My new 240 RR. Ya baby!

[angelo68]

Not much to report on at this time. I've been working on my web site and putting long days. I got a reeflo dart pump that I'll use with a OM-4 for the closed loop. I looking at a Iwaki for the return pump since they seem to be a little more energy efficient. Check out coralreefmall.com

 

[nrehman]

Angelo68,
Nice thread. Thanks.
I am building a stand for my 210g (2x2x7). I really like way you built your stand. Do you think that 2x4's would work for the top or would you recommend 2x6's? The biscuit joiner is a nice touch.

 

[gsumner2]

This is weird - I am also in the process of ordering a 180 gal from glasscages (72x18x31) and posted a question last night about how I should position the holes to be cut in the bottom for the closed loop. Mine will also be visible from 3 sides and just like you, I'll have the overflow on one (righthand)side. I'm using starphire on the 3 viewable sides.
I've been following Nata's 180 thread. The thing is I don't have a diagram of a closed loop and need one. My current 55 gal sits 10 feet from my garage. My plan is to plumb everything under the crawl space to the garage so I can have all the equipment out there where there's much more room. I want my RO water/mix tank with top off valve, sump,skimmer, denitrifier, etc. to be out there but not sure what is the best sequence or setup. I'm a newbie, started my 55 gal. reef in Oct and quickly realized I wanted to keep more fish and have more room. Can anyone help me out with a closed loop design, where everything should be in the loop and how it works? Also, did you buy the magnet handles from GC to help move your tank in place at home? How many people required to lift it? Thanks for your answers!

 

[angelo68]

nrehman,
Thanks for checking me out. I wouldn't use the 2x4 for the top frame and for the price difference it really doesn't make any sense to. I wanted to build a sturdy stand but doesn't look overbuilt. The whole frame is covered with 3/4" plywood including the top. I placed 1/2" styrofoam under the tank to displace any uneven load on the bottom glass pain.

gsumner2
That's a nice tank your getting from gc, I almost went with that one instead and at times before the final move I had wished I had gone with the 180 intead just for manageability and easier to move. As far as the closed loop goes I'm using the OM-4 way version 3 with a ReeFlo Dart pump. It depends on what type of animals your planning on keeping, if it's the SPS than I'd say you want around +/- 20X turn over (I know some of you are saying overkill but......) I see great results from this type of turnover. I'm also going to use a 2-way squirt with 2 revolutions for top water movement on the return line which will be just under 1k gph.
If you used a OM 4-way you you could use a setup like the picture. The pipes would be arranged so that the four lines from the Om 4-way would go out to your 4 holes in the corners of your tank and the one line would be your drain to the pump. Make sure you have the holes in the tank drilled so that your drain is large enough to handle a 2" bulkhead. You could always down size it if you had to. Good luck.

The pump here is a Little Giant but you could use whatever you wanted, just depends on what gph your going for. Checkout coralreefmall.com for the om-4 and pumps.

 

[gsumner2]

Thanks Angelo, Just got back home. I'll look into all this tomorrow - so how many holes did you have drilled into your tank bottom? How many were outlets and how many inlets? Do you set the LR over the outlet hole so nothing gets sucked in? And a screen over it? My long tenacled anenome got pulled partway into my maxijet 1200 last night where the pump was not totally pushed down into the plenum pipe. Fortunately I saw it happen and was able to pull the plug almost immediately, so I don't think it was mortally damaged - I couldn't actually see any tears, it just blew up bigger than I had ever seen it, but looked pretty normal this morning.
How many people did it take to move your tank? Do you think the suction cup holders from GC are a good idea to buy?
I'm finally learning about a closed loop. Do you like not having any circulation pumps in your main tank? I think it sure gives the tank a cleaner look.
One more question: Do you have your sump and all other equipment plumbed in your overflow loop? And then the CL for circulation is a seperate thing?

 

[gsumner2]

Thanks Angelo, Just got back home. I'll look into all this tomorrow - so how many holes did you have drilled into your tank bottom? How many were outlets and how many inlets? Do you set the LR over the outlet hole so nothing gets sucked in? And a screen over it? My long tenacled anenome got pulled partway into my maxijet 1200 last night where the pump was not totally pushed down into the plenum pipe. Fortunately I saw it happen and was able to pull the plug almost immediately, so I don't think it was mortally damaged - I couldn't actually see any tears, it just blew up bigger than I had ever seen it, but looked pretty normal this morning.
How many people did it take to move your tank? Do you think the suction cup holders from GC are a good idea to buy?
I'm finally learning about a closed loop. Do you like not having any circulation pumps in your main tank? I think it sure gives the tank a cleaner look.
One more question: Do you have your sump and all other equipment plumbed in your overflow loop? And then the CL for circulation is a seperate thing? I reallly don't know what GPH I will need. I want to create the best environment for my reef tank. Right now I just have soft corals but want to add many SPS corals in the new tank - they're just so much more colorful, I think. So I'll keep as many fish as allowed since I love all the different reef safe ones too. I'm just shooting for the best variety and beautiful corals, and fish I can have. So, with that said, what do you think is the optimal GPH?
Have you checked out Naka's thread on his 180? Similar results to his is what I'm hoping for.

