300 Gallon Reef-O-Matic: 5+ years!

[TheHarold]

Hi, Harry. nice to finally found you on here. Dang, is October the last time when the RSR350 was still healthy (wi/o AEFW)?

Yup. Then RIP Acropora.... Really sad. No matter what I tried (Flatworm exit, flatworm stop, purge, etc), nothing helped. And all the medications throw off the general balance of the tank, causing issues with terrible pale coloration (flatworm stop) and algae.

The 300g is pretty good though; I have like 4 or 5 wrasses in there that keep things stable, and haven't added any medications.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Blue Velvet nudibranch is your answer to those flatworms !!

 

[TheHarold]

Blue Velvet nudibranch is your answer to those flatworms !!

Tried. Believe me, I've tried about $400 worth of treatments lol. Nothing works.

 

[Dj City]

I've read all 6 pages and now I'm all caught up.

Really gorgeous tanks.
I hope I can get mine to look at least half as nice.

 

[Scubadoo4u]

Even after moving most of my LPS to the 300g, my reefer is still packed LOL

What is the apparatus left-front corner carrying frags?!?

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Just seeing this one! Following!

 

[Gablami]

You wrote in your first post that you felt the bashea smart series sump was inconvenient to use. Do you still feel that way? Could you share your thoughts on what you don’t like about it? You’re right, it’s at a good price and it was one of the sumps I was looking at.

 

[TheHarold]

What is the apparatus left-front corner carrying frags?!?

It’s one of my coral spinners; I’ve made lots of them for people and myself. Has an adjustable speed motor that rotates frags to get better flow and lighting.

 

[TheHarold]

double post

 

[TheHarold]

Just seeing this one! Following!

thanks! I’ve been dying of flatworms in my smaller Acro tank so haven’t been updating much. Really depressing. But the 300g is still looking great! Here’s a little video I did about the sample of Masstick, where you can see all the fat fish

 

[Peace River]

It’s one of my coral spinners; I’ve made lots of them for people and myself. Has an adjustable speed motor that rotates frags to get better flow and lighting.

I continue to be intrigued by this idea. Any updates or insights to share now that you’ve had the big one up for a while (maybe I missed something)?

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Updated photo: 10/12/19

Hello Reef2Reef'ers!

My ~300 gallon system is up and running, and I wanted to put up thread here to get feedback/suggestions/etc on my progress. It was started August of this year, and I think it is the right point in time to share the build. It is a custom 300 gallon low iron aquarium: 96x27x27. The cabinetry is also custom, faux coral rock. I friggin love it.

I am a pretty techy person, so everything about this setup is "smart" and optimized. Physical buttons to start a feed modes or photography mode, stand lights turn on automatically, complex multi-factor apex programming for redundancy and control.

I will organize the equipment details from top-down, and then left-to right in the stand.

Lighting:
4x Radion XR30w Pro Gen 4 and 2x Radion XR30w Pro Gen 4 inside two 48" white aquatic life hybrids.
Flow:
1x MP60wQD
2x Jebao CP 150 Wave Pumps
1x EFlux 3000gph return pump.
Rock:
ALL @reefcleaners dry rock. It is incredible; no curing, no problems. Just add it and it colors up. I am a huge fan after wasting a lot of money on other brands of rock that kept leaching phosphates.
Sand:
Carib-Sea Special Grade, ~220lbs.
Sump:
BashSea 48x15x15 smart series sump. It is a good value, but I will leave it at that. A pretty sump that is rather inconvenient to use IMO.
Heater:
JBJ 1000w heater. I have their controller plugged into the apex, to cut it off if there is a problem.
UV:
LifeGuard Aquatics 40w UV. I did not originally plan on it, but it was really cheap on sale.
Skimmer:
Open Box Regal 250SSS with auto-neck cleaner from @Bulk Reef Supply . Love it! Built in auto-cutoff when skimmer is full, and then my apex will alarm at the lack of power being drawn (when it should be on) and notify me when that is full.
ATO:
Tunze 3155 with 10g eshopps reservoir. The apex version reliability was "iffy", so I changed to this. The apex still monitors water level and will notify me if there is an issue.
Controller/dosing:
Apex 2016, 2 EB832s, WXM, breakout, 3 DOS.

Spoiler: Startup photos

The beginning:

First aquascape and "the big fill"

Living room view- I need to clean up those hideous air vents!

