My first reef tank... is 300 gallons!

[FortuneFavours]

Hi all

Yes, yes - I am aware that this isn't an ideal way to start the hobby and I should've started with something smaller. But, luckily for me, I have close friends who have been in the hobby for many years and will be hand-holding me the whole way through, 24/7.

The actual aquarium itself is 60" x 30"(W) x 40"(H). It's a second hand purchase, with a steel stand and 4ft (x20" x 18") sump.

I purchased it on Saturday and have so far given it a first clean and have taken down the existing weirs and "shelves" (their colour and placement weren't to my taste).

Next steps for me are:
1. Clean the tank some more
2. Fix the bracing
3. Re-silicone the corners
4. Clean the sump
5. Sort out the plumbing
6. Hang the lights
7. Build the wrapping for the stand
8. Install the RO unit

Then on to the small matter of kitting the tank out with all the other bits and pieces!

I'll be posting pics here of my progress and asking some questions along the way, so feel free to tag along if you're curious to see how I get along and perhaps want to offer some support and encouragement.

Wish me luck!

[AdamNC]

Well the bigger the better but the cost at first is going to sticker shock you. GL though, should be real nice when you are done.

[FortuneFavours]

Originally Posted by AdamNC

Well the bigger the better but the cost at first is going to sticker shock you. GL though, should be real nice when you are done.

Thanks AdamNC. I really hope I'm not going to be totally shocked by the cost as I've been researching this for the best part of a year... That's not to say the cost isn't going to hurt. A lot.

[FortuneFavours]

So the tank started life (with me) like this:






After a great deal of effort, muck and silicone removal I currently have this:




There's still a lot of limescale on one pane of glass; I tried lots of different things, to no avail. But then I tested some lemon juice and it worked wonders! So I'll be back inside the tank tonight with some microfibre cloths and lemons...

(My tropical fish need a new larger home too - my poor Angel has outgrown the existing tank. I'm sure that will be an easy sell to the Mrs. )

[E46Twist]

You will need some strong MH lighting to penetrate to the bottom, but overall nice grab.

[FortuneFavours]

Originally Posted by E46Twist

You will need some strong MH lighting to penetrate to the bottom, but overall nice grab.

I picked up some pretty good LED lights about 4 months ago in preparation. I bought two of them: 48 (3w) LED's each.

CW:WW:B:RB:R:G:UV=12:12:12:6:2:2:2
10,000-10,500 lux
680-780 PAR


They're fully programmable with moon phases, etc. Not that I have any idea how to do that yet - the software was super confusing. A battle for another time.

I know they're powerful enough, as I almost blinded my family when I first got them and turned them on by accident with the laptop.

I aim to get them up this weekend, so will post some pics then.

[coralsnaked]

Those LEDs will need to be tightly focused. ~ 60* to penetrate that depth and with good reflectors. If they are 120* optics the bottom will be quite dim.

[Sk8r]

YOu should be able to find a manual on line if you can get the brand and model #.

Beautiful tank. You might be able to do a mixed reef: light-hungry lps atop the rockwork, softies that like less, closer to the bottom. I don't usually suggest a mixed reef to a NewTTHobby, but the very deep tanks do help separate the corals into zones. Just run carbon a lot: softies spit and carbon fixes that.

[Pigpen17]

Following.

[Rognin]

Also following, I have a similar peninsula build I've started, just half the size.

[FortuneFavours]

Originally Posted by coralsnaked

Those LEDs will need to be tightly focused. ~ 60* to penetrate that depth and with good reflectors. If they are 120* optics the bottom will be quite dim.

I'm not sure what the ratio is, but each unit has a combination of 60 degree and 120 degree LEDs. Will have to wait and see what they're like in practice.

Originally Posted by Sk8r

YOu should be able to find a manual on line if you can get the brand and model #.

Beautiful tank. You might be able to do a mixed reef: light-hungry lps atop the rockwork, softies that like less, closer to the bottom. I don't usually suggest a mixed reef to a NewTTHobby, but the very deep tanks do help separate the corals into zones. Just run carbon a lot: softies spit and carbon fixes that.

I'm still in touch with the manufacturer I bought the LEDs from, so I'll drop him a line if (or more likely when) I get stuck. The LEDs have been sitting in my attic for ages, it'll feel good to get them in situ and mess about a bit.

Mixed reef would be cool, although I think I would have to get there very, very, very slowly. Lol.

My cousin has been in the hobby for a number of years and will be guiding me through it all. Hopefully I can get some frags from him too! I really love anemones though, so there might be a bit of a turf war if I don't plan it all properly.

[FortuneFavours]

Originally Posted by Rognin

Also following, I have a similar peninsula build I've started, just half the size.

Good luck with the 145! Looks like you have tonnes more experience than I do, so do let me know if you have a thread with your build so I can follow along, ask my noob questions and learn a thing or two.

[FortuneFavours]

Despite giving it a real go with a bit of lemon juice, the limescale problem still remains (at least that's what I think it us). To be fair to the lemon juice, where I used loads of it and scrubbed properly with the cloth, there was some effect. But it's ridiculously hard work! Any other suggestions would be welcome. I still need to try vinegar.

I wonder if it will even be visible when the tank is full, but I don't want to fill the tank up just to find out it is.

What I don't understand is why it's just on one pane of glass? From recollection, that pane was near the previous owner's window, so that might help explain it?

