300+ gallon multi-tank reef system

pluikens · May 27, 2018

I currently have a 40 gallon mixed reef in my living room as my first saltwater tank. I've been toying around with the idea of a multi-tank reef system for a couple of months now and as my office is filling up with all my reef keeping equipment and supplies in addition to a QT setup, I decided it's time to put together a fish room in the basement to store all of this stuff (not moving QT) along with having a few tanks. My goal for the system is to provide corals and fish a healthy place to grow out. I'm not buying anything that won't thrive in the tanks they're in now but my plan is to have a larger display (350+ gallons) after my wife and I move in a few years and this system will provide me 1) experience in running a larger reef system, 2) a chance to acquire and test out new equipment suitable for the larger system, and 3) the ability to grow out frags and fish stock so I'm not adding all tiny frags to a larger display.

Now on to the fun stuff!

40G Refugium
20G Anemone Tank
90G Grow Out Tank
50G Frag Tank
125G Sump

Depending on how this goes and how things grow, I may add more frag tanks and/or a 125+ gallon FOWLR tank.

All of this will be controlled by my Apex and by this fall I should have a Trident for the primary testing.

A word of warning, this will be a slow build. I won't get into a ton of detail regarding the cost of the system in this thread but I will say I have a reefing budget of $400-$500 a month that will be the limiting factor in how quickly things go. Lower priced equipment will likely be used to get everything wet and stocked but once initial costs have settled I plan to replace where needed.

My wife is very supportive of my reef keeping hobby. I used to have some very unhealthy hobbies so almost anything could be better than those but I knew she was on board with my plans when in the early stages of planning she started getting me decorations and making cross-stitches for the fish room like this stained glass moorish idol (I know, it's a heniochus based on the yellow tail but it wasn't the time for correcting).

pluikens · May 27, 2018

The Sump is a 48" round x 22" tall tank from a local company, PolyTank. I'll be using this for drains and the return pumps for all the tanks. There will also be an increasing amount of cured rock added to the tank as the system volume increases. The two largest heaters will be placed in the sump. Water samples for testing will also be drawn from here as it should provide the clearest image of all the tanks water chemistry. A large circulation pump will be used here to stir up the water around the live rock.

pluikens · May 27, 2018

The refugium is a 40 breeder tank with 40 pounds of live rock as a divider to keep the cheato out of the drain pipes. If this live rock isn't sufficient, I'll add an overflow box. I've had great success with a chaeto refugium on my mixed reef upstairs so I wanted to make sure I have one here. The grow light will be upgraded during the cycle to a much higher powered LED fixture. I've used Triton for ICP tests in the past and may also go with the Triton method on this system so I wanted to make sure it was of sufficient size as the system volume increases. The refugium drains into a 20 long that I initially planned to house an internal skimmer but now may be used for something else like housing my BTA. There won't be any powerheads in here but there will be about 1000 GPH of flow through so I thought this would be good for the anemone. It may also be used for a timeout tank if I ever needed one. I do plan to dose into this tank as it is being turned over 50x an hour and should mix everything up well before draining into the sump.

pluikens · May 27, 2018

The 90 gallon grow out tank was originally going to be a 120 (hence the 4'x2' stand) but I got a great deal on this reef ready 90 locally so I couldn't pass it up. This tank will have about 50 pounds of live rock on the left side for corals to grow out on and the right side will have some egg create for frag plugs and tiles at various levels to provide higher/lower PAR from the T5s depending on the coral. Once the 50-gallon frag tank is up and running, some of the egg crate may come down as the frags can move to the frag tank and the 90 will be more for colonies.

The 50-gallon frag tank is just a stand for now (in the foreground in the picture below). I'm focusing on getting the current tanks cycling and over the next couple of months I can get the lowboy tank, plumb it, and hang the 6-bulb T5 fixture. I'm looking forward to plumbing the frag tank as it should be the easiest of the tanks. It's only a foot or two from the sump and should have the fewest number of fittings.

