Erik's 300 gallon tank Build

[EriksReptiles]

Hey, some of you might already know me but have yet to see my tank, some may not have ever heard of me. Here is my story.

I have gone through a couple different phases in my 300 gallon and it is now officially a reef tank. Here is my build..

Here are my tanks before I moved to Washington. I had a 75 reef, 180 reef, and a 150 fish only.

75 reef:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/fishtankpictures001.jpg

180 reef:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/fishtankpictures035.jpg

Well during my move I ended up losing all my corals due to my heat packs not activating and working.. It was a major bummer but all my rock was ok and my fish were shipped up at a later date from a fish shop back home.

So after a few months of living in Washington I decided to upgrade my 150 fish only to a 300 gallon fish only. Here is a picture of me with my new 300 gallon tank when we moved it in:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/280gallonfishtank007.jpg

Here it is with the lid flipped up:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/280gallonfishtank013.jpg

The infamous "merman" shot:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/280gallonfishtank016.jpg

The stand:
The right side contained the main sump to house the skimmer, the center housed the dart return pump along with the dart for the closed loop, the right houses my refugium.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/fish046.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/fish047.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/fish048.jpg

I mounted lights on the inside to make it easier to see everything:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/fish050.jpg

I also mounted 3 6outlet power strips for amble outlets.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/fish049.jpg

More to come!

Thanks Erik

[EriksReptiles]

Here is how I had envisioned my rock work. However in the end I only kept the tower on the left side:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/Fish%20tank/fish043.jpg

Jump ahead quite a few months for the tank to settle and all.

Here is what I had:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/IMG_1671.jpg

I had:
- Golden Puffer
- Pair of Naso Tangs
- Powder Blue Tang
- 2 Lemon angels
- 2 Potters angels
- Pair of Whitley’s box fish
- Pair of crosshatch triggers
- etc.. There were a lot of fish. Everyone got along great. Until I decided to transform the tank into a reef because my 180 wasn’t filling my reef need. So that basically ment that all my fish had to go.. Finding homes for all the fish was not very easy.

Here are a couple pictures of the fish that I did have:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/IMG_1678.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/IMG_1676.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/IMG_1702.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/fish029-1.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/malecrosshatch2.jpg

As I sold some of the fish, I put my big fish from my 180 gallon tank into the 300 till I could find them good homes.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/IMG_1709.jpg

In the mean time this is what my 180 gallon tank had turned into:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/180gallontank.jpg

Once all my larger fish were sold I started placing my extra coral into my 300 gallon tank. At this point I only had 3 250watt MH and 4 110watt VHO over the tank. So I had to keep everything high up in the tank.

Move to come!

Thanks Erik

[EriksReptiles]

It was time to upgrade my equipment on the tank for coral.

Luckily I already had bought a 1/2 HP Pacific coast imports chiller not long after I bought the tank because I didn’t want it to overheat.

I originally had a mesh modded ASM G4, which worked amazingly. However I wanted something better. I decided to go with one of the new Vertex 250 cones. Amazing skimmer. My main reasons for going with the Vertex were that it could be fully disassembled to cleaning, the red dragon pump, and the ozone port.

I then upgraded my lights. I originally had 3 250watt MH and 4 110watt VHO's. I upgraded to 4 400watt Lumenbright Finished pendants and 4 39 watt T5's. I love the new lights, however I had to have a new canopy made to allow them to fit. I have a new canopy being made now that is ~3 feet tall to allow me to raise/lower the lights to find the sweet spot for them.

I am still in the process of gathering the rest of the equipment. This is what else I am adding:
- 4 (new generation) Tunze 6205's along with the multi-controller.
- 200MG ozone unit
- Reef Keeper Elite controller
- Geo 618 calcium reactor
- Geo Kalk reactor
- Maybe a few other things here and there, but these are the last of the "main" pieces.

So this kind of leads me up to the present. I sold all my tangs (i had over 22 at one time) except for my favorites. Currently my fish lists for the 300 gallon includes:
- Achilles Tang
- Purple Tang
- Pair of Clown fish (true perc with a grade A Picasso)
- 3 red Hawk fish
- 1 longnose hawk fish
- 1 diamond sand sifter
- 1 mystery wrasse
I will be adding:
- 1 Black or Gem tang
- 4-6 Anthias (still undecided on a species)
- 2 golden headed sleeper gobies

I mainly want to keep a lighter fish load so I can load my tank up with SPS and not worry about the water levels to much or worry about big fish breaking everything.

Here are a few pictures of how everything looks. I will try to get some full tank shots tomorrow when my lights turn back on.

Skimmer when I first plugged it in:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0033-1.jpg

Lighting:
Christmas came early!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0005-2.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0006-3.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0007-1.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0008-2.jpg

A few home depot parts and I was ready to become an electrician:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0009-2.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0011-1.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0012-2.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0013-1.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0014.jpg

I will update with more pictures along with the lights on the tank and corals soon!

Thanks Erik

[EriksReptiles]

As soon as I get everything needed for the 300 gallon tank, I am going to have a 700-800 gallon built. I just want to get everything finalized on this tank first.

Thanks Erik

[stunreefer]

Build looks awesome so far man, keep up the great work! :thumbsup:

What are the plans for the ~700-800 gal? Already got the itch to go bigger? :smokin:

Based on your current stock list it apperas you got rid of your Pygoplites diacanthus (Regal Angel)? Also, I vote Gem tang over black... :D

[EriksReptiles]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14995903#post14995903 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stunreefer
Build looks awesome so far man, keep up the great work! :thumbsup:

What are the plans for the ~700-800 gal? Already got the itch to go bigger? :smokin:

Based on your current stock list it apperas you got rid of your Pygoplites diacanthus (Regal Angel)? Also, I vote Gem tang over black... :D

Ya, Well I want some bigger fish again and not have to worry about them outgrowing a tank.. So I figure a 10' long x 4' wide x 3' tall tank would be sufficient for a large tang or two for their entire life and I can create an massive reef tank.. Also if I get a large enough tank and keep the rockwork light, I can get an Epaulette shark pair and try to breed them in a reef tank.. I think it could be done.

Yes, I gave the regal to a good friend. It was about 6" and wasn't going to work with my goals of an SPS and zoa/paly tank..

I am fairly certain I will be getting a Gem tang now.. I have a taste for rarer fish/corals/zoas/palys and the Gem tang would be the finishing piece to my puzzle.

Here is an updated picture of the tank I took the other day. I am still waiting on my new canopy but I wanted to put my lights on, so I created a "mock" canopy for my lighting..

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0100.jpg

Also here are some new inhabitants that I picked up. There is already a, Grade A with a Perc, pair in the tank. So these two snowflakes are in a 75 gallon with the new ultra rose anemone until they fully establish/recover from shipping. Then they will be placed into the 300 gallon with their anemone once they are ready. I will be placing them on the other side of the tank in relation to the clowns/anemone that are currently in the 300.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0017copy.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/Eriks_Reptiles/DSC_0019copy-1.jpg

Enjoy!

Thanks Erik

[TROYREEFER]

Looks great man. Beautiful clowns :)

[Nickinsandy]

yeah cant wait to see more pics

[EriksReptiles]

Thought I would update that the clowns and anemone are doing great and eating like pigs already!!

I am ordering some livestock through a local shop next week. I am getting some Fathead/sunburst anthias, some venteralis anthias, and a pair of flame wrasses!

I will let you know how the new fish do!

Thanks Erik