Tat2demon
New member
Time to start my painfully slow 240 build.
Its a Glasscages 240 long (8x2x2) bought from Craigslist.
Its going to be a mixed reef but focusing mainly on SPS.
Many of my plans are still up in the air and the build will go as fast as my money will allow which could be quite a while.
My previous tank was a 75 ( build thread here ) that I recently tore down. I ended up with something nasty that wiped out all but two of my fish and I had been battling red turf algae for quite a while. I decided it was time to start over.
I removed what little I have for corals and my inverts. Theyre currently living in a 22g tub and will stay there for the next 8-12 weeks to kill off whatever wiped out my fish.
I bleached all my rock, sand and ran bleach through my 75 system for two days. The system is now being used to cycle my rock and some Pukani that was given to me by a friend.
My first plan was to set up a 125 that I bought from a friend. After drilling the back for a Beananimal overflow and painting it, I took it outside to pain the trim. After sitting in the sun for 20 minutes the black back got so hot it cracked. A couple days later another friend found this 240 on craigslist.
Lights
In the beginning I will be using a pair of 48" Coralife Aqualight Pro 2x250w fixtures with Phoenix 14ks. I currently have one on my 75 and a spare that needs a new ballast.
I want to upgrade to either 3 or 4 Lumenarcs in the future when all of the other major parts are out of the way.
Flow
I'm still trying to decide between a closed loop or Powerheads. I don't want to see PHs or cords but I don't want the noise of a CL pump.
If I go PHs it will be Koralias. There's no way I can bring myself to spending the money on Vortechs.
If I go the CL route I want to go with either an OM 4 or 8 way with the returns either over the top through Seaswirls or a mix of SSs and bulkheads in the back. I have no idea what I would need for a CL pump on a tank this size to avoiding needing PHs.
Any thoughts on which way I should go?
Misc.
Reefkeeper Elite
75 gallon sump/fuge with a Beananimal overflow.
Chiller, Ca Reactor - No thoughts on this yet.
Skimmer - Leaning towards an SRO 5000. Open to suggestions.
Rock is a mix of Marco Key Largo and BRS Pukani. I plan on picking up 50-100 more lbs of Pukani.
------------------------------------------------------------
My first step will be to build a new stand. After advice given here and additional research it seems the stand that came with the tank is an engineering disaster waiting to happen. Ill be doing this in the about 3 weeks hopefully. I need to rearrange the bedroom before build the stand so it only needs to be moved once.
Ill also be building a false canopy to hide the lights. It will be open on the top and easily removable.
When I got it home-
The scary stand-
This was my 75 before the wipeout.
And here it is now curing my rock-
Coral/Invert temporary home-
Fish QT-
Its a Glasscages 240 long (8x2x2) bought from Craigslist.
Its going to be a mixed reef but focusing mainly on SPS.
Many of my plans are still up in the air and the build will go as fast as my money will allow which could be quite a while.
My previous tank was a 75 ( build thread here ) that I recently tore down. I ended up with something nasty that wiped out all but two of my fish and I had been battling red turf algae for quite a while. I decided it was time to start over.
I removed what little I have for corals and my inverts. Theyre currently living in a 22g tub and will stay there for the next 8-12 weeks to kill off whatever wiped out my fish.
I bleached all my rock, sand and ran bleach through my 75 system for two days. The system is now being used to cycle my rock and some Pukani that was given to me by a friend.
My first plan was to set up a 125 that I bought from a friend. After drilling the back for a Beananimal overflow and painting it, I took it outside to pain the trim. After sitting in the sun for 20 minutes the black back got so hot it cracked. A couple days later another friend found this 240 on craigslist.
Lights
In the beginning I will be using a pair of 48" Coralife Aqualight Pro 2x250w fixtures with Phoenix 14ks. I currently have one on my 75 and a spare that needs a new ballast.
I want to upgrade to either 3 or 4 Lumenarcs in the future when all of the other major parts are out of the way.
Flow
I'm still trying to decide between a closed loop or Powerheads. I don't want to see PHs or cords but I don't want the noise of a CL pump.
If I go PHs it will be Koralias. There's no way I can bring myself to spending the money on Vortechs.
If I go the CL route I want to go with either an OM 4 or 8 way with the returns either over the top through Seaswirls or a mix of SSs and bulkheads in the back. I have no idea what I would need for a CL pump on a tank this size to avoiding needing PHs.
Any thoughts on which way I should go?
Misc.
Reefkeeper Elite
75 gallon sump/fuge with a Beananimal overflow.
Chiller, Ca Reactor - No thoughts on this yet.
Skimmer - Leaning towards an SRO 5000. Open to suggestions.
Rock is a mix of Marco Key Largo and BRS Pukani. I plan on picking up 50-100 more lbs of Pukani.
------------------------------------------------------------
My first step will be to build a new stand. After advice given here and additional research it seems the stand that came with the tank is an engineering disaster waiting to happen. Ill be doing this in the about 3 weeks hopefully. I need to rearrange the bedroom before build the stand so it only needs to be moved once.
Ill also be building a false canopy to hide the lights. It will be open on the top and easily removable.
When I got it home-
The scary stand-
This was my 75 before the wipeout.
And here it is now curing my rock-
Coral/Invert temporary home-
Fish QT-
:fish1:
