New 300 gal salt water

I am new to saltwater and have purchaced a 300 gal acrylic tank. I have a 30 gal wet dry filter system. I have had may fresh water tanks but never salt water. The tank has 2 over flows. I am kind of lost on hae to set everything up and what to get. Pump size, plumbing, lighting, heat, rock, sand ect.. Looking for advice on exatly what to get and how I should set this monster up.

 

will this work for a pump?

Power Voltage: 110V / 60Hz / 6.2AMP

Speed: 3450 RPM

Above-Ground / On-Ground Pools

1HP Long Lasting Motor

1-1/2" Female Pipe Thread Connections

6Ft Long Power Cord

Fluid Temperature Up To 140 Deg F.
Maximum Ambient Temperature 104 Deg F.
Drain Plug For Easy Maintenance Of Pump Corrosion-Proof

Transparent Cover Allows You To See When Basket Needs To Be Clean

1-1/2" Electric water pump with strainer designed to pump, clean and filtering. Featuring high performance 1HP motor with stainless steel shaft and thermal overload protection for maintenance-free operations that give 3960Gallons Per Hour. Ideal for swimming pools, spa, fountain liquids, and other industrial applications.

15" x 5" x 7" (L x W x H)

 

wow. thats huge, gana be sweet.

I'm sure more people will chime in by morning but here are the basics:

First are you going to keep a reef or FOWLR? Some fish will eat corals (not "reef safe fish") so you need to think about what you would rather have in your tank.

Water:
RODI unit is a very good idea (IMO a must). I would not want to address an algae out brake in a 300g and getting water from LFS will be a pane with that much water.

Lighting: if your keeping FOWLR you will be fine with power compacts. MH are needed to keep SPS corals. And T5 lights are great for LPS and soft corals. so you need to think about what you are going to keep. Also MH add lots of heat to fish tank so you may need a chiller.

Filtration: Again, depends on what your going to have (REEF or FOWLR). Using the overflows I would get a large sump 30g+. this is where you will house all your equipment. Having a 300g rated skimmer will filter out dissolved organic waste, and should be put in the sump or attached to the sump. Also, Carbon and Phosphate reactors will aid in keeping water clean (got mine at BRS.com). Some people choose to use a UV sterilizer but if your keeping a reef tank the use of it can kill wanted organisms.

Additives/supplements: Reef tank need many different elements in the water for corals to live. most importantly they need calcium and stable Ph. look into calcium reactors (they can be very $$$$). i would also say look into 2 part B-ionic dose but for 300g tank that will be very costly long term.

Water flow: reef tanks need good water flow to stimulate growth and to keep waste suspended in the water so it can be filtered out. look into Tunze or Koralia for circulating the water within you tank. Or do some research about closed loop circulation. Also a rule of thumb is to have your retune pump have a turnover rate of about 10X your tank volume so for you 3000GPH.

Additional stuff: as you get more comfortable with SW you can look into having a refugium which aids in biological filtration. Test kits-- Ph,Nitrite,Nitrate,Ammonia,Alk, Calcium,Mg, Specific gravity.

Other then that your off to the right start by looking to 3Reef for guidance. Snoop around the site and read as much as you can before you start. i have not even started talking about the cycling process of the tank and all that follows. look in the "new to the hobby" thread, "Filtration" thread, "chemistry" thread, ect...

 

On sand and Rock:

A typical sand bed is about 2in deep. but it depends on what you are trying to accomplish so more info is needed form you on that. if you make your sand bed deeper then about 4in you can potentially create an anaerobic sand bed that acts as a de nitrate filter but can be trouble if you disturb it. like i said, 2in sand bed is good. I would add finer dry sand to your tank and then add 1 or 2 bags of "live sand" to provide some beneficial bio and help get the tank started.
Rock: Fiji Live rock is the most common i believe and is great for you tank. it can be very expensive so most people suggest buy dry fiji rock (bass rock) and then buy some Live Fiji Rock to seed your tank with coraline. This rock will be very good in bio filtration and as it ages and more coraline grows on it, it will become a beter filter.

 

dang thats a huge tank to start with. good luck! you have the best consortium of people here to help. im new to the reef keeping myself otherwise id be able to actually give you something useful to use.

that pump looks massiv

 

and one thing i can say is the pump itself has hose barb fittings and id rather plumb it in. so id get a version that had NPT fittings. i like to be 100% sure im not gonna have water on my floor

 

yes that pump should be good.

 

just a thought but i would make sure the pump doesn't have any copper or bronze in it,the plug looks iffy.

 

I would like to do non agressive and coral if I can live and hard not realy sure yet going to do little by little first. I want to set the tank up so it takes care of most by itself. I want everything in there to help this as much as possible

 

ok I bought the pump above cost only $119 but its made in china. Looks ok though. I realy want to set this plumbing up right and I am looking for help. I have 2 overflows in the tank with 2 return lines. I also have a 30 gal wet dry system. What else should I get to incorporate into this system to do it right the first time. I see alot of diffrent things out there. Can ayone please let me know everything I should have and how I should set this up? money is no problem