thetedinator 240g Build

[thetedinator]

With the help of some good friends I have returned to the hobby after a 7 year or so absence.

My system is:

Tank - 60" x 36" x 26" made from 3/4" acrylic tank with black back and 6" Eurobrace made by Advanced Acrylic
Stand - 60" x 36" x 36" aluminum extrusion held together with counterbore fastereners
Sump - 36" x 24" x 16" acrylic with black dividers made by Advanced Acrylic
ATO reservoir - 12" x 20" x 20" acrylic made by Advanced Acrylic
Dosing container - 3 compartment, black with a clear front made by Advanced Acrylic

Equipment consists of:
Apex Brain
3 Apex EB8s, one mounted under the stand and two in "the Master Control Room" AKA my office.
Apex VDM controlling my Tunze pumps
Apex WXM controlling my Radions
Apex PM2 monitoring Conductivity
Reef Octopus Regal 300INT Skimmer
4 BRS dosing pumps controlled by Apex when on-line
4 Radion XR30 Pro Gen3 (will add more later)
Vectra L1 plumbed as return and controlled manually
2 Tunze 6000s aimed up
2 Tunze 6100s aimed back to front
2ea Tunze 6000s, 6100s and 6200s not in the system yet
Home grown ATO float assembly connected to a custom 'breakout' box so the Apex controls the ATO pump

FTS - Doors and panels on stand are inset into the aluminum. Lights are mounted on acrylic brackets. I have ordered the Ecotech RMS hanging kit so I can hang the lights. I have a vaulted ceiling and so avoided this solution but I hate the custom brackets.

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Doors Open and Panels Off - Stand has two hinged doors and 4 panels, all HDPE. The panels are held in place by magnets.

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Under the stand - EB8 mounted to stand (upper left), ATO reservoir, sump, skimmer, return pump, heaters, ATO assembly, light to grow chaeto and smooth out pH swings, fan for cooling (controlled by Apex), leak detector connected to 'breakout box'

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EB8 - Mounted under the stand. Not in my original plan but it was simpler and safer to do this.

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Behind the stand - Wires go through two portholes to my office

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More pics later...Hockey game is starting.

 

[bullitr]

Very nice start


I am also in restart after a crash
Let me know if you want to do a group buy on livestock.

 

[Bogue Chitto]

I agree, nice start.

 

[thetedinator]

Thanks.

 

[thetedinator]

Would it be possible to move this thread over to the Southern California Reefers forum?

Thanks

 

[ColtonNelly]

Looking good- very clean look to everything. Well done!

 

[thetedinator]

Looking good- very clean look to everything. Well done!

Thanks!

 

[biecacka]

Great looking tank. James does solid work now doubt.
I'll be following along on this one. I almost went with the aluminum stand too for my cube. Love all the tunzes too-that's a ton of flow for sure!

Corey

 

[thetedinator]

Great looking tank. James does solid work now doubt.
I'll be following along on this one. I almost went with the aluminum stand too for my cube. Love all the tunzes too-that's a ton of flow for sure!

Corey

Thanks!

 

[thetedinator]

Tank Update

Tank Update

I thought I would post a picture and talk about some changes I've made. The system is running well and about as expected for a new setup. I have killed the Ricordea yuma I picked up from UC. The zoa rocks I picked up from UC are in various states of happiness ranging from very unhappy to sometimes happy. I am fighting some mild algae issues (mainly some hair algae). I feel like the algae situation would be worse had I not cured the rock for almost two months while waiting for the tank to be built.

Here is a FTS from today -

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Started running ozone.

Changed the rock work removing a couple of pieces of Real Reef Rock I was using to hide some Tunzes and adding a little over 40#s of Marco Rock.

Added a bunch of ORA fish: Regular and Black Snowflake Ocellaris clowns, a couple of Orchid Dottybacks, an Electric Indigo Dottyback, a Black Neon Dottyback, a Sharknose Goby, a Bluefin Watchman Goby, a Transparent Cave Goby and 4 Yellow Assessors. I also added a green Torch hoping a pair of clowns would host in it. Not happening. I thought the clowns might host in the o2manyfish Xenia. Not happening. The clowns all hang together and are 'hosting' on the back wall of the tank. I am pretty liberal but if an orgy breaks out, I may have to invoke some order.

Added some snails and a Chiton to fight the algae outbreak.

Replaced the white PVC return with gray PVC. I wanted to replace it with black but I could not find the fittings I needed in black.

Hung the Radions using the EcoTech Radion hanging kit and got rid of the custom brackets I was previously using. The Radions are still on the RMS rail.

Replaced a clip-on fan I was using to keep the temperature in check with a black 6" Vornado.

Anyway, at this point I am monitoring the system (phosphate, calcium and alkalinity) and making sure I have a handle on the algae situation before I add anything else to the system.

 

[OG Reefs]

Wow! nice tank. That stand is awesome!

 

[boostedvq]

Awesome tank! I'm anxiously waiting for 54 x 40 x 22 by Advanced Acrylics. He makes great tanks.

Question: roughly how much did your stand cost?

 

[thetedinator]

FTS from today. A mix of frags I got from my personal reef whisperer (o2manyfish) and some corals I picked up from Mel at Unique Corals.

Excuse the cloudy water. Not sure what the issue is. I'm chalking it up to the tank being "young".

 

[rickztahone]

Very nice. I see you have upped the lighting 2 fold since OP. Very insane (in a good way), but very nice

 

[BeanMachine]

FTS from today. A mix of frags I got from my personal reef whisperer (o2manyfish) and some corals I picked up from Mel at Unique Corals.

Excuse the cloudy water. Not sure what the issue is. I'm chalking it up to the tank being "young".

Nice work. Looks great and awesome job on the stand.

 

[bullitr]

Very nice sir

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Tank looks nice, clean setup. What is that thing sticking out of your tank in the back left corner? (Next to the fan)

Also, you can paint PVC. I painted both of my returns black. I used Krylon fusion, no issues at all. There is another reefer on the boards that has used it for years and never had a problem.

 

[thetedinator]

Thanks rickztahone, BeanMachine, Bullitr and SchnitzelReef.

SchnitzelReef, to the left of the fan fan is a SuperFeeder.

 

[thetedinator]

Crappy photo of a Green BTA I scored from the Reef Whisperer. I have never kept a BTA so the behavior is puzzling/interesting. He has been living inside some rock work. He has appeared at different openings so I guess he is still trying to find his happy spot.

 

[pandimus]

I have some frags if your interested. In palmdale.. will be free of course. not sure if your ready for acro's, but ive got a few softies/lps/zoos, if your home on monday's i can probably swing by around noonish and bring em, as i head that way.