260 Gallons of a Miami Reef

[Miami Reef]

System Specs:
​

• Display: 260 gallons
• Dimensions: 96”x24”x26”
• Tank Theme: Shallow, Stony Coral Reef

Equipment and Filtration Specs:​

• Main Return Pump: Vectra M2 - DC Return Pump (2000 GPH) - Ecotech Marine
• UV Sterilizer: Aqua Ultraviolet 80 Watt Classic UV Sterilizer
• UV Pump: Vectra M2 - DC Return Pump (2000 GPH) - Ecotech Marine - Closed loop back into display.
• ATO: Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 Auto Top Off | 20 gallon reservoir
• Controller: Neptune Apex, 2x EB832 energy bar, Temperature, Salinity, pH, ORP 24/7 monitoring
• Skimmer: Reef Octopus - Regal 250INT 10" Internal Protein Skimmer (VarioS)
• Wavemakers: 4x Jebao OW Wave Maker Flow Pump with Controller (5,283gph each)
• Heating: No heater.
• Lighting: 2x ATI 48" SunPower 8 x 54W Light Fixture.
• T5: 16 bulbs. 5 Blue Plus & 3 coral plus in each 8 bulb fixture
• Chemical filtration: Bulk Reef Supply -Premium ROX 0.8 Aquarium Carbon - run passively in 180 micron media bag. Bulk Reef High Capacity GFO run as needed.
• Mechanical Filtration: 5x Aquatic Experts Filter Socks 100 Micron - 4 Inch Ring by 10.5 Inch Long - changed twice per week
• Salt: Instant Ocean - Sea Salt Mix (Purple Bucket)
• Dosing Pump: 2x BRS 2 Part Doser - 1.1 mL per minute
• Additives: Part 1 (Alkalinity): Sodium hydroxide | Part 2 (Calcium): Calcium Chloride | Part 3 (Minor elements) Tropic Marin Balling Part C

​

Update: 4/11/22

Update: 5/8/22

Update: 5/28/22

Update 6/6/22

6/16/22

Table of Contents:​

• Pages 1-3: New tank building plan + aquascaping
• Page 4: Tank built! Minor bump because skimmer didn’t fit sump, UV difficult to maintain because of plumbing/tank design issue/miscommunication
• Page 5: Discussion of corals + white worm culture talk
• Page 6: More discussion about the plumbing/tank design issue + fixed the sump skimmer issue!
• Page 7-8: Invert & acro frag discussion
• Page 9: Resolving the final issue with UV + installed Apex & did cable management
• Page 10-12: Bristle worm in QT, Added kalkwasser to ATO, installed GFO reactor, quarantining chromis with uronema and tail rot.
• Page 13: I decided to add sand to the tank. Went with T5 5 blue plus & 3 coral plus instead of 50% of each.
• Page 14: Tank glass edges are not supported! I’m screwed!
• Page 15-16: Trying to cope with the setback. Aquarium Marketing officially “abandoned” me.
• Page 17: Getting back on my feet and emotionally recovering . Discussion about aiptasia (QT didn’t work) and chromis damsels (uronema). Cabinetry will be completed in 15 days from now!
• Page 18: Clams, clams, and more clams!
• Page 19: My messy project.

 

[Screwgunner]

I can't wait.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Bring it on! Lots of photos. Best wishes!

 

[Miami Reef]

Table of Contents coming soon!

 

[Miami Reef]

Aquarium Marketing is building it for me.

The wait time is approx 8-10 weeks. I have 4 weeks left until the tank is here!

 

[JumboShrimp]

… the possibilities are endless!

 

[Miami Reef]

… the possibilities are endless!

Exactly!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Are you going Reef, or FOWLR?

 

[Miami Reef]

Are you going Reef, or FOWLR?

Reef!

 

[Miami Reef]

Aquascape is officially complete! Thank you @Ardeus for inspiring me and teaching me the art of a proper scape.

 

[JGT]

Some specs:

280 gallon (not including sump)

Dimensions (LxWxH) 94”x24”x26”
Made with glass. All sides using 1/2” glass. Bottom made with 3/4” glass.
Front glass low iron.
Background: black vinyl

Just an fyi, not that it’s a big deal but those dimensions are for a 254 gallon aquarium.

 

[Miami Reef]

Just an fyi, not that it’s a big deal but those dimensions are for a 254 gallon aquarium.

Oof. You are correct. I meant to say 96”x24”x26”

 

[Miami Reef]

I just checked the calculator and learned that my tank will be 259 gallons! Excellent!

 

[am3gross]

yes, lots of pics is a must!! I wait time is the worse I will add.

 

[Miami Reef]

yes, lots of pics is a must!! I wait time is the worse I will add.

Yes! I agree! Surprisingly time is going by super fast! He received the tank glass yesterday, so I have about 4 weeks left!

 

[Boosterman]

I will be following your Build Thread! Are you going to give the sand a good wash this time? lol

 

[Miami Reef]

I will be following your Build Thread! Are you going to give the sand a good wash this time? lol

That’s so interesting you bring this up!

So for the sand I decided to use Tropic Eden Reef Flakes (3.5mm).

I used to use special grade 1-2mm but it would always shift blow around and get sucked into the powerhead via a vortex.

For the rinsing process, I got a strainer and used a garden hose, only washing 1-2 cups at a time.


So here’s my method:

And here’s the results (scooping a cup full and adding tap water to it)

I could drink from it!

Ps, I’m using a total of 60lbs. If I need more, I can always add later, but I’m really only using sand for aesthetics. It’s basically a hybrid sand x bare bottom lol.

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m so happy today. I saw my new tank all put together today. I saw the overflow, the euro bracing. The display is 90 percent done. It looked ready!

He told me that it should be ready by +/- 2 weeks.

This is so exciting. I will try to get pictures tomorrow for sure!

So far everything is going to plan!

 

[Miami Reef]

I actually made up my mind and decided I want to go bare bottom! I’m going to see if I can get the bottom of the tank to have a white vinyl background.

Do you know what made me want to do this? I stirred my QT sand bed and a nasty cloud came up. I was dealing with high nutrients and I was doing tons of water changes a week!

I took out all the corals, rocks, pumps etc and got rid of all the sand. My tank was COMPLETELY green and disgusting from all the build up crap in the sand.

Nope! No more sandbed for this guy!

 

[JachPot]

Aquascape is officially complete! Thank you @Ardeus for inspiring me and teaching me the art of a proper scape.

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