My 300DD SPS Dominant Tank

[HBL]

Hello R2R,

I've been a long time lurker on here and figured it's time to document my tank and share it with the R2R community. The tank has been up and running for about a year and half, so i will be updating this thread with pictures I've taken throughout the build process.

I converted the formal dining room to house the 300DD and a 46 gallon ZeroEdge. Below the dining room is an oversize furnace/heating/storage area, so I converted the area to be my fish room.

Fish tanks display room:

Basement fish room:

Lighting:
3 AI sols with controllers
3 250w HQI Hamilton magnetic ballast
3 Lumen Max Elite Mogul Reflectors

Sumps:
Top: Multi chambers refugium
Bottom: Custom sump 60Lx22Wx18H

Return Pumps:
2 Iwaki MD-100RLT (only use one for return. the other will be for back up)

Skimmer:
Octopus Hurricone Cat 2e skimmer

Dosing:
Vertex RX4 calcium reactor

Flow:
3x Vortech MP40s
1 Jebao CP-40 Cross Flow
2x 1" sea swirls with return

Waterchange station:
2 100 water storage tanks
Iwaki MD-55RLT

I'm like a budget reefer, so most of my tanks, stands, equipment have been bought used. Some of the equipment I have on hand while others are deals I've made with members of local reef clubs.

 

[HBL]

I found a pretty good deals on the two 100 gallons water storage tanks + pumps, and didn't really paid attention to the measurement. I came home to find out that the tanks will not fit through the doorway to my basement. The entrance to the basement has the width clearance of roughly 29 and a 1/2 inches while the tanks measure 31 inches.

I was getting close to posing the storage tanks backup for sale, but my hard head wouldn't want to give it up so i ended up spending the Saturday finding ways to take apart the basement windows. One side of my basement window is a removable sash but the other side is stationary. I did have to cut into the window a bit, but luckily no damage was done (good thing because this is without the wife pre-approval).

I moved the storage tanks into place and did some dry pvc fitting and it looks like the water station will fit in the area nicely.

I cut into the main water line to hook up the RODI unit. Decided to go with some push fittings, tee off from the basement's bathroom cold water line into a washer machine's 1/2" ball valve since I already have the connection from the ball valve to the RODI unit. Next step is to finish the water change station by plumbing to the first floor (somehow i managed to convince the wife for permission to cut a hole in the wall, so i went bought a keyhole saw right away ... lol)

I finished the water change station and got it filled over the weekend. I had to cut a hole in the wall for the shortest distance going up, so I could use a smaller pump (roughly 1150 gph)

Put in the durso stand pipes, the main drain and blocked out the heating vent to run drain/return lines.

While dry fitting the main drain, I dropped a 2" pipe and crack my multi-chambers refugium. Made me feel like I've took one step forward but two steps back. The crack will definitely cause a leak, and could be repaired but I didn't really want to take that chance.

Luckily, I found and made a deal with a local member for a trigger 34" sump wand it was in a really good condition after a wash.

I drilled the newly acquired refugium to fit the 2" bulkhead, and also built the skimmer stand to run the skimmer external with some left over plywood. I think I like it better this way now that I have more space on the rack to possibly fit a ATO container.

The DC12000 should be here near the end of the week, so next is to hook up the manifold and the frag tanks.

 

[HBL]

Pick up 3 unused sea swirls from a local member. I thought i just won the lottery when he offered them for FREE. Two of them are 1" and i believed the other one is a 3/4". One of the 1" is working without any work needed to be done, so i mounted on the tank to see how it would look. It stands out quite bit but i don't think it would be a problem once I built a canopy for the tank. The other two do not work, but the motors seem to be working so that's good news. This will work out perfectly, since i could use the two 1" for the main tank and the 3/4" for the larger frag tank.

looks like this one just need a good cleaning and replacing a few screws. Hopefully i could find similar screw without needing to modify anything.

 

[HBL]

I gathered some odds and ends for the build such as the bulk head strainers and the sound dampening pads from BRS for the external pumps. I also build a manifold which will run all the reactors and 2 small frag tanks with a DC12000 pump.

I've also dry fitted the durso stand pipes for overflows. The plan for the overflow plumping is to use 2 of the 4 one inch bulkheads as tank drains, one on each side of the overflows. The remaining 1" bulkhead on the right side of the tank will be use as an emergency drain with a straight standpipe, and the other one on the left side will be used for return connecting to the 1" seaswirls.

 

[HBL]

Got 2 20 amps circuits hooked up dedicated for just the tanks. Tested the frag tank lighting and I'm liking it.

 

[HBL]

In the past, I have always just stack the LR to create the aquascape for all my tanks. This way, I could change the aquascape whenever the corals start to grow into colonies, or just simply wanted a different view. To be able to change your aquascape is an aspect of the hobby that i do enjoy to do from time to time. It is nice to be able to adjust your reef to have different views; a different view of piece of ocean in your living room every so often.

Previous tank - First one(pic) is still up and running. Went through 3 aquascape changed

125 gallon

110 gallon - went through about 5 aquascape changed

 

[HBL]

Things about to get real!

and we have liftoff!

Don't mind the mess. lots of cleaning and organizing to do.

Things still to do.
- build canopy and hook up light
- hook up the reefkeeper
- hook up all the reactors
- hide all the extension cords and wires
- build an algae scrubber

 

[HBL]

Start to have a nice glow and feel to the fish room.

 

[HBL]

Looks like the AS working nicely during the cycle period

 

[HBL]

Finally, finished the canopy and tested the lights. It turned out quite nice.

 

[EmptyWallet]

looks like a serious build you've got going on over there!

 

[apt220]

[emoji7]. Love the halides!

 

[HBL]

So, I met the guy that came up with the idea of running a calcium reactor using a Cole Palmer Masterflex continuous pump. After talking to him about it and read up on his official thread on RC, I ended buying a used Masterflex to test it out. This type of setup seems to be a very accurate dosing system and has been proven by many. I posted the link to his official thread below if anyone interested.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2368618

Can't wait to test it out. Will need to replace my current solenoid with an electronic carbon doser for a more full proof system.

 

[HBL]

As of April 2018, I traded some corals for a bigger frag tank (72x24x12) to replace the two I had in the basement, which turn out to be quite nice.

Before:

After:

Main tank as of April 2018

 

[jsker]

Great build!!

following

 

[HBL]

Testing out an old manual lense I have. These were shot with an orange filter, so the color is more vibrant than to the naked eyes.

 

[HBL]

Found a lighter color orange filter, and the pictures came out better ... less grainy also

 

[HBL]

Latest addition. I'm super excited for these to grow into colonies.

 

[EmptyWallet]

man those corals are absolutely stunning!

 

[HBL]

#reef2reef, #worldwidecorals, #mywwccontest