mfollen’s 300 CDA Reef

mfollen

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After 3+ years running a 7225 waterbox peninsula in the north side of Chicago, I now am focusing on a new 300 gallon custom Crystal Dynamics Aquarium mixed reef in my new home in the south Chicago suburbs.
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It started like this:
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The aquarium has been running since the start of August, with 50% rock from a smaller reef system that’s been running for a little over a year. 50% of the other rock has been maturing in a tub with fish and seed rock from that prior system.

The tank can be classified as an extra wide peninsula or an extended cube.
Dimensions: 48” wide x 60” deep x 24” tall.
Powder coated black steel stand custom built by CDA, black plumbing throughout leading to and from a custom Advanced Acrylics black out sump.
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Lighting rack also custom built by CDA starting with two black powder coated stainless steel racks leading to aluminum railing that holds XR15s and XR30s.

The system volume upgrade was 3X, so I made sure to support that with 3X the fish biomass which involved a lot of quarantine work alongside the tiring tank setup, plumbing, etc.

Livestock:
Black storm clownfish pair
ORA onyx percula clownfish pair
Leopard wrasse
Tomini tang
Scopas tang
Purple tang
Naso tang
Achilles tang

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The current coral collection is an even mix across mushroom, acan, Bowerbanki, goniopora, chalice and hammer coral, with a larger amount of zoanthids and acropora. Over time this system will become more acropora dominant.

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So far the uglies have been mostly avoided thanks to the wealth of information and experience shared here on reef2reef.

It has been quite the journey to get my dream tank built in my first home. It feels good to have all that hard work behind me and the tank finally in a good spot to share.

The old 7225 waterbox is still running as a new concept, and I will update that build thread in the near future.

I’m looking forward to documenting this tank’s evolution in this thread.
 
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Daniel@R2R

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Get excited! They are top notch. Incredible work.
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Oh man! I'm waiting on my 225 cda right now, and this has me stoked!!
 
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mfollen

mfollen

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Very grateful to have this Achilles. Always wanted one and this guy is already the boss of the tank (of course).
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Importing them from Tahiti is risky nowadays with an unknown parasite that impacts them specifically.
 
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mfollen

mfollen

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LC Andromedia zoa up front, showing the size of the OG PPEs in the back. Those polyps are now quarter sized.
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jp_75

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Very nice! Do they send tanks directly to the house? What sump did you get?
 

Tcook

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Looks like a long canyon running up the middle. This is going to be great when it fills out.
 
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mfollen

mfollen

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Very nice! Do they send tanks directly to the house? What sump did you get?
Yes, CDA offers an option for residence delivery, which was right on the driveway. From there.. be ready as these tanks are super tankers.

This sump is a custom acrylic build from Advanced Acrylics who really delivered in design execution and in customer support. Their sump truly is a work of art with all blacked out sides with the clear front and top lids.

Looks like a long canyon running up the middle. This is going to be great when it fills out.

Thanks! Yes there was a goal to maximize flow channels throughout the rockwork to minimize detritis build up. Some additional branch rock will be used to help fill out the available space with more acro.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

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