Another 250 In Wall

[Reefy]

After years of lurking around here without much to say (so much to read!!), I thought I would post some pictures of my latest project. I envy those that have taken the time to post regarding their entire setup experience. It has helped me out tremendously in my project.

This is an upgrade from my current 75 gallon sumpless tank. Which, by the way, came to a crashing end recently. I guess that's what happens from 4 years of less than adequate flow and weak skimming. BUT, IMO the tank had a light bio-load. A cyno outbreak took over everything, and all efforts to resist it were futile It covered everything. The corals, fish, and sand were all looking grim. The outbreak occured about 5 weeks prior to having the 250 completed. So, I new I had to hurry the transistion to the new tank.

All parameters in the 250 tested good. The shallow sand bed had finally settled after about 3 days of a sand storm. The move took about 3 hours to complete. I washed the rock repeatedly in fresh salt water to remove the detritus and cyno. I also scrubbed it with a brush really good. It turned out great. Looks like new.
The corals and fish immediatley rebounded and started to open up again in the new tank.

Does anybody see a problem with adding life to the tank this early? I didnt really have a choice. My rock is well seasoned and will have no die off. There is about 150 lbs of rock. It has been a week now with no problems everything is looking great. Here is the habitants:

1 yellow tank
1 maroon clowfish
1 lawnmower blenny
1 six line wrasse
1 blue linkia starfish
1 leather toadstool
1 hammer coral
1 finger coral
1 large candy cane colony


Anyhoo, here are the new 250 specs:

250 gallon 1/2" acrylic tank (96x24x25)
Tank has (2) 1" drains and (2) 3/4" returns
DIY Stand (canopy in progress)
50 gallon DIY sump
MR3 Skimmer run by a Mak4
Sequence hammerhead to run the closed loop
440w VHO lighting for now (ordering 4 250w halides , 10,000 K)
Blueline 70 Return pump

Future Plans:
Calcium reactor
80w UV

I am open to all criticism. Keep in mind that I am NOT a handy man around the house. I am still amazed I managed to pull this off so far!



The Set Up


Shot from my office

[Lincutis]

outstanding

[Reefy]

I plan to add more rock. I will be ordering about 200 more lbs this week to start the curing process in another holding tank.

I have yet to fire up the closed loop. I get too much movement from the sand. Until the sand starts to bind together I am leaving it off. I am hoping I won't have to turn the Sequence pump back too much. But have a feeling that full bore will create a sandstorm.

[Chumdinger]

you sure have alot of post for being a member since 2001...


any way, my next tank plan is a 220 or bigger to put in a wall in my home, did you put a border around it??.. send more pics i'm gathering ideas for my plan, i'd like to see what else you have got going behind your tank...


could you also send other detailed pics (like your sump)



LOOKS AWSOME SO FAR

[Fliger]

Looks wonderful, very clean! I'd love to see the room/wall/trim. Outstanding start, can't wait to see more! You're lucky to have a "tank room".

[CPT. MURPHY]

excellent !

[Dan Thrash]

very nice!! i'd love to see more pics too if possible.

[Dan Thrash]

i know you said you dont run the closed loop...but i'm just curious how well it works. it looks like you have 3" pvc into 1" for the jets? do you get ridiculous pressure or backpressure in those tubes? just curious.....

[Reefy]

you sure have alot of post for being a member since 2001

I know....how embarrassing! I have always found answers to my questions though searches here. I just have never felt qualified to offer constructive thoughts to people here. My 75 was no example for people to follow. I think this project has helped me to understand a lot of things about sand beds, water flow, skimming, and plumbing. So, maybe now I can offer some knowledge.

i know you said you dont run the closed loop...but i'm just curious how well it works. it looks like you have 3" pvc into 1" for the jets? do you get ridiculous pressure or backpressure in those tubes?

Actually, thats 2" PVC reduced to 3/4" for the loc-lines. And it seems to work great. I am really not sure if it is creating too much pressure. But, backpressure does not appear a problem.
I figure that I am going from a 2" inlet to 3" of output. (3/4" x 4). Is this reasoning correct? At full throttle there are whirlpools that form on top of the water.

I fired up the sequence pump last night. I had to really dial it back to keep the sand on the bottom. BUT, there is nothing for the sand to stick to right now. Hopefully, the addition of more rock will help also. If not, I will have to abandon the sand. The added flow blew off the rocks well and put a lot of material into suspension for the skimmer. There is a lot of water movement toward the middle of the tank where all the water jets crash together.

I will be elevating the rock off the sand with PVC. Also, I am thinking about removing the loc-line from the right and left rear corners and going with a spray bars behind the rock.

The flow though the sump (about 1000 gph) was too much for my baffles in the sump. All but 2 of them collapased last night. So, this weekend I will drain the sump and repair. I used aquarium silicone on the baffles as I needed to fill some voids in my shady workmanship. Any recommendations on a better adhesive to use?

The MR3 is working great. I have another injector that I can use if I wanted to run two beckets. I figured I would work with just the one on it now to learn the becket. I think I got it tuned in for a nice wet foam. I'll add the additional injector when I add more life to the tank.

I'll post some more pictures tonight....Thanks for the comments!

[Bender]

Very nice. Please do keep the pics coming Where is Canton Michigan out of curiosity?

Bender

[dochoot]

metro detroit

[adddo]

looks great! keep us updated!

[Kevin McG]

I was wondering what the layer was under your tank? pink material.

[Reefy]

The pick layer is 1/2" foam insulation from Home Depot. Next items for completion:

Electrical - 2 20 amp lines.

Auto fresh water top off.

Lighting - 3 250w 10,000k on spider light reflectors. I am still researching ideas for the overhead canopy. I saw in the Marine Depot catalog that the Ice Cap ballasts will not light the XM bulbs. Is this true?

I ordered 180 lbs of fiji live rock from Liveaquaria.com. It will be here tomorrow

When I finish the electrical and sump repair, I will post some more picks of the setup under the tank. Here are some more of the tank.

Peace.


My Office


Side Shot

[Muligan]

looks great

[qwuintus]

SICK..... any construction pix????

[pondfrog]

Just curious on your plans for cleaning the front panel. Or anyone else's for that matter. I have a 300 I want to put in wall and LOVE the clean front look (no doors above your tank). It has been setup for a year with a stand and canopy and access from the front has made life wonderful.
I know your tank is still new, but do you anticipate any trouble cleaning the front? Magnets will only do so much.

Steve

[SHOmuchFUN]

I'm actually considering a very similar setup to use as a bar backdrop for a bar I want to start, instead of the typical bar mirror. It'd be just above the liquor bottles, about the same dimension as your tank.

I have a few questions about your design though:
I'm curious as to why you went with only one overflow box? Even though you have two drains, it's only one box. What happens if the teeth get clogged? Are the teeth large enough to accomodate the flow you have from your return?

Also, why do you only have one inlet for your closed loop? Seems like a lot of suction from just one inlet. Imagine all that comes OUT of your pump, but think about all that's going into that ONE inlet.

I don't see any support in the middle of the stand, other than the single 2x4's that were simply screwed to the outside of the frame. You have almost 2000 pounds of water in that tank alone. I would think some center supports would be necessary to decrease your chances of your stand bowing?

[karsco]

Hey Reefy,

Nice design! I reall like the clean lines and simplicity of your closed loop. Some people (IMO) get carried away with thier closed loops and drill so many holes in their tank they look like swiss cheese. I look forward to following your progress!

Scott

[Gudwyn]

"I figure that I am going from a 2" inlet to 3" of output. (3/4" x 4). Is this reasoning correct? At full throttle there are whirlpools that form on top of the water. "

Actually, that isn't exactly right. You need to think cross section, not diameter. So you are going from 2*2=4 units of cross section to 0.75*0.75*4=2.25 units of cross section.

The sequence pump can be throttled that way without hurting it (in theory) but you are getting higher velocity and a little less flow that way. The high velocity may be what is causing your vortex.

But... none of that really matters. What matters is if you get the flow you need in the places you need it. Good luck with the tank, it looks great.

[Ramble On Rose]

Wow, looks great. I am picking up my 210 on Monday and I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind of course. From the pictures it looks like I have similar trim going on that you do (different color), can you take a close up (or describe in detail) how you handled the trim? I can see the tank is butted up to the wall and you don't have a plastic trim on the tank to worry about, but how does it look up close against the tank? Is the trim snug against the tank? Did you just nail the trim down or did you use anything else?

And secondly, since you brought it up in one of the posts up there , why did you decide to go with a sand bed?

Thanks, and cant wait to see it when you get some more LR in there.

[crescent1]

why did you not go with a bigger sump.

[Fliger]

Thanks for those add'l pix - it looks really nice.

Is there any way to build front access? I would create some sort of cut-out so you can do simple things like feed, put your magnet cleaner of/off.

I would definitely go with a bigger sump. A power outtage could spell disaster in that!

[Reefy]

I'm curious as to why you went with only one overflow box? Even though you have two drains, it's only one box. What happens if the teeth get clogged? Are the teeth large enough to accomodate the flow you have from your return?

Just my preference. It takes up less room.

Also, why do you only have one inlet for your closed loop? Seems like a lot of suction from just one inlet. Imagine all that comes OUT of your pump, but think about all that's going into that ONE inlet.

I thought the same way when setting up. However, I did not like the idea of having 2 3" holes in the back of my tank. So, I thought I would see what the suction would be like with one. It's actually not that strong. I don't see any chance of my fish getting stuck to it.

don't see any support in the middle of the stand, other than the single 2x4's that were simply screwed to the outside of the frame. You have almost 2000 pounds of water in that tank alone. I would think some center supports would be necessary to decrease your chances of your stand bowing?

Everybody is so paranoid about weight issues on these big tanks. I am using 2x6 headers. With 2x4 upright supports. IMO, most people overkill the build on the stands. The front two supports are removeable for sump access. The stand hasn't moved a millimeter since setup.

I can see the tank is butted up to the wall and you don't have a plastic trim on the tank to worry about, but how does it look up close against the tank? Is the trim snug against the tank? Did you just nail the trim down or did you use anything else?

The trim is pretty snug against the tank. I just nailed it down to the framing that was installed around the window cutout. Heres a pic:

Is there any way to build front access? I would create some sort of cut-out so you can do simple things like feed, put your magnet cleaner of/off.

Everything is accessible from the back. I can reach every area inside the tank. But a XL kent scrapper helps too. I just need a small step ladder to get over the access holes.

Actually, that isn't exactly right. You need to think cross section, not diameter. So you are going from 2*2=4 units of cross section to 0.75*0.75*4=2.25 units of cross section.

Interesting.....I do think that the water is comming out a little fast. I think a spray bar added to each side may help out.

I would definitely go with a bigger sump. A power outtage could spell disaster in that!

Why is that? There is enough room in the sump to handle all overflow and skimmer water when all the pumps are shutoff. The purpose of the sump is simply to house my equipment. With 250 gallons in the display, I see no need to add a larger volume of water to the sump. I wanted enough room on one side to house my other future equipment.

why did you decide to go with a sand bed?

I love the benefits of the BB. But I just can't stand the look.


Thanks for the comments everyone....

[Fliger]

I should have figured you tested the sump size - it just looks a little small from the picture.

Can't wait to see updates.