400 gallon first reef build super newb

[ReefMagicMan]

Yes thank you for the tips I have a friend who is going to help me he's been guiding me and I also have Help at vivid aquariums in the SFV
I took on a bit more than I can chew but
That's the story of my life

 

[Jimbo327]

You did it right. Go as big as you can!

 

[ReefMagicMan]

I remember hearing one time a bigger body of water is easier to keep I guess I'll find out

 

[helmsreef]

Great setup, def will be following along. Did you buy that from DeepSea Creations?

 

[backbayreef]

I remember hearing one time a bigger body of water is easier to keep I guess I'll find out

Not necessarily - I have varying tank sizes from 25gal to 450gal. My 25gal is the easiest to keep since you’re limited on space so don’t pack too many fish/corals in. If something really bad happens with water chemistry, you can do a massive water change in a small tank. Good luck at 400gal!

Feedback:
Aquascape: if not too late, I would not stack your aquascape that high. Rule of thumb is 50% vertical height. That will provide plenty of swimming space for fish and corals to grow.

Plumbing: I would plan all out up front. I would do dual return and plan for future expansion. Have plenty of unions, valves, emergency drains, etc.

Redundancy: similar to above, have dual heaters, wavemakers, UPS, etc.

Congrats on the tank!

 

[ReefMagicMan]

Great setup, def will be following along. Did you buy that from DeepSea Creations?

No I found this set up on marketplace four grand for everything

 

[ReefMagicMan]

Not necessarily - I have varying tank sizes from 25gal to 450gal. My 25gal is the easiest to keep since you’re limited on space so don’t pack too many fish/corals in. If something really bad happens with water chemistry, you can do a massive water change in a small tank. Good luck at 400gal!

Feedback:
Aquascape: if not too late, I would not stack your aquascape that high. Rule of thumb is 50% vertical height. That will provide plenty of swimming space for fish and corals to grow.

Plumbing: I would plan all out up front. I would do dual return and plan for future expansion. Have plenty of unions, valves, emergency drains, etc.

Redundancy: similar to above, have dual heaters, wavemakers, UPS, etc.

Congrats on the tank!

Thanks for the info the only reason I'm going bigger in the middle or I should say taller is to cover the center overflow

I plan on having a professional come here every 10 days to check on stuff for the first year and it will be costly but that's OK

 

[ReefMagicMan]

Not necessarily - I have varying tank sizes from 25gal to 450gal. My 25gal is the easiest to keep since you’re limited on space so don’t pack too many fish/corals in. If something really bad happens with water chemistry, you can do a massive water change in a small tank. Good luck at 400gal!

Feedback:
Aquascape: if not too late, I would not stack your aquascape that high. Rule of thumb is 50% vertical height. That will provide plenty of swimming space for fish and corals to grow.

Plumbing: I would plan all out up front. I would do dual return and plan for future expansion. Have plenty of unions, valves, emergency drains, etc.

Redundancy: similar to above, have dual heaters, wavemakers, UPS, etc.

Congrats on the tank!

Yes that's actually what I'm doing now about the plumbing just planning out the closed loop
Ordered a bunch of black pvc from bulk reef supply

 

[backbayreef]

Thanks for the info the only reason I'm going bigger in the middle or I should say taller is to cover the center overflow

I plan on having a professional come here every 10 days to check on stuff for the first year and it will be costly but that's OK

Ah got it. I didn’t notice the huge center overflow - makes sense.

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

Some of these pictures are incredibly funny.

i do suggest to not put rockwork against the glass for easy cleaning purposes & detritus build up.

 

[backbayreef]

Yes that's actually what I'm doing now about the plumbing just planning out the closed loop
Ordered a bunch of black pvc from bulk reef supply

So the center 3 holes are all for drains to the sump: main, secondary, and emergency?

You’re planning to drill more holes for the closed loop or just run the return from the sump to the top of the tank? Apologies, I didn’t see any other holes in the tank except these 3.

Another option (not desired) is to just use one center drain and use the other 2 as returns. Was this how the previous owner did it?

 

[cricket3901]

Starting with 400 gallons this your first saltwater tank that’s a lot get ready to be overwhelmed at all the stuff you have to do for salt water

 

[ReefMagicMan]

So the center 3 holes are all for drains to the sump: main, secondary, and emergency?