The most incredible lighting combination, Radion Gen 4s and @AquaticLifeProducts hybrids. Unfortunately, a month after I installed these I learned of a new version with dimming and a single power cord. Oh well! Still amazing.

After that, I started adding sticks from @Battlecorals , because cycles are for losers! ;Blackeye;Blackeye;Blackeye


Current critter stocking:
Acropora galore, maybe 30-40 frags
2x isolated RBTAs
3x wall hammer colonies
1x frogspawn colony
Plate Coral
Torch Coral

Sailfin Tang
Lieutenant Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Blue Tang
4 clownfish- 2 pairs. (Hopefully this will work out)
3x Cardinalfish

(Shoutout to @4FordFamily for both writing bunch of information on tangs and also answering my questions )


Now, photos from today, 10/27/18.


This is how is looks overall, during the lighting ramp-up:

The right side has most of the sticks, so far. I need more @Battlecorals to stock the center.

(I know the placement is way too close together; they are not glued down yet)

The center:

This morning I added a beautiful huge RBTA from @Cultivated Reef . It attached immediately, and is expanding as I watch! This is only ~20 minutes after adding it, it is totally attached and exquisite. Stocking in this area will be sticks on the top, and LPS/encrusting montiporas in the mid/lower sections.

Another photo of the anemone right after adding it. Just WOW! And these are honest-to-eye photos; from my iPhone. I am with @bubbaque in that I dislike the whole "actinic with orange gel filter" photo craze. What you see here is what you would see in my living room

The left side:

Work in progress. I intend to add a column/bridge from the top of that side to the rock in front of it, using acrylic rod and rubble like I did on the right side.

Right side of stand is a bit of a horror story at the moment after I set up dosing! I will fix it up, I promise

Left side, with the fledgling refugium. Also needs to be reorganized

Oh and this is my 3 year old reefer 350. I keep running out of room and breaking colonies, so definitely needed the space! You can see that this tang will be a similar style; I put in whatever the heck I think is pretty xD

Come on, that's 50 gallon tank. We need a Pepsi or any kind of pop for reference on size also latest newspaper to verify pictures are recent. Come on, that can't be 300 gallons

 

[TheHarold]

You wrote in your first post that you felt the bashea smart series sump was inconvenient to use. Do you still feel that way? Could you share your thoughts on what you don’t like about it? You’re right, it’s at a good price and it was one of the sumps I was looking at.

I regretted not getting the signature series, but that was my own mistake. The filter sock holders can’t be used for filter cups, due to the height and shape, which was a bummer for me. So I purchased the sock assembly from a signature series and installed it myself while the tank was running- not particularly stable. You can see the mod on the left side

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I continue to be intrigued by this idea. Any updates or insights to share now that you’ve had the big one up for a while (maybe I missed something)?

On you tube see coral carousel.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Updated photo: 10/12/19

Hello Reef2Reef'ers!

My ~300 gallon system is up and running, and I wanted to put up thread here to get feedback/suggestions/etc on my progress. It was started August of this year, and I think it is the right point in time to share the build. It is a custom 300 gallon low iron aquarium: 96x27x27. The cabinetry is also custom, faux coral rock. I friggin love it.

I am a pretty techy person, so everything about this setup is "smart" and optimized. Physical buttons to start a feed modes or photography mode, stand lights turn on automatically, complex multi-factor apex programming for redundancy and control.

I will organize the equipment details from top-down, and then left-to right in the stand.

Lighting:
4x Radion XR30w Pro Gen 4 and 2x Radion XR30w Pro Gen 4 inside two 48" white aquatic life hybrids.
Flow:
1x MP60wQD
2x Jebao CP 150 Wave Pumps
1x EFlux 3000gph return pump.
Rock:
ALL @reefcleaners dry rock. It is incredible; no curing, no problems. Just add it and it colors up. I am a huge fan after wasting a lot of money on other brands of rock that kept leaching phosphates.
Sand:
Carib-Sea Special Grade, ~220lbs.
Sump:
BashSea 48x15x15 smart series sump. It is a good value, but I will leave it at that. A pretty sump that is rather inconvenient to use IMO.
Heater:
JBJ 1000w heater. I have their controller plugged into the apex, to cut it off if there is a problem.
UV:
LifeGuard Aquatics 40w UV. I did not originally plan on it, but it was really cheap on sale.
Skimmer:
Open Box Regal 250SSS with auto-neck cleaner from @Bulk Reef Supply . Love it! Built in auto-cutoff when skimmer is full, and then my apex will alarm at the lack of power being drawn (when it should be on) and notify me when that is full.
ATO:
Tunze 3155 with 10g eshopps reservoir. The apex version reliability was "iffy", so I changed to this. The apex still monitors water level and will notify me if there is an issue.
Controller/dosing:
Apex 2016, 2 EB832s, WXM, breakout, 3 DOS.

