278 Gallon Permian Basin Reef

[ClintL]

I really never know where to start a thread like this. This is my first real build thread out of many setups. I normally don’t post much, I think I have maybe 5 posts as of right now, but ive been telling a few people I would do a build thread for some time now.

Right now I have just started adding salt to the system. It took several months to get the cabinets right, plus tank ship time, and getting some plumbing issues worked out. Heres how the tank is today:

Heres a couple wider shot showing how it sits in the room.

The tank is a Planet Aquariums custom 278 gallon tank. 3 sides are Starfire, the background is black. Its 6’ long, 30” wide and 29” tall. The tank sits on the steel stand made by PA so that I have the long warranty still, so we had a wood and granite facade built around the PA stand. Since the tank sits in the living room with the kitchen near we just matched everything to what was currently in the house. The cabinet stain, granite and the tile back splash matches the kitchen.

The filtration, water change station, frag tank and quarantine tank are all situated in the room behind the tank. Ill post pictures in a follow up post of that room.

As far as equipment im running 4 MP40s QDs for circulation, the sump pump is a Vectra L1. So far the circulations been great. For lighting I have 3 Radion G3 pros with wide angle lenses, and 2 250 watt Hamilton Cayman Suns mounted to a low profile 80/20 rack. The spread and shimmer are fantastic.

That’s all for this initial post, Ill follow up with a few more out lining my system. Ill post some of the construction photos to. Im always looking for notes, tips, and suggestions to.

Thank yall for taking an interest.

Clint

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

Wow, that looks great!

 

[Peanut]

love the matching back splash. looks great!

 

[tank of gems]

You took the words out of my mouth Peanut

 

[Maritimer]

Beautiful tank and surround, ClintL, and well-suited to your fine-yet-fun home! (Love the photo of the BTA on that deep blue wall!)

Will be fun to see how she grows!

~Bruce

 

[jeremy]

Everything looks amazing! Following.

 

[themcnertney]

I'm really jealous of your lighting.

 

[ClintL]

Wow, that looks great!

Thank you

love the matching back splash. looks great!

You took the words out of my mouth Peanut

Thank you, When we tried to order the same tile as the kitchen we found out it had been discontinued, I got really lucky when I called the manufacture and they happen to have 4 boxes of left over stock, got them at a discounted rate.

Beautiful tank and surround, ClintL, and well-suited to your fine-yet-fun home! (Love the photo of the BTA on that deep blue wall!)

Will be fun to see how she grows!

~Bruce

Thank you, That picture was taken from my tank a couple a years back. I actually have a few more blown up coral pictures hanging to.

Everything looks amazing! Following.

Thank you.

I'm really jealous of your lighting.

Thanks, I really like this combo of Leds and MH. The spread and coverage so far seems great. I need to get a par meter to find out exactly what it puts out though.

 

[RyanCSGO]

Stunning! Can't wait to see more.

 

[Napa Reefer]

Looks awesome!

 

[revhtree]

Looks great! Can't wait to see more!

 

[Scubafrog]

WOW! Very nice and clean looking build. No equipment or wires for distractions, love it. Any sump pictures.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Love it!

 

[mmw64]

Beautiful home and gorgeous tank.

 

[Sharvey103]

Very nice! Following to see more.

 

[ClintL]

Stunning! Can't wait to see more.

Looks awesome!

Looks great! Can't wait to see more!

Thank yall

WOW! Very nice and clean looking build. No equipment or wires for distractions, love it. Any sump pictures.

Thanks for the compliment, Im actually about to post pictures of the sump in the next update.

Love it!

Beautiful home and gorgeous tank.

Thank you, my wife says thank you to, since shes the one who decorated the house.

Very nice! Following to see more.

Thank you

 

[ClintL]

The filtration for the system is located in the room directly behind the tank. In this picture you can see the section of drywall we removed for the MP-40s and the bulkheads. You can also see the dosing system I have setup to dose Alk, Ca, Mg, and vinegar.

I had to remove the shelving that was in the "closet", it was in the way.

A hammer did the job nicely.

The sump is built by Ben over at @BuildingAnObsession , He did a fantastic job. The sump includes baffle with height adjustment and probe holders. The skimmer is a RO Regal 250, I havent gotten to try it out yet but ive read good reviews and ive always like the Reef Octopus brand.

Something different im trying on this build that i have an auto feeder on my sump. The feeder drops pellets into a pvc extension off the intake on the Vectra, which takes the food to the display. To keep the food in the pipe from sitting stagnant and rotting I have setup the carbon reactor to flush the pvc extension. The other issues i was worried about were the Vectra pulling in air bubbles, which with the sump level i run hasnt happened, and that the food hitting the impeller might cause a shortened life span on the impeller. So far the system works great.

My water change station is also slightly different than usual. I have 3 blue 55 gallon storage tanks. 1 tank is used to mix saltwater in, I fill with RO/DI then mix in that container. Ill always keep it full of newly mixed water. The other 2 containers are tied into both my sump and the quarantine tank. Normally both containers just expand my water volume with tank water circulating in them, but can easily be isolated from the system. I can move water from the barrels to use in the quarantine system or to the drain by closing a few valves and flipping a few switches when i do a water change. I can elaborate if thats confusing.

My frag tank is still a work in progress, the tank consists of an older Oceanic 125 gallon that ive had for years. Im still working out the lighting , i doubt ill use the light thats hanging there. Right now its being run by Blue Line 40 external pump and for additional flow i have 2 mp10s on it. Theres a Blue Glow frag rack in the tank to.

The QT system is another 125 gallon tank. Its divided into 4 chambers, 3 for fish and 1 for plumbing. On the right side of the tank you can the plumbing and pumps. there is 2 mag drive pumps that are mounted at a specific height to allow me to press a button to remove either 50% or 100% of the water which equates to 1 or 2 barrels from the water change station.

One of the issues i really tried to address with this system was the ease of maintenance. The system uses no buckets or hoses for water changes. With the amount of traveling I do for work, I needed a system setup so my wife or tank sitter can easily carry out the maintenance required.

 

[RyanCSGO]

Incredible Build man. love the way all of it has been set up.

 

[Scubafrog]

Thanks for the "behind the scenes" pictures.

 

[revhtree]

Dang what an awesome job!