Down sizing. My new 240 rimless.

JPMagyar

JPMagyar

New member
After seeing the eye popping beauty of Invinvible569's rimless tank, and struggling with the overgrowth in my own acrylic 280 I decided to try for a new "feng sui" in my aquarium life. The goal is ease of maintenance, lots of "negative" space, and a concentration on a dozen or so of my personally favorite acro's. With that in mind I ordered a new 240 gallon rimless from GlassCages, and am in the process of changing over my system. So here's the opening salvo . . . The silver brackets are my stolen idea using 1/2 inch conduit bent into an L shape for hanging my dual 48 inch PFO fixtures which will house two 250 watt XM 10k MHs and two 250 watt 20k XM MHs all driven by PFO-HQI ballasts as well as four VHO actinic bulbs. Funny, considering I was the guy who ran three 1000 watt bulbs over my 280 just 4 years ago. I plan on painting the conduit black before installation, and adding a custom acrylic overflow cover as well as a black background. I'm still going back and forth on the circulation (haha - I made a funny without meaning to) between hidden Tunzes or an external recirc pump. My inspiration comes from Invincible569 and Steve Weast. Of course I don't have near the space either of them have, but I aim to try. Anyways, thats it for now . . . I'll be sure to keep ya posted ;)

Joe

GC1.jpg




GC2.jpg




LH2.jpg




GCEdge.jpg




LH1.jpg
 
JP, i cant wait to see evolution of this tank. You have the right idea and with that, it will be a great outcome. Thank you for the recognition. Keep the pics coming.
 
My poor ole' display tank.

My poor ole' display tank.

i cant wait to see evolution of this tank. You have the right idea and with that, it will be a great outcome.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement! I really struggled with the decision to go with GC, but in the end it came down to the huge difference in money between, ELOS, AquariumObsessed, and GlassCages. So far my experience has been a good one, but only the future will tell the real story . . .

Anyways, the transition is much slower than I originally planned. I tore down my main display tank because I had a problem losing some of my best corals to palythoa and overcrowding. I managed to salvage all but one of my favorites including:

Oregon Tortuosa
white w/ blue tip Tenuis
Cerealis
Purple Monster
Green Favia
Blue Milli
Reb Blasto
pink pocillipora
green scroll
purple humilis
blue tipped goniopora
plus my maxima and my anemone


The anemone has split again making 3 clones and one primary in all, one of which now resides at Greenwich Aquaria, but the other 3 are in the photo below. I moved all the savers into a temporary 180 in the basement along with all new LR which is totally pest free. I stored the LR in the 180 for about 3 months, independent of my main system until I was fairly certain I had vanquished all mojanos, palythoa, etc.

I found that reaching all corners of my 280 was impossible without major work and so one goal with the new setup is full hands on access to every nook and cranny of the tank. That way I hope to keep corals trimmed and pests like palythoa or mojanos non-existant. The new stand is only 24 inches tall making the top of the tank only 49 inches high. Perfect for viewing from a couch infront of the tank, and making for an arm's length reach to all corners of the tank with no ladder.

My poor ole' display tank, and the temporary 180.


180.jpg

280.jpg
 
Hey JP,

This is exactly what type of tank I'm looking at. GlassCages, cube, and something with a similiar style to Invicible's. I'll definetly be following the thread.

Good luck!

Andy
 
I'm so excited . . .

I'm so excited . . .

How tall is your stand? Will you be able to look down on the tank
Click to expand...


The stand is 48x48x24 and the tank is 48x48x25 so stand plus foam plus tank comes to just over 49 inches. Its perfect for looking down on while your standing or viewing straight ahead when seated on a couch.


As a small aside I realized today its more like a 220 gallon really considering that the inner dimensions are 47x47x23 and the water line will be about 1 inch below the top so the actual water volume will be 47x47x22 which is right about 220.


I'm excited to get this bad boy up and running. Right now the 180 in the basement is setup at a height where I can look down, and I haven't stopped getting a kick out of it yet. At the moment all I'm really waiting for are my lights. Originally I ordered dual 36 inch PFO hoods, but when they arrived I found the MH bulbs were to closely spaced. Lucky for me Marine Depot let me return them for a 10% restocking fee, and I ordered 48 inch hoods instead.

The hard part is I'm torn on my aquascaping ideas. Part of me really wants to minimize the LR in the tank to 2 narrow tall peaks for Acros plus a low centerpiece for my anemone, but another part of me wants to cover the back wall and build a T shape out from both sides of the overflow thus creating a cavern down the middle. Problem is option 2 might be difficult to do without bunching up the rock against the side walls.

I'm also struggling with my concept for the return line. I would like to build something like Steve Weast has where the rock work sits on a raised PVC platform and the return lines are hidden underneath, but if I go with the pinnacle idea it might be hard to hide the the plumbing. I'm planning on sand, but only a thin layer just enough to cover the bottom.

Ah, well all good problems to have I guess :)
 
Hello Joe, How do you like the built quality of GlassCages? I just get a quote from them today for my future 320g, they seem to have the best price in the market.
 
I have a 375 in wall, 240 4x4x2 and recently sold my 40 cube and I have no complaints. If you want to talk send me a PM I don't want to start a ****ing contest on JP's thread with the GC haters out there.
 
GC build quality.

GC build quality.

Hello Joe, How do you like the built quality of GlassCages? I just get a quote from them today for my future 320g, they seem to have the best price in the market.


__________________
Jarhead
Click to expand...


There are extensive discussions on GlassCages.com that you probably already read, but I will summarize my experience by saying so far I am pleased. I had expected sloppy silicone and sharp edges neither of which were true in my case. The silicone work is clean and bubble free and the top edge is polished and beveled. That's not to say my purchase was trouble free just that given the price I feel the product and service is what I expected.

Joe
 
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Joe,
Do you have a picture of someone standing next to the tank? I'd like to see how it measures up with someone standing next to it.
 
Joe,

I am actually thinking about getting the exact same tank from them and was wondering if that is sloppy silicone work in the 4th picture on your first post or what?
 
Pictures and silicone.

Pictures and silicone.

Do you have a picture of someone standing next to the tank?
Click to expand...

I'm in L.A. right now, but when I get home I'll try to get a shot with a person standing next to the front for perspective.



was wondering if that is sloppy silicone work in the 4th picture on your first post or what?
Click to expand...

Yes. I was trying to show the silicone work in that shot, and so picked what I thought was the worst area I could find.


Joe
 
Looks great Joe, can't wait to see the final product! I'm still trying to get my final aquascape - the only nice part about my SPS crash is that I don't have any pesky colonies to get in the way. :) I think it would be cool to have some "islands". Or you could go waaay minimalist like Leonardo's Reef's display.

Good luck! Cute kids, BTW.
 
Leonardo's Reef.

Leonardo's Reef.

Thanks Fliger! I love Leonardo's Reef so much I had to add a link to his thread. I was fascinated by his reference to Mg having an effect on coloration, and his use of Vodka and sugar. Seems more and more successful reefers are incorporating "bacteria feeding" into their routine. I'm leaning towards the same kind of minimalism shown in his reef with the exception that I want to focus on acro colonies that are slow growing and therefore remain smaller sized longer.


By the way is your tank stable enough for an Oregon Tort frag yet? I don't have much else at the moment because of the big teardown and sale I ran a few weeks back, but I do have a large colony of ultra blue Oregon Tort and its just waitin' for me to cut you a free frag.

Joe
 
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