SaraB
Coral Killer
SaraB's 268 Gallon Build¦ Yes, it's try #3!
This is the first time for me actually doing a build thread as well.
All I can say is this hobby has become very addicting! It started with me eyeing up my neighbors new saltwater tank and getting the itch to try it. I mean if he can do it, than I can too! :eek2: I started with a 92G corner tank in April 2005 with a sump in the stand. That stand became a nightmare so I found someone on RC in the local forum that could plumb my tank to the unfinished basement. That area was then framed in and I ended up with a 10 x 21 foot fishroom. With all that room, there was plenty of room for expansion!
I decided to add a tank to the basement on the outside wall of the fishroom. In June of 2006 I purchased tank #1, a used 225 gallon acrylic tank. Not knowing much about acrylic, I purchased a tank built with ½” acrylic. Upon filling in September of 2006, I felt uncomfortable with the amount of bow that showed on the front and in the back by the closed loop bulkheads, so I promptly drained it and sold the tank.
I kept the original stand and the custom built canopy I had made as I planned on getting a replacement 225. A friend in Texas actually had a 225 ¾” tank in storage 15 miles from my house that had never been used. He had relocated for work and had a storage unit with items he didn't take with Also, somewhere in between picking up the new replacement tank and thinking about the install, we also decided to finish off the basement. That slowed down the install process for a couple of months as well.
The #2 tank was up and running in April of 2007. The tank was doing great and then the euro-brace cracked December 15th and the tank was taken down the following day. That tank was ¾” on the sides, but the top was ½” acrylic. A few fish and most of my liverock were moved into 3 temporary 40 gallon breeder tanks that are still run off my last systems sump. The majority of the fish went into my other systems … mostly the 92’s fuge and are still there in holding today.
I somehow managed to talk the hubby into tank #3 being something completely different and larger. I was hoping for an 8 foot x 3 foot display, but I was limited by the staircase going to the basement. When we built the house 7 years ago I had the choice of a straight staircase vs. a curved and I went with the curved. Little did I know what I was in for! I have to thank a friend for urging that I build a mock-up of the tank out of 2x4’s to see if I could take it down the staircase. I started with that 8’ x 3’ and 3 cuts later it was down to the 7.5’ x 2.5’ I ended up ordering.
This will be the last large display tank that I try in the basement. I figure it's either “The Third Time is a Charm” or Three Strikes and I'm Out”! I thank James for reassuring me that this will be the last tank I will need … he had better be right!
Enough with what has been and off to what is new and hopefully will work! A lot of the components are being used from the last 2 tanks. I have notate (new) if it's something new to this #3 system.
Display
90" x 30" x 26"
268 Gallons (Inner Dimensions)
¾” Acrylic tank made by James at Envision Acrylics
Center Back External Overflow with 4 – 2” bulkheads
1 – 2” bulkhead for closed loop
2 - 1” bulkheads for closed loop return
2 - 1” bulkheads for surges
1 – 1” bulkhead for return flow
Sump / Refugium
Tamco Heavy Duty Polyethylene Tank - 112 Gallon Sump from U.S. Plastics (new). http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=19372&product%5Fid=508
75 Gallon Aquaeon Refugium (new). Will have a DSB throughout and also has a divider making half for being filled with Chaeto and the other half for holding frags. Extra flow will be on the frag side with a small Tunze nanostream 6025.
Plumbing
Hayward Bulkheads on tank
Savko unions, gate valves and bulkheads on rest of system
Plain old White PVC
Oceans Motions 1 inch Nozzles for return, closed loop returns and surge lines
Water Movement
2 – 20 Gallon surges build by Rod (new)
1 – Super Dart for return and feeding surges
1 – Pan World PX50 for closed loop
2 – Tunze 6100’s w/controller
Lighting
3 – Lumenarc III Reflectors with 250 HQI Ballasts … made by my good friend Rod!
3 – 20K SE 250W Radium bulbs
Can’t decide what to do for supplemental lighting as it depends on what I can get into my canopy. I have spare IceCap 660 Ballasts that I will utilize for T-5’s or hopefully win something in a raffle!
Fuge will be lit by a Mini Lumenarc III run on a 250W IceCap Ballast.
Not yet sure on the DE Bulb for the frag area!
Controller
Reefkeeper 2 (new)
Skimmer
H&S A250-2x1260! I'm a card carrying H&S Member times 3! I love their Skimmers!!!
Calcium Reactor
Deltec PF601 (new)
Kalk Reactor
KM500ST Kalkwasser Stirrer (new)
Before the rest on my RC buddies come over and provide their “feedback”, I figured I'd share a few things about myself:
#1. I don’t do my own plumbing … I'm not a plumber nor do I play one on TV. The tank can sit until I find someone else to plumb it!
#2. If the task/job is complicated or I don't understand it, I'll pay someone else to do it for me. I have other skills and talents … some you will read about later in the thread and some you will not! :smokin:
#3. I hate electricity … it scares me! If someone else can plug it in for me, I'll let them do it by all means. There's nothing wrong with asking someone else to plug in your brand new H&S skimmer! I blame this all on my childhood. It was either from my mom telling me that the vacuum cleaner will “blow up” if I ran over the cord with it or else from the huge shock I got from touching the dryer while it was running with no shoes on in the basement. I’m getting better, but still don't like plugging stuff in!
#4. My husband has minimal interest in the hobby. I don't ask him for help with things unless I want to spend time restoring vintage snowmobiles. I have my hobbies and he has his!
Here's a sneak peak at the tank at Envision Acrylics. More to come later!