About the room: I'm finishing the basement myself with my dad so, with this fish room in mind, we ran a separate 20 amp circuit with 2 boxes at eye level on the wall shared with the bathroom. If things expand, we have room to run another 20 amp circuit and I would put a box or two on the opposite wall to have another Energy Bar plugged into.

pluikens · May 27, 2018

I'll be following the BRS ULM method for cycling this system with the exception of covering the tanks with tag board and adding coraline. I'll also be going longer than 1 month before adding fish as I have to get a tomini tang out of my QT before I start QT on a pair of banggai cardinalfish which will be the first fish in the 90.

pluikens · May 29, 2018

Hey @Battlecorals I was planning to use a Deltec SCA1660 for this system. Even if I expanded the 90 gallon reef and 50 gallon frag to include another 50 gallon frag and something like a 125 gallon FOWLR pretty heavily stocked, do you think an SCA1660 would suffice? I see you don't have it in your site anymore. What would you recommend from the skimmers available now? I don't need the latest if you still have an SCA1660 available.

Thanks!

pluikens · Jun 10, 2018

Start of the cycle! I got a Reef Octopus Regal 300INT skimmer for Father's Day so my indecisiveness over which skimmer to go with has ended. First thing, this skimmer is huge! I've seen these skimmers on big 400-500 gallon systems at my LFS but to see it in my sump is something else. It set up really quickly and although my system is just now cycling, there's some good foam forming. I'm really excited to build up a bioload because this skimmer should be able to handle anything I throw at it. Adjustability seems really nice too; the gate valve and DC pump controller should make future dialing-in a snap.

I got a free bucket of Coral Pro Salt with the skimmer so I used the entire bucket along with Instant Ocean to get my salinity to 1.021 where I'll keep it for the entire cycle. I pulled four sponges I had in my established system upstairs to start the cycle in this new system. They're in the refugium tank which has the grow light on low. Along with the sponges, I added 31.6ml of Ammonium Chloride for the bacteria to consume. Once the ammonia starts to drop from the 2ppm I'll switch to ghost feeding to continue the cycle. When I start to read nitrates, I'll clean some chaeto from the living room refugium and start that in this new system, slowing raising the intensity of the grow light.

Since the 90-gallon tank is bare bottom with no rock, I decided to turn off the return pump for that tank before I added the Ammonium Chloride so I'm only cycling 158 gallons. Once the nitrogen cycle is complete, I'll bring the 90 back online for the rest of the 2-3 month cycle.

I have 40 more pounds of dry rock coming on Tuesday and I'll add that to the sump on Wednesday. The plan is to put it under the skimmer so the egg crate skimmer stand can lose its legs and rest on the live rock. I'd much rather have the egg crate resting on the rock on the bottom of the sump because the 1" PVC legs I threw together quickly allow for some wobble. A Jebao PP-20 will be placed at the bottom of the sump to get water flowing in a circular fashion around the sump. Another package of 40 pounds of dry rock comes next week so there will be 80 pounds in the sump and 40 in the refugium. That's just a starting point and I'll probably make it 160 pounds when I hook up the first frag tank, adding more rock to support the size of the system with each new tank.

So that's where things are now. Just monitoring the cycle for the next few months while I accumulate some equipment, put together the equipment cabinet, and get the Apex set up. Thanks for following!

sneub · Jun 11, 2018

Following

pluikens · Jun 11, 2018

Hung up a new 300W equivalent grow light over the refugium today. They were "buy one, get one free" on Amazon so I had to get them. The other will be used for growing plants in my basement as part of an aquaponics system. The light draws about 135 watts of power at the outlet and is only set to run an hour a day which I'll ramp up during the cycle.

I'm going to need to find some sort of canopy, hopefully reflective, to control the light spill from the light. It illuminates the entire fish room and I want to avoid algae growing elsewhere in the system. I'm open to suggestions!

pluikens · Jun 13, 2018

Today I got delivered another Finnex 500-watt titanium tube heater, 40 pounds of reef saver rock, 200-gallon box of Instant Ocean, and a bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only.

