Ken's Reef- 300 dream build

[Catfish2]

OK, I thought it was time to start a thread on my new build.

I’m open to any thoughts and opinions you all might have.

This is the build I’ve been dreaming of for years and actually planning out for a little over a year now. I’ve worked an extra half day a week for almost a year to pay for this thing. I’ve decided to go all out and get what I really want.

I’m planning on doing a separate post for each main topic, including some of my reasoning behind the decisions I have made.

You can follow the build on Instagram @kensreef also!

Here is a summary:

Tank: custom 300 gallon – 96x30x24 starphire on 3 sides

Stand/canopy: Custom stainless steel wrapped in Alder

Sump: Crystal Reef Aquatics – Triton 60 sump

Return pump: Dual Reef Octopus Varios 8

Controller: Apex 2016

Flow: Vortech MP 40 x 2 on back wall; Maxspect Gyre fx-250 x 2, one on each end

Lights: ATI 48” 6 bulb dimmable fixture x 2; Kessil A360 x 4

Protein Skimmer: Reef Octopus Regal 300 INT

Heater: Finnex HMX 500w x 2

Dosing pump: GHL 2.1 – 4 head

Auto to off: Tunze Osmolator 3155

Rock: BRS Pukani – Dry

Here are some pics of the install this last weekend. It went off without a hitch thanks to all my friends who were kind enough to help.

 

[NY_Caveman]

OK, I thought it was time to start a thread on my new build.

I’m open to any thoughts and opinions you all might have.

This is the build I’ve been dreaming of for years and actually planning out for a little over a year now. I’ve worked an extra half day a week for almost a year to pay for this thing. I’ve decided to go all out and get what I really want.

I’m planning on doing a separate post for each main topic, including some of my reasoning behind the decisions I have made.

You can follow the build on Instagram @kensreef also!

Here is a summary:

Tank: custom 300 gallon – 96x30x24 starphire on 3 sides

Stand/canopy: Custom stainless steel wrapped in Alder

Sump: Crystal Reef Aquatics – Triton 60 sump

Return pump: Dual Reef Octopus Varios 8

Controller: Apex 2016

Flow: Vortech MP 40 x 2 on back wall; Maxspect Gyre fx-250 x 2, one on each end

Lights: ATI 48” 6 bulb dimmable fixture x 2; Kessil A360 x 4

Protein Skimmer: Reef Octopus Regal 300 INT

Heater: Finnex HMX 500w x 2

Dosing pump: GHL 2.1 – 4 head

Auto to off: Tunze Osmolator 3155

Rock: BRS Pukani – Dry

Here are some pics of the install this last weekend. It went off without a hitch thanks to all my friends who were kind enough to help.

Very nice!

 

[PerplexyHexy]

Just looking at the pictures... I swear it looks like you live next to me... hahahahaha!!!

 

[PerplexyHexy]

Looked at your profile... hahahahah! You do live by me... thats crazy... good old Menifee architecture right there... could tell by the houses and the hill in the back... you live near Heritage Lakes???

 

[Catfish2]

Very nice!

Thank you! I've very excited!

 

[Catfish2]

Looked at your profile... hahahahah! You do live by me... thats crazy... good old Menifee architecture right there... could tell by the houses and the hill in the back... you live near Heritage Lakes???

You got it! Very, very near heritage lake . I'm always looking for fellow reefers. When are you gonna come over? Seriously, PM me if you wanna get together.

 

[Catfish2]

I just placed an order for $300 worth off plumbing parts... yikes!

0

 

[SPR1968]

Great looking tank and thanks for all the pictures!

 

[Catfish2]

Great looking tank and thanks for all the pictures!

I'll do my best to keep the pics coming! Thanks for following

 

[Slowlane]

Very nice! Can’t wait to see updates on this.

 

[Zack33]

Nice start!

 

[Catfish2]

Very nice! Can’t wait to see updates on this.

Thanks for following along... I'll do best to keep them coming!

 

[Catfish2]

Nice start!

Thanks! It's funny because I've been actively planning this build for about a year, but I really am just getting started now. I'm excited about all the work ahead. I have some things planned that I've never done before so it should be fun!

 

[Spectre66]

Thats pretty much my dream tank.... who made it/where did you get it if I might ask?

 

[Catfish2]

Thats pretty much my dream tank.... who made it/where did you get it if I might ask?

Stay tuned for an upcoming post. I'll be including all that info, but spoiler alert: it was built by Crystal Dynamics Aquarium Manufacturing in Oceanside, CA. I'll have more detailed pics in the future. It's absolutely gorgeous in person!

 

[PerplexyHexy]

Nice meeting you today Ken... you got a sweet little setup going on overthere... Im hoping to do the samething here soon... Im taking you up on your offer to help me with plumbing... hahahahaa!!! We will definitely hangout more neighbor...

 

[Catfish2]

Nice meeting you today Ken... you got a sweet little setup going on overthere... Im hoping to do the samething here soon... Im taking you up on your offer to help me with plumbing... hahahahaa!!! We will definitely hangout more neighbor...

It was great meeting you! Thanks for coming over.

 

[ddrueckh]

Beautiful tank and stand. How do you plan to layout your ATI and Kessil lights? Thanks.

 

[Catfish2]

Beautiful tank and stand. How do you plan to layout your ATI and Kessil lights? Thanks.

Excellent question.
I had 2 cut outs placed in the top of the canopy. The ATIs will sit on top of the canopy. The cut outs are small enough that the fixture can't fall through, but the acrylic shield, where light is emitted, will be unobstructed. The ATIs give off a lot of heat so i didn't want to mount them inside the canopy. Here are some pics of the canopy to give you an idea.

With regards to the kessils, I'm not 100% sure on this yet. It's going to take some experimentation. I have a few ideas though.
1. Gooseneck off the front eurobrace. This way I can angle them slightly and hit the aquascape at a 45ish degree angle rather than straight down from the top.
2. Some kind of hanging wire attached to the top of the canopy in front of and behind the ATI fixtures. That way the kessil is suspended in ther center of the aquarium, below the ATI. This would obviously block some of the light coming from the ati, which is not ideal.
3. My preferred method, which I will need to look for a solution to accomplish, would be some kind of lighting track system that allows the kessils to be mounted to the canopy in front of the ATI fixtures and angled towards the center of the tank. If anyone knows of such a solution please let me know about it.

4. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm more than happy to take them!

The canopy of 18 inches so the lights will be pretty far off the water. We will see what par ends up being. If needed can add more kessils for more horsepower, but right now I only have 4 because I'm primarily using them for shimmer and pop.

 

[Catfish2]

Preparation for the new system

Before I could get going on this new system, there were some things I wanted to have in place.

First of all, I’ve had a quarantine and frag tank system set up in the garage for about 15 months. I’ve been collecting frags in there so I will have stuff to transfer into the new tank once it is ready for coral. Setting that up also gave me a project to work on while I was planning the 300.

More importantly than the QT and frag systems though, was the water mixing/ changing station I set up in the garage.

Water mixing/ Changing set up:

I have 2 food grade 55 gallon drums that I got from a medical supplier that stored bags of water in them. The drum on the left holds RO/DI water only. The one on the right is where Salt is mixed with RO/DI.

The 6 stage 150 gpd BRS RO/DI system gets supply water from the spigot I had installed when I had the utility sink installed.

Once water is made, the pump allows me to recirculate water in the drum for mixing or with the flip of some valves pump it into the tank. I can also flip the valves and remove water from the tank and pump it out into the street. This makeswater changes a breeze!