240 GAL new setup

[RB Chagoi]

Greetings All,

I am an admitted neophyte to this hobby. Suckered in by my eternal cheapness and feeling sorry for my children. In early 2007, my son, an infantry officer, was leaving for deployment training. I helped him and his wife, a medical officer in the Army, move things to storage and my house. (Heaven forbid we put the nice furniture in climate controlled storage, ‘it won’t take up much room in your office). He talked about his 55 gallon tank and how he was just going to give it away. I made the mistake of asking how much he had invested. When he told me the price of the tank and stand, I thought, no biggie. Then he told me the cost of equipment, corals, and live rock. I just could not let him lose that investment. I took the ugly stand and smelly cesspool and moved it to my house. Although the little orange and white Nemo’s were cute, the wife and I thought it funny that anyone would want those stupid ugly corals.
Any of you afflicted with this horrific malady I have dubbed as "Marine Madness" will know the progression of the disease, before I speak of it. A plethora of mistakes, several hundred dollars, and a thimble full of knowledge ago, I started exhibiting minor symptoms. Now, I have a full blown case in advanced stages. My problem is, I do not want a cure, just to learn more. Even though I know that corals are the greatest, what a symbiotic relationship is between the Amphiprion ocellaris and Heteractis magnifica, and that I drink tap water but the fish get RO??? I know I really know nothing about this great hobby except one thing. I must have a bigger tank.
This brings me to the real point of this thread. I am in the process of setting up a 240 gallon, Clarity Plus aquarium. I bought the Aquarium on Craig’s List for a song. I have had a blast buffing it out. I am in no hurry to expedite the cycling, just want to do it right. After mush research and some good advice from many, I have the following dry goods on order:
Sump - ADHI Refugia 60
Pump - Reeflo SQ-Snap Gold
Skimmer - Royal Exclusiv Alpha 250 Cone Skimmer
Power heads - Ecotech MP40W Vortech
http://ecotechmarine.com/products/vortech-mp40w/
Lights - Aquatic Life 72” HID fixture

If you have any advice or comments on this equipment, please post it here. Also, if you have anything that will lessen the financial burden, like extra base or live rock, substrate or things I might be forgetting, at a good deal, please notify me. My wife is a wonderful lady, as this 8 ft monstrosity in our great room will attest. However, she is getting tired of the bills mounting. I think I have worn out my puppy dog eyes look .
Thank you in advance for the advice. I look forward to hearing from fellow enthusiasts.


Marine Madness

 

[drummereef]

[welcome]

 

[Capt_Cully]

That...is....beautiful!!!!!

Welcome. Looking forward to seeing the progression of your disease. Too funny.

 

[tipmoff]

Looking forward to seeing some pics as you start the process and welcome. This forum has a plethora of information about everything you may come across in moving forward with this project. I too have an understanding wife as I was just going to do a fish only tank and several months latter I have spent an additional grand on reef equipment...just couldn't help myself!
One way to help the budget is to look for a local reef community in your area. Yuo can chek this forum for a local or regional one near you. People in those reef forums are always looking to sell or trade slightly used equipment. Also you can purchase or trade for fish and corals. I just picked up 3 really nice corals for $25 the other day. Typically it would have cost at least $100 from the LFS.
Good luck with the build and post pics!

 

[j4mypets]

Hi and WELCOME

It is a disease that keeps getting worse with no cure, however, its one that can be explored, learned, and enjoyed.

About 2 days after bringing home my 180 I realized I wanted bigger and it will eventually be bigger.

My tastes have also changed since 2007 when I first joined this awesome website, and still change almost daily.

It is alot of work and money, but its all about what you enjoy. I personally think its worth it, and you will have many people who are close to you who think your nuts, but as long as you and your wife are happy thats what counts. It also is a huge factor to both be in it together, my husband and I are both equally into this hobby, and that makes all the difference.

Can't wait to see pics. Good luck and Enjoy.

PS Dont forget to thank your son and daughter in law for introducing you to such a wonderful hobby!:rollface:

 

[troublesx10]

I am new to the hobby myself, whys has been helping me a lot with all the questions and answers-------- i have a 220 that is going to be set up in 2 weeks.