I was excited for the heater because the sump currently sits at 78.6 degrees with an existing 500-watt heater running 100% of the time. I have my heater controller for the sump set to 81 degrees with a goal for the remote tanks to sit at 78. The 90 gallon has its own heater and so will the frag tank and any other remote tanks I set up. I only want these to run occasionally to keep the temperature in each remote tank consistent. Once I have the apex set up, I'll monitor temperatures in the sump and remote tanks and adjust the sump temperature accordingly. I'm assuming this will change seasonally as the temperature in my Minnesota basement fluctuates with the seasons. Long story long, the heater was a dud. I hooked it up to my EB832 upstairs and it didn't measure any power usage. It was a good way to test my existing Apex rule as I got an alert that the outlet was on but not drawing the expected power. The heater is going back and I'll get another one tomorrow.

The 40 pounds of rock came in three pieces. One piece is probably 25 pounds and will make up one of the pieces that the egg crate for the skimmer sits on. Another 40 pounds of rock comes tomorrow which I hope will provide the rest of the rock for the skimmer base. I'll probably be messing around to find something that puts the skimmer stable and level for a fair bit of the day tomorrow.

The Instant Ocean went to use immediately. I'm mixing the salt in the 20-gallon refugium tank with the refugium return pump running. 25 pounds of salt brought the salinity of the entire 250-gallon system to 1.0215. I'm happy with this level and will keep it here for the duration of the cycle.

I didn't get as much One and Only as I probably should have but I am adding it to the system in addition to the four sponges I grabbed from my living room system sump. I checked my ammonia level (1.5 ppm) so I added another 13 ml before adding the One and Only. This should be enough to get me through the nitrogen cycle and I'm really in no hurry.

I'm really excited about the progress so far. Now that the cycle is going, I need to work on hooking up a new EB832 in the basement along with a PM2 module I have so I can start monitoring salinity and temperature in the sump. Before I do that, I need to figure out where I'm going to put an equipment cabinet. Any suggestions are welcomed!

Janci · Jun 13, 2018

pluikens said:
......

My wife is very supportive of my reef keeping hobby. I used to have some very unhealthy hobbies so almost anything could be better than those but I knew she was on board with my plans when in the early stages of planning she started getting me decorations and making cross-stitches for the fish room like this stained glass moorish idol (I know, it's a heniochus based on the yellow tail but it wasn't the time for correcting).

I love the plan.
Congrats on you and your wife for being so supportive and inspired by the hobby.

pluikens · Jun 21, 2018

Tested the water for a few things today. Ammonia is down to 1.2ppm. I turned on the return pump for the 90-gallon tank so the water is circulating through all tanks now. I added some dry food to the refugium tank to keep ammonia up with another 90 gallons added to the system. I was a little concerned about the phosphate level with the dry rocks added directly to the tanks but the Hanna checker read 12 ppb phosphorous so I'm not running out for the GFO reactor I'll eventually get just yet. That works well for the budget as I just ordered two Orphek OR 120s with a custom spectrum for the frag tank. I'm excited to share my opinions on the lights once I get them over some coral in a few months. I may have to put them over my other 40-gallon tank upstairs just to see what they look like before I'm ready for corals in this system.

