wife suggested ripping out the shelves to add the seahorse tank. Your wife wants a plasma tv hanging in the open space...

If you ever get divorced...NEVERMIND rofl Wife gotta sister? Still kidding, I'm already married, and happy most of the time. lol

I go to Atlantis, Dean is the man. Most of the coral I currently have came from there. Matter of fact I'm sure I got a good look at that seahorse in person.

That is an awesome setup, and it looks to me that you were lying about having no construction skills. What are you gonna do with the old tank????

[bob21115]

Let me get this straight, your wife told you to order the 300 gallon. Your wife suggested ripping out the shelves to add the seahorse tank. Your wife wants a plasma tv hanging in the open space...

That is an awesome setup, and it looks to me that you were lying about having no construction skills. What are you gonna do with the old tank????

John,

My wife is great, I woke her up on Saturday at 9:30am and said lets go to the Fish stores in eastern MI. She said ok we went to 7 shops and didn't get home till 1am. I found a Dendrophyllia at Pet connection for 100.00 with out questioh she said get it. She was a lucky find.

No Constructions skills at all...

The Old Tank is in the basement just sitting empty. Make a offer if you would like it.