My 240g build journal, latest update 02/04/08

[crazy loaches]

Table of contents for posts with pictures:

1. Getting the tank. 11/13/07
2. Building the stand, Part I. 11/13/07
3. Building the stand, Part II. 11/14/07
4. Setting up the tank and painting back. 11/15/07
5. Driftwood. 11/18/07
6. Plumbing, Part I: Spraybars. 11/20/07
7. Plumbing, Part II: Sump tanks. 11/21/07
8. Plumbing, Part III: Filter boxes. 11/22/07
9. Building the stand, Part II. 11/28/07
10. Plumbing, Part IV: Return pumps. 11/30/07
11. Filter Boxes Revisited. 12/01/07
12. Plumbing, Part V: Miscellaneous. 12/07/07
13. Lighting, Part I. 12/12/07
14. Automation Part I. 12/23/07
15. Automation Part II. 12/26/07
16. Fertilizer Calculations 1/7/2008

Links above will probably open in a new tab/window unless you copy and paste them into your address box (right click link, select copy link, then paste into the address box of your browser).

Its been nearly a year since I purchased this tank and finally am making some progress! I can't wait to get this completed. So here is my build journal, which I'll try to document every aspect of setting this thing up with as much DIY as I can. There has already been many design changes but I will document everything as it happened, including any mistakes I may happen to make along the way. This is my 'Dream Tank'. I know this doesn't compare to some of the other behemoths out there, but an 8 foot long tank with about 300G total is bigger than I thought I'd ever go, and actually too big for my current house. But we made it fit . So here goes...

Some quick specs [updated 2/5/08]:

Tank
- 240G glass tank 2'x2'x8' Reef Ready (overflows installed) from Glasscages.com (btw I purchased this after hearing nothing but good things from GC, it wasn’t 'till later that I started hearing some mixed opinions... so far so good).

Stand/Canopy
- DIY stand & canopy out of tongue and groove pine over top a frame built with 2x4's, 2x6's, etc.

Filtration
- In tank overflows plumbed into DIY sump totaling 66g. DIY bio & mechanical filtration in sump. Sequence Reeflo Dart return pump 3600GPH (estimated actual flow ~1500GPH).

Lighting
- DIY T5VHO 8x54W overdriven to 80-85W each w/ IceCap 660VHO ballasts, waterproof endcaps, and IceCap SLRs. Using 2x Giesemann 6000K Midday, 2x Giesemann 11,000K Aquablue Plus, 2x UVL Aquasun 10,000K, and 2x GE Starcoat 6500K. I may cut down the number of different type bulbs but to start with I am trying a variety to see what I like.

Stocking
- This is to be a heavily planted tank for my Loaches mostly (I have Clowns and Zebras from my 75g to go in). I know clowns aren't ideal with plants, this will sort of be a big experiment. I will mostly only use tough plants, and by the time my Clowns get large (if they do) I'd imagine it will be a few years and I'll probably separate the Clowns or plants into another tank.

Algae Crew: Otos, BN Plecos, SAEs, Flagfish
Loaches: Clowns, Striata, and thinking about adding Dario or Kubotai
Others: Pearl Gouramis, Roseline Sharks, thinking about adding Rummynose




*Since I'll have lots of pics I will only display pics at 400 pixels wide (more 56K friendly and also easier on my own connections upload speed), and you can click on them for a larger pic. Also, as some of you know I host my website and all my pics of my home computer so if my images aren't coming up then its something like my computer or router needs reset, etc, and should be back up within a day or so. But please PM if any images arent loading so I can resolve the issue ASAP.

[crazy loaches]

Ok, since I am still working on transferring pics and editing, etc, I'll post the first few pics I took when I got the tank earlier this year:


Met the delivery truck locally and we slid it into the back of my truck.


I actually off loaded the tank by myself. Please excuse my terribly messy garage. Its literally packed full, took me a good bit just to clear out a big enough spot for the tank. Beefed up my saw horses a little before hand, and they held the empty tank just fine. The tank spent a good many months sitting there in the garage. But I spent many of those months gathering equipment and designing different aspects of the tank.