You’re planning to drill more holes for the closed loop or just run the return from the sump to the top of the tank? Apologies, I didn’t see any other holes in the tank except these 3.

Another option (not desired) is to just use one center drain and use the other 2 as returns. Was this how the previous owner did it?

Do u know the original tank manufacturer ? Love the depth !

looking fantastic!

You did it right. Go as big as you can!

Great setup, def will be following along. Did you buy that from DeepSea Creations?

So the center 3 holes are all for drains to the sump: main, secondary, and emergency?

You’re planning to drill more holes for the closed loop or just run the return from the sump to the top of the tank? Apologies, I didn’t see any other holes in the tank except these 3.

Another option (not desired) is to just use one center drain and use the other 2 as returns. Was this how the previous owner did it?

Yes exactly on the three holes
I will pull water from 2 1.5 inch black PVC pipes into two pumps and return on each side of the tank for corner
The tank is tempered so I cannot drill holes

 

[ReefMagicMan]

With a tank this size and you are new to hobby, my advice is to plan out your maintenance and make it as easy as possible. ATO, water changes, dosing, etc. it will make your life a lot easier if you have those set up before you fill the tank (running piping to pump tank water to a drain, and refilling fresh saltwater from remote holding tanks). Ask your mentor. I see you are in SoCal, lots of local reefers around (usually in local forums). Did the previous owner have a RO and fresh saltwater station included in the sale? Always good to have about 20% of tank water volume of these on hand, usually keep their station in the garage.

You have some great and experienced reefers in SFV, go to local reef forums and find them. I would go ask to do a tank visit and see how they are doing it. Visit a few big systems, and it’ll give you a good idea what you will need to maintain a big tank like this. But you are a contractor, so you have a great foundation to make it work.

Congrats on the dream tank!

I have a buddy who is very knowledgeable and has a retake himself he has been guiding me through this and yes the tank came out almost fully furnished but I did just pick up 150 gallon mixing tank I'm gonna keep in the garage with the seven stage RO kit and have a ATO plum Street in also
Yes I'm Thousand Oaks area California and I know I took them a lot but that's all right I like challenges

 

[ReefMagicMan]

Starting with 400 gallons this your first saltwater tank that’s a lot get ready to be overwhelmed at all the stuff you have to do for salt water

You are 100% correct on that and for a while I was contemplating on aborting but decided it's worth the effort

 

[ReefMagicMan]

Great setup, def will be following along. Did you buy that from DeepSea Creations?

Facebook marketplace and the guy has all the high-end lights a huge sump huge skimmer he didn't spare any expense I got a great deal at four grand

 

[cilyjr]

I am in Thousand Oaks Ventura County

I'm in about 2 hrs north in the Central Coast.
I just bought a new tank too from Glass Cages. Going from 320 to 470.

 

[cilyjr]

Facebook marketplace and the guy has all the high-end lights a huge sump huge skimmer he didn't spare any expense I got a great deal at four grand

That's a good number.

 

[backbayreef]

Yes exactly on the three holes
I will pull water from 2 1.5 inch black PVC pipes into two pumps and return on each side of the tank for corner
The tank is tempered so I cannot drill holes

I saw 3 holes and the center one appears to be larger? So the two holes are 1.5” and the center one is 2”? So, dedicate all these 3 holes as drain lines?

Returns: I would go two pumps, two return nozzles on each side of the tank (on top) with RFG nozzles.

I’ll go that route if if it’s my tank.

FYI: on my 450gal, I’m running 3 x 1.5” drains: main, secondary, and emergency. Absolutely very low noise.

 

[ReefMagicMan]

I saw 3 holes and the center one appears to be larger? So the two holes are 1.5” and the center one is 2”? So, dedicate all these 3 holes as drain lines?

Returns: I would go two pumps, two return nozzles on each side of the tank (on top) with RFG nozzles.

I’ll go that route if if it’s my tank.

FYI: on my 450gal, I’m running 3 x 1.5” drains: main, secondary, and emergency. Absolutely very low noise.

Unfortunately it's 1.5 inch and the others are 1 inch I have to make do what I got I'll send a pic in a little bit of the underneath