A walk through of my 300 gallon reef tank rebuild.

ADVERTISING

LuxoGear Emergency Whistles with Lanyard

Shop now »

NOCO Genius GEN5X2, 2-Bank, 10A (5A/Bank) Smart Marine Battery Charger

Shop now »

RHINO USA Boat Trailer Transom Straps (2PK)

Shop now »

LUCKY Kayak Portable Fish Depth Finder

Shop now »

Seaview 180 V3 Full Face Snorkel Mask

Shop now »

Most popular comments
for A walk through of my 300 gallon reef tank rebuild.

Live comments
Comments on YouTube

Reefing Kenny - 6 years ago

Nice ass tank!! U ever think about a algae scrubber for raising your PH?

J B - 6 years ago

You have to pray to the fish Gods :)

Nicole - 6 years ago

Looks great I agree with others below. Go back to the salt you were using. There is a big difference.

fondoo - 6 years ago

nice setup!

stuart bell - 6 years ago

looking good. i think if you had a refiguim it would help with pH the use the LED lights and get loads cheto growing which would put oxygen into the system.

Ash - 6 years ago

awesome setup...hope things are on their way back now...i subbed...

Jan Ryan - 6 years ago

This is how a fish room is done. Not the POS King of DIY calls fish room.

BLB13films - 6 years ago

thats a pretty bad ass filter room

Duggy Duce - 6 years ago

Thought it was a dope studio lol

10. comment for A walk through of my 300 gallon reef tank rebuild.

Juan Ramirez - 6 years ago

office goals

DiepBlueC - 6 years ago

Awesome place! Did you watch your pH plot when you plugged in your CO2 scrubber on the skimmer? Did your tank pH rise significantly?

How restrictive is that CO2 scrubber? Maybe it is starving the skimmer of air?

A refugium with some macroalgae would definitely help on the pH front as well.

Consider a masterflex pump on your calcium reactor effluent to never have to question your effluent flow again.

I am shocked that your pH is that low when topping off through a Kalk reactor. Something seems fishy there.

I have been using IO salt for years and have seen great results. One of the fancy salts may be better, but if so, the difference does not warrant the price for me.

Your system looks well thought out and impressive, I hope that you can achieve success again.

sbazain - 6 years ago

love the
tank is 24 % on the lights letting your corals open reason am asking is am working on my percentages

um02122 - 6 years ago

You've got a nice setup, no reason not to have good results.

Personally I feel you're overcomplicating dosing with Kalk and Ca reactor. A good three parts dosing would create less swing and avoid potentially lethal problems.

You're definitely right about lack of ventilation adversely affecting your tank. You should use outside air for your skimmer's airline. If not possible, at least running a CO2 scrubber on the airline should make a difference.

I've noted you've got a royal gramma male. Add some more small specimens to form a harem. They're creating a big visual impact in a group, usually will stay together during the day, at feeding times etc.

Then the SPS problem: why not grow corals that are doing great in your tank instead of forcing your tank to accommodate finicky ones? Just let the corals you've got grow and fill the space. If you want sticks, get birdnests, they're less sensitive.

Then the lighting, you could angle the side units to get more light on the rock and less on the glass. You could also group two with two to create cloud effects.

And the last one - that nasty cleaning magnet is a scratch waiting to happen. look at the Tunze Care Magnet Cleaners, they have less potential of catching something between glass and the cleaner. Anyway, the magnet shouldn't be a permanent resident of your tank - a spirorbis or a vermetid finding it a good home could really ruin your reefing experience and the glass of the tank.

Chris Anderson - 6 years ago

Good suggestions but about the magnet, that is a mighty magnet. In my opinion is much better than the Tunze care which previously created a scratch. I paid more than I should for it but it was well worth it as the algae scrubbing bag is designed for acrylic tanks. I also have a sanding kit included with the magnet that works wonders. Check out mighty magnets, they are without a doubt the best, esp for acrylic tanks.

King of Cannabis - 6 years ago

Very nice setup. My only thing would be maybe you can use more lighting next time so we can actually see things.

King of Cannabis - 6 years ago

Cool, I'll check it out. Thanks!

Chris Anderson - 6 years ago

I have a video on my channel where I remodeled the fish room behind the tank, much better lighting!

iworkman - 6 years ago

Rea Sea Sucks, Please don't Buy Red Sea Products, Rea Sea wiped out my tank, I call Red sea and they don't care.
Use Instant Ocean.

Vi3tKid420 - 6 years ago

can you tour your house, goddayme boss shit. big ups!

ROYAL REEFER - 6 years ago

Subbed!!

GeekFish - 6 years ago

A massive reef tank. Supernice. Keep posting ;)

A Riv - 6 years ago

This hobby can humble anyone. No matter what equipment you buy it still takes a good reefer to be successful. Experience is the greatest teacher. It may be the environment. I had an auto matic room air freshener that caused my issues.

