sw challange for the brave

[rookie]

ok i want to put a 300g sw reef tank into my wall. i am taking care of the house constrution and getting the tank however i am trying to get an idea of what i am in for as far as cost. if you could build your dream 300g reef tank how would you do it. i am mainly concerned with hardware. I have been reasearching salt water tanks and im slowly learning but before i go crazy i want to know if it would be possible for me to even pull this off. so if you could please plan out the equipment i would need and obvously as cheep as possible, diy is not out of the question, and please be as specific as possible because i am still extreemly new to sw.

if you are up for the challange of planning out the hardware for this dream tank i would appriciate your help.

thank you so much

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

With what you are going to need to invest in live rock and all the stock, you don't really want to go cheap with this. There really is no way to do this cheaply.

You are into a realm of tanks where a lot changes. Flow is not as easy as plugging in a powerhead or 2, liverock requirements are not as simple as 1-1.5 lbs/gal, and lighting will be a challenge simply because of the depth of the tank. The question you need to ask yourself right now, is not if you can afford to set something like this up, but if you can afford to keep it running.

[rookie]

With what you are going to need to invest in live rock and all the stock, you don't really want to go cheap with this. There really is no way to do this cheaply.

You are into a realm of tanks where a lot changes. Flow is not as easy as plugging in a powerhead or 2, liverock requirements are not as simple as 1-1.5 lbs/gal, and lighting will be a challenge simply because of the depth of the tank. The question you need to ask yourself right now, is not if you can afford to set something like this up, but if you can afford to keep it running.

that is a very valid point i already priced the tank and im assuming that i will spend about $2000 on live rock and i was just planning on stocking fish slowly.

what i ment by going cheep was that if i can get lighting cheeper by getting it at a diffrent web site or any tips like and if it was possible to buy the lighting and make mounts on my own but i agree i want to do this right.

however please tell me what i am in for. i know i would have to buy salt for water changes however what other costs would i have to worrie about to maintain the tank. i was planning on buying the tank, all of the hardware, and live rock at the same time as i buy the house so that all i have to do after i move in and get settled is to stock it. which i would be doing very slowly so that i have time to get excited for and i can save for the fish.

ps thanks for the response sw addict. i didnt think many people would take me serious but this is something i really want to do. and AT WORST i am going to scale down the tank size A LITTLE or just go freshwater.

ps my tank would be 96 x 24 x 31 Tall.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

The 31" height to that tank pretty much ensures that you are going to need to run Metal Halide lighting in order to reach the lower portions of that tank, and probably something like 250w or 400w. You will need a minimum of 4 of those for the entire length of that tank. This means your electric costs are going to be rather high, even with them only being run 6 hours per day (normal photo period for MH lights, longer for the fluorescent secondary lights.)

As for live rock, you are looking at needing something around 600-750lbs of live rock to make that tank look right. At an average cost of $6/lb, that will put you at a minimum of $3600 for the live rock alone.

As for the flow, you need to look into employing a closed loop system or 2 in order to achieve sufficient flow. The pumps needed to run the sump, and closed loop systems will likely draw a fair bit of power as well. My Ocean Runner 6500 is a 1700gph pump and at 96w, it is one of the more efficient pumps in it's class. I would suggest looking into either the Little Giant pumps or the Iwaki pumps.

of course, a tank of that size is going to require a hefty skimmer to do the job and that again is going to run you a fair penny as well. Euroreef and Octopus both make great skimmers for that size tank. Another skimmer that has been receiving great reviews from hobbyists is the Bubble King line.

Any idea what you want to stock the tank with? Will it be reef or FOWLR? That will have an effect on your lighting. If you want to cut the setup and operating costs, you could go with a FOWLR tank.

[MCHRKiller]

I hope you do realize just how expensive reefs are, to have a tricked out reef with great equipment expect to spend around 75bucks per gallon on a tank this size.

Dont bother with low end live rock, it will only give you migraines get top shelf live rock as you wont go threw all the algae hell and your tank will be off to a better start due to coming with benefitial algaes, carry in corals and critters as well as a better start of coraline. I highly advocate Pacific Easts rock as its honestly the best LR I have ever encountered and its 5.99 per pound and youd need atleast 400lbs for a good scape. Factor in live sand as well which is $20 for 20lbs about the cheapest you can get.

