New 300 gallon salt tank - equipment???

[SDBUILT1]

I have a new 300 gal acrylic tank in a custom cabinet in my family room - 8' x 24" x 30" deep. I have a 125 gal sump set up in a seperate equipment room with 2 - 2" supply lines and 2 - 1" return lines. I also have 2 - 50 gallon barrels for ro water and salt water set on a stand one on top of the other. I am not sure if i should attempt a reef ( never had one and its a little intimidating) or stick with a carnavore tank. Could use some advise.
Any help is welcome!

 

[Xtremedave67]

I am a newbie(ish) and if your not in a hurry and have time to read and take loads of good advice from most the experienced reefers here, go for it.
I just got a 260g that Im going to slow build to a reef, but have a 44g with 10g fuge I set up in April. still adding color and corals...love it

a word of advice I intend to practice is dont skimp on a skimmer. and do your reading on lighting if you go reef

 

[nata]

300 gallon ...a dream ...if you have the cash to do it right ...go for it ...bulbs, salt and electricity are neverending costs...sth will always break...it will be a rewarding experience ...I went from 24 gallon to 155 in 3 months ..and yes there were tears ...lots of learning and lots of helping hands on this forum...

 

[SDBUILT1]

i am a newbie(ish) and if your not in a hurry and have time to read and take loads of good advice from most the experienced reefers here, go for it.
I just got a 260g that im going to slow build to a reef, but have a 44g with 10g fuge i set up in april. Still adding color and corals...love it

a word of advice i intend to practice is dont skimp on a skimmer. And do your reading on lighting if you go reef

thanks for the words of encouragment - i do want to get the right equipment - and do it right. Just not sure what to get.

 

[SDBUILT1]

300 gallon ...a dream ...if you have the cash to do it right ...go for it ...bulbs, salt and electricity are neverending costs...sth will always break...it will be a rewarding experience ...i went from 24 gallon to 155 in 3 months ..and yes there were tears ...lots of learning and lots of helping hands on this forum...

im sure there is a learning curve. I do want to get the equipment & lighting right the first time. Then i think everything shuld go a little smoother - at least i hope so.

 

[Xtremedave67]

what to get???LOL well you'll get a 1000 opinions here, loads of experience behind those opinions.
many good companies for all facets of this hobby from testing kits to skimmers to lights.

I ask alot of questions, follow alot of threads here that talk of topics I dont yet understand. read the opinions, then I do other research off RF and formulate my opinions.
this hobby has MANY ways to do things and you just decide what way appeals to you and what your goals are .

I suggest you go visit and see other reefers tanks, most here LOVE to show thier displays and talk tank

 

[saltwaterfishes]

Sooo much real estate in a 300g.....large colonies. If you can afford it, I would do it.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

what to get depends on what you want to keep and your budget you want to stay with.

lights t5's leds' halides??? which one lol
sump for sure!
skimmer ATB IMO one of the top of the line skimmers out there! costly but well worth the money
live rock or marco rock(dead) best way less pest!!!!
lice stock start planning now see what you want if you go reef unless you want to stay softies I would stray from Mushrooms as they will grow and crowd the tank. there are easier things to take care of with out the headache later of removing them....
fish which ones you want?
back to equipment power heads. tunze IMO best of the best vortex also good they have alot of issues but great customer service from other forums I read! cheaper but still a good power head side koralias maxijets
return pumps reeflo great laguna& enhiem next best

lots of choices lol and the list can go on!

 

[NC2WA]

SDBuilt,

I have a 375 acrylic tank in my wall with a 125g sump.. You are more than welcome to stop by my house and see my tank and we can talk about equipment I have.

Pics to my tank are under my signature. (I like Page 6 when the hole to my wall was cut out)

I have no idea how far Moorpark is in relation to Bothell, but the invitation is there.

Kirk

 

[khaosinc]

A lot of those decisions come down to how much you want to work on your tank vs. having it run itself and of course budget. Skimmer and light opinions will be all over the board, a lot less is needed (though can be nice) if you just want a fish only system, where as with a full blown reef tank you will be much happier if you get good equipment the first time. If you select your fish carefully you can have the best of both worlds where you start out with a fish only system and once its mature, you are used to the issues and equipment of salt water systems and you decide you want to, you can upgrade your system as needed.

Note.. not sure if its a typo or not, but you most likely want to use the 1" for supply and the 2" for drains unless I am not understanding how you worded it..

 

[SpecialTang]

best piece of advice I ever got was take it very slow. You can get the tank, sump, rocks and set it up with just saltwater for a few months before really needed anything else. Take this time to get your water stable and everyting in balance.

I would highly recommend some sort of a controller, (reekgeek.com) has them on sale now.

Depending how much room you have above your tank I would look at 3 to 4 metal halides. You can get away with 250W but in a couple of years with a tank so deep you will want to go up to 400W. I would recommend the Galaxy Select-A-Watt ballast (250-400). As for reflectors I would recommend the Coralvue LumaBright DE. With this set up you can easily switch your lighting to 400W just by changing the bulbs and turning a knob on your ballast.

I will discuss more but for now I have to get to class. Just remember plan it out and take your time.

Andy

 

[Faciosity]

Definately a reef! Take it easy and research everything thouroghly before adding it though. You will find lots of help and useful info/advise here along your journey to a heavenly reef! Get involved and study up, and then go for it.

 

[Jesse_emel]

correction

did you mean reefgeek.com??

best piece of advice I ever got was take it very slow. You can get the tank, sump, rocks and set it up with just saltwater for a few months before really needed anything else. Take this time to get your water stable and everyting in balance.

I would highly recommend some sort of a controller, (reekgeek.com) has them on sale now.

Depending how much room you have above your tank I would look at 3 to 4 metal halides. You can get away with 250W but in a couple of years with a tank so deep you will want to go up to 400W. I would recommend the Galaxy Select-A-Watt ballast (250-400). As for reflectors I would recommend the Coralvue LumaBright DE. With this set up you can easily switch your lighting to 400W just by changing the bulbs and turning a knob on your ballast.

I will discuss more but for now I have to get to class. Just remember plan it out and take your time.

Andy

 

[ntswift]

Here is my tank build i have similar tank dimentions except yours is a foot longer. Like SpecialTang was saying, take it slow. As you read thru my build you can tell what happens when you rush things...cough cough, bucket of sand, cough cough....but seriously a reef is awesome if you can afford it and you will be much happier with your tank in the long run!

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55438

 

[NC2WA]

Equal to take it slow is patience. I will say it again, patience, and then one more time, patience.

Patience is what is needed to have a successfully tank, FOWLR or Mixed Reef.

If you can give patience to this hobby, your tank will pay you back.

The worse thing you can do is rush it as disaster is a given.

 

[Xtremedave67]

I agree PATIENCE, and research it isnt as intimidating as it seems.
like some one said above look into some reef safe 4fish fish that you like and start out slow withh and LR only and takeit from there..Baby Steps
learn to keepa stabile enviroment and then start with novice corals and work up.

just dont get sucked into the baised opinions, LOL so many ways to do this hobby

 

[SpecialTang]

did you mean reefgeek.com??

yes thank you jesse, i was in a hurry when i typed that up.