New 350 gallon (8x3x2ft) setup with home made stand

errattiq

Non-member
So I finally took the leap, I waited to post about my build until it was complete. I come across far too many build threads that start out hot and fizzle over time and we never get to really see the tanks reach completion. Well, here is mine. I’ve been reefing the better part of 13 years now. I started with a 29 gallon aquarium, moved to a 55, then a 90, then a 125. I acquired a friend’s tank and that quickly turned into a 110gallon tank as well. So here I was, a raised ranch with a 125 in the finished basement and a 110 on the upper level. Maintenance was difficult considering both tanks were in different levels. I ran long distances of RO tubing for top off water (RO system is upstairs in the bathroom and line wasn run downstairs and held in place by coaxial wire clips).

I finally got the ok from the misses to pull trigger on my dream tank so I could combine the two tanks. I ordered it from customaquariums.com and I honestly couldn’t be happier. Free shipping and the build quality is just as good as my miracles built 110. I opted for a central Synergy Reef Shadow overflow with two returns on each side of the tank.

Equipment as follows

Lights: 4 radion gen 4 pro’s in two 4x54 watt aquaticlife T5/LED hybrid fixtures. All T5’s are ATI variety.

Flow: 2 - MP60wQD’s (one on each side) and two mp40wES running evenly spaced on the rear wall.

Return pump is a Jebao DCQ10000

Sump/Fuge

Black and Ferrari Red Bashsea 60” sump with matching media and 8x30 bio reactors custom made with red pieces.

All sump pvc is custom ordered red with black fittings.

Skimmer

-Regal Octopus 300INT

Refugium lighting

-Kessil A360WE

Clearwater Scrubber CW300 model scrubber mounted on back of tank stand

Stand lighting is RGBW LED strip

Display box wasn’t made with a shadow box mounted to a hole cut in the stand’s rear panel. I wrapped RGB led’s Around the perimeter and mounted my iPad and apex gear with Velcro to the box.

The sides of the stand were done with Litestone faux veneer purchased at Lowes.com

The front doors are held in place by a french cleat on the bottom of the stand and two strong rare earth magnets at each upper corner of each door.

- the holes were cut in the doors and then they were routed. I attached a smoked piece of acrylic to each door to allow just enough light from the sump area to shine through to show off the filtration. At any point I can kill all sump lighting and the acrylic panels appear as if they were painted black and non transparent. I saw a few tanks like this and thought there were AWESOME.

Livestock

Tangs
-Achilles
-2x hippo
-purple
-yellow
-powder blue
- pacific sailfin
-Red Sea sailfin

Wrasses
-2x Radiant
- Melanarus

Clowns
-2x false percula
-black and white Darwin


Miscellaneous
-1x Lyretail anthias


The tank has been up for about 2 months but has been having livestock added slowly to assist with adjusting the bioload in a manageable way. I utilized a MarinePure ceramic block (8”x8”x4”) from algaebarn.com to assist the live rock, sand, and bio reactor with additional surface area for bacterial growth. MarinePure claims it has something on the order of 2700 sq/ft of porous space. Sounded good to me!

So now that you’ve read all that, picture time! Let me know how you like it, I used Marco rocks/ sand and the aquascaping mortar they sell to aquascape the tank. No corals yet, just the rock and fish. If there is anything I can do better or anything major I should change, I’m always open to suggestions. Thank you for reading!
P.S. I’m new to posting large quantities of pictures so I apologize if there are doubles!

-Josh
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Thank you! It’s 8ft long, 3ft deep and 2 feet high. Plenty of room for angels but I’m going primarily SPS with this system so no angels for me. I considered a Regal but it’s honestly not worth the risk lol
 
I should also mention the odd picture with the Rubbermaid tub, a skimmer and some funky PVC contraption was just something I thought up to produce live sand. Took a few bags of caribsea aragonite sand and tossed it in with 150lbs or so marcorocks dry sand. The spraybars gave flow to the entire tub and every so many days I’d hand stir the entire tub. That would create tons of silt so I added a 100 micron filter sock to help clear it all up. It ran for about 3-4 months prior to entering the tank and I think it worked very well!
 
The large brick wall with fireplace next to the tank is the next project (for the winter). I’m going to litestone that entire wall so the tank and the fireplace match perfectly. I’m hoping it ties the tank into the room even better. It’s tough to tell but the room the tank is in is actually the basement of my raised ranch. My “living room” is basically the size of the entire upstairs floor plan so the tank in no way whatsoever overpowers the room. I honestly could have and should have (don’t tell my wife) gone with a 10 footer. That had its own host of problems, extra footage means more pumps, more upfront cost and more running cost down the line. I definitely did NOT want to skimp out with this system. I wanted quality equipment set up correctly with ease of maintenance in mind. 10% water changes on a 450 gallon system can be mighty tedious if not setup right. I even went so far as installing 100% waterproof vinyl flooring above the concrete slab floor to further protect the house from any aquatic “mishaps”
 
I think one of my favorite parts of this build was the stand lighting. I was going to shoot for a regular RGB style LED strip but then I realized if I spent a few more dollars on the RGBW, I would have not only a dedicated white LED, but also the “false white” created by the RGB LEDs when selected. This allows me at the click of the remote to light the stand bright white and conduct any maintenance without the need for separate lighting.
 
here are a few pics of the systems I designed mine after. These guys are just soooo skilled at their craft it’s amazing. I can’t hold a candle compared to what they can do. My solution was simple but I like the way it came it and looks pretty good I think.
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not sure what made me think this was for sale... going through the thread like, “bro, post the price already”. Looking great!
 
Hahahahaha sorry about that! Yea definitely not for sale, I have big hopes for this system down the road
 
Thank you very much! It’s been a long time in the planning phase now the execution phase has barely just begun. I’ve already started making slight changes (added two additional mp40’s on the left and right panels aimed behind the aquascape set at a constant nutrient transport mode to keep detritus and whatnot suspended as it nears the synergy overflow. I should have 50lbs of Reef cleaners rock coming in within the next few days, may add a piece or two to the existing scape. I took a page out of the World Wide Corals playbook and set my radion/T5 schedule and spectrum to exactly mimic theirs. Bulk Reef Supply did a pretty nice video on their 500gal Reef. I figured why reinvent the wheel? It’s obviously working for them so we shall see. It’s still going to be a few months before I dare put any coral in. I’ll try and post a few pics and maybe a video or two with the new livestock. Came across a beautiful Lineatus Wrasse and I had to grab it!
 
Please bear with my hasty picture and video taking. Once I have everything situated with the system I’ll be sure to have someone over with a legitimate camera to record the tank
 
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