300 gallon setup

i just ordered a new tank setup. looking at some good options for running it.

will be an acrylic setup from tenecor. 7x3x2 with dual internal overflows. dual 1.5 drain and 3/4 return.

i had a few questions regarding filtration and what pump to go with. i was thinking of 2 internal quiet one 9000. rated at 2000 gph. that way if 1 dies, the other one will keep filtering.

sump will be 5x2. approx 80 + gallons. so total for the entire system will be around 380 gals?

any advice on this!? my biggest tank is only a 210 so askin the pros whos built bigger tanks!

also have a jehmco 1000 watt heater and controller. is that enough for what im running?

what lighting would you suggest? i was looking at x2 3 foot lights. i have coralife ones with legs and wanted to do the same unless theres something better?

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13733&pcatid=13733

wanted these ones. but 245 each.

i want to run a uv as well. hows this one? do you guys run us light 24//7? or certain hrs a week?
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=7999

thanks in advance!!!

We got a 600 gallon for sale if you want it. Comes with canopy and stand.

for you tank you need like 18W or 36W uv light Mike. I have a 36W on my tank and its on 24/7 and the water is crystal clear but green algae still appear on the side of the tank. As for heater it is enough since you have it inside the house and no drip system. With your tank inside the pump itself is enough to heat up the tank and it might be too hot for summer as well. Plus the lighting you have and I am sure summer time it will be more then 30 degrees in your tank.

to be honest I have my 50watt UV which the bulb has burned out almost a year ago and I have not replaced it. Its goes through one of my external pumps so it's a lot of work to get rid of it and the bulbs are $100 and hard to get...even-though I've not had it working for a year now I've had no issues whatsoever with algae and or any nasties. My tank is next to a 4x5 window which doesn't get direct sunlight due to the curtains....leaves me to wonder if it's worth the cost to get a UV. As for lighting...although I have 4 x 3'ft lighting, I rarely have them on other to show off the fish....I use a 3ft T5 ($25) which stays on 7/24 in my canopy which gives me just enough light that all the white spots of my rays glow and my aros slightly light up....so learning from buying these expensive lighting....didn't really need them...nice to have but not a must.

I also have 2 (1000 & 500watt) titanium heaters with controller which I too have not had to use as the heat generated from my pumps keeps the water temp quite high (ie..85-88 all year round)....I use the auto top off of cold water directly into my tank vs. sump to control the temperature to 83-84 constant with no heaters.

The sump and auto top up is the key component in my opinion over lighting and UV.

exoticaquaria said:

i just ordered a new tank setup. looking at some good options for running it.

will be an acrylic setup from tenecor. 7x3x2 with dual internal overflows. dual 1.5 drain and 3/4 return.

i had a few questions regarding filtration and what pump to go with. i was thinking of 2 internal quiet one 9000. rated at 2000 gph. that way if 1 dies, the other one will keep filtering.

sump will be 5x2. approx 80 + gallons. so total for the entire system will be around 380 gals?

any advice on this!? my biggest tank is only a 210 so askin the pros whos built bigger tanks!

also have a jehmco 1000 watt heater and controller. is that enough for what im running?

what lighting would you suggest? i was looking at x2 3 foot lights. i have coralife ones with legs and wanted to do the same unless theres something better?

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13733&pcatid=13733




wanted these ones. but 245 each.

i want to run a uv as well. hows this one? do you guys run us light 24//7? or certain hrs a week?
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=7999

thanks in advance!!!

Click to expand...

Solid plan so far.

Cut the heaters in half too. 2 500watt heaters. Same reason as two pumps.

Good choice on pumps as well. You'll like them.

Lighting... try LED. You'll never use anything else. I love mine. Go with the marine land double brights. You can get two 3 foot lights for about $300 at MOPS, or J&L.

For a UV, i really like the aqua ultraviolet UVs. Very easy to plumb, and lamp lasts at least 14 months. I think mine lasted for 16-18months.
Run the UV 24/7..... hook it up inline with one your pumps. Slow the flow for longer contact time if you like. Something around 25 watts would be perfect.

hondas3000 said:

for you tank you need like 18W or 36W uv light Mike. I have a 36W on my tank and its on 24/7 and the water is crystal clear but green algae still appear on the side of the tank.

Click to expand...

UV does nothing for algae that grows on surfaces. It only treats the water that the light comes in contact with. So only free floating algae is treated(green water)

DragonfishExotics said:

We got a 600 gallon for sale if you want it. Comes with canopy and stand.

Click to expand...

Wow, 600 gallons! Now that would be sweet . I'd have to lift the roof off of the house to get it in.

Good to hear that you finally got your tank ordered!

The problem with quiet one pumps are a) the are not that quiet, and b) they have issues sometimes with starting and stopping. This may be less of an issue in a sump application, but if you power goes, or you stop the pumps during water change, you want something that will start up again without problems.
For your size of tank, I would consider getting two eheim compact 5000's. They're only rated for 1320gph each, but for your size of setup it is more than enough. Supplement your flow with a couple of powerheads and you're laughing. 4000GPH going through your sump in a freshwater setup of that size is way too much and doesn't serve much purpose.
Many people use the laguna pond pumps for returns as well. They are very durable, and use the same motorblock as the ones used in the the famed red dragon skimmer pumps (used in bubble king and vertex cone skimmers).

Otherwise I would consider a couple of sedra pumps. They are relatively quiet and run very well.