Youd also need metal halide lighting to penetrate that depth of water, I would go with atleast 4*400watt plus some HOT5 actinics. Youd also need a good sized RODI setup to mix your SW as you shouldnt use tap. Id definaly aslo invest in a sump, bare minimum of a 75G tank preferably a 100-125G. Youd probably also whant a phosphate reactor as well as a calcium reactor. Youd also need quite a few large koralias..depending on the corals you keep and the setup of the tank just how many.

Something like this takes years of planning and IMO some experience before attempting if nothing else the around 20K price tag that it *will* pack. When my 150G reef crashed due to a power outage I was sitting at 13K and it wasnt finished and half the size of this one. I would highly suggest you setup a 75ish gallon reef and practice on it, get the hang of what is involved in maintaing a reef before going all balls out on a 300G.

[MonkeyPox]

As for live rock, you are looking at needing something around 600-750lbs of live rock to make that tank look right. At an average cost of $6/lb, that will put you at a minimum of $3600 for the live rock alone.


The only think I would add to what SW said is that you may consider investing in a mix of base rock and live rock to lower costs.

[Northernguy]

Thats a huge first sw set up!
I wouldn't even consider something that size unless I knew what i was doing.
Take Killers advice and start smaller.When you are ready transfer that tank contents to the new set up and build off of it.
It could turn into an extremely expensive mistake if you just jump into it.
Good luck with whatever you consider trying.

[AABatteries]

Like everyone has said, it will be expensive. It will be a difficult first SW tank, but not impossible, provided you do enough research. I also think a 75g would be a better choice to start.

EDIT: And here's a link ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]) to large tanks on Reef Central.

[rangur1]

this truly is for the brave. if you are certain beyond doubt of going reef or fowlr. the folks above got it covered. i know 300 gal salt setups run around 5-10k startup.

just a thought, although you may not be interested. but how about an african cichlid setup with major rock formations , sand substrate. [they are not called freshwater coral fish for nothing].

this could be set up for about 2 thousand with far less money each month for maintanence and flourescent lights instead of halides. [cheaper to operate. just and idea.

[bluebluecow]

hi, not to sound down on you, but I wouldn't even think about a sw tank that big. I'm starting out with marine tanks, after xmas and starting with a about 25g tank, as I feel that's manageable.

I think a tank like tank size would and will be fantastic, utilities start small to get the feel of marine. What if you start it up and don't like it.

I read ointment pfk about a reef tank that big and he had a massive sump, in fact had built a room just for sump, qt tank ect.

Liz

[rookie]

I did have the intentions of starting off with a practice tank but I think it is very evedent I am wayyyy over my head I thought since I was looking to buy a house I would do it all at once but it's ok I can always go fresh water then mabe use my 110 for salt depending how my 20 gallon sw experiment goes.

But thank u all for having my best interest in mind and helping me relize my fishy dreams are alot bigger than my walet and experience lol

[MCHRKiller]

If you can keep a 20G SW stable you could surely keep a 110 going. Sounds like the best option IMO. To me taller tanks make prettier reefs anyway, the 110 will be a show piece.

[rangur1]

I did have the intentions of starting off with a practice tank but I think it is very evedent I am wayyyy over my head I thought since I was looking to buy a house I would do it all at once but it's ok I can always go fresh water then mabe use my 110 for salt depending how my 20 gallon sw experiment goes.

But thank u all for having my best interest in mind and helping me relize my fishy dreams are alot bigger than my walet and experience lol

this is an extremely good idea and you will be very thankful you went this way a year from now. you will have that awesome tank soon and you will KNOW exactly what to expect when you set it up.

[rookie]

Yea I hope the house I get has a huge basement and I will have the 110g down there in the man cave lol

[Rue]

A 20g SW tank is quite difficult to keep. A larger tank is easier.

I wouldn't 'start' with a 20g...it comes with a whole host of issues that a larger tank doesn't.

Traditionally they've recommended a 55g to 'start' with. I didn't believe it either...but after have a 34g for several years...I believe them. Wish my tank was bigger.