Beginner Reef Tank

eroyceus · Nov 14, 2025

Hi, I started up my 300 gal reef tank in June basically by engaging a local expert dealer whose business is primarily tank creation and maintenance in the Palm Beach area. He has kept me from making a complete fool of myself. The tank is now at the stage where it is beginning to support LPS after starting off well with soft corals. Ive had one hammer coral die off but that may have been because I blasted food at it. I imagine in this field, as in SCUBA diving, 99% of the problems come from user error.

TOPICS/HELP SOLICITED
- I'm considering further tank automation but not sure it's worth it.
- I've got an AF4 frozen food feeder on the way.
- I did spend a fair amount of time researching and implementing a lower cost (lower, not low) power outage solution which involves a battery backup to run for 3-4 days automatically, tri-fuel (portable) generator, natural gas feed, and integration with my house electric panel. Chiller is the drop-in kind since in South Florida with a/c on all the time, we usually don't need continuous chilling. Happy to share any thoughts on this topic.
- Interested in the best color filter for an iPhone video
- if there are any local groups worth joining, please reach out.

Thanks for all and any help!

Elliot

revhtree · Nov 14, 2025

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D

Crabs McJones · Nov 14, 2025

Welcome to R2R!

Utubereefer · Nov 14, 2025

Welcome to the club

vetteguy53081 · Nov 14, 2025

Ruben's Reef · Nov 14, 2025

Welcome to R2R !!!

Peace River · Nov 14, 2025

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

Fish Fan · Nov 14, 2025

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

kevgib67 · Nov 14, 2025

Welcome Elliot, glad you are here!

P-Dub · Nov 14, 2025

Welcome!! That's a large system!!! Way to go with going all in!

We are here to help in any way we can. I recommend automating. I think it's worth it. I was similarly on the fence about it, but once I pulled the trigger and got over the learning curve, I couldn't imagine having a tank without it. That being said, when components fail, and they will fail, it becomes a love-hate relationship with controllers. You very quickly realize how dependent it would become on their operation.

Generators are a bit of a sore subject, along with battery backups, with me. You really have to be on top of everything, and even then, realize that there are shortcomings with any backup system, regardless of how well prepared you think you are. You can read my tank thread for the stomach-churning details on that.

Chillers are always a solid form of backup cooling, but like you, we live in an extreme tropical environment and basically run our air conditioning units all the time. After a while, I just took my chiller offline. Time will tell how that works out for you.

BryanM · Nov 14, 2025

eroyceus said:
Hi, I started up my 300 gal reef tank in June basically by engaging a local expert dealer whose business is primarily tank creation and maintenance in the Palm Beach area. He has kept me from making a complete fool of myself. The tank is now at the stage where it is beginning to support LPS after starting off well with soft corals. Ive had one hammer coral die off but that may have been because I blasted food at it. I imagine in this field, as in SCUBA diving, 99% of the problems come from user error.

TOPICS/HELP SOLICITED
- I'm considering further tank automation but not sure it's worth it.
- I've got an AF4 frozen food feeder on the way.
- I did spend a fair amount of time researching and implementing a lower cost (lower, not low) power outage solution which involves a battery backup to run for 3-4 days automatically, tri-fuel (portable) generator, natural gas feed, and integration with my house electric panel. Chiller is the drop-in kind since in South Florida with a/c on all the time, we usually don't need continuous chilling. Happy to share any thoughts on this topic.
- Interested in the best color filter for an iPhone video
- if there are any local groups worth joining, please reach out.

Thanks for all and any help!

Elliot

Welcome to the forums!