CincyReefer07

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***11-24-23 updates on page 6***

Well after 7 years of having a 29 gallon and 75 gallon and being in my new home for the last 5 years, I’ve decided to put the finishing touch on my man cave and add a 310 gallon Planet Aquarium reef ready tank in it. I started this project back in mid-late August of this year and have been slowly getting things together for it and am currently in the process of finishing my DIY wood stand for it so I can finally move the tank from my garage where it’s been sitting for 2 months and into my basement man cave.
The plan is for it to be a mixed reef with mostly LPS and softies but will give a shot at keeping some of the easier to keep SPS such as birdsnest and monti and see how it goes. Have only tried keeping a birdsnest in my 75g which is still small on a frag plug right now.
My first project after I ordered the tank through my LFS was putting together a saltwater mixing station, I managed to score a pair of 65 gallon water storage tanks off Facebook and had an old Lifegard QuietOne 6000 laying around not being used. And I upgraded my old RO Buddie rodi unit to the BRS 100gpd 4 stage rodi unit with a float valve. I know in the photo I have a brass hose attachment on it for running a hose if need be, that was temporary, I had to order a pvc hose attachment fitting because Home Depot by me didn’t have anything like that.
One thing I’m trying to do with this build is have this setup as fully automated as I possibly can. There is still a lot I don’t know and am still learning but I’m hoping with all of you here, the fb groups and my LFS I’ll be able to get this build set up right and as best as it can be.
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***UPDATE CORAL POST on 11/5/22 on page 5***

***NEW FISH UPDATE 10-18-22(see last post of thread)***
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***September 17,2022 UPDATE***
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****Labor Day Weekend 2022 Update****
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***Pics of the build as of mid-July 2022***
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CincyReefer07

CincyReefer07

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About a month after I got the water mixing station set up, my 310 gallon Planet Aquarium Reef Ready tank arrived here at the house. It’s 96”L x 30”D x 25”H. Center overflow with (2) 1-1/2” drains and (2) 3/4” returns. Going to be a heck of a time trying to get this thing into my house and down into my basement man cave. Especially since getting it into my house alone i have to flip it sideways just to fit through the door and then get it down the steps. I already removed the door frame and hand railing to make it easier getting it into the basement. I plan on building a carpeted ramp and using long tow straps to basically slide it down the steps and onto furniture skates at the bottom.
 

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CincyReefer07

CincyReefer07

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From early September and all the way to now and still researching and buying equipment for the build. I currently have:

-IceCap 48XL sump
-Reef Octopus Regal 250-INT w/VarioS 6-S pump
-Maxspect MJ-DC12K return pump
-Hydros Control 4 Starter pack
-Eheim 250w & 300w heaters (the 250 will go in the sump and the 300 will go inside the overflow in the tank)
-Hydros Auto Fish Feeder
-Aquatop Grounding probe
-Kamoer X2SR Auto-Water Change system

I plan on setting the Kamoer X2SR up to do 4 or 5 gallon automatic water changes daily at least for awhile until tank matures. And since it also comes with an auto top off pump and I’ll be using it also as an ATO as well.
The sump and water mixing station is located on my laundry/Storage room which is pretty much directly behind where the display tank will be going.
 

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CincyReefer07

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And for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on finally getting around to building my stand for the 310 gallon tank. I’m using 4x4’s and 2x6’s and the 3/4” plywood for the top. It’s not quite finished just yet, but it’s finished enough now to where I can move the tank from my garage and into my basement and onto the stand.
All I have left right now to do with the stand is the decorative trim work and the doors, which I can do after the tank is already onto the stand. I’m just ready to move this tank from garage and finally onto the stand after sitting in my garage for almost 2 months. So here are a collection of photos of the progress of my diy wood stand build.
 

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CincyReefer07

CincyReefer07

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That is my dream tank, following!
Mine too, I sold off one of my other toys that I wasn’t using much anymore to be able to fund a good portion of this project. I’m hoping to have it ready to start cycling by Christmas/New Years is my goal. Still have some equipment I need to buy, lights, powerheads/gyres, and UV, more rock (live & dry), live sand, and figuring out how I want to run my plumbing. Lights and powerheads I’m having a heck of a time trying to decide on what I want to go with.
 

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Mine too, I sold off one of my other toys that I wasn’t using much anymore to be able to fund a good portion of this project. I’m hoping to have it ready to start cycling by Christmas/New Years is my goal. Still have some equipment I need to buy, lights, powerheads/gyres, and UV, more rock (live & dry), live sand, and figuring out how I want to run my plumbing. Lights and powerheads I’m having a heck of a time trying to decide on what I want to go with.
The house we are in right now is too small for a major tank. Better to wait till we get something bigger than try to shoe horn something into the current situation. Until then I will live vicariously through the forum. :D
 
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Well I tried to post a video of the stand setup but for whatever reason doesn’t seem like it’s letting me or I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, one or the other. I’ll post a pic instead I guess AA364CD9-F5AE-46D4-8A64-EF62AA97452A.jpeg
 

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About a month after I got the water mixing station set up, my 310 gallon Planet Aquarium Reef Ready tank arrived here at the house. It’s 96”L x 30”D x 25”H. Center overflow with (2) 1-1/2” drains and (2) 3/4” returns. Going to be a heck of a time trying to get this thing into my house and down into my basement man cave. Especially since getting it into my house alone i have to flip it sideways just to fit through the door and then get it down the steps. I already removed the door frame and hand railing to make it easier getting it into the basement. I plan on building a carpeted ramp and using long tow straps to basically slide it down the steps and onto furniture skates at the bottom.
That’s going to be fun getting down the stairs. At least you’re going down and not up them.
 
