My 240G Addiction - It's a Miracle
- Thread starter jknecht
- Start date
drama07
I had a tank made by Miracles also. Great people to work with!
I also worked Paul from Oceans motion to get my plumbing on my 4 way setup. Paul worked with me and Derek for location of all drilled bulk head locations.
You will be very happy with the quality of the tank.
Good Luck on your project.
Brian
I had a tank made by Miracles also. Great people to work with!
I also worked Paul from Oceans motion to get my plumbing on my 4 way setup. Paul worked with me and Derek for location of all drilled bulk head locations.
You will be very happy with the quality of the tank.
Good Luck on your project.
Brian
jknecht
Member
Thanks for the compliments. It's nice to be able to share my build with everyone. I have followed a lot of great builds on RC and that's where a lot of my ideas start.
It's time for an update. I can't believe it's been over two months since I last updated the thread.
I have moved everything out of the 90G. Everything survived except one of my BTA's decided to get to close to a Vortech. :mad2: During the move I decided to cook all of the live rock. I have some of it in the tank but most of it is still cooking. I hope to pull it out this week.
Most of the work I've been doing has been in the fish room. I still need to clean everything up under the tank.
Here are some updated pics.
Fish room BEFORE shot
AFTER shot
Here are the auto top off float switches
It's time for an update. I can't believe it's been over two months since I last updated the thread.
I have moved everything out of the 90G. Everything survived except one of my BTA's decided to get to close to a Vortech. :mad2: During the move I decided to cook all of the live rock. I have some of it in the tank but most of it is still cooking. I hope to pull it out this week.
Most of the work I've been doing has been in the fish room. I still need to clean everything up under the tank.
Here are some updated pics.
Fish room BEFORE shot
AFTER shot
Here are the auto top off float switches
jknecht
Member
The probe holder
I took my old GenX PCX40 and used it for my water change pump.
Water change check valve and plumbing
UPS for the ReeFlo Hammerhead Gold. It's produces a true sine wave. It runs the pump for about 20 minutes. I have the Vortech battery backups for my Vortechs so I'm covered in case of a power outage.
I also got rid of my Phosban Reactors in favor of this GEO 618 Media Reactor. I love it! I'm running Chemi Pure in there. I'm eventually going to hard plumb it.
On the skimmer front; I have also been speaking with Spazz about building a Volcano skimmer for me. I hope to change my skimmer soon. I don't have a large bio load yet so the old modded ASM G3 is hanging in there.
I took my old GenX PCX40 and used it for my water change pump.
Water change check valve and plumbing
UPS for the ReeFlo Hammerhead Gold. It's produces a true sine wave. It runs the pump for about 20 minutes. I have the Vortech battery backups for my Vortechs so I'm covered in case of a power outage.
I also got rid of my Phosban Reactors in favor of this GEO 618 Media Reactor. I love it! I'm running Chemi Pure in there. I'm eventually going to hard plumb it.
On the skimmer front; I have also been speaking with Spazz about building a Volcano skimmer for me. I hope to change my skimmer soon. I don't have a large bio load yet so the old modded ASM G3 is hanging in there.
Last edited:
chrisqueenz
New member
Wow, sweet set-up!
Awesome build. It's making me more excited about my setup. I'm currently finishing the basement with an in wall reef planned of almost identical size. I love Miracles tanks, but the AGE tanks are really nice as well, esp. the PVC bottom. Tough choice. I have yet to price compare, but I'm sure AGE is more...
Your fishroom looks very professional. I'm trying to take a similar approach. Can't wait to see more.
Your fishroom looks very professional. I'm trying to take a similar approach. Can't wait to see more.
jknecht
Member
I agree the AGE tanks are very nice. When I started looking into having a tank built I contacted Miracles, AGE, and Aquarium Obsessed. AGE said they would send me a quote and they never got back to me. AO was more expensive than Miracles and I really liked the support from Miracles; they are one of the best companies I have ever dealt with. Definitely no regrets!
jknecht
Member
I don't have much new to report. I ordered a big clean-up crew from Premium Aquatics two weeks ago. The crew has pretty much wiped out any algae I had. I just started aquascaping; now that all of the rocks are cooked. I should be able to get more done this weekend and will post some updated pics.
jknecht
Member
WOW! I've been neglecting my thread. It's time to get back at it and get this thing going again. Other house projects have taken priority over the tank. Those are done for the most part so I'm back. 
Update:
Well after a long internal debate I ordered a Volcano 1850 skimmer from Spazz. I contemplated the BK 300 External, Reeflo 250, and the Volcano. I picked the Volcano because of the options and the ability to run my overflow straight to it since it can handle 2000 GPH. It's going to be a beast. It's foot print is 24" x 30" with an 18" diameter tube and stands 60" tall. I ordered it with a wet neck, auto shut off, and a Rowaphos port. I decided not to get an ozone port because if I ever decide to run ozone again I'm going to get the Marine Technical PRO240D Ozone Reactor. I think it's safer that way as well I won't ruin an expensive skimmer over time.
This weekend I had to make room for the skimmer. I turned the rack that holds the two 50 gallon barrels for water changes sideways. They were full of water so I decided to do a water change and moved the remaining water to a couple of Brute barrels while I moved everything. I also realized that the RO/DI unit needed to be moved since the skimmer would have been directly underneath it so I would have had a problem getting to the canisters. Luckily all of the RO/DI tubing was long enough to move a couple of feet.