pluikens · Jul 31, 2018

It's been over a month since my last update. I've been ghost feeding and the tank is definitely cycled. Once I get back from a 2-week vacation in August, I'm picking up three chalk bass for the 20-gallon tank in the system. Then I'll do some water changes with my preferred salt, hw-Marinemix Reefer to get parameters right. Current parameters: N03: 7 ppm, Ca: 375 ppm, dKH: 11.2, PO4: 0.07 ppm

pluikens · Dec 10, 2018

Wow, it's already December! I have coral frags growing in the 90-gallon, but I think I've about had it with a 24-inch tall tank for coral frags. Its such a hassle having to reach in so far to pull frags out and move them around, I think I've decided on a rimless, reef ready, 18-inchh tall tank from Deep Blue to replace the 90. The new tank is also 24 x 48 inches so I'll be able to use the full width of the stand. Lighting solution for the two tanks are in place now. The T5 fixture is going over a future 24x48x12 frag tank on the currently empty stand. I have two ATI blue plus, one actinic, and one coral plus bulb in the fixture and I really like the color combination. The fixture is on light hangers so I'll adjust the mounting height to get the right PAR. The lighting for the 24x48x18 is three Orphek OR120 light bars. I built a custom bracket for the three and have them hanging over the 90-gallon now. The light bars are two of a custom color combination (12x 430nm, 12x 460nm, and 12x 480nm) and the middle bar is Reef Day Light. I like that I can have all three on for part of the day and then switch to the two actinic-ish bars for the latter part of the light schedule. Here's some pictures of the Orphek solution:

pluikens · Dec 11, 2018

I thought I'd a general picture of the fish room for posterity:

I turned the T5 fixture on just for the picture. Below this should be a rimless reef ready 48x24x12. I plan to keep more SPS in this shallower tank. Before getting that tank, the 90-gallon on the back wall (with the broken cross brace) will be replaced with a 48x24x16 frag tank. This deeper tank with the LEDs above it should be better for LPS that require less light. I need to move where the dosing lines go into the system but currently, my doser is on the storage shelf and I pump directly into the 90-gallon. The white curtain in the back corner blocks light from the refugium light shining over the 40-gallon The refugium grows chaeto really well and keeps nitrates below 7ppm and phosphates below 0.05ppm. I have just one fish at this point, a clownfish I transplanted from my other display which lives in the 20 gallon tank next to the refugium. You can't really see it on the back left but there's a 120 gallon round tank with the Regal 300 skimmer in it. I'm not feeding very much at all but this should be able to handle a few more frag tanks and a large display. I plan to plumb in a roughly 180-gallon display into this system which will be on the other side of the back left stud wall in the basement family room. The Brute on the left side is on a stand I built that gravity feeds to top off the round sump. The Brute is plumbed into my RO system so whenever one of my ATO reservoirs is low, I can make new RO and top off both of the ATO reservoirs I have in the house. If the Brute gets in the way, I'll set up a PMUP to pump the water and move the Brute under the tank stand it's next to. The little 10-gallon tank on the front left just has water/vinegar for running pumps and skimmers in for cleaning.

And now closer pictures of the 90-gallon. Keep in mind that this was a temporary tank just to get corals in the system. I haven't cleaned it since it cycled and there's no fish to clean up the little algae. I'm anxious to get a new, clean tank on the stand that can stay clean with pumps to keep detritus suspended, fish to eat algae, and a CUC to get the rest. I'm really digging the lights over the tank 108 3-watt LEDs really shine, I'll be renting the LFS PAR meter soon to find out if it's too much or if I need to lower the lights.

And some corals to test the waters as the system comes together. All the birdsnest in the bank came from two different pieces that I broke off of colonies in my display by accident. It's great having another tank to frag up the "accidents" and keep them growing.

Janci · Dec 11, 2018

Wow, that is a serious tank/fish/coral room.
This will be looking awesome when all new items arrive and are installed.
Can't wait to see that soon.

pluikens · Dec 11, 2018

Janci said:
Wow, that is a serious tank/fish/coral room.
This will be looking awesome when all new items arrive and are installed.
Can't wait to see that soon.

Thanks! I'll admit that it's sort of a mess now. It's also where some of my lower grade equipment goes when I want to upgrade my system upstairs so it's nice to not have gear sitting around not being used. I hope to have the new tanks by this spring but I have to find a balance between reefing and the upgrades I have planned for the 5,000 gallon koi pond in the backyard once the snow melts.