An elegant 200 gallon double D starfire build / 320 gallon system

elegance coral

elegance coral

They call me EC
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I finally get to play with the big boys.:beer:

I'm upgrading from this overstocked 120.
newpics2-08-11042edited.jpg


To this 200gl DD.
200gallonDD003edited.jpg


I will be using the 120 as a sump for the 200.
 
I've started work on the stand and canopy. The bottom piece of the stand will be 30" high, and the top piece will be 10", with three drawers in it. I had to build it in two pieces to get it in the door. I need the 40" tall stand to house the 120 with my skimmer. I also had to build the stand with an inside dimension of 50" so the 120 gallon tank would fit inside.
3-24-11tankpica003edited.jpg


3-24-11tankpica005edited.jpg
 
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FishboyDave said:
nice build. what are you doing for the stand support 4x4s?
Click to expand...

It will have very little in the way of frame work. The skin will be 1.5 inches thick. Two 3/4" sheets of plywood glued/screwed together. There will be vertical one by fours in the corners for added support. Everything will be glued and screwed together. At least that's the plan as of right now. Subject to change.
 
For those of you with deep dimension tanks, or other deep tanks front to back, what are you using to light them? One MH on each side is plenty for my 120, but with the three foot front to back, I don't think one MH will cut it.
 
I think one MH on each side with lumenarc reflectors would be good. I plan on angling the lumenarc reflectors so that they are tilted towards the back. This will cut down on the light "lost" using them conventionally pointing down and will cut down on the algae build up on the front glass as it wont be lit.

Your 120 looks stunning, I see why they call you EC
 
Best of luck with the transfer. What clowns are you keeping in the new tank? With so many cool anemones I would be interesting to drop a clutch in there.
 
elegance coral said:
It will have very little in the way of frame work. The skin will be 1.5 inches thick. Two 3/4" sheets of plywood glued/screwed together. There will be vertical one by fours in the corners for added support. Everything will be glued and screwed together. At least that's the plan as of right now. Subject to change.
Click to expand...

I think that might work. Ive seen it done before just not on a 200 gal. Thats 1760lbs. Id use gorilla wood glue. Make sure all the sides are completely sealed. My $0.02.
 
mobert said:
Best of luck with the transfer. What clowns are you keeping in the new tank? With so many cool anemones I would be interesting to drop a clutch in there.
Click to expand...

:wavehand: Hope your tank is still doing well. Those newer videos you posted are awesome!

Here's my perc's and my gigantea. The gigantea was bleached pretty bad when I first got it. I'm planning on raising a clutch of their eggs and adding several to this tank. Not 27 though.:lol: Maybe ten????? I want to save room for other fish like anthias.

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FishboyDave said:
I think that might work. Ive seen it done before just not on a 200 gal. Thats 1760lbs. Id use gorilla wood glue. Make sure all the sides are completely sealed. My $0.02.
Click to expand...

The factory stand the comes with these tanks is made of 3/4" material. They are much shorter than the one I'm building though. I may end up scraping what I've done on the stand so far. I'm still undecided on how I want to build it. It's kinda tricky because I can't put the supports directly under the tank like normal. The sump is the same length as the display tank. I have to build the stand wider than the display, then counter-lever in to support each side of the display. I want to minimize the width of the stand, while still accommodating the 4' sump.
 
d3hree said:
I think one MH on each side with lumenarc reflectors would be good. I plan on angling the lumenarc reflectors so that they are tilted towards the back. This will cut down on the light "lost" using them conventionally pointing down and will cut down on the algae build up on the front glass as it wont be lit.

Your 120 looks stunning, I see why they call you EC
Click to expand...

I have two of the DIY Lumenarc mini reflectors. I may try those with some T5's. Right now I'm running an all in one light fixture. Two 250W MH's and two T5's. I don't think this fixture alone will support the 200.
 
Wow, nice upgrade EC! I'm planning a upgrade in a year and can't wait to see you roll into this one. What are you plans for rock? I think if your lighting equipment doesn't work out, its time for a DIY LED setup, its looking like it has all the benefits and only bad thing is the initial investment which will be made up pretty quickly when you look at the power saving and bulb replacements saved:smokin:
 
elegance coral said:
For those of you with deep dimension tanks, or other deep tanks front to back, what are you using to light them? One MH on each side is plenty for my 120, but with the three foot front to back, I don't think one MH will cut it.
Click to expand...

I'll be using 4 AI sol blue units on my 200 DD.
 
Conrad25 said:
Wow, nice upgrade EC! I'm planning a upgrade in a year and can't wait to see you roll into this one. What are you plans for rock? I think if your lighting equipment doesn't work out, its time for a DIY LED setup, its looking like it has all the benefits and only bad thing is the initial investment which will be made up pretty quickly when you look at the power saving and bulb replacements saved:smokin:
Click to expand...

I'm going to use the rocks from the 120. I have other rocks out in the shed. I also have two tanks in my fish room, I've been wanting to break down. If I do, I'll use rocks from there as well. I plan on having three stacks of rocks. One stacked up in each rear corner covering the overflows, and one front and center.

I believe the LED lights are going to keep improving and getting less expensive. I'm sure I'll be going LED before its over, but I don't want to buy LED's today, and have better, more powerful, LED's come out next month for half the price. I'm really debating between running two MH's and allot of T5's, or four MH's and just a couple of T5's.
 
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