Yet another tank project - 240 Peninsula

[seaguy7]

I just started filling my new tank today and wanted to post a few images. It seems there are dozens of tank projects here on RC but I know I have read through many of them and found tons of useful information so here is one more for those of us that can't get enough.

The tank was built by James at Envision (whom I highly recommend). I live in the Seattle area so I went down to his shop a couple of weeks ago to pick it up. He is a perfectionist and was in the midst of building a massive jellyfish tank for the Vancouver BC aquarium. I chose acrylic because I will probably be moving within the next 2-3 years and didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want to hassle with getting 10 guys to help me move it. I have acrylic now and although the scratches are a pain, it is really easy to sand/buff them out so I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t see that as a big problem.

My tank is 66ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚x30ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚x28ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚H peninsula with most of one end an overflow with 2 1.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ Dursos.

Here is a photo from last night when I am finally filling with salt water! It looks pretty basic but I have built the sump, the stand, plumbed the tank (and fixed the leaks) so I am about 2 months into the project at this point.

It will be accessed mostly from the side you see which is why most of the plumbing is on the other side. The cut up milk carton is intended to keep the rock from sitting on the outlets that run along the center of the tank. They float so I have weights holding them down until I get the rock in. I wanted to minimize bulkheads for safety reasons and when the canopy is done, almost no plumbing will be visible in the tank.

I am upgrading from a 90 gal and planning to make my new tank a mixed reef with significantly more SPS than I currently have.

 

[seaguy7]

The stand

The stand

The stand is pretty basic. Here is the stand under construction:

Thankfully this room is on concrete so I have no worries about the foundation.

And here it is filled with my home built sump and pumps.

I have trimmed it partially and purchased cabinet doors so I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have to spend another month trying to make it look nice. Once everything is up and running Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll put the doors on and it will look much nicer.

Right now I am waiting for the tank to fill. I have been making RO water as fast as I can for the last couple of days and I am almost there. I should be able to turn on the pumps this evening.

More later.

-Greg

 

[seaguy7]

The tank is located in my home office which is separate from my house and supported by only two 15 amp breakers. When we had this built, we used the last two breakers on the panel so adding another breaker would require a new panel and some substantial wiring to get it here. So I have to run my tank and my office (PCs, printer, office lights, etc.) and keep it all under 30 amps. For this reason I have looked for low power options where available. If it turns out I am pushing the limit when I am done, Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll call the electrician and pay the price.

I splurged on a Red Dragon 8200 lph for my primary return pump since that is the most efficient I could find. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve since read elsewhere on RC that the RD pumps arenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t quite as power efficient as they claim, but it is almost silent and doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t guzzle my limited juice.

I initially went with a Tunze pump for the closed loop. I chose this because it was another efficient pump and I couldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t justify the crazy price of two Red Dragons particularly since I would have had to get an even bigger RD for my closed loop and pay even more $$$. But during freshwater testing, I found the Tunze unacceptable. I read elsewhere on RC reports that they were noisy and the vendor warned me that they were pretty loud. I expected maybe a little louder hum than say an Iwaki and since no one has to sleep in the same building, I figured it would be tolerable. Not in my case. When I started it up, I could hardly carry on a phone conversation in my office with the Tunze running.

So the Tunze is now my emergency backup which can be plumbed into either my return or my closed loop without too much hassle. Tunze has also promised to send out a newly designed case which is suppose to

For my primary closed loop pump I ended up choosing the Sequence Barracuda. When testing the Tunze, not only was it loud, I decided I needed more flow for my closed loop and the Barracuda now is more than enough pump. Maybe a bit much. We'll see.

For lighting I am using my six 54 watt T5s from my 90 gal and adding two 250W HQI MH. This may not be enough but after getting everything up and running Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll figure out just where I am on the power situation and then possibly add more lighting. I will also have a 150W MH for my frag tank drawing on the same two circuits.

The skimmer is the new Reef Octopus 3000. Considering I went overboard on my pumps, I decided to try out a less expensive skimmer option. Despite all of the debate and discussion on skimmers, they are basically very simple devices with the only difference been the needle wheel (on needle pumps). So far it has been working great while curing my rock.

For rock I purchased 120 lbs of mostly Kaelini. This will be combined with my 120 lbs from my existing tank. The new rock has been curing for over three weeks along with a big ball of Chaeto Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been growing with it.

I left the rock in the dark for a few days but have since been running one 250W MH for 5 hours a day to get it closer to a normal cycle.

The question I have now is whether to use most of my rock water for my tank or not. I am sure it is now full of useful microbes and it now tests out well within tolerable limits on PH, Alk, Ammonia and Nitrates. I would think it will minimize any additional cycling but Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m not sure what sort of nasty stuff might be in this water. I have done a couple of 20% water changes. Should I use a little or most of the rock curing water?

-Greg

 

[Detritivore]

looks great! is the barracuda loud?