20. comment for A walk through of my 300 gallon reef tank rebuild.

Kreger's Aquariums - 6 years ago

Subbed. Great looking setup. You're on the right track working on getting ventilation into your fish room. That should help.

hustlecoral vlogs - 6 years ago

subscribed check me out my 200 will be cycling as soon as my razors are here!

KishBrah - 6 years ago

Beautiful set up, never knew you'd need this much stuff for a tank

R e e f f r e d - 6 years ago

Very well mounted congratulations !!!

Daniel Lu - 6 years ago

My guess to the cause of the sps crash is the sandbed leaching stuff out after 1 year.

Gb J - 6 years ago

Your house and tank looks great!!!

jjiron706 - 6 years ago

Sweet setup! Why no refugium or mangrove ... might help with the ph drop off! Best of luck man .

Daniel Garcia - 6 years ago

have you opened up everything and put a fan pulling air in to the fish room

Scuba Guy - 6 years ago

nice tank setup and very nice house.

Andrew Hales - 6 years ago

Beautiful. How did you're tank crash?

Chris Anderson - 6 years ago

Some regular planaria flatworms made it in to my system past dip/qt. I let them go as they are fairly harmless; they started to grow out of control. I managed to siphon out as many as I could and I dose flatworm exit per the instructions. The flatworms release a toxin when they die so it's very important that you get as many out manually before you dose to kill them. Long story short, there were way more in the rocks than I had thought and the water was essentially poisoned to kill all life. Sad moment. :(

30. comment for A walk through of my 300 gallon reef tank rebuild.

T Surro - 6 years ago

Install a few vents above the tank in the Sheetrock wall!!

Eli Carter - 6 years ago

Have you tested the mixing station's PH? Test the freshly mixed water PH.

Mike Lemming - 6 years ago

Awesome setup and the tank looks great! Sorry to hear about the sps but, you'll get back quickly!

ahmet comlekcioglu - 6 years ago

(1) I think you should add a huge refugium underneath the main display to make it more stable and increase the volume- reverse lighting. (2) outdoor ventilation would also help. (3) keep certain people with evil eyes out nearby your tank. Losing things with no reason or unknown reason sometimes caused by those certain people. If some people are overly jealous what you have, your tank might be in trouble. Show your aquarium only to the people that you are sure that they will only appreciate. ;)

chris kitedude - 6 years ago

hook your skimmer up to a co2 scrubber filles with medical breathing kalk and see your ph rise aswell as the alk uptake rise. cheers

John Gayle - 6 years ago

Hey Chris try running an air line outside and connect to your skimmer helps with ph

DC Reefer - 6 years ago

Beautiful home and set up. Goals

Aquatic Haus - 6 years ago

That is one beautiful setup!

Love how the fish are on the left , pool on the right and computer ready for work/gaming
aweeeeesome :D

caudillioski - 6 years ago

Finishing my basement - looks sick man and may look at a setup like this!

IFourBlunts - 6 years ago

Glad to see a fellow Hoosier on here...I live in Bloomington...great looking tank and house sir....hope you get it all figured out

Brett's Reef Tank - 6 years ago

I literally just saw ur build on one forum and then this video was in my recommended.

Brett's Reef Tank - 6 years ago

Chris Jenkins did ur jaw drop too when u saw it?

Chris Jenkins - 6 years ago

Brett's Reef Tank - lol same here.

9StickNate - 6 years ago

Nice setup! Subbed.

Tha Bizness Reef Tank - 6 years ago

like the layout. i subbed!

Killer Entertainment - 6 years ago

Hey man nice set up and it compliments your house. My advice ( trying too be helpful )

-- Salt does make a difference .. Trust me you don't want all that caking agent from IO (Instant Ocean). Also, you are doing too much with gadget and gizmo. Many reefers back in the day in the 80's and 90's had amazing tanks with less gear you have.

-- Don’t trust LFS (Local Fish Store) --> They will sell you things you don’t need and tell you to use salt that will require doses due to its a incomplete salt (Make sure all your salt does not have caking agent)

-- Be a veteran and go old school with RODI water and high-quality salt and stop ALL dosing / adding / mixing. You will spend less on high quality salt than the plethora of supplements

-- I Highly recommend that you use --> HW-Marinemix Reefer Salt Mix --> I suggest do 35% water change every week until you know all the old water is gone --> You will know when you test your tank it will have --> Calcium at 445-450 ppm, Alk of 9.0 dKH, Magnesium at 1380 ppm. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved HW-Marinemix as lab-grade saltmix that is approved for testing in labs for research on Maine animals. (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hw-marinemix-reefer-salt-mix.html#tab-full-details)

-- Put a high power quiet fan where you put your LED lights to help agitate the water surface. This will help cool your tank and your room. Plus, your ATO will be feeding Clean RODI water keeping your salinity stable. for that size of tank with livestock you don’t need Kalkwasser (Calcium Hydroxide). Put a air vent on the bottom of door to the back of tank room --> When your AC kicks on back-pressure will suck hot air out of room

-- Lastly enjoy your tank ... you have a setup people will give there left nut for .. make it simple and make it fun !!!!

