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Ron's 240g build

R

rkaiser

This is my second build, but is significantly larger so please bare with me. If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free. Your advice and experience are always welcome.

I bought a 28g nano about a year ago for a few reasons:
1. My daughter's Therapy
2. Learning Experience
3. To see what my wife would let me get away with

So far I passed on all three (However, number 3 may come into question during the course of this build. :-X ) My kids and my wife love the tank. As a matter of fact, every time we have people over they always seem to gravitate to the tank. I am tired of telling my 11 nieces & nephews to take turns crowding around the tank, so I opted for an upgrade.

Existing Setup 28g nanocube:
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_15_47_1.jpg

28g moved to Livingroom: (After disconnecting just about everything, I drained 5 gallons, removed the loose stone, and a friend helped me lift the tank and stand onto a dolly, )
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_15_48_3.jpg

We rolled it into the adjacent room, and hooked everything up again. It seemed to be the least stress on everything, and the parameters are rock solid, everything went well.

Ideas: (Photoshop)
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_20_33_2.jpg
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_20_32_0.jpg
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_20_32_1.jpg

After looking shopping around for tanks I remembered Steve Nucum was selling his 240g 3-sided starphire so I gave him a call. Luckily, he hadn’t sold it yet, and had just about everything I needed to get the tank started and sold it to me as a package. Thanks Steve! I know it was his dream tank and he was sad to see it go. I hope to be able to get this setup half as well as his 180g:
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_11_03_25_1.jpg

Tank Inventory:
60”Lx30”Wx28”T (Actual outside dimensions are 62”LX32”WX28”T)
Oceans Motions 4 way version 3
2x400W ballast
(2) reeflux 10k bulbs
(2) Lumenarc III
Blueline Electronic Ballast and VHO retro light kit
40g custom sump
1/3HP Chiller
Reeflo Dart
+ random plumbing and misc. parts

Checking knee-wall integrity:
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_15_48_4.jpg

Building the frame: I took the idea from here: http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/Frame_smll.GIF
Part 1: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_49_32_0.jpg
Part 2: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_49_32_1.jpg
Part 3: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_49_32_2.jpg
Part 4: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_46_13_2.jpg

Bracing the floor: (sorry, pic quality stinks)
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_11_16_48.jpg

The move:
(There is a lot missing here as there were only 4 of us, and it took all of us to get this out of Steve’s basement. We had to remove doors, 1 door frame, moldings, and the demolition of the original stand was all my brothers doing. We also had to hike the tank up from the basement, so without Mike’s guidance, and Steve & my brothers pure will to get it out in one piece….things could have gone really bad.) But we did it!:
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_11_03_25_0.jpg

Credits: Steve (PnoyReefer), Mike (MikeM), Jeff Kaiser (The Demo Man ::) )

We left Steve’s after he graciously provided us with some lunch (Thanks buddy), My friend Brian met us at my house and we were 4 strong again.

Sliding the tank up:
Test fit revealed that I luckily made the stand 32” wide X 66” Long for the 32”x62” tank. Ugh...next time I measure the tank before building the stand. I lucked out this time.
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_46_13_3.jpg

Cutting the overflows:
(Not too bad marked them, slid the tank forward a little, and cut)
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_50_18_0.jpg

Scraping the blue paint off the back:
http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_01_12_09_10_46_13_4.jpg

Then I vacuumed the tank, and cleaned the glass inside and out with White vinegar. Things are shaping up:
Left Side:
2013_01_12_09_11_34_24_0.jpg

Left Center:
2013_01_12_09_11_34_24_1.jpg

Front view:
2013_01_12_09_11_34_25_2.jpg

Left Side:
2013_01_12_09_11_34_25_3.jpg


Coming Soon:
100lbs. MarcoRock - Dec 4th
50 or 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank - Dec 4th
Bulkheads, Heaters, Salt, RODI Unit, Updated water softener system for the house (ASAP)

I spent all weekend prepping for the tank, and I am sure I will be playing catch-up at work tomorrow, so not sure I will get to post any updates until the weekend. I am hoping to tackle Electric, and maybe start mapping out the plumbing. Thanks.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

holy cow that is awesome. I always loved the 28 nano - it was really great why you had set that tank up.

btw the little giraffe thing cracks me up. My girls leave stuff all the time - i'm like a broken record - please put your toys away! ;)

Anyways - looking forward to the build! Have you thought about what you'll be putting in there? Just as a totally different approach - one lady had a tank full of anemones with 27 true perculas (180). She raised them all from post-meta to juvi.
 
ricwilli

ricwilli

WOW!, moving from a 28g to a 240g..... Water changes are going to be a lot bigger. lol
I fell in love with that tank when I first seen it during the meeting at Steve's house. I also like the bevel edges of the tank. I was trying to figure out out, how in the world can I make that tank fit in my house. I'm jealous. I'm currently doing a 215g build and I think it might be to small. Good luck with everything. I will be following this thread.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Very nice tank, I guess you will have to take a dip when you need to clean. :)
 
qwik

qwik

Talk about an upgrade . You picked the perfect spot for a perfect tank, I am way jealous . It looks great there and I love the fact that it is viewable from so many sides . I looked at the cube photo and then the new tank photo and had to laugh at the size difference . There should be enough room for all your nieces,nephews,relatives and probably a few strangers to look at that tank at the same time .(lol) I am sure Steve was sad to see it go but happy it is being put to such good use , lots of luck with it and cant wait to see it full, keep up the photo's .
 
R

rkaiser

Thanks everyone :) Yeah its a step up and then some, haha.

Question about the glass, since this is a used tank, the glass has some smudging on the inside, probably from Choraline or something. It doesn't seem to come off with white vinegar. Is this something I would have to buff out? I would hate to fill the tank and have haze spots. If I fill it and after a few days it will come out with the magnet, then thats great.

Picking up bulkheads, some valves, fittings, and may screw the sheetrock on the foyer side tonight. I have a lacrosse game at 10pm, so I'll see what I can do.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

rkaiser said:
Question about the glass, since this is a used tank, the glass has some smudging on the inside, probably from Choraline or something. It doesn't seem to come off with white vinegar. Is this something I would have to buff out? I would hate to fill the tank and have haze spots. If I fill it and after a few days it will come out with the magnet, then thats great.
Click to expand...

Dunno...if you fill it with water is the haze even viewable? Maybe you could run a leak test and while you are at it see if the haze is viewable when water is in the tank. But i dunno - maybe someone else can chime in.
 
R

rkaiser

The local plumbing supply had bulkheads but were not a low profile fitting like the ones I have. Since the tank is 2"'s longer then anticipated, I only have about 4"'s of room before knocking into sheetrock, or adding on to the front of my stand. So I am going to speak with Will at Aquatic Obsessions, Mike said he had some of the ones I have in stock. Thanks for the info Mike!

I will try the leak test ASAP. (I just have to hook up the main supply manifold, and the closed loop in the basement, I have some framing to do down there as well :) )

Here is my new softener system coming soon:
lg.jpg


Still shopping for an RODI unit. Put a post in WTB but no fruit.

The more color and motion in the tank, the better it is for my daughter. My son loves the inverts as much as the fish, so I am open to just about anything with this build. I may try stepping up to some of the more challenging coral, I don't think anything I had before required direct feeding. I'll start out slow I am sure. I have no idea what to expect going from a 28 to 240.
 
Brando457

Brando457

Great progress so far I'm looking forward to seeing it stocked and complete.

Congrats man the tank is going to be sick.
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Looks like it's gonna be a beauty!

I'm considering setting my 210 up in my living room. Are you concerned about evaporation, salt creep, etc that close to the entertainment center? Wrecking my LCD tv has been the main reason I've hesitated on the idea of putting mine in that room.
 
ricwilli

ricwilli

For the smudging, try soaking a paper towel with just vinegar and placing on the smudging for a couple of minutes to see if that will remove it. You may have to scrape it again after you remove the paper towel.
OH, one more thing. What is the height of the tank? From the pics, it looks like it might be a pain to reach the bottom. I have this problem with my tank.
 
Nickjr000

Nickjr000

I dont think reachimg the bottom will be too bad for him cause he can reach in from 3 sides. Mines in wall and it's a pita to get at the front bottom, my shirt comes off cause I get my armpits and all wet.

I agree the inverts are as cool as the fish! Try air water ice for your rodi. I just got the typhoon 3 with an extra di stage and 1 year free filters for 270 shipped. Thing has a pressure gauge, tds in line, tds alarm, and a hand held meter
 
R

rkaiser

I am going to put a tall canopy on top, that will tie in to the beam above. Most likely a combination of hinges, panels, and drawer tracks. I also received some great advice on a light rack. When I get it planned out I will post the info.

I am planning on putting fans on the short side canopy, open vents on the top of the canopy, and possibly an exhaust tube with a PC fan to route some of the humid air down to the tank room. If I start to have a problem I will have to get an air exchanger or something. Hopefully that keeps the TV safe for now, but its about 10 years old. Eventually the wall unit is going, it eats up 3' of the 17' width of the room, and takes up the whole wall between the tank and window. A flat screen about 8' away from the tank would be better. Just not in the budget, especially now :)


The tank is about 28" tall and because I built the stand high (42"), I am on a step ladder regardless. I can touch the bottom center tank with my armpit touching the eurobrace. I am sacrificing cleaning comfort I know, but I think its a nice height for stand up viewing.

I will try the vinegar. Thanks.
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I think a Kati-Ani unit would be a better option instead of an RO/DI unit. It produces instant water with no waste.
Contact Bruce K on here to price you one out compared to an RO. But first you must give him your hardness #'s from your supply water. Are the #'s gonna change when you get your new softner?
 
R

rkaiser

The numbers shouldn't change since its really just a more efficient system It uses two canisters with media instead of 1, same salt and cycle. From what they told me, the unit I have only has softened water available part of the time, so hardness fluctuates. The new unit should make this more regular. I should be able to get the softener system in a couple days, and my friend who installed his will be there to assist.

On another note, the Rock is at the house, picking up the stock tank tonight. I am driving to A.O., Will has a few of the bulkheads I need, as well as the salt.

Here is a link: http://www.qualitywatertreatment.com/PDF/9100resbroch40826.pdf
It should give me more consistent soft water, which should improve the life of my appliances.
 
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