240 Gal Tank Build Thread

[Apeterson]

Looking to inspire others to start up or update their build thread! I am starting up my 240gal and posting on here so others can follow! I'm currently 80gal deep with rodi water in the tank, and waiting for more water. I'm going to recharge my leftover di resin to reuse and try to save a little cash in the long run. The following is my current equipment:

240 Gal Aquarium and Stand

2x Hygger 2000gph powerheads (Amazon)

Orlushy return pump (Amazon)

CF Grow 100w LED for refugium (Amazon)

Icekap Algae Scrubber, small

Titanium heater (not sure of watt and brand, might need a new one)

Neptune Apex 

Neptune Trident

Neptune ATK

Custom calcium reactor

2 XR15s (looking at getting 2 A360WEs and a XR30)

 

Got a good deal on the lights, so I am going to try mixing. I am going to go echotech, kessil, echotech, kessil, echotech to try to blend them some. I'm not 100% sure how I want to mount them, so I will make a PVC structure over them to hang them for now. I am also sure if I want the hood on either or to just leave it off.

[ReefNewby82]

Looks like you will be rocking here soon!  Nice equipment line up too.  And quite a big tank! 

[Apeterson]

20 hours ago, ReefNewby82 said:

Looks like you will be rocking here soon!  Nice equipment line up too.  And quite a big tank! 

Hoping to get the rock in this weekend! I forgot I also have an older reefocto skimmer. My rock has been cycling with the algae reactor for 1.5 years, so we will see what kind of cycle I get! I'd think the light on the algae reactor would help some. I see pods running around in the rockwork.

 

[Apeterson]

I might have to design and 3D print a part to remount the lights on the algae reactor to avoid rust getting into the system.

 

[Apeterson]

We rocking everyone! After hours of transferring water, rock and sand, the tank is coming together! I leak tested it and I have 2 leaks on the same return. One was the bulkhead fitting and the other was the disconnect. The bulkhead fitting was a pain. It was cross threaded and very hard to reach. I tried pipe wrenches at first and they kept falling off. I tried silicone pads to get a better grip and they wouldn't work. Went to Lowes and got a strap wrench, still didn't work... Finally, I got the following adjustable wrench and it worked!

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Adjustable-Wrench/1002645196?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-plb-_-ggl-_-LIA_PLB_208_Plumbing-Repair-_-1002645196-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpcOTBhCZARIsAEAYLuUhnCkcWAWY8mCvBOz5SX9nZL1eLwEm3wt5XGEZdKSqPQshqO5CrQEaAsa_EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

After another hour messing with just the bulkhead leak, I finally fixed it! ...cross threaded fittings are a pain when you can reach them; imagine when they are hard to reach...

One problem I knew from the start and I knew I'll have to deal with is that I cannot remove the body of my skimmer from my sump. I know this will bite me, but I have an idea to make it easier (and also make other yearly maintenance easier). Stay tuned for that idea!

PS: bag of media is going to the sump as soon as I get it all ready. Also I put some safety clips on the doors since I have 2 little ones that could get hurt under the stand... They already have played under it countless number of times!

[Apeterson]

Also let's see if anyone here has a better idea than mine about the skimmer! WWYD? (what would you do?)

[tanknovice]

Starting to come together and looking good.  The skimmer will be a problem the octo has a wide body not sure how you get it out unless you are able to cut an end pane in the stand and put the sump on runners so you can slide the sump in and out of stand from the end if it becomes necessary.

 

 

 

 

[Gonzo620]

If your idea is to upgrade the whole set up at that time keep that one. Lol. I would cut the acrylic out right in front of the skimmer and replace with a larger thicker piece that is threaded on one side. Gasket one side of it. And it will become a removable pane. Just need to drain the sump a bit. Pull the pane. Pull the skimmer body. You shouldn’t need to pull the body out very often anyway. I can’t even remember the last time I pulled my skimmer body out. With an external pump I just pull it and clean it. 

[Apeterson]

Might add a few fish soon. Nitrates are near 0, ammonia and nitrites had a mini cycle. Everything is looking good though! I did the whole 90% planning and still 50% winging it, lol.

I had a small leak on the main drain on the left hand side due to a bad seal. I added more sealant and let it sit for a day. It seems to be good now. I installed the chaeto light, but ran into a major issue with it... I tightened down the PVC disconnects too much, so when I bumped the plumbing, it moved the bulkhead and got sand into the threads and seal... It took a few days after work and a few tools, and a sore neck and back to loosen them up, clean them and reinstall them... Got the fuge light installed though! Murphy's law, am I right? 

My thought for the skimmer issue was to cut the end off from the side of the stand and make a door on the side, but looking more into it, it will be really hard to reinforce well and not worth the effort. I might try cutting the acrylic and making a door... We will see. I also might just leave it as is and clean the skimmer body with a shop vac and a scraper. We will see! Light are installed and ready. I'm going to 3D print something to keep the lights on the hood when I lift the hood. I might eventually upgrade the lights to be installed with tv wall mounts. We will see!