Damien Brafford - 6 years ago

Saltwater aquarist in the 80s has crap tanks honestly this guy just doesn’t know how to use what he has

Ren M - 6 years ago

Killer Entertainment i

Robert Luebke - 6 years ago

You know the problem your tank has. I feel you dont really want to deal with it. Just like the Blenny i had to catch in my reef tank this morning. It was eating my sps. Anyways Im almost 99% sure its the ventilation in the fish room. Get some serious ventilation in there soon. It should have fresh air blasting it all day and all night. I know its the problem. Good luck its a beautiful tank!

915Mang - 6 years ago

I've had flatworms in the past. My wrasse took care of them. Looks like you have several wrasse in the tank.

Dee From Brooklyn - 6 years ago

it's funny you mentioned the ph change when the water goes outside cause I typically experience ph drops in summer when temperature goes up. . my frag tank went bollistic.. yellow coris wrasses love flat worms and little critters

abreezeducttesting - 6 years ago

I am HVAC Contractor in Ca.
For your room you could cut a hole in the wall 10" X 10" to allow air mix with your fish room air. cover it with a 10 " X10 " vent cover. cut the vent in low because CO2 is heavier then air, defeating the purpose.

abreezeducttesting - 6 years ago

nice setup
my tank is having low alkalinity issues do to a water softener system installed on my home. Good luck subb to you, if you have knowledge with softening systems please let me know thanks

abreezeducttesting - 6 years ago

Chris Anderson I never knew it had a by- pass. it's a newer unit, great idea thanks

Chris Anderson - 6 years ago

I found my tank did it's best with alk in the low 7 range. Never had any alk issues with my home softener but I do know that those systems have a bypass valve on them. You could push the bypass valve when you make your water and then put it back in place after you're done mixing your water.

Wil Santiago Reefing - 6 years ago

I'm having the same issues your having with PH. Lately it's going down to 7.56 and during the day 8.00. My SPS corals are still doing fine but really want my PH over 8.0. I also run the Hydra 52s HD. The only thing I've been doing lately is reducing my bio pellets slowly each week and I also added more live sand to my reef tank. Not sure if this is why my PH is dropping so low. I'm subbing to you to see if you find a solution. Lastly, I keep my back sliding door open most of the day but no effect on PH. My tank temp is 76.5 and run 2 Gyres X250s on a 100 gallon SPS dominated tank.

The Great Reefer - 6 years ago

Try extending the air intake tube of your skimmer outside of your house if you haven't done yet it would make a lot of difference. Good luck.

Wil Santiago Reefing - 6 years ago

Chris Anderson Thanks Chris, taking water outside made no difference. You may be right about the bacteria bloom. Will keep an eye on it.

Chris Anderson - 6 years ago

Take a cup of tank water outside, let is air out for 30 minutes and measure ph. If your ph rises then you know it's co2 in the house that's causing it. Also, you may have bacteria bloom issues from adding the live sand. Bacteria lowers ph.

50. comment for A walk through of my 300 gallon reef tank rebuild.

SinSillas Nano Reef - 6 years ago

Good Luck! Your Setup is looking awesome, Hope you get back on track soon. Subbed!

Roi - 6 years ago

very nice setup. IMO you have 2 options... sending a sample to a lab or doing a series of larger water changes to replace eventually 100% of the water... of course if the issue is some sort of parasite none of the above will help. reef tanks are a puzzle.

#Rossy's Reeftank - 6 years ago

where do you live?

Chris Anderson - 6 years ago

Floyds Knobs, IN

Northwestern Reefer - 6 years ago

Very nice system. I have subbed.

ReeferGil - 6 years ago

Wow! Amazing setup, so sorry about the crash issue. I hope it works itself out sooner than later. Subbed.

Daniel Salt - 6 years ago

beautiful house aswell as tank and nice and tidy fishroom to top it of, good stuff man!

CJ'S AQUARIUMS - 6 years ago

nice work man.. i subbed... keep doing what you do!

Chris Anderson - 6 years ago

Hey, I just watched one of your videos showing the LFS stores. I am in the Louisville, KY area too and agree with your assessments of the local LFS stores. GL!

Superyellowtang - 6 years ago

Beautiful setup wow

Cesca's Reef - 6 years ago

Great looking reef setup. Will look forward to updates :)

About A walk through of my 300 gallon reef tank rebuild.

The "A walk through of my 300 gallon reef tank rebuild." video is part of the reef tank, salt water category, which contains similar videos like this one.