 

[NexDog]

Great start. Looking forward to updates.

 

[seaguy7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7253831#post7253831 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Detritivore
looks great! is the barracuda loud?

Thanks, I'm a couple hours away from having it full!

Compared to the Tunze, the Barracuda purrs. Most of the noise is from water movement as opposed to mechanical. I wouldn't want to sleep next to it but considering the volume of water it moves, it is pretty quiet.

-Greg

 

[seaguy7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7254501#post7254501 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NexDog
Great start. Looking forward to updates.

Thanks NexDog, your tank is really looking nice. I've read your entire thread. I also lived in Japan for a year (Tokyo/Shinjuku area) so have some idea of the differences from living in the US. I never had a tank over there. Since I didn't really speak Japanese, just getting the basics done was a big enough challenge for me.

-Greg

 

[DirtySouth056]

looking good, post some more pics when you have a chance

 

[Bax]

Looks great can't wait to see it full and running!

 

[seaguy7]

If it's not one thing it's another. This project would have taken half as long if things always went smoothly. I finished filling and heating the tank and sump (40 gals) late last night. I moved over the rock from my temporary tub and every thing was looking good. This morning I setup the skimmer and started up the closed loop pump only to discover another leak!

During freshwater testing, I had several leaks at many of the threaded joints. I had used Teflon tape but after the initial troubles, I switched to Teflon goop (technical term). It checked out fine. Now when I run it, I have a leak right where the pipe joins the pump. Just a few drops a minute but I have shut it off for now and put in a temporary powerhead. I would fix it except I am getting ready to leave town for the weekend. I've been scrambling to get it up and running so I could get the tank going before I leave. At least it is full and up and running and will start the curing process.

Here's a pic with half of my intended rock. Aquascaping will look much nicer when I add the rest of the rock.

The picture sucks isn't that great since I don't have lights on the tank yet. The water has been clearing pretty quickly. I think I have just the right amount of volume going through the sump. (I am estimating about 1500 gals per hour).

And here is a pic of the equipment underneath with the skimmer added. I forgot to mention I built the stand 40" so everything except the topoff tank would fit in the stand. Well at least that was the plan. I thought I had room for my calc reactor but no way. I have room nearby, I'll just have to figure out how to disquise it nicely.

In order to leave town for 4 days, I had to get my auto topoff system working and it is working flawlessly! I didn't have one in my old tank because I didn't have room. What a relief to not have to carry water in every 2-3 days. My new topoff system is a mechanical float switch that gravity feeds the fresh RO water from a 20 gal tank. If the float switch were to fail, worst case it I end up with 20 gals of extra fresh water out of 280. That shouldn't be a disaster. I may end up upgrading the 20 gal tank to something larger depending on how quickly the water evaporates.

Now I just need to redo a little plumbing to fix that leak when I get back, setup my canopy (which is done functional but not polished) and if all my parameters check out, I'll start moving things from my 90 next week.

I used most of the water from my rock curing tub (about 50 gals which was fully cured) as well as about 40 gallons from my 90 gal (to get some more aged water). I am assuming with cured rock, some cured water, the tank should be fine once the dust settles. What think? Is that too soon?

-Greg

 

[ruiny]

I think u should be fine to do the move.
Just check levels
Good luck and looking good

 

[seaguy7]

I'm back. I was out of town for 4 days and then have been taking every free moment to work on the transfer. It's done! :rollface:
Everything from my 90 is now happily living in my new 240. Nitrates, nitrates and phospates are not detectable.

Given how much work it has been, I have a new appreciation for those that have managed really detailed project logs (I've followed jnarowe, nexdog, bstone and particularly melev for months). How do you guys find the time to manage the tank, project log and family?

I have a compounding problem given that sitting at my desk, I look out at my tank across the room. I can't sit at more desk for more than for 10 mins without seeing something that needs attention. I'm hoping that will wear off soon.

I'll post more pics later tonight...

-Greg

 

[NexDog]

How do you guys find the time to manage the tank, project log and family?

In my case I'm lucky to work at home so it's easy to take a 2 hour break here and there to work on the tank and browse RC and I'm permanently with my amily which is great.

I have a compounding problem given that sitting at my desk, I look out at my tank across the room. I can't sit at more desk for more than for 10 mins without seeing something that needs attention. I'm hoping that will wear off soon.

My tank is in-wall in my office too. But I have my desk on the other side of the office so my back is to the tank. Helps, but only a bit as all I have to do is swivel around.

 

[seaguy7]

In the last 4 days, I've built the canopy (but not finished), moved my T5s from my old canopy to my new one, installed and setup an Aquacontroller 3 (which is waay cool once you figure it out), installed a wavysea. moved all of my rock, coral and fish (in that order) to my new tank.

The biggest problem was when I dropped a piece of rock on my favorite acropora. I thought it would be broken to bits but only a couple branches broke off.