 

[angelo68]

Gia

My tank was drilled with 5 holes for 1" sch80 bulkheads. Each corner has a hole for the outlets for the CL, I had the fifth hole drilled in the middle of the tank. After I started looking for a pump and realized I wasn't going to get the gph from a 1" bulkhead for the drain to the pump I knew I had to redrill the tank to accomadate a 2" bulkhead. I will use the extra hole for a drain maybe or whatever. The overflow will plumb to the 100gal rubber maid tub in the basement, where I will have the rest of the equipment. I'm still putting things together so I don't have anything up and running yet. Work in progress. It took 6 big guys to move the tank downstairs and around the corners. I didn't use the sucktion cups at home only when I was picking up the tank. I couldn't find them anyplace to rent and to buy them was too expensive. I used hump straps when I needed to lift the tank in areas we couldn't get a grip by hand. I was told by GC that the tank weights >500lb. After the move my back was sore for a few days.
As far as how to handle the outlet hole so that nothing gets sucked in, I'd use either a perforated pipe or a plastic coned pre-filter basket that would be used at the suction end of a pump. Mag-drive pumps use something like this to keep the sponge from getting sucked in and also allows for more surface area of the sponge to pass water. I would place rocks around the suction bulkhead so that it's not visible but allow for water movement.
Meanwhile I'll check out Naka's thread. Thanks

 

[angelo68]

I'm ordering the lighting and I want everyone's opinion on type of ballast, bulb and reflectors. Let me know what's best. I'd like to use the 220v ballasts, anything to help cut elec. cost.
Tank 72 x 30 x 25.

 

[TandN]

best of luck with the tank and the business

 

[shag26272]

The sunlight supply galaxy ballasts with 20k radiums look nice, the ballasts run on 110 or 220. I dont have this setup but I plan on upgrading to it soon.

http://sunlightsupply.com/product.c...7A326E0815D55347B8085C15D33AF&c=57&kys=&pgi=1

 

[angelo68]

I started working on my reef tank during Christmas break. I got alot done and I've taken a few pictures along the way. Here are a few. Thanks for looking.

Tank with sand bed. I like the look of a little substrate.

A look at the closed loop 2" inlet.

The closed loop OM-4way with a dart pump.

A OM-2way for the return line.

The closed loop and return lines with the OM valves installed.

1 of 2 OM revolutions used for returns along top of tank each at 1/3 increment placements.

 

[Kannin]

Very nice but, I don't see how you could let that beautiful tank sit there for months and months without water and fish in it. You have alot of patience.

I've been working on mine since November and it's killing me... everytime I get set back.

 

[angelo68]

I know it was killing me but I've been too busy to work on it until now. I have a few more pictures of my sump and 1st fish.

1st Tenants

My homemade skimmer. Works great.

My sump so far.

100lb of old live rock to be used as base rock.

I'm working on my calcium and kalk reactors today and should have them ready this weekend.
I have IceCap 400watt MH electronic ballasts and a VHO elec ballast that I will install as soon as I'm done building the hood. I'm thinking about using the Luminar reflectors and I was wondering if anyone had any opinions.

 

[steve the plumb]

I see you drilled it fine.You could have covered that chip with the gasket from the bulkhead.This depends on how big the chip was.You did a nice job fixing it.If the bulkhead doesn't leak from day one then you should be fine.Its not like they get moved around or pushed.Silicone will help it seal.Make sure you used aquarium safe silicone.Don't use kitchen&bath.

 

[thor32766]

wow your skimmer looks awesome!!!!

 

[angelo68]

Steve unfortunately the chips where too deep for the gasket to cover. I thought I was done for a while until I came up with the fix. The silicone I used is for aquariums only, thanks for checking.

Thor, thanks for thumbs up. The skimmer drains to a overflow bottle that is equiped with a float switch that turns off the skimmer pump when the bottle is full. The waste is then drained into a condensate pump which pumps it out to the sewer. Except for maintenance it's pretty much hands off.

 

[steve the plumb]

Wow a fully automated skimmer.Thats nice.

 

[angelo68]

I'm having a problem with my OM-4 valve getting jammed on the sand that gets blown around whenever I have the closed loop pump on. I've been waiting to put anything in the tank because of this. I used sugar sized sand and now I'm afraid I made a mistake.

 

[patmack]

Did you use the play sand you were talking about?? that looks nice in there. Also that skimmer looks sweet!!

 

[TandN]

I would take some sand out and replace it with crushed coral