How To: My 300 gallon salt water reef tank
This is a repost from another blog I used to have setup that I'm now consolidating. Here's the cut & paste from the original post, where I explain how my 300 gallon reef tank came to be, along with a rough approximation of how much it cost me to setup.
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With a background in the biological sciences, I’ve always been amazed at the complexity of natural systems, especially those that exist in the oceans. Just over 10 years ago, I got into salt water reef tanks and the science of growing corals and other marine species. I started with a 50 gallon setup, and before I knew it I had like 6-7 reef systems up and running. Over time, this became quite cumbersome and time consuming to maintain as separate tanks, so when I had the opportunity to remodel one of my apt units, I decided to take the plunge and go big. The result is an in-wall 300 gallon salt water reef aquarium that is filled with exotics collections of marine life. Here are some links to some older pics. I hope to post lots more and also video clips of the amazingly complex ecosystem and slice of the ocean in my living room.
Quite often, I’m asked what it really takes to pull something like this off, so here are some rough estimates. This is a 10 year project in the making and some of my live animals are original species that I still have from my first few reef tanks. It took about a year and a half to get everything in order and dialed in to where it is now - which is basically a thriving 100% biologically filtered marine ecosystem.
I will try to post some new HD video clips soon (new Panasonic HDC-SD1P AVCHD video camera).
Cost estimates:
- Tank - $2250 - SeaClear custom ordered from The Fish Store in Seattle, WA USA. It's 96"x18"x30" (LxWxH)
- Primary flow pump - Dolphin AMP Master S-Series - 5600/4700 extenal pump - $330 - main flow pump from 2x 40 gallon sump tanks.
- Power head circulation pumps 4x @ $250/pump - EcoTech Marine Vortech Magnetic impeller pumps. AMAZING TECH.
- ~500 lbs of live rock - $6-10/lb - assorted Fiji, Marshall Island, Tonga live rock.
- Custom tank room - $10k - contractor helped build, electrician wired
- MH Lighting - 4x @ $125/ballast/reflector - 250W IceCap Metal Halide lamps + ballast
- MH Lamps - ~$100 each - 2x 20k Radium Blue, 2x 10k Ushuii White
- VHO ballasts - 2x @ ~$315/ballast - Icecap 660 VHO
- 48″ VHO lamps - 4x @ $25/lamp - super actinic (420nm), 4x @ $25/lamp AquaSun
- Animals - hard to estimate - rough guess - $5000 live corals, fish, inverts.
- Titanium Heater - ~$200
- Auto top off and mixing system - ~$600
- Air, Water, Ice - RO/DI - $250 + filter media
- Assorted test / water quality / monitoring kits - ~100
- Salt / additives / foodstuffs - ~$200/month
- EcoTech Marine Battery backup units - 2x @ $150/unit
- Monthly electrical cost ~$150
GRAND TOTAL (rough estimate - probably a bit low, but fairly close) = $26480
Ick! Need Cleaner Shrimp STAT!
The territorial battles in my reef tank continue today. Lots more Icky white specks on the Achilles Tang and Foxface. I see a new puncture wound on the Achilles as well. But all fish are alive and moving. My friend Thom the Ichthyogenius (more on that later) stopped by yesterday to pick up some fresh RO/DI mixed Salt Water (to 1.023 specific gravity) for a couple of his clients so I got to get his take on the situation.
My other buddy Jon also stopped by to check out my new Jade Green Elephant Ear Mushroom and the new Crocea Clam I introduced yesterday (see below).
After watching these fish go at it constantly pretty much non stop for the past week, its starting to become clear what is happening. Patterns are emerging and I'm hoping that I can get rid of the Ick and let this battle come to a eventual conclusion with a new pecking order in place.
Right now the Achilles tang is vying for top spot on the fish food chain in my tank. He has clearly marked his territory by pecking at a very specific area of live rock in my tank. This area happens to have been the Foxface's old home. So the Achilles is basically trying to move in and claim the best cave/spot in my reef tank and the Foxface wants nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately both fish are pretty aggressive, and the battle is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. I will continue to monitor the tank, feed a bit more (to distract them), and go out and get some cleaner shrimp to help with the Ick. Aside from that 40 gallon water changes every couple days is about as best I can do.