My RBTA is looking as good as ever and my yellow Fiji leather and acros extended their polyps relatively quickly. The new tank is very barren compared to my old one, so I'm concerned about my algae grazers getting enough algae (I never thought I would be anxious for more algae to grow). The nutrient level must be very low in the tank since even my existing live rock which was full of algae seems to be relatively barren after three days in the bigger tank.

I am going to add a few more pieces of live rock to add a little more variety to the aquascaping. After 2.5 months, I am almost there. I still have to hang the doors on the stand and put a few finishing touches on it. I need to setup my GEO calcium reactor and then clean up the mess in my office and workshop. Oh yeah, and cleanup the mess in my old tank so I can sell it.

With the Sequence Barracuda on the closed loop, I have a bit more flow than I need. I've had to throttle back several of the outlets to avoid blowing the sand off the bottom and to provide a gentle current for some of my LPS.

Then I get to buy more fish and corals. Fishwise, I have:

Coral Beauty
One True Percula -- his/her mate went into the overflow several months ago and didn't survive -- I am now shopping for a smaller one for her mate.
Purple Tang
Two Pajama cardinal (my oldest fish)
Green Mandarin
Orange Spotted Goby

Besides another True Percula, I am considering a Goldflake Angel (expensive but very cool looking), and some group of schooling fish. I'd love to get some Anthias, but I travel a lot and use a combination of an autofeeder and neighbor to take care of the fish when I am gone. I am a bit concerned that Anthias may be too high maintenance for my situation. I typically only feed my fish once a day and read that Anthias need more frequent feedings. I've also heard mixed reviews on the Chromis (they die young). Does anyone have any advice on a cool schooling fish that is moderate maintenance? I'm also considering a Sohal Tang but want to make sure I am done fish shopping for awhile before introducing the potential tank king/bully.

But now I think it's time to reintroduce myself to my wife and kids and let the tank mature for a bit.

-Greg

 

[rppvt]

Ok. In the first photo---
Is that a signed "Lance Armstrong" on the wall next to those baseball plaques?
Guy's gotta have two hobbies, you know-- one for sitting around and the other for getting around!
Oh. excellent tank BTW---

 

[seaguy7]

It is a signed Armstrong photo. I cycle occasionally but I've never met Lance. I got the photo at a charity auction.

-Greg

 

[alien9168]

Cool project! :thumbsup:

 

[Sullyman]

Greg, what is the plumbing under the rocks? Have been think about a tank 54"x32"x24, had been thinking about running returns under the sand to get flow. Not going to have a canopy to hide it on top. Your tank makes me certain about it being a peninsula tank, thanks.

 

[seaguy7]

Thanks Alien.

Sullyman, it always seemed to me that the nastiest substrate was under my rocks in my old tank. I also saw what NexDog did and liked the idea on a slightly smaller scale. So in my new tank my closed loop Baraccuda 1.5" exit splits into three 1" lines, each with a ball valve to adjust individual flow. One of the lines goes through a bulkhead in the overflow about 2" off the bottom. To prevent catastrophic failure this line goes up the overflow and out the top and down the outside with a siphon break so in case my closed loop failed somewhere it will only be a minor catastrophe. :hmm5:

I put 1" to 3/4" tees where I wanted the under rock flow. On each 3/4" exit I put a locline 3/4" split into two 1/2" and then attached 1/2" nozzles to each one. I have four 1/2" nozzles under the larger rock area and two 1/2" nozzles under the end rocks. They are aimed slightly above horizontal. The flow turned out about right. Initially they were blowing sand from between the rocks so I throttled it back slightly (the Barracuda is a monster pump) and now it is working perfectly.

The only thing I might do differently would be to use something different (smaller) to keep the rock off the nozzles. I had to rearrange the rock quite a bit to hide the plastic milk cartons which I had already cut down substantially.

Of the other two 1" lines for the closed loop, one goes to a wavysea mounted near the center of tank and the other goes to four 3/4" loc lines with valve near each corner. I can control the flow extremely well and it seems to be working great. I can direct flow whereever I want it or direct it away from where I don't want it.

As far as a peninsula, I really like them as well. I could have put the tank against a wall but I saw several others on RC that motivated the peninsula choice. I also love cubes but I could not fit a cube stand through the door and didn't want to build it in place. I am arranging the coral so optimal viewing is from one side and the end. Another thing I would have done differently is to make the canopy side open on both sides. Right now, it only opens on one side so to reach the lower half of the other side I have to remove the canopy or use extension grabbers. Once I get the stand finished and doors installed, I may hinge the backside of the canopy for easier access although now that I'm pretty much done aquascaping I may not need it.

Everything is looking happy so I went on a bit of a shopping spree.

I'll post some new pics when everything is settled in.

-Greg

 

[simple_joe]

Greg,

Do you get a lot of vibration and/ or noise from the PVC laying on top of the tank? Thanks.

Joseph