300g FOWLR Equipment Suggestions

[Wes]

Hi Everyone,

I am planning/pricing out a 300g in-wall setup in my new house. It might be a while before it is done. Still in the early stages of planning and a new-born baby is keeping us pretty busy.

Anyway, I originally wanted a in-wall reef. But keeping it FOWLR is sort of a compromise. Most of the fish my wife likes are not reef-safe. And obviously a FOWLR setup will be much cheaper.

The tank will be located in the garage and viewable from the living room.

I am probably going to go with the Marineland deep dimension 300g (72"x36"x27").

I definitely want a skimmer thats pretty good. Going to have a few big messy eaters. I am looking for suggestions.

I was thinking about

MRC Reeflo skimmer
Vertex Red Dragon Cone
or a Nice Beckett.

This is my first FOWLR setup. I would like to keep it pretty low maintenance . I want to keep the price down but i will not skimp on the important stuff.

All input are appreciated.

The summers are pretty hot here in NC so i am wandering if i will need a chiller since the tank is in the garage. Garage is insulated so that helps a bit.

I am also looking for lighting suggestions. Minimal lighting will be done for aestetic purposes. Maybe a few T5 HO tubes...

Like i said, i am new to FOWLR so all input is appreciated.

I will keep the 65g reef running. It was alot of work moving it. I lost some fish, but all my corals/clams/inverts survived the trip.

 

[cali_reef]

After having a 48"x30"x24" in wall reef tank and a 300G FOWLER, I can tell you the following:

Try to have access from the front. working blind from the back was tough for a reef tank, catching fish in such wide tank from the back will be impossible..

I would go longer in length for a FOWLER, 6 feet is short for tangs to get good workouts, all my fish were much happier when I switch out the 6 foot tank to an 8 footer.

For the skimmer choice, I have been using a BK300EXT fro the last few years and I think it is not enough to keep a heavy stocked 300G FOWLER clean. I currently also have a Alpha 200 cone in the sump of the 300G, they are not rated correctly and I think the 200 will not even support a well stocked 150G tank. I would look for the largest skimmer body I can afford and get a good pump to drive the beckett, being noise and size should not bother you too much in a garage.

Is there another floor above the garage? I think the chiller will be unavoidable if the garage's air temp is the same as outside air temp in NC.

 

[ClosetFishGeek]

I have always been a fan of becketts....they are wicked and anyone that has used one will attest to this. Although, the new orca pro from mrc looks fantastic. Cant go wrong with either one... What type of fish will you be housing in this tank ? Also good flow still plays a great part in fish health as well. Lighting t5 all the way with some lunar lights....

 

[masterswimmer]

Wes, congrats on your new addition. Best of luck on the move.

If I were you I would continue down the path you're planning, but set everything up, equipment wise, as if you were setting up a reef. This way when you ultimately decide to start adding coral :biggrin: you'll be all set to go

You know you can't get out forever.

Again, congrats on your new frag.

Russ

 

[Wes]

thanks for the suggestions. My wife loves puffers, tangs, angels, and triggers. So probably some kind of mix of those fish.

yes the master bedroom is above the garage but it is way up there. The garage has a high ceiling. The house sits on a foundation w/ crawl space. The garage floor is ground level. In other words steps are on the garage entrance to the house. So the tank will sit over 6 feet in the air from the garage floor. Since it will be so high up i want to have the stand built with a cat walk of sorts for maintenance.

If i go with the Marineland 300g i will save quite a bit vs. custom. My new LFS will order me one for $1750. So the dimensions of 72" x 36" x 27" might be good enough

Any suggestions on a beckett skimmer?

I was looking at the austin oceans (barr aquatics) but i am not sure what model and pump would be good.

Russ,
Thanks. The equipment i put on this will definitely be useable if i were to turn it into a reef. I'm just not going to go nuts on lighting and flow. I also won't be spending any money on calcium reactors, controllers, etc.

 

[cali_reef]

How tall are you? Cat walks are a pain, I had that on the in wall tank. Make sure you have plenty of space around the tank if you go that route.

I had the Barr 4200 on a 400+ gallon heavy stock system, best skimmer I have ever used..

 

[Wes]

nice which pump did you use on the 4200?

 

[ClosetFishGeek]

I am using this quad beckett and absolutely love it....http://www.myreefcreations.com/MR-C4848-Commercial-Protein-Skimmer

with a hammerhead pump.....I like the barr aquatics skimmer line as well...but customer service and reaching them is non-exsistant.

 

[cali_reef]

nice which pump did you use on the 4200?

A pump made by predecessor of Reeflo, the name escape at the moment.. It's rated at 6,200GPH, I used it to feed a 180 display tank one floor up, the in wall reef with two eductors and a prop tank. The pump was great but a power drainer.

I would not feed the skimmer from the main return pump, too problematic when it comes to feeding time.

 

[cali_reef]

I am using this quad beckett and absolutely love it....http://www.myreefcreations.com/MR-C4848-Commercial-Protein-Skimmer

with a hammerhead pump.....I like the barr aquatics skimmer line as well...but customer service and reaching them is non-exsistant.

Barr no longer sell skimmers, you should try contacting Austin Oceans.

The old Barr skimmer were build very well, almost as good as a BK in quality..

MRC sucks ass..

 

[pecan2phat]

A pump made by predecessor of Reeflo, the name escape at the moment.. It's rated at 6,200GPH,

Sequence

 

[cali_reef]

Sequence

That's it.. I still have it in the box :lol2:

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