I was a little rushed when purchasing the tank. I probably should have waited 'till I built the stand so I could move it right in. But I mistakingly assumed that GC only came to Columbus once a year. They had only 1 date on there calender, which was just a couple weeks away when I first noticed. Ends up they come up here often, and just delete the old entry and put the new one in. But because I thought I had but one quick chance this year, I purchased what they had on hand (insufficient time to custom build a tank). If I had it to do over again I probably would have designed the overflows differently, or not at all (and built my own DIY PVC ones). Oh well, I am just going to go with it.

Next to come will be the construction of the stand...

[jinx©]

lol...Just seeing pics of your tank in the back of truck has me jealous.

I'll be watching this one.

[Wasserpest]

That would be my dream tank as well. One day, when the kids are off to college and the house is paid for...

May I ask what you paid for the tank+local delivery? I figure the tank around $600... what was the bottom line?

Your image size is perfect... thanks for keeping it enjoyable.

I would probably go with two big canisters rather than a sump... but that's because I know nothing about sumps. I'll watch your journal closely. <drool>

[mrkookm]

...................

[ikuzo]

that's a huge tank, i'll be watching this and please post your DIYs

[gsd78]

Subscribed!

Very interested in this build as I am planning an 8 footer myself. Have all the equipment, just need to find the tank.

I'm considering a Glass Cages tank as well and making the 2hr drive down to Columbus for pickup. Would love to see some pics of the tank that show the quality of their work (bracing, overflows, etc).

[crazy loaches]

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

That would be my dream tank as well. One day, when the kids are off to college and the house is paid for...

May I ask what you paid for the tank+local delivery? I figure the tank around $600... what was the bottom line?

Your image size is perfect... thanks for keeping it enjoyable.

I would probably go with two big canisters rather than a sump... but that's because I know nothing about sumps. I'll watch your journal closely. <drool>

Yeah I debated for a while about filtration. The sump just had to many advantages, though I can tell you right now I've not saved any money going the sump route, everything figured in the sump probably has already cost me more than two large canisters and I havent got it finished 100% though I do have it started. I also considered a combination, running something like the Ocean Clear canisters or Lifeguard modular filters inline with the return pump. But in the end I've decided to go all DIY. It is quite possible it wont work very well and at a later time it would be easy to hook up an inline canister like the OC in the return.

As far as cost, the tank alone cost $490 at the time (price has gone up since), overflows drilled and installed was like $150, the black covers were $30 each, and drop off charge was like $60. So when it comes to filtration just the overflows are about $210. I really wish I'd not got it drilled to be honest (but still probably use sump with a DIY PVC overflow) would have saved money and tank space. Being drilled though is more reliable though so its a trade off.

I really think you hit the nail on the head when you said

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

That would be my dream tank as well. One day, when the kids are off to college and the house is paid for...

I have to admit trying to do this project so far has stressed the wife and myself quite a bit, especially with a little one. Waiting would have been a much smarter idea. Most of the stress has come from all the extra work when doing everything DIY. Had I bought everything and just had to hook a few things up I could have probably got it going in a week.

[crazy loaches]

Some pics of the stand construction:


Starting to build the stand. I am trying to build it so that it can be somewhat easily broken into pieces that will fit in and out of the house easily.



The top taking shape. I know the design is kinda weird, but this is basically going to be able to set on top of the frame of the stand and it will be the part the tank actually sits on.



Building the frame front and back panels.









Starting to take shape... I did notice however that my design was off for the 'joists' across the top. I designed the columns so that the side sections were a little wider than the center. This was to accommodate the sump tanks. But I wanted solid support running from base to top and the pieces on top were equally placed so I've changed them so the joists line up with the columns.



Here you can see what I was talking about in the last pic. I relocated the cross pieces directly over the columns. I'd also like to point out that bit on my drill. One handy piece... it drills and countersinks with one end and a simple flip and the other end has the screwdriver. A simple thing like that can save a lot of time and hassle. With this lumber you probably dont need the countersink, but I use it on other projects to.

[mpodolan]

Nice work on that stand! Those bits are excellent time savers.

[TheOtherGeoff]

nice bronco on TSLs

[crazy loaches]

Originally Posted by TheOtherGeoff

nice bronco on TSLs

LOL, she's a little rough right now but thats another project...

[JenThePlantGeek]

Subscribed

Looks great so far - I'm totally jealous!

[Flopster843]

Sweet setup. BTW, Nice Bronco.

[tazcrash69]

Loving the DIY. And you are right, a simple bit like that can save you lots of heartache.