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CincyReefer07

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That’s going to be fun getting down the stairs. At least you’re going down and not up them.
Yeah no kidding, either this upcoming weekend or over the thanksgiving holiday weekend is when the big move for the tank is happening. Been nervous about it but I think I’ve got it all planned out now to safely do it. Fingers crossed
 

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best of luck moving that tank down some stairs!! when i moved mine i had 4 guys and it wasn't horrible. (but i didnt have to deal with stairs.) Basement looks awesome. Im not too far from you if you need any help ( once the tank is in place lol) Keep us posted!
 
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best of luck moving that tank down some stairs!! when i moved mine i had 4 guys and it wasn't horrible. (but i didnt have to deal with stairs.) Basement looks awesome. Im not too far from you if you need any help ( once the tank is in place lol) Keep us posted!
Thanks man! I appreciate it! Yeah I plan on having 5 people here counting me, using furniture skates to move it around and glass suction cups on all sides for any lifting then sliding it down the steps with long tow straps on the carpeted ramp I’ll build for it. Hopefully it all goes smoothly. Only real concern I have is getting it through one of my doorways where we will have to turn it sideways to fit it through the door.
 
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Debating on whether or not I should add just some cheap black Formica laminate top to the stand for an extra layer of water-proofing? Anybody else done this or am I overthinking it? Stand isn’t finished yet, still need to put doors and decorative trim around all of the edges. The top trim will be raised up about 3/4” to hide the black bottom rim of the tank. Was thinking just for an extra layer of water proofing, add Formica laminate to the top of stand to prevent any drips of water when doing any kind of maintenance from running down and going onto the plywood. Was also going to put a weatherproof interior/exterior sealant around the edge that faces the inside towards the tank of that top trim that I’ll be putting on to hide the bottom black rim of my tank.

What do you guys think? Open to suggestions
 

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I’m extremely new to plumbing and sumps. Does anyone know what overflow plumbing kit I would need for this Planet Aquarium Mega Matrix 310??

When I bought the tank it didn’t come with the overflow plumbing. Any ideas? The tank is 25” tall.

(2) 1-1/2” drain
(2) 3/4” returns
 
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CincyReefer07

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Well this weekend was finally the big move for the Planet Aquarium 310 gallon tank. From where we dropped it off from the delivery truck in my garage, around the house to my back patio into the house, down the steps and onto the stand I’ve been in the process of finishing.

With the size and weight of this, I would not have attempted this with less than 5 total guys. Used a combination of furniture skates and ratchet straps to hold the skates firmly to the tank while moving it around, had to roll it onto its side to be able to fit it through my patio door in which case I laid down as many old blankets and comforters I could find to roll it onto its side on the patio to help protect it, once in the house rolled back right side up and slid it towards the stairs. Took a 30’ tow strap around the tank, and had 3 of us up top slowly lowering it down and 3 down below. 2 guys to put pressure against the tank to take some of the weight off of us lowering it down the steps and another guy waiting with the furniture skates to make sure it meets just right at the bottom of the steps with the skates. I had made a carpeted ramp out of 2x4’s to slide the tank down the steps on to keep it from getting hung up on any steps and be a bit more protected. Once down we rolled it on the skates into position to lift it up and onto the stand. Used 4 heavy duty glass suction cups rated for 150-175lbs each that I got from Amazon, and also 2 cheap harbor freight suction cups I had laying around.

Now I just have to finish the doors and the trim work for the front of the stand and do the plumbing and run a couple new 20amp circuits down into my basement from the panel in the garage.
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Pico bam

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I'm along for the ride with this one, currently setting up a 270g acrylic tank. Slowing gathering supplies mynes 6'x3'x2'. Im going with good old fashioned t'5s. Undecided on flow and return so far. my budget doesn't give me much room I think I might have to sell one of my toys aswell.
 
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CincyReefer07

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I'm along for the ride with this one, currently setting up a 270g acrylic tank. Slowing gathering supplies mynes 6'x3'x2'. Im going with good old fashioned t'5s. Undecided on flow and return so far. my budget doesn't give me much room I think I might have to sell one of my toys aswell.
Yeah I’ve been the same way, I started this whole project back in late August. At this point I’m just needing to buy some gyre’s, lights, UV, need to buy a second return pump to run dual return pumps instead of just one. Once I finish the trim on the front of the stand hopefully by next weekend at the latest, I’ll be getting started on plumbing
 
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