[BioCubeGuy]

Wow, that's a big tank! Awesome Fortune, looking forward to seeing that baby up and running..

[m0nkie]

congrat! not starting with a 300 or 500 is my biggest regret..

[E46Twist]

Yes try vinegar, it works really well. As for the lights I was not trying to put you off or anything but that is really deep for our normal reef lighting setup. Anything over 24" starts to take some real work and $$$ to illuminate the bottom for coral.

[FortuneFavours]

Originally Posted by BioCubeGuy

Wow, that's a big tank! Awesome Fortune, looking forward to seeing that baby up and running..

Me too! I think it will take me a while though, got so much to fix, buy/make and install. And the day job is getting in the way.

Originally Posted by m0nkie

congrat! not starting with a 300 or 500 is my biggest regret..

I think I would have really regretted it too. I was actually going to have a go at building my own acrylic tank (7ft x 30 x 28(h)) - but I was looking around at the same time and the height of this one really caught my eye! I don't think I would have been able to afford the acrylic for a 40" high tank and this was about half the cost of the tank I was going to build, and it came with the steel stand and large sump too! Just couldn't say no. Its going to be a major pain to clean though as the height will make it awkward.

Originally Posted by E46Twist

Yes try vinegar, it works really well. As for the lights I was not trying to put you off or anything but that is really deep for our normal reef lighting setup. Anything over 24" starts to take some real work and $$$ to illuminate the bottom for coral.

I was really trying to avoid vinegar - being inside the tank with that strong vinegar smell is going to be nasty.

I appreciate the advice regarding the lights - I hadn't even considered the height of the tank as a factor. I've got them now, so just hoping they're up to the job!

[FortuneFavours]

I've been a bit naughty.

Lemon juice and vinegar just weren't doing the trick and the limescale was so unsightly that I had to resort to desperate measures: "Cillit Bang".

It worked on the areas where I used it properly, so I'll be back in again tonight to hopefully finish the job. The normal spray version wasn't great as it ran down the glass too quickly (leaving me desperately trying to stop it reaching the silicone along the bottom, just in case.). I'll be trying the 'foam' version later tonight.

I'm just going to have to rinse and wipe down the tank like crazy a few times and just pray that there are no residual chemicals left. Otherwise it's "Cillit Bang - Bang! And your fish are dead!" (if you've seen the unbelievably annoying adverts, you'll get that one).

I had no choice!!!

[ktownhero]

The hard part there isn't the 300 gallons it's that monstrous (but cool in its own way) 40" of depth! Good luck scaping and maintaining that! Shaq? Is that you?

[saltyair]

Will you be replacing the metal stand with a wood stand?
Do you have the set up on the first floor? Or basement?
Just a few things to look at before putting water in

[inetmug]

Make sure you level it well with the dual overflows

[bigswaug]

Wow!! I thought my 30" was tall.. I'm 6'4" and with a 72" wingspan and I still have trouble sometimes.. Get a good grabber of some kind or a nice snorkel

I love tall tanks tho. Im looking forward to seeing this one up and running. What are your plans for aquascaping?

[FortuneFavours]

Originally Posted by ktownhero

The hard part there isn't the 300 gallons it's that monstrous (but cool in its own way) 40" of depth! Good luck scaping and maintaining that! Shaq? Is that you?

The height of the tank is what made me go for it. Will probably hate it in about 6 months when it starts to really get on my nerves! (No Shaq here...)

Originally Posted by saltyair

Will you be replacing the metal stand with a wood stand?
Do you have the set up on the first floor? Or basement?
Just a few things to look at before putting water in

I'll be building a wooden wrap for the steel stand and a hood too.
It's on the ground floor (we don't have a basement) and I had the builders in about 7/8 months ago to pour some concrete in, so I have a solid concrete slab underneath it. From calculations I did on a website, the whole thing (tank, sump, stand) weighs in at approximately 1,700kg when filled with saltwater.

Originally Posted by bigswaug

Wow!! I thought my 30" was tall.. I'm 6'4" and with a 72" wingspan and I still have trouble sometimes.. Get a good grabber of some kind or a nice snorkel

I love tall tanks tho. Im looking forward to seeing this one up and running. What are your plans for aquascaping?

Well I'm 5'4", but I have a ladder. Lol.
I've ordered some long tongs and other tools. I think I'll be fashioning an extra long algae scraper myself, so I can reach the extra difficult bits!

Failing all that, I'll just chuck one of the kids in the tank and pass instructions via sign language through the glass. Its about time they earned their keep...

[FortuneFavours]

Originally Posted by bigswaug

Wow!! I thought my 30" was tall.. I'm 6'4" and with a 72" wingspan and I still have trouble sometimes.. Get a good grabber of some kind or a nice snorkel

I love tall tanks tho. Im looking forward to seeing this one up and running. What are your plans for aquascaping?

P.S. I haven't given a great deal of thought to aquascaping yet, although I do know that I want it to look natural. I'm personally not a huge fan of stacks or inordinate amounts of rock. I like open space. I came across this website which was along the lines of my personal taste (minimalist): http://fish-etc.com/aquascaping-main...ater-reefscape

[bigswaug]

Yes I'm familiar with that one and is very educational.. I was reading up on there when I wasnt happy with my rockscape.. I wanted to get the rocks taller without leaning up against wall.. I came across a site showing how to use PVC pipes.. I love the way it turned out.. U should look into that!