Alaskan 300 Gal build

[ycnibrc]

Yes, I really have no desire to mess with halides. Good point on the LEDs being good enough for LPS only. That would sure simplify things for me.

However Alaska is cold so may be halide can replace your heater and u can save money.

 

[jschultzbass]

If you're looking for a replacement for the Vectra L1 I'd recommend the Reef Octopus Varios-8. I have the Varios-4 on my small tank and love it. Literally dead silent and it has great reviews.

Also for flow inside the tank, I had a good look with the Maxpect Gyre in my big tank. Moves a lot of water and you can conceal it pretty easy.

 

[AKReef]

However Alaska is cold so may be halide can replace your heater and u can save money.

I was thinking along those lines too; however, I think the convenience and controllability of LEDs is just too compelling to pass up. Also the more I thought about it, it's not like the room temp differential is much different than anyone else. Sure I probably keep my house cooler in the winter than most, but it's really only a degree or two different than someone in the lower 48. On the flip side, houses up here don't have AC so for the few days in the summer it does get hot, the halides would be working against me.

 

[AKReef]

If you're looking for a replacement for the Vectra L1 I'd recommend the Reef Octopus Varios-8. I have the Varios-4 on my small tank and love it. Literally dead silent and it has great reviews.

Also for flow inside the tank, I had a good look with the Maxpect Gyre in my big tank. Moves a lot of water and you can conceal it pretty easy.

I considered the Varios-8. I was worried that it might be under powered for my needs, but in reality it's not much less than the L1. I'll probably have to take another look. (I think I didn't buy one already because they've been out of stock on BRS for a while)

I also thought about the Maxspect, they do look like they work well. My worry there is that with my peninsula style overflow, I really wouldn't have a good spot to place it. I could place it under the internal overflow box, but then I'm not sure if there is enough clearance under the drain pipes to place the magnets. Also due to the external overflow box being lower, the Gyre would be right behind my rock formation. And then, even if it did fit, would it make sense to place it there since the Gyre would be pushing flow away from the overflow?

My issues with the current MP40's on the overflow side, is that there's not a lot of flow on the opposite end of the tank. I would rather not put powerheads on the opposite side of the tank or on the back, mainly I think they would be visually obnoxious and I plan on putting a removable cover on the back of the tank to black out the back.

Maybe I'll have better luck with MP60's? I got the 40's when Ecotech had their sale a little while ago. I just had a hard time seeing why the MP60's are almost twice as much as the 40's. I might end up having to go there in the end though.

 

[Kmsutows]

You could put a pair, or just one, gyre vertically on either side of the over flow... I have mine vertically and it works great. Either 2 250s one on either side or one xf280

 

[jschultzbass]

I have the exact overflow as you pretty much and I actually put the gyre outside magnet in the overflow box and it stuck through the 3/4 glass and acrylic of the box. Just a thought. Otherwise if you have room vertically like just mentioned that works too.

The MP60s put out a lot of flow so definitely might be enough.

 

[AKReef]

Great ideas on the gyre placement. I just looked and there’s probably enough clearance behind the drain pipes. You think a gyre and 2 MP40s would work well together?

 

[ncaldwell]

There is a group called coral frag auction that has some good things. With there being only one lfs here in anchorage it gets kinda stagnant and sometimes it's better to make large orders from the lower 48. I know battlecorals ships here though

 

[Kmsutows]

Great ideas on the gyre placement. I just looked and there’s probably enough clearance behind the drain pipes. You think a gyre and 2 MP40s would work well together?

I don't see why not but I'd get the bigger xf280 if you do get a gyre. Then again you're doing mostly LPS so up to you. I've had an older xf150 on my 6ft 150gal for a year and just ordered a xf250 for more flow for my sps. Sorry if that just adds to any confusion haha

 

[AKReef]

Not a lot of progress, but we did start on the paneling.

 

[Rookie J]

Awesome build. Definitely following along to see how this goes.

Very nice
Im just thinking maybe you want to add some unions in case you need to do some work down the line

I like soft tube because it eliminates the sharp turns that are in elbows etc

Neat Hard plumbing looks better though

There’s a bunch of unions in those pictures. Some just below the overflow box and all the valves are unions.

Unions are just out of the picture closer to the overflow. The ABS bulkheads sort of act like unions as they are Easley disconnected. I was going to place some unions above the bulkheads, but decided they were overkill.

I was going to do all hard plumb, but my LFS talked me out of it when he reminded me of how often we have earthquakes here. I agree hard plumb looks way better.

The foot or so of soft at the end helps with the quake thing as well as absorbing any vibrations. Tim and the team at ak coral are awesome.

There is a group called coral frag auction that has some good things. With there being only one lfs here in anchorage it gets kinda stagnant and sometimes it's better to make large orders from the lower 48. I know battlecorals ships here though

There are a few people that have a lot of nice stuff up here.

Yes in Anchorage. Is there a local Facebook swap page? I don’t do Facebook. I’ll have to have my wife look for it...she’s in charge of social media for the family

Check out coral frag auction on Facebook. Me and a couple people run that page. Alaska Fish nerds is a good group as well.

 

[AKReef]

Got the tank room cleaned up. Hung up reactors for carbon and gfo. Things are still jury rigged a bit before I get the sump running.

Ordered a bunch of stuff from BRS this week. Can’t wait for it to all show up

 

[Reef400]

What brand is your sump? trying to find one for my 230 gallon reef tank

 

[AKReef]

What brand is your sump? trying to find one for my 230 gallon reef tank

Synergy Reef Systems SS-48

It’s not featured on their website. Apparently they only do limited runs every month or so. It’s the same sump featured on the BRS 160, not that that’s why I got it. I just emailed them asking for the largest one they made. Also had them make the layout mirrored from their normal layout with the drain lines coming in on the right side. I’ve made a couple mods to it (added some additional push connect bulkheads). Tell you what, drilling into a $2000 sump is a little nerve wracking, but it came out great.

Overall, it’s a work of art.

 

[AKReef]

Close up of the sump.

 

[Reef400]

thanks you, I have a elite sump its like 37gal but I want a bigger one

 

[Reef400]

Synergy Reef SS-44 Sumps that is the biggest one online.

 

[AKReef]

Synergy Reef SS-44 Sumps that is the biggest one online.

Yes, this one is 48”x24”x18”.

 

[Reef400]

I'm new to reefing still setting up my tank. I just brought kessil 380s I'm going to run 4 of them for now

 

[AKReef]

I'm new to reefing still setting up my tank. I just brought kessil 380s I'm going to run 4 of them for now

Jump on the BRS sale? The AP 380’s will be awesome. I was really tempted to get some AP700’s for my tank with the Black Friday pricing. Ended up pulling the trigger on 3 Atlantik V4’s. They look pretty impressive.