Manny's 300 Gallon Reef

Manny’s Reef

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Hey everyone. I've been stalking the forum non-stop for the last two months or so. I haven't really had time to do a build thread but I figured that if I wanted to take you all on a journey with me, it would be best to make time for the build thread now. I am still very much in the planning phase and this is where your input is most valuable to me. That being said, let's do this.

Much of the equipment is used as I stumbled upon the perfect deal on the Facebook Marketplace. I planned on having a new tank made in June of 2021 but the deal was right so here we are.

Budget: $10k - but lets be real. This number is only a wife pleaser. When I first started in the hobby, I used to buy my wife new Coach purses so she would turn the blind eye. Looks like I'm going to have to upgrade to purchasing LV purses as this build is so much bigger.
Budget used: $ I stopped counting already as it was getting depressing.

Equipment I have so far -
Tank (used): Marineland 72 x 36 x 27 with dual corner overflows
Stand: Custom made stand by previous owner.
Sump: Eschopps ADV 300
Flow: 2 Maxspect Gyres XF350 & 2 EcoTech MP40s
Return Pumps: Maxspect DC 10K Controllabe Pump 2642 GPH & Jecod 100W Controllable Pump (used came with tank)
Controller: GHL Profilux 4 (used. purchased from local R2R member)
Lights: 3 Kessil A360X. Will be adding the aquatic life T5/LED combo soon.
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Classic 150 INT (Used came with purchase)
ATO: Tunze Osmolator
Filtration: Klir DI-7 Drop in Fleecer Roller (reviews point to this unit having a cheap motor that can't keep up with the saturated fleece. If this works out for me then I'll add another one. If it doesn't, I will replace with a different roller unit)
UV: Sunsun CUV - 136 (brand new came with purchase. not sure if I will use this unit or not. Seems kind of cheap. Anyone here have positive experience with this?)
Reactors: MR1 Next Reef (given to me by local R2R member) and Phosban 550 biopellet reactor (used came with purchase) not sure I will use this
Doser: Jebao DP-4 Dosing pump (new in box; came with purchase) probably won't use this. Looking at using GHL dosers.

Wish List:
AquaticLife 61" Hybrid
Avast Marine Kalk Stirrer
KH Director (for when Kalk stirrer won't suffice anymore)
GHL power strips
Controller cabinet from Adaptive Reef

This is going to be a slow build. There are lot of steps necessary to get my home and tank ready for install. My two living rooms have carpet. I will not be putting an aquarium on carpet. The layout of my house will require our entire bottom floor to be redone with new flooring. The custom stand requires rework. While I definitely appreciate the previous owner's craftsmanship, the stand and canopy simply will not go with the modern look of my home. I may still use the same stand after wrapping it and painting it black. We shall see.
I don't have room inside the house for a fish room but behind the wall where my aquarium is going, externally I have a gravel filled area that I where I want to install an outside shed. Ideally, I would like to insulate, plumb, and add electricity to the shed and use this as an external fish room. Open to suggestions. Not sure if anyone on here has done this or not.
Going to hire an electrician to come out here and add a few more wall outlets. Have to get under my home and check whether or not I have to reinforce my floors. You all know the rest.

Pics to come once I figure out how to insert them.
 
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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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This is the tank as it sat in the previous owners home.
 

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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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Just a few of the equipment pieces I’ve got so far. Not all of this will be used. Really undecided on the UV sterilizer. Probably going to go bigger.

2AED74FB-3D26-4DC0-B864-5624BF01A98F.jpeg B5B5F6F1-9F3C-4257-B4A9-C42FAA031C57.jpeg 1948A8FF-BD42-4D22-9556-A6211F822BF2.jpeg 8EB625EA-403D-4420-BBCE-1F1C4C329CC8.jpeg DFADE402-FC19-446E-8C14-B0B9455EF7AC.jpeg 53255475-900B-4665-9D34-C5CC6BCADB47.png
 
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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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The destruction has begun. Man that was a dirty carpet. Don’t know hold old it is. We bought our house in September of 2019. Makes me wish I would have changed the carpet out sooner. Wife decided to paint the walls a deep blue. It’s nice that she’s excited about the build as well.

34576A0D-237F-470E-9345-B79A8F91A51F.jpeg 00A730DE-582C-41AC-B2A0-5FCAC20E7A81.jpeg CF41E370-E949-453D-B5A8-7A1C0F9FAC72.jpeg 2AFEFA25-3DBE-483D-AB39-02365C981C56.jpeg 2F4A3C57-635B-40BF-ABB7-A0D8BCCA4FD2.jpeg
 
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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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Got another BRS shipment today. Found a deal on an open box fleece roller. Picked up some e-Marco mortar for starting an aquascape soon.

B3F59C84-E178-4AD6-8D4F-4967595020F6.jpeg
 
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Manny’s Reef

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I've got roughly 250lbs of dry rock in my garage. I let it sit in bleach for about a month. Then I let it air dry for about 3 weeks. Tomorrow I have 20lbs of live rock from Gulf Live Rock (https://gulfliverock.com) flying in. The pictures I've seen show some incredible life on there. I'll throw the 20 lbs in a large bin and let it circulate in there with salt water until its time to seed my tank. My actual aquascape will be all dry and pre-scaped.
I've hit a small delay. I went into my crawl space and found that the floor beams run parallel from where I will be putting the tank. So I'm in search of a structural engineer to reinforce my floors. Once that is done, it'll be time to move the tank into the house and start filling it up.
 
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reefs4life

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How old is the tank you got? I've been looking for a 300g for a while and finally found a nice 8' Miracles. I've read a whole bunch about those Marineland 300g DD as that is what I wanted originally since I currently have the baby the Marineland 150g DD. Don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but seeing that you're investing so much money in this build, have you considered getting that tank resealed given its reputation?
 
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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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How old is the tank you got? I've been looking for a 300g for a while and finally found a nice 8' Miracles. I've read a whole bunch about those Marineland 300g DD as that is what I wanted originally since I currently have the baby the Marineland 150g DD. Don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but seeing that you're investing so much money in this build, have you considered getting that tank resealed given its reputation?
Tank was manufactured 2015. I made sure to check the seals before making the purchase. It's in good condition and not a worry as of right now. I'm in my 3-5 year house. Newly built home will be next and it will be built around a custom tank. I'm a brand new baby attorney, sitting for the bar in July. My pennies will begin growing faster and faster now.
 

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Dude can I hire you? Well I guess the first question should be can I afford you?
Well you are an attorney so I’m sure you can manage. Do you have the construction drawings of your house? Something that calls out what the joists are? Spacing? Span? Etc. if not you could document it yourself. Go back down in the crawl with a tape and verify what you have then sketch out. Figure out your weight based on number of gallons in system plus tank weight. Dimensions of tank to know how load is spread out. Then send that info to a structural engineer. They would be cheaper (and probably more qualified) than a licensed architect. Depending on your crawl depth the work will be a pain (mine was). You doing the work yourself or hiring someone? Engineers are really busy this time of year so let me know if you have trouble finding someone. Should only cost around $200 +/- to have someone licensed to run some calcs for you and give you a couple details on what needs to be done.
 

Aquatic acrobat in your aquarium: Have you ever kept an eel?

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