Here's an old picture of how it used to be setup.
Not much to see but here is the new space for the skimmer. Ignore the extension cords. I really like the clean look so I have a little more conduit to run.
I forgot to update everyone in regard to my fish room ventilation. I installed a Panasonic FV-30VQ3 - 290 CFM exhaust fan in the fish room. Currently it's just controlled off a wall switch and I will eventually add a temp/humidity controller to it. This thing really pulls/pushes some air. If you stand outside of my house you could dry your hair.
You can feel the breeze about 6 feet away. I just caulked the vents yesterday (it will dry clear).
The trim around the tank is finished. My buddy and I spent a couple of afternoons making it. I finally finished painting it yesterday.
Ignore the aquascaping it's no where near done. I still have a lot more rock in the sump. I just placed the pieces in there to give the fish something to hide in.
Now the stainless steel slide rails make sense.
From the side. A friend of mine welded the Unistrut L-brackets to the rails and it's bolted on with 1/2 carriage bolds. They are full extension slides so they come out even further. But I just need room to get my big head in there if need be. I've been doing most of the maintenance from the back.
Tonight I will mount a 3/4" piece of plywood I painted yesterday underneath the stand. I'm going to mount all of the ballasts, Vortech controllers, etc to the plywood.
What's coming? Last week I ordered sand and crushed coral and am going to make a foam/rock structure using egg crate. I'm going to use the black handi-foam and cover the whole thing with West Systems epoxy and then sprinkle the sand and crushed coral mixture over it. I've been really impressed with the tanks that have done this. I'm choosing to use West Systems over the hobby epoxies because I know it's certified for potable water.
I also ordered the Neptune Systems Break Out box. I mounted a float switch in my overflow and need to be able to shutdown the pump if the water level gets to high. Let's hope I can make the float switch work considering the wires to the float switch will have to run almost 60 feet. I spoke to Neptune and their not sure if it will work. I'm hoping it will work considering I was able to make a 65 foot Cat 6 cable work between two DC8's. I do have a plan B if it doesn't.
I think that's all I have for now. Let me know what you think.
Update:
Well after a long internal debate I ordered a Volcano 1850 skimmer from Spazz. I contemplated the BK 300 External, Reeflo 250, and the Volcano. I picked the Volcano because of the options and the ability to run my overflow straight to it since it can handle 2000 GPH. It's going to be a beast. It's foot print is 24" x 30" with an 18" diameter tube and stands 60" tall. I ordered it with a wet neck, auto shut off, and a Rowaphos port. I decided not to get an ozone port because if I ever decide to run ozone again I'm going to get the Marine Technical PRO240D Ozone Reactor. I think it's safer that way as well I won't ruin an expensive skimmer over time.
This weekend I had to make room for the skimmer. I turned the rack that holds the two 50 gallon barrels for water changes sideways. They were full of water so I decided to do a water change and moved the remaining water to a couple of Brute barrels while I moved everything. I also realized that the RO/DI unit needed to be moved since the skimmer would have been directly underneath it so I would have had a problem getting to the canisters. Luckily all of the RO/DI tubing was long enough to move a couple of feet.
Here's an old picture of how it used to be setup.
Not much to see but here is the new space for the skimmer. Ignore the extension cords. I really like the clean look so I have a little more conduit to run.
I forgot to update everyone in regard to my fish room ventilation. I installed a Panasonic FV-30VQ3 - 290 CFM exhaust fan in the fish room. Currently it's just controlled off a wall switch and I will eventually add a temp/humidity controller to it. This thing really pulls/pushes some air. If you stand outside of my house you could dry your hair.
You can feel the breeze about 6 feet away. I just caulked the vents yesterday (it will dry clear).
The trim around the tank is finished. My buddy and I spent a couple of afternoons making it. I finally finished painting it yesterday.
Ignore the aquascaping it's no where near done. I still have a lot more rock in the sump. I just placed the pieces in there to give the fish something to hide in.
Now the stainless steel slide rails make sense.
From the side. A friend of mine welded the Unistrut L-brackets to the rails and it's bolted on with 1/2 carriage bolds. They are full extension slides so they come out even further. But I just need room to get my big head in there if need be. I've been doing most of the maintenance from the back.
Tonight I will mount a 3/4" piece of plywood I painted yesterday underneath the stand. I'm going to mount all of the ballasts, Vortech controllers, etc to the plywood.
What's coming? Last week I ordered sand and crushed coral and am going to make a foam/rock structure using egg crate. I'm going to use the black handi-foam and cover the whole thing with West Systems epoxy and then sprinkle the sand and crushed coral mixture over it. I've been really impressed with the tanks that have done this. I'm choosing to use West Systems over the hobby epoxies because I know it's certified for potable water.
I also ordered the Neptune Systems Break Out box. I mounted a float switch in my overflow and need to be able to shutdown the pump if the water level gets to high. Let's hope I can make the float switch work considering the wires to the float switch will have to run almost 60 feet. I spoke to Neptune and their not sure if it will work. I'm hoping it will work considering I was able to make a 65 foot Cat 6 cable work between two DC8's. I do have a plan B if it doesn't.
I think that's all I have for now. Let me know what you think.
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