The heater should be more than enough. I'm using a 300W and a 400W heater on my tank and it's more than enough to keep it steady. Remember that acrylic has better insulation properties, so once the temp is up there, it's easier to keep there.


In terms of lighting, for that width, leds might not be the best option. Since they are point source (basically mini spot lights), the spread is generally not going to be as good.
I am using two marinelands Reef brites on my 30" wide 8 footer, and there are still some shadowy areas in the tank front to back.
Also, the color of the leds tend to be on the whiter side. It's great for african tanks, but if you want a warmer look, you might have to supplement with t-5.
If you are ok with the shadows, the leds are obviously going to be more efficient, give you that great shimmer, have less heat and allow you to never change bulbs for 8-10 years.

Personally, I think HO t-5's are still the best due to the mixture of price, availability and ability to choose the exact color you want.

If you want to go cheap, you could light that tank with two sunblaze t-5 fixtures with added reflectors. They go for around $30(+20 for the relector) and they come with bulbs!

For a more finished look, you can use either the coralife or aquanova double HO t-5 fixtures. Either way are looking at under $300, all in.


I run those UV's on 3 out of the 4 tanks I have. They work well, though don't rely on it too much for eradicating parasites. I'm not running one on my big tank, because the water flow needed to effectively kill parasites is much too slow for the overall volume of the tank. You really need something in the 55 watt range for it to work well for that purpose.

You may consider the laguna ones they have for ponds, 55 watts, but they're like 4 feet long. I saw them at king eds on the weekend. Go check it out if you're in the area.

thanks for the help guys! i still have a little bit of time to gather the odds and ends. just hope tenecor delivers on time lol.

ok so this setup is slowly progressing! getting the parts ready while waiting for tenecor to deliver the tank! they are overdue on the delivery date but i hope its worth the wait lol.

so far this setup is as follow:
300 gal tenecor, 150 gal custom sump, custom wooden stand, i will be running 2 quiet one 9000s, koralia magnum 8, jehmco 1000w heater and controller, coralife uv 36 watt, i will be using my existing compact flo lights for now and test if its bright enough. sump and stand should be done in a week but got a few pics of from the builders of their current status to share with you guys. the doors on the stand are still getting finished while the sump needs some drip plates put into it. thats all for now! enjoy!

im also looking for an auto top off. never used one before but can anyone share with me what they are using? best brand and how to set it up!?

just saw this on j&l. hows this one?
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/JBJ-AUTOT/JBJ+Automatic+Top+Off+System.html

anyways, just wanted to update the stand and sump. i was very happy with the stand. it came in great. looking a lot sturdier than my 210 all glass wooden stand. the sump could have been a little shorter but what can we do, its done lol. theres only about 6 inch of room for plumbing but it will have to make do.

special thanks for rich for helping me to pick up and transport my sump! took the 2 of us to carry this beast of a sump under the stand. good thing rich brought suction cups which made it A LOT easier to move the sump. it was also pouring rain today but we managed to get it inside my house and inside my stand so i can work on the plumbing until my tank arrives.

more to come!

have fun playing with the sump. it's good that you have the tank and sump before tank arrives as this will give you time to set it up. although my sump too is under the tank within the cabinet I wished i would have desiged it so that my sump is in the basement beneath the tank for future maintenance of the sump or if the sump for some reason breaks and I need to redo. Your sump has lots of compartment!....nice looking stand too!

chen88 said:

have fun playing with the sump. it's good that you have the tank and sump before tank arrives as this will give you time to set it up. although my sump too is under the tank within the cabinet I wished i would have desiged it so that my sump is in the basement beneath the tank for future maintenance of the sump or if the sump for some reason breaks and I need to redo. Your sump has lots of compartment!....nice looking stand too!

Click to expand...

thanks chen. now for the fun part to setup the plumbing! tonight ill be working on the egg crates to go into the sump. ive decided to go with 6 doors for the stand. 4 in the front and 2 side doors on each end of the stand so that if anything happens with the sump, i can slide it out from either side to work on it. i decided to go this route and pay more for a custom stand instead of buying one from tenecor because the 150 gal tenecor setup i have, the opening is tiny!!! doing maintenance to the sump is annoying because theres not much room for the opening and also very dark inside since its painted black. i wanted to custom a stand that is very open so more light can get in!

i had some time today to work on my sump. took a whole lot of time cutting away at the egg crate, japanese mat and pvc piping. i dont have the proper tools at home to speed up the process so i had to make do with the basic stuff i have at home! took forever for something so simple but the sump is getting there! i also, had to silicone extra bracing (pieces of glass) for where the egg crate sat because the size of the egg crate was too small and they would just fall in between the supports. aside from the glass supports i added 2 pieces of pvc, equal height to the bottom of the egg crate to support the middle. ill be using biohome media they basically a pretty heavy type of media. i didnt want to have the egg crate collapse on me! lol. lastly, im getting custom pieces of sliding glass for the top of the sump so it will keep the inside clean and to keep in heat during the winter. only thing left is to get a drip tray for the first compartment and 2 down pipe pvcs cut for the input chamber. i guess im off to home depot tomorrow!

heres what i was thinking for media so far.

Media Chambers:
Chamber 1 - Water input / Lots of Bioballs
Chamber 2 - Drip tray with filter floss then drips into thick sponge sitting on the first egg crate, biohome then japanese mat
Chamber 3 - Floating K1 Media, japanese mat
Chamber 4 - Ceramic ring, Crush Coral and japanese mat
Chamber 5 - 2 return pumps

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