Tony's 240

[Wrench]

The fun begins. I had to tear down my 120g SPS tank when I moved from my condo into the house that we bought. It took a few months but I am finally able to begin construction of my new system. I ordered my new tank from glasscages last week which will be here next weekend. It will be a 60x36x24" with starfire front and internal overflow box. The plan is a mixed reef just like my last system, just bigger. The sump and all equipment will be in the basement. Equipment will all be the same as my last system except for the return pump required for the high head and I will be using a seperate, external pump to feed all of the reactors, frag tank and refugium.

Sump- 75g
Frag tank- 40b
Refugium-40b
Lighting- 3x250w Radiums in Lumenbright reflectors all fired by M80 ballasts.
Return pump- Panworld 200ps
Accessory pump- Panworld 50px-x
Skimmer- MSX200
Ca Rx- Geo 624
Top-off- JBJ Auto Top Off
Kalk- GSA Kalk stirrer
Carbon- DIY 6x18" reactor made from an old MRC kalk stirrer
Aquacontroller JR
Ozone- Red Sea 100mg/hr with built in controller
Flow- 2x Vortech MP40W and 2x MJ mods

I will be utilizing BeanAnimals failsafe overflow system as outlined in this thread- http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1310585 . Basically it's a full siphon 1.5" drain with a second 1.5" drain that handles the remainder of the flow. A third pipe set at a higher level serves as an emergency drain should one of the others fail.

This is where it's going. Right up against the stairs, one foot from the wall on the right.

 

[Wrench]

The first step is to build the stand. The plan is for a steel frame to be skinned with wood and finished to match the living room walls. The key feature is for the underside to be completely open and there will be a bookcase that slides in and out to allow access to the underside of the tank. I decided to use steel for a couple of reasons. First, it is the only way to make an unsupported 5' span. The second is that it will take up less space than 2x6's and the most important reason is that the material was FREE! Right now everything is done except the sanding and painting which will be done once it's in place. This will hopefully minimize the damage that occurs in transit between my parents place and my house. Same goes for the top, it will be secured in place to make moving this monstrosity a bit easier. It tips the scales at around 250lbs.

The stack of raw materials, cut to length-

Steel frame done 12 hours later-

Luan sheeting going on the ends-

Laying on it's back with all wood in place while the adhesive sets up-

 

[pico-reefer]

great job so far, im def. going to watch this one

 

[ogiler]

I think it will be awesome.

 

[Wrench]

Here is tonights progress-

I secured the corner bead and was able to also get some drywall compound on it. Tomorrow I will hopefully get the thing sanded and fit the base trim. Then I will be waiting on the tank to arrive so I can drill the top for the drains, make any last minute adjustments and put it in place. To minimize the chance of damage, I'm going to secure the top, mount the trim and paint this thing once it's in place.

 

[Jacob Sellers]

looks great. following along.

 

[ojafri]

Tagging along !

 

[Wrench]

Todays progress included getting the drywall compound sanded and fitting the base trim. The base trim matches what is in the house. It's fit but wont be installed until the tank is in place. I also fitted some trim that goes just beneath the top but wont have photos until it's been secured to the stand. All done now except drilling the holes for the overflows which I can't do 'till the tank arrives.

45 hours and counting

 

[reefman66]

One heavy stand!! looks good and sturdy

 

[Wrench]

Phew! Long weekend! The tank arrived yesterday. I took it to the shop, finished the stand and rounded up all of my fish geek buddies to get the thing in the house. Got the stand leveled up, mounted the top and moved the tank in. Time for plumbing!!

 

[Ward1]

Phew! Long weekend! The tank arrived yesterday. I took it to the shop, finished the stand and rounded up all of my fish geek buddies to get the thing in the house. Got the stand leveled up, mounted the top and moved the tank in. Time for plumbing!!

Are you going to set it on foam?

 

[Wrench]

It's on foam. I've got trim around the top to hide it. I need to get un-lazy and break out the real camera but it was a busy weekend so the camera phone will have to do for now.

 

[bennkrys01]

My only concern would be that the air intake for houses very close to the tank.night have issues with humidity and potential mold. Just a thought..

 

[beex215]

thats looking great so far. the stand looks like it can survive and earth quake

 

[Wrench]

My only concern would be that the air intake for houses very close to the tank.night have issues with humidity and potential mold. Just a thought..

Yeah, we thought about that but figured the humidity wouldn't be isolated to that on area so if there's a problem, it would be present no matter where the air intake was. We'll see.

 

[Wrench]

thats looking great so far. the stand looks like it can survive and earth quake

Thanks! My father helped me with the stand. He's an engineer. I guess he thought I said "Sherman tank" not "Fish tank".

 

[Ward1]

It's on foam. I've got trim around the top to hide it. I need to get un-lazy and break out the real camera but it was a busy weekend so the camera phone will have to do for now.

It looks great. I have a glasscages tank also.

 

[pbnj]

Nice, but I'd recommend something like a rug around the base to protect that pretty wood floor. Wetness is inevitable!

 

[Emoney]

Tony, got any pics of old tank??

Last set up was SUPER SWEET as im sure this one will be!!

 

[Wrench]

Tony, got any pics of old tank??

Last set up was SUPER SWEET as im sure this one will be!!

Thanks, Ed! You gotta stop by sometime and check it out.



Today I spent a lot of time plumbing the drains and return. I used some Spa Flex that a good friend had laying around. That made life much easier! Nothing fancy since it's all in the basement but here are some pics.