This is the first time for me actually doing a build thread as well.
All I can say is this hobby has become very addicting! It started with me eyeing up my neighbors new saltwater tank and getting the itch to try it. I mean if he can do it, than I can too! :eek2: I started with a 92G corner tank in April 2005 with a sump in the stand. That stand became a nightmare so I found someone on RC in the local forum that could plumb my tank to the unfinished basement. That area was then framed in and I ended up with a 10 x 21 foot fishroom. With all that room, there was plenty of room for expansion!
I decided to add a tank to the basement on the outside wall of the fishroom. In June of 2006 I purchased tank #1, a used 225 gallon acrylic tank. Not knowing much about acrylic, I purchased a tank built with ½” acrylic. Upon filling in September of 2006, I felt uncomfortable with the amount of bow that showed on the front and in the back by the closed loop bulkheads, so I promptly drained it and sold the tank.
I kept the original stand and the custom built canopy I had made as I planned on getting a replacement 225. A friend in Texas actually had a 225 ¾” tank in storage 15 miles from my house that had never been used. He had relocated for work and had a storage unit with items he didn't take with Also, somewhere in between picking up the new replacement tank and thinking about the install, we also decided to finish off the basement. That slowed down the install process for a couple of months as well.
The #2 tank was up and running in April of 2007. The tank was doing great and then the euro-brace cracked December 15th and the tank was taken down the following day. That tank was ¾” on the sides, but the top was ½” acrylic. A few fish and most of my liverock were moved into 3 temporary 40 gallon breeder tanks that are still run off my last systems sump. The majority of the fish went into my other systems … mostly the 92’s fuge and are still there in holding today.
I somehow managed to talk the hubby into tank #3 being something completely different and larger. I was hoping for an 8 foot x 3 foot display, but I was limited by the staircase going to the basement. When we built the house 7 years ago I had the choice of a straight staircase vs. a curved and I went with the curved. Little did I know what I was in for! I have to thank a friend for urging that I build a mock-up of the tank out of 2x4’s to see if I could take it down the staircase. I started with that 8’ x 3’ and 3 cuts later it was down to the 7.5’ x 2.5’ I ended up ordering.
This will be the last large display tank that I try in the basement. I figure it's either “The Third Time is a Charm” or Three Strikes and I'm Out”! I thank James for reassuring me that this will be the last tank I will need … he had better be right!
Enough with what has been and off to what is new and hopefully will work! A lot of the components are being used from the last 2 tanks. I have notate (new) if it's something new to this #3 system.
Display
90" x 30" x 26"
268 Gallons (Inner Dimensions)
¾” Acrylic tank made by James at Envision Acrylics
Center Back External Overflow with 4 – 2” bulkheads
1 – 2” bulkhead for closed loop
2 - 1” bulkheads for closed loop return
2 - 1” bulkheads for surges
1 – 1” bulkhead for return flow
Sump / Refugium
Tamco Heavy Duty Polyethylene Tank - 112 Gallon Sump from U.S. Plastics (new). http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=19372&product%5Fid=508
75 Gallon Aquaeon Refugium (new). Will have a DSB throughout and also has a divider making half for being filled with Chaeto and the other half for holding frags. Extra flow will be on the frag side with a small Tunze nanostream 6025.
Plumbing
Hayward Bulkheads on tank
Savko unions, gate valves and bulkheads on rest of system
Plain old White PVC
Oceans Motions 1 inch Nozzles for return, closed loop returns and surge lines
Water Movement
2 – 20 Gallon surges build by Rod (new)
1 – Super Dart for return and feeding surges
1 – Pan World PX50 for closed loop
2 – Tunze 6100’s w/controller
Lighting
3 – Lumenarc III Reflectors with 250 HQI Ballasts … made by my good friend Rod!
3 – 20K SE 250W Radium bulbs
Can’t decide what to do for supplemental lighting as it depends on what I can get into my canopy. I have spare IceCap 660 Ballasts that I will utilize for T-5’s or hopefully win something in a raffle!
Fuge will be lit by a Mini Lumenarc III run on a 250W IceCap Ballast.
Not yet sure on the DE Bulb for the frag area!
Controller
Reefkeeper 2 (new)
Skimmer
H&S A250-2x1260! I'm a card carrying H&S Member times 3! I love their Skimmers!!!
Calcium Reactor
Deltec PF601 (new)
Kalk Reactor
KM500ST Kalkwasser Stirrer (new)
Before the rest on my RC buddies come over and provide their “feedback”, I figured I'd share a few things about myself:
#1. I don’t do my own plumbing … I'm not a plumber nor do I play one on TV. The tank can sit until I find someone else to plumb it!
#2. If the task/job is complicated or I don't understand it, I'll pay someone else to do it for me. I have other skills and talents … some you will read about later in the thread and some you will not! :smokin:
#3. I hate electricity … it scares me! If someone else can plug it in for me, I'll let them do it by all means. There's nothing wrong with asking someone else to plug in your brand new H&S skimmer! I blame this all on my childhood. It was either from my mom telling me that the vacuum cleaner will “blow up” if I ran over the cord with it or else from the huge shock I got from touching the dryer while it was running with no shoes on in the basement. I’m getting better, but still don't like plugging stuff in!
#4. My husband has minimal interest in the hobby. I don't ask him for help with things unless I want to spend time restoring vintage snowmobiles. I have my hobbies and he has his!
Here's a sneak peak at the tank at Envision Acrylics. More to come later!
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The tank cracked December 15th ... just a month and a half shy of a year.
