h2so4hurts
New member
As a long time lurker of the large reef tank section, I'm happy to finally be able to start a build thread here! I currently have a 150 gallon SPS reef tank that I fabricated out of 1/2" acrylic last year. It's hanging tough, but of course bigger is always better!
I recently got a new job, they have a 90 gallon reef tank in their lobby and once they saw the webcam of my tank they wanted it for themselves. Breaking down a tank, moving it a 1,000 miles, and then setting it back up is doable, but would require an army and a lot of No-doze. To ease the tank transition, I will be building a 240 gallon tank (96"x24"x24") out of 3/4" acrylic and moving it up 2 weeks before my livestock. I have the sheets ordered from my acrylic shop and they should be ready in a few weeks. I'll be pinning the build and using WeldOn-4 as I did for the 150 build.
Lighting:
This will be a DIY build using RapidLED solderless LEDs in parallel with two Meanwell HLG-320H-42B drivers. People are probably going to chime in about my color mix, but I went with 2:1 royal blue to cool white. I have this arrangement on another tank. It has great growth and I love the color.
216 3W CREE LEDs
9-6x9 heatsinks 24 leds per (8CW, 16RB)
RapidLED Dimmer
72 Cool white XP-G solderless
144 Royal blue XT-E solderless
Resistors, fuses, fans, etc...
Plumbing:
I'm going with 4x 1.5" internal durso overflows painted black
Returns will be 4x 3/4" loc-line split 2 ways each
Sump is two 40 breeders connected with 2" PVC
One 40 breeder will hold the filtration, the other will be a fuge with a 4" DSB and macro. I'll add glass baffles just before the return
Return pump is a Reeflo Dart
Skimmer:
ASM G5 - Nothing fancy...
Media:
TLF 550 - GFO
TLF 550 - ROX carbon
Flow:
2x MP60w ES
4x Koralia Evo 1400's on a RedSea Wavemaster pro
Rock:
150 lbs Pukani
150 lbs BRS reef saver
Chemicals:
Top off from two 15 gallon tanks of dilute CaCl and NaCO3
Stand:
2x4 structure
Skinned with pine
Stained Dark
Fish list:
TBD, but my current tank has:
2 BG chromis (Probably get rid of these)
Royal Gramma
Powder blue tang
Desjardini Sailfin
Copperband Butterfly
Spotfin butterfly
Sunburst Anthias
Moorish Idol
Tomato clown pair
I'll probably add:
Purple Tang
Achilles Tang (or White cheek)
School of Bartlett's anthias
Some form of a toby puffer maybe a leopard or valentini
Mystery Wrasse
A proganthodes sp butterfly (Probably a longnose atlantic...because they don't cost a fortune)
QT system:
30Long and an Aquapod 25
25watt UV sterilizer
Lots of rid-ich plus, buckets for tank transfer, Prazipro, etc
If all of my shipments come in this week, I'll get started on building the stand, drilling the breeders, and plumbing the return pump. The parts for the lighting build won't be in until next week.
Stay tuned for pictures
I recently got a new job, they have a 90 gallon reef tank in their lobby and once they saw the webcam of my tank they wanted it for themselves. Breaking down a tank, moving it a 1,000 miles, and then setting it back up is doable, but would require an army and a lot of No-doze. To ease the tank transition, I will be building a 240 gallon tank (96"x24"x24") out of 3/4" acrylic and moving it up 2 weeks before my livestock. I have the sheets ordered from my acrylic shop and they should be ready in a few weeks. I'll be pinning the build and using WeldOn-4 as I did for the 150 build.
Lighting:
This will be a DIY build using RapidLED solderless LEDs in parallel with two Meanwell HLG-320H-42B drivers. People are probably going to chime in about my color mix, but I went with 2:1 royal blue to cool white. I have this arrangement on another tank. It has great growth and I love the color.
216 3W CREE LEDs
9-6x9 heatsinks 24 leds per (8CW, 16RB)
RapidLED Dimmer
72 Cool white XP-G solderless
144 Royal blue XT-E solderless
Resistors, fuses, fans, etc...
Plumbing:
I'm going with 4x 1.5" internal durso overflows painted black
Returns will be 4x 3/4" loc-line split 2 ways each
Sump is two 40 breeders connected with 2" PVC
One 40 breeder will hold the filtration, the other will be a fuge with a 4" DSB and macro. I'll add glass baffles just before the return
Return pump is a Reeflo Dart
Skimmer:
ASM G5 - Nothing fancy...
Media:
TLF 550 - GFO
TLF 550 - ROX carbon
Flow:
2x MP60w ES
4x Koralia Evo 1400's on a RedSea Wavemaster pro
Rock:
150 lbs Pukani
150 lbs BRS reef saver
Chemicals:
Top off from two 15 gallon tanks of dilute CaCl and NaCO3
Stand:
2x4 structure
Skinned with pine
Stained Dark
Fish list:
TBD, but my current tank has:
2 BG chromis (Probably get rid of these)
Royal Gramma
Powder blue tang
Desjardini Sailfin
Copperband Butterfly
Spotfin butterfly
Sunburst Anthias
Moorish Idol
Tomato clown pair
I'll probably add:
Purple Tang
Achilles Tang (or White cheek)
School of Bartlett's anthias
Some form of a toby puffer maybe a leopard or valentini
Mystery Wrasse
A proganthodes sp butterfly (Probably a longnose atlantic...because they don't cost a fortune)
QT system:
30Long and an Aquapod 25
25watt UV sterilizer
Lots of rid-ich plus, buckets for tank transfer, Prazipro, etc
If all of my shipments come in this week, I'll get started on building the stand, drilling the breeders, and plumbing the return pump. The parts for the lighting build won't be in until next week.
Stay tuned for pictures