My 300g FOWLR

lagatbezan

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Hi everyone,
I'm semi new here on this forum but have been in the hobby for over 15 years but still consider myself to be a rookie lol.
We recently moved and I was able to setup my dream tank and wanted to share some of the build here with you guys. I'm not a big photo guy but did take some pictures along the way, but not as much as I would like to have. When I get into the zone of doing something, I just go and am not thinking much about taking pictures.
Most of the equipment and livestock came from my 180g which was setup and running for over 6 years and I had to tear down for the move.
the 300 gallon is an acrylic tank with dimensions of 96"W X 30"H X 24"D with a custom sump 48"W x 19"D x 18"H
I had the tank and sump custom build but will not mention the company because I was really not happy with the quality of their work they and their customer service. If anyone is interested, you can message me and I will reply back with the name of the company.
so here are some pictures:

Arrival day:
As you can see they send me the tank and sump all crated up but didn't put any shrink wrap around the tank before they boxed it causing it to have all sort of scuff marks all over it from the 2x4's. all minor except a large one that goes horizontally across the bottom front. Not what you want to see on your dream tank but unfortunately I had to setup the tank as soon as possible since I only had two weeks to get all my livestock and tank out of the old house and into the new one so I didn't have the time to have them pick it up fix it and send it back (which wasn't even offered to me when I called them). but i'm still excited :)
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Here is my stand which was build with the help of one of my good friends who did a great job:
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Tank and stand all setup:
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okay so problem two as you can see is that they used two different blue color for the background and the overflow without telling me! :(

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The kids having fun before setting it up :)
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I drilled four holes on the bottom of the tank for my closed loop system. Two 2" for drains and two 1.5" for returns. The returns and drains got hidden under my rock work:

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Plumbing for the closed loop drain and returns:
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Overflow Plumbing:
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Ready for water:
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Halfway filled up I noticed that the overflow was being filled up with water as I was filling up the tank. Had to drain all the water only to find out that I was getting a leak from the tank into the overflow from the bottom of the overflow. Somehow it wasn't sealed properly. Called the company and the guy who made it tells me I have to try to patch it up and that I quote " He hopes that he didn't forget to put some weldon on the bottom of the overflow when he was making it"
This was the last thing I wanted to hear!! seriously? you might have forgotten to put glue? GREAT!!
As upset as I was, I dried the whole tank, got the sand out of the way, applied a S#*t load of weldon on the bottom of the overflow and let it all dry. It wasn't pretty but did the job!

3 days latter tank all filled up:
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I ran a water line and a drain under my stand so I can have my RO/DI right under the stand for my ATO and water changes.
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Full system test run:

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My DIY skimmer delay timer:
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The sump was really loud making a gushing noise when water was going through the filter socks so I made my own silencers which worked great!
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Canopy, lights and full system running:
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justinm

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Beautiful tank! I’m sorry to hear about the scratches though, are they noticeable with water?

Thinking you could put a few frags in there:)
 
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lagatbezan

lagatbezan

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Beautiful tank! I’m sorry to hear about the scratches though, are they noticeable with water?

Thinking you could put a few frags in there:)
Thank you! the scratches are not that bad but definitely noticeable specially since i know they are there lol. I have a couple of angels in there so i'm not sure how the frags would do lol. I have zero experience with corals.
 

melypr1985

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Beautiful tank! I'd love some closer pictures of the fish. They look pretty great from afar ;)
 
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lagatbezan

lagatbezan

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How big is that Emperor Angel? Looks awesome. What kind of water change schedule do you do on a tank that big?
Thanks. He is about 14"-15". I have to admit I'm not that big into my water changes. About 40-50g every 3 months or so.

That angel must be the boss!!
Surprisingly the powder blue is the boss of the tank. He is second in command lol.
 

clark griswold

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Thanks. He is about 14"-15". I have to admit I'm not that big into my water changes. About 40-50g every 3 months or so.


Surprisingly the powder blue is the boss of the tank. He is second in command lol.

I’ve been thinking about doing a FOWLR big tank but don’t think I could do no corals but I badly want some big angels and tangs like this. That water change schedule sounds awesome.

Curious what kind of lights you’re using?
 
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lagatbezan

lagatbezan

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I’ve been thinking about doing a FOWLR big tank but don’t think I could do no corals but I badly want some big angels and tangs like this. That water change schedule sounds awesome.

Curious what kind of lights you’re using?
I'm using ATI T5 HO lighting. They are 4' each and I have 4 bulbs total. Two on each side with Actinic and BluePlus combination of bulbs.
I have always had FOWLR and never did corals. Personally I rather have Angelfish and butterflies over corals, but that could be because I never had corals either lol.
 

jasonrusso

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I'm using ATI T5 HO lighting. They are 4' each and I have 4 bulbs total. Two on each side with Actinic and BluePlus combination of bulbs.
I have always had FOWLR and never did corals. Personally I rather have Angelfish and butterflies over corals, but that could be because I never had corals either lol.
Sounds like a lot of power for a Fowler. I have a 72" Current IC over my 210. Great color and light with low power consumption.
 
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lagatbezan

lagatbezan

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Sounds like a lot of power for a Fowler. I have a 72" Current IC over my 210. Great color and light with low power consumption.
You are probably right. I have had these lights for over 10 years and reused them from my old 180. I'm open to suggestions on changing them. You have a link to the ones you are using?
 

zchauvin

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You are probably right. I have had these lights for over 10 years and reused them from my old 180. I'm open to suggestions on changing them. You have a link to the ones you are using?

I’d swap for a couple used kessil 160s. Perfect color and shimmer for a fowlr, don’t need to be strong, and you’ll never pay for bulbs again.
 

jasonrusso

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You are probably right. I have had these lights for over 10 years and reused them from my old 180. I'm open to suggestions on changing them. You have a link to the ones you are using?

They are MAP priced so you can buy them anywhere. I think I bought them from saltwateraquarium.com because I got a "free" wave pump. I like them. You can set white, blue, green, and red separately. You can run weather patterns. It has sunrise and sunset, etc. I checked the intensity with a PAR meter and they won't grow any coral, but the fish colors pop pretty good.

https://current-usa.com/orbit-marine-ic-led/

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JMM744

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Nice tank you have there. Since you have had it for a little while now how do you like the acrylic tank? Looking at a possible 10’ tank and it was suggested to go that route. Nice to see a tank big enough to have such pretty fish a lot of people can’t keep.
 

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