(Media bag was moved below to the sump today)

[Apeterson]

On 5/8/2022 at 5:33 PM, Gonzo620 said:

If your idea is to upgrade the whole set up at that time keep that one. Lol. I would cut the acrylic out right in front of the skimmer and replace with a larger thicker piece that is threaded on one side. Gasket one side of it. And it will become a removable pane. Just need to drain the sump a bit. Pull the pane. Pull the skimmer body. You shouldn’t need to pull the body out very often anyway. I can’t even remember the last time I pulled my skimmer body out. With an external pump I just pull it and clean it. 

Maybe once I can get a little return on investment, the wife will let me upgrade the stand. She said the tank is beautiful, but needs fish now, lol. For those of you that know me, my life is always... active... I was talking to someone on Facebook about fish, and guess what! My Facebook got hacked and banned. Good things Facebook has a chat/support team to call (they don't at all... it has been a nightmare). Oh, well. Another thing to add to the list. Wish I could have made the last meeting, but life is always busy with a 5 year old, 20 month old and a demanding career. Hopefully, I can start attending actively soon again.

[Apeterson]

Wow, it's been a while since I've been here, moved and set the tank back up. I'll go through what's all been done this evening.

 

 

[Apeterson]

Ok, I don't see many build threads being updated anymore, so I have to update mine:

The tank has been doing really well. My nitrates are only detectable because I dose 75ml of neonitro every day. My phosphates hang around .05. I feed 3x per day. 2x with pellets from my AFS (small amount each turn, but 3 turns per feeding), and 1x frozen in the evenings.

My livestock:

Threadfin Fairy Wrasse

Blue Flanked Fairy Wrasse

Longfin Bannerfish

Blue Hippo Tang

Chocolate Mimic Tang

Sailfin Tang

2x Frostbite Clownfish

 

Coral list:

ARC Fireworks Acro

ASD Rainbow Milli

Blue (or green? it is coloring up) and Orange Chalice

CB Beastmode Acro

Cinnamon Grandis Palythoa

Fox Flame Acro

Garf Bonsai Acro

Golden Pavona

Grafted Plating Montipora

Green Monticulosa Acropora

Green Slimer Acropora

Long Polyp Toadstool

Red Plating Montipora

Leptastrea

Monet's Madness Cyphastrea

Orange Rainbow Chalice

Pink B*****s Chalice

Purple Stylo

RRU Bleeding Avenger Acro

Red Plant Acro (2x)

Red Rainbow Chalice

TCK Rainbow Stag

TGC Cherry Bomb Acro

TGC Northern Crush Acro

UC Dippin Dots Acro

Unknown Saved Acros (3x maybe PC Rainbow?, ??? and ???)

[Apeterson]

[Apeterson]

[ReefNewby82]

Looking good sir!  Always loved the mille's even not being a stick guy they are a great stick addition 

[Apeterson]

28 minutes ago, ReefNewby82 said:

Looking good sir!  Always loved the mille's even not being a stick guy they are a great stick addition 

It is an amazing grower too. I'll have to try to photo dump this weekend. I can only do 2 photos per post. Here's an updated full tank shot, and a photo of my favorite coral.

 

 

[tanknovice]

Great 1 year update

[Apeterson]

I had a recent scare in my tank. Not sure what happened, but my nitrates tested 58.8ppm for two days on the Hanna checker. I think it was the gunk in my skimmer, but I tested a few days later and the nitrates were at 9.8ppm. I'm not sure what happened, but I cleaned my skimmer neck and cleaned out my sponge in my sump that quiets my refugium baffle.

 

None of my corals looked like they cared. Great polyp extension and color.

 

 

[Apeterson]

[Apeterson]

A few more photos of the corals

[Apeterson]

[MrsBugmaster]

Tank is looking good 

[Apeterson]

Figured out what the nitrate spike was... It was user error. My nitrates were actually 1.9ppm. Make sure you clean the Hanna checker bottles super well. It can leave nitrite in it and throw off your tests.

 

Also thank you @MrsBugmaster. I hope other start updating their threads and maybe we can get this web alive again!

[Apeterson]

It has been a while since updating this, so I'd thought I'd add what's happened on the way. Back in September, I overdosed iron and caused a dino bloom. I was trying to get my chaeto from dying and thought it was low iron, but I didn't test for it. Another showing of don't dose anything without testing!

 

I've mostly rid the LCA dinos from my tank with continued silicate dosing, H2O2 dosing and stable parameters. I lost a few corals from the dinos and parameters changing, but everything is coloring back up and growing well again.

 

During and on the way out of dinos, I had a bubble algae explosion, which I'm trying to get under control. It's more visual than anything else, but I'm slowly trying to handle that. I don't want to dose vibrant due to the risk of dinos again from the die off of the bubble algae. I might have to get a filter sock to help in the manual removal. My foxface and orange spot rabbitfish are slowly helping, but with an 8ft long tank, there is a lot of room to cover.

 

I'll have to update with more photos later, but here are a few of my favorite corals. I also started a tik tok, which I almost daily add a video. Feel free to add if you have tik tok! Tik Tok Profile Link