Something i came across after seeing all the tanks with all these power heads all over the place, made me want to put something in that would move water without obstructing the view and attaching to the glass-------tunze wavebox 6212. I would highly recommend this as it seems to do all the work with minimal headache, need for additionals to put in tank, and low energy consumption..

it seems to work, can let you know more later when i install, but check out the website
www.tunze.com

i bought it on marinedepot.com

just an idea.

 

[RB Chagoi]

I appreciate the information on the Tunze. I will have to research and determine how or if this is an improvement over the Vortecs and their included wave maker. I see this is a separate unit from the powerheads, correct? I know the Ecotech wavemaker controls the powerheads to procude the wave effect. Is one technology superior? Is this just two different ways of achieving the same result? Insight here from anyone? I also still would like feedback, pro or con on the equipment I have selected. If it is functionally wrong, or their is better bang for the buck. I will return it. Thanks in advance!

 

[heartandsoul]

welcome !!!!!

 

[turretdr]

I have known people with both the Tunze wavebox and the Vortech 40, both like them. One major difference between the 2 is that the Vortech motor is outside of the tank vs the the Tunze being inside.

Maybe look into an 8ft light or going with a canopy to be able to mount 4 retro halides.

 

[heap]

one of the cheapest* ways to amass the rock you'll need, and potentially some incremental livestock and equipment additions is to buy existing full tank setups - take what you want of the setup, clean and resell the tank/stand/unused equipment. if you're patient, you can find full setups for sale at a price that can be recouped with selling just the tank, stand, and skimmer individually - the livestock, rock, lighting, etc are either yours to keep at no cost, or helpful in offsetting some other cost you'll surely encounter.

after i'd sold a couple of tank/stand/lighting leftovers, the rock for my 240 cost me nothing. think of it this way - there are other folks that are in the situation your kid was in.

*assuming you don't pay yourself an hourly wage for the time spent tearing down/reassembling/parting out/re-selling/etc, and won't have a spouse too unhappy with you you that you spent the initial outlay before you recoup tank cost to let it be worthwhile. also, tearing down/transporting tanks sucks ;^)

 

[RB Chagoi]

Heap, in lafayette

Heap, in lafayette

Small world, I am just down the road in Anderson. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

the MP40 is the Rolls Royce for water movement. I already envy you.!! Post pics in the build thread and I will definitely tag along

 

[troublesx10]

I did a lot of research on the tunze and there were a several deciding factors that i liked that led me to the purchase, 1. tunze wave box is singular unit = there is only one thing in the display tank, 2. the wave movement move everything in the tank = you wont need to worry about dead spots or trying to find angles to direct powerheads, 3. energy consumed and flexability in use = you can manually controll, program it, or have it simply run when the photo receptor recieves signal from lighting in tank: meaning if you have have lighting on timers that is all you have to program. the energy it uses is the lowest out of all the units i have seen and there is only one motor that pumps. 4: finally maintaince = there is only one thing you have to clean

 

[troublesx10]

Heap: what kind of fish is that on your profile pic----- i kind of like that and would like to put it in my tank when i get it up and running.

RE: craigslist for used tanks and goods--- i spent 6 months looking for stuff of craigslist..... what i can offer is if your patient you will find a great deal and good stuff. best of all you can recoup your money if the headache is worth it.

solid purchases best usable on second hand purchases are: tanks, skimmers, sumps/wet drys/refigiums. non eletrical/moving objects, things that are less likely to fail.

questionabe purchases on second hand purchases are: pumps, lighting, eletrical objects simply because you may not know what condition they are and how long they have been running or if the previous owner was up to date with maintaince

 

[RB Chagoi]

TroubleSX10,
That fish is a Zebrasoma desjardinii, or Red Sea Sailfin Tang. There is a more common sailfin that looks similar, the Zebrasoma veliferum, or Pacific Sailfin. The one telltale difference at first glance is the Pacific variety has a yellow tail fin.
I appreciate the advice on the Tunze. I did some research on the Tunze solution you describe and the Vortech solution. I was lucky with timing. At a frag swap yesterday, I talked with fellow enthusiasts, as well as a Tunze rep. I found that it is a good unit, but different from my taste. I do not want the wavemaker box in the tank. I will a have enough flow with the 3 MP40's, to eliminate dead spots. I believe either way is an acceptable way to achieve the desired result.