Dan and Meg's 240L

[Zepplin]

Hello fellow reefkeepers! I'll start with a quick background introduction, or reintroduction... About a decade ago my wife and I had a 125 setup in our crappy little apartment in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We were heavily involved in the reefkeeping community, including running porcupinepuffer.com and Meg was even the president of the WMMAC ( West Michigan Marine Aquarium Club ). We sold frags all over the country and were fortunate enough to meet lots of wonderful people in the hobby.

When time came for us to move we decided to leave the hobby we dearly loved so we could focus on our lives and careers. We promised ourselves once we had a nice house and enough income to buy a great setup then we would discuss getting back in...

That time has finally come. Woohoo! So after lots of research, debating how big did we REALLY need, the decision was made to go 96"x24"x24". Big but not overwhelming.

The tank is going to be a custom build by GPS - 1" acrylic with Euro bracing and internal overflow. It has been ordered but won't arrive home until mid April so in the meantime we're trying to get a stand and canopy built. The tank will be located in the main living area so we want it to be quiet and the stand/canopy needs to look fantastic.

The plan is to have it be somewhat lightly stocked fish wise, and focus on SPS, Zoanthids, and Ricordea. LED for lighting (most likely Kessils), calcium reactor, big skimmer, DC pumps, and everything controlled by an Apex. I'm a software nerd so obviously data and logging make me happy. It's amazing how much the hardware has advanced in the past 10 years. We're believers in keep it simple, so in that mantra we think emulating nature is what's best... So DSB in main tank plus refugium and skimmer and lots of water flow are pretty much the only filtration we want.

I'll be sure to document the whole thing if nothing else for my own amusement.

Here is the tank design.

 

[worm5406]

Yes please document it including lots of pictures.

Welcome back!

 

[Zepplin]

Ok, some updates.

Stand has been designed and we found a local hobbyist who is going to build it for us. We were lucky he was referred to us as he has built some amazing things in wood, including multiple stands.

Lights have been ordered: 4x Kessil A360WE, 5x 12" Build My LED 20K
Ordered an wall mounted exhaust fan which will be connected to the canopy and exhaust the air outside of the house. I don't want to have the house become a rain forest.

The rest of the hardware will be ordered Monday or Tuesday.

Stand Specs:
Total Outside Dimensions
97.5 x 25.5 x 39.25

Regular wood
2 - Red = 94.5 x 1.5 x 3.5
2 - Orange = 19.5 x 1.5 x 3.5
14 - Green = 28.25 x 1.5 x 3.5
4 - Dark Green = 37.25 x 1.5 x 3.5
5 - Yellow = 19.5 x 0.75 x 3.5
7 - Light Blue = 19.5 x 1.5 x 5.5 - center piece may not work with overflow
2 - Dark Blue = 94.5 x 1.5 x 5.5
1 - Transparent grey sheet, green in others = 94.5 x 0.75 x 22.5
1 hole 30in x 8in center back
1 - Dark Brown back Sheet = 96 x 0.75 x 38
1 - Purple = 97.5 x 0.75 x 5.5
1 - NOT ON DIAGRAM = < 96 x 0.5 x < 24 bottom sheet

Walnut:
2 - Light Brown sheet = 38h x 0.75 x 24w
1 hole in each side 8.5 x 27.75
positioned 3in. from bottom, 8.5 inches in
1 - Front Facade sheet = 96 x 0.75 x 38
2 holes in front sheet = 34.5 x 27.75
positioned 3in. from bottom, 8.5 inches in
2 - Side horizontal top trim = 25.5 x 0.75 x 5.5
1 - Front horizontal top trim = 97.5 x 0.75 x 5.5
7 - Vertical front and side trim pieces = 30.75 x 0.75 x 5.5
4 - Front Doors = 30.75 x 0.75 x 18.75
Mounted 1.5in from bottom, 7inches in from outside of trim
2 - Side Doors = 30.75 x 0.75 x 11.5
Mounted 1.5in from bottom, 7inches in from outside of trim

CAD Design:

 

[Zepplin]

One more.

 

[Zepplin]

Final Stand and some canopy design pics...

 

[dave.m]

240L is only 63 US gallons. Did you mean 240 gal?

Dave.M

 

[sarens]

are you going to put foam under the tank on the top? Congrads on the big step up and getting back in, you must be missing MI weather this winter, it was -17 at my place Thursday
-should be cool, are you doing the sump right under the tank or remote?

-I'm with you on the simple part, I'm going simple as possible

 

[Zepplin]

240L = 240 Long = 240 Gallons with 96" front.

Yes, 3/4" foam board under the tank.

HA! Yeah, we're not really missing Michigan so much right about now. It's actually be really cold here lately (30's) and it's amazing how whussy you get living in the South. I used to think 30's were nice, and now I'm miserable when it's below 50!

 

[Zepplin]

Ok, some updates... Stand making progress, all hardware ordered. Starting to get exciting.

 

[worm5406]

Nicely laid out.

In position it should look great!

 

[Zepplin]

More updates today. Stand frame is done! Picking up the walnut stock tomorrow. And the tank is basically done! It will ship out next week![emoji41]

The level of detail in the tank and stand are fantastic. Lance at GPS Aquarium has done a great job, as has our stand builder Robert.

 

[Zepplin]

Lots of updates. Tank is on it's way, most of the hardware is here, 500 lbs. of sand arrive tomorrow, and the stand is nearly done.

Pipe heater attached to the RO line and water change line that are run outside the house, below the deck from the kitchen to the tank.

Testing the exhaust fan for the canopy.

 

[worm5406]

I wondered why the cable looked watery on channel 3.

Good job.

 

[Zepplin]

Almost all of the hardware is here now. The stand is built, and now it just needs to be sanded and polished up. Had a setback with the sand. We ordered almost 500lbs of sand from Marco Rocks, but the shipper completely destroyed the boxes and almost all of the sand was lost in shipping. I ended up refusing delivery and called Marc. He definitely came through for me. New sand is shipping out (different shipper obviously), and we had a nice chat about live rock. I will definitely be getting LR from him.

Walnut removed for sanding and staining.

Finished look minus trim

Reef Octopus 220 Elite int, sro3000 CaRX, and gyre 150

Sand delivery

 

[Zepplin]

Tank arrived today! Woohoo! Lance from GPS Aquariums did an amazing job! The attention to detail is outstanding!

Meg dreaming of corals...

And the electrician wired up a dedicated circuit for the tank.

 

[Oldude]

looks great - tagging along.

 

[Zepplin]

The stand will be delivered Saturday! Only remaining piece is the sump which might be ready this weekend as well.

The stand looks stunning! Robert was able to get a dark look while making sure the beautiful walnut grains still show crisp. Pictures really don't do the wood justice, it's very beautiful in person.

Also, our second attempt at getting sand delivered was a success! USPS delivered all 480lbs!

 

[daplatapus]

That looks sweet guys, well done.
Although the lady in the 4th pic doesn't look all that impressed

 

[Zepplin]

That looks sweet guys, well done.
Although the lady in the 4th pic doesn't look all that impressed

Ha!

 

[Zepplin]

It's here!