Spoiler: Startup photos

The beginning:

First aquascape and "the big fill"

Living room view- I need to clean up those hideous air vents!

The most incredible lighting combination, Radion Gen 4s and @AquaticLifeProducts hybrids. Unfortunately, a month after I installed these I learned of a new version with dimming and a single power cord. Oh well! Still amazing.

After that, I started adding sticks from @Battlecorals , because cycles are for losers! ;Blackeye;Blackeye;Blackeye


Current critter stocking:
Acropora galore, maybe 30-40 frags
2x isolated RBTAs
3x wall hammer colonies
1x frogspawn colony
Plate Coral
Torch Coral

Sailfin Tang
Lieutenant Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Blue Tang
4 clownfish- 2 pairs. (Hopefully this will work out)
3x Cardinalfish

(Shoutout to @4FordFamily for both writing bunch of information on tangs and also answering my questions )


Now, photos from today, 10/27/18.


This is how is looks overall, during the lighting ramp-up:

The right side has most of the sticks, so far. I need more @Battlecorals to stock the center.

(I know the placement is way too close together; they are not glued down yet)

The center:

This morning I added a beautiful huge RBTA from @Cultivated Reef . It attached immediately, and is expanding as I watch! This is only ~20 minutes after adding it, it is totally attached and exquisite. Stocking in this area will be sticks on the top, and LPS/encrusting montiporas in the mid/lower sections.

Another photo of the anemone right after adding it. Just WOW! And these are honest-to-eye photos; from my iPhone. I am with @bubbaque in that I dislike the whole "actinic with orange gel filter" photo craze. What you see here is what you would see in my living room

The left side:

Work in progress. I intend to add a column/bridge from the top of that side to the rock in front of it, using acrylic rod and rubble like I did on the right side.

Right side of stand is a bit of a horror story at the moment after I set up dosing! I will fix it up, I promise

Left side, with the fledgling refugium. Also needs to be reorganized

Oh and this is my 3 year old reefer 350. I keep running out of room and breaking colonies, so definitely needed the space! You can see that this tang will be a similar style; I put in whatever the heck I think is pretty xD

Thanks for sharing

 

[TheHarold]

I continue to be intrigued by this idea. Any updates or insights to share now that you’ve had the big one up for a while (maybe I missed something)?

I have a really large 22" disk going too, you can see videos of both the design and running system on my instagram m HarrysAquatics

 

[Peace River]

I have a really large 22" disk going too, you can see videos of both the design and running system on my instagram m HarrysAquatics

Yes, the 22” one was the one I was thinking about. Thanks.

 

[jphilip813]

Even after moving most of my LPS to the 300g, my reefer is still packed LOL

This is CLEAN

 

[nano reef]

Even after moving most of my LPS to the 300g, my reefer is still packed LOL

The color pop is sick! Like WOW! I have never seen orange glow like that! I have seen many using the hybrid leds in the center but putting these on the sides maybe even better! It could be the brand orphek though but just beautiful! I wish I could use t5 hybrid or like this but I am afraid living in Florida and my tank staying at 78 with a tiny 10 gallon light on my 36 bowfront (temporally, no coral yet) afraid it will get to hot and dont want to hang fans around. I am currently looking for lights and narrowed to noopsyche, radions and zetlight ufo. I know noop to radion is a big jump! lol They are nicelooking though and sure dont mind a bargain! Do you think Radions are worth the xtra? The ufo 8300 have like 11 or so differt colors from 3 blues to uv, amber 2 reds and a dense matrix similar to kessil, and they use cree. The newer z8 model seems to have made a lot of cutbacks. Took away the xtra colors and using regular style leds, dosnt say the name of the leds either so must not be cree. I know you know alot about lights so I thought I would ask you. Thanks

 

[Dj City]

Still amazing!
I love your reef.