240 Donkey Tank

[Slickdonkey]

Ok I'm sure most of you have seen my tank design thread, but that one is getting unweildy and really the design is done at this point. So I thought I'd make a thread specifically to post pictures. Some of these you might have seen in the other thread, but as I said it's really difficult to weed through that thing now. I am not much of a photographer but I'll try to learn as I go.

240 gallons, 96"x24"x24" with dual overflows (two 1" returns, two 1.5" drains). Here are some pictures before drilling the tank or staining the stand and canopy.

If I could change anything, I think I would go with a glass tank (acrylic scratches too easily) and also have the overflows external. I've got 6" of space behind the tank which is mostly wasted because of the closed-loop. I shouldn't be complaining. Overall I'm really happy with the way this turned out; there's always something that could be different.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Equipment

Here's a list of all the equipment I'm hoarding. I'll update this list when it changes, if anyone actually cares that much.

Neptune Aquacontroller 3 Pro
Sequence Hammerhead and OM 4-way closed loop pump
Sequence Hammerhead return/utility pump
2x500W Finnex titanium heaters
1/4 HP Aqua Logic chiller w/ Mag-9.5 pump
Clip-on sump fan for extra cooling
Lifereef VS3-30 skimmer w/ Mag-12 pump
4x400W Hamilton 10K + Magnatek raw ballasts
4 Lumenarc mini reflectors
4x110W 46.5" VHO actinics w/ Icecap 660 ballast
Solar Dimmer 1000 for VHOs
Lunar Tracker blue moonlights
Two 4" Icecap fans in the canopy
Sander 200mg ozonizer, air dryer and pump
Pentair 40W UV sterilizer
Pentair chemical (carbon) filter
Geo 6x12 calcium reactor w/ Maxijet 900
Precision Marine kalk reactor (keeps pH up)
Litermeter III dosing pump (topoff and continuous water change)
Phosban reactor w/ Maxijet 400
19W fuge bulb on reverse lighting schedule for chaeto

As you can see I ended up with just about every piece of major equipment you can think of. Electrical usage is very high, obviously. I estimate it at about $100/month @ $0.08/kWh. I have four dedicated circuits for the tank and even had to install a separate electrical subpanel. I might need yet another circuit: I'm thinking about moving up to 400W halides because they're mounted about 12" off the water surface.

For the future I'm planning to add the following:
- Plumb a frag tank into the system with a 250W MH light.
- Construct a battery backup using a deep-cycle vehicle battery
- Install water sensors to detect spills/leaks
- Temperature controller backup
- Loss of power detection for each circuit
- Kill switch to turn off all equipment in case of emergency (i.e. "big red button")
- Smoke alarm

 

[Slickdonkey]

Plumbing

Here's the plumbing setup. There is a 1" return and a 1.5" durso standpipe in each overflow. The returns actually come out over the top of the overflow and using some locline are just barely placed under the water's surface. This means less water drained to the sump when power goes out, and less plumbing visible in the tank. The drains go under the house to the sump and into a 100-micron filter sock that I change every few days.

I built the sump myself out of 3/8" acrylic. It's based on Melev's Model F, except mine is a lot more sloppy-looking. Basically there are three compartments: Skimmer -> Return <- Fuge. The water drains to the skimmer compartment, goes under the bubble traps to the return section. From there the Hammerhead pump returns the water to the tank (up about 12 feet) and also diverts a section to the fuge, which overflows back into the center return section. I like this because I can easily adjust the through the fuge with a gate valve independent of the sump turnover rate, even though they use the same pump.

Initially I was not planning to do a closed loop, but everyone here twisted my arm and said I would really regret it later if I didn't. Turns out you guys were right. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I run the closed loop on a Sequence Hammerhead pump and pump it through an Oceans Motions 4-way. This pump is really heavy duty and does a great job. It's a little on the loud side, but it's under my house so it's not a big deal. The OM 4-way is a great piece of equipment. The only problem is that sand gets stuck in it from time to time and while I made it accessible, it is not "easily accessible" and is kind of a pain to take apart in my setup. I know they make a sandbed drum and I plan to get one.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Aquascaping

Here's the final product after aquascaping. My wife did most of the creative work.

 

[CarlaW]

Looks like you did a heckuva job, but I have a question. In the 1st pic in the 3rd post, do you have pvc until the return goes under water? I don't think that loc-line is airtight, and if it is as the pics show, you are gonna get a bunch of salt creep. I may be wrong, so bear with me.

 

[bradreef]

looking good. 96" is long. like the rockwork though. any chance of a Needlewheel skimmer in the future to cut power?

 

[ronj]

WOW!! that is nice..that looks like a ton of work went into the stand and plumbing!!!! tell your wife she did a very nice job on the aquascaping!!

 

[james734]

Looking good Slick. I like the idea of everything under the house.

 

[brady816]

wow wow wow wow thats all i can say i love it man. keep the pics coming!!!!!

 

[Slickdonkey]

Looks like you did a heckuva job, but I have a question. In the 1st pic in the 3rd post, do you have pvc until the return goes under water? I don't think that loc-line is airtight, and if it is as the pics show, you are gonna get a bunch of salt creep. I may be wrong, so bear with me.

Yeah Charlie I was worred about that. So far it has not been a problem, but I may remove the loc-line because there's no real reason to have it in this situation. I'll probably eventually replace it with some PVC.

Looking good Slick. I like the idea of everything under the house.

Thanks. It started as just kind of a wild idea but now I don't know how I could have done all this without it. I never would have fit all that crap in the stand.

looking good. 96" is long. like the rockwork though. any chance of a Needlewheel skimmer in the future to cut power?

Absolutely, I'm all for it. I've been thinking of the Octopus skimmers one of these days. Actually right now since I'm running ozone, the skimmer doesn't produce much of anything. If I turn the ozone off, then I get the nice nasty stuff. Like this:

 

[FUBAR]

Rad!

I definately need a bigger tank. I have a 150... but 18" deep just isn't enough.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Rad!

I definately need a bigger tank. I have a 150... but 18" deep just isn't enough.

Yeah I found 24" to be even a little tight. But with 6" in back for the closed-loop it's already sticking out far enough into the living room. In fact we're going to have to get a smaller couch because of this tank. At least it will have cup holders for my beer.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Inhabitants

Ok, many of of you have probably seen a lot of these pictures, but I'll post them here for posterity so you don't have to dig through my monster tank design thread. And I know you all are just dying to look at my pictures every single day. Come on, I have to release somewhere, my wife is sick of me talking about the tank all the time. I'll post some new ones too.

Here's my current favorite fish, the blue hippo tang. She has grown probably 1.5" since I got her a few months ago. She's gonna be a big fish.

Another old favorite, the Royal Gramma. I've had him almost 7 years and he's been through the Great Plague of 2001 and several tank moves. Very hardy fish and he has a big bark but no bite. Funny to watch him act tough and the other fish just ignore him.

Here's Pinkie, my vacuum cleaner. Note the acro frag plug she found somewhere.

And a lawnmower blenny. I thought he was going to stir my sand up a little but he's not interested. He does a great job eating slime algae and is really fun to watch. Lots of personality even though he's not the most beautiful addition.

Here's his secret hideout. I love the green stars but am worried about their toxicity in a tank that's starting to have more SPS than I'd originally planned. I may end up removing them but the wife loves them too.

And some purple stars, these are neat.

 

[Scooterman]

Tank is coming along nicely, guess it was about time to thread up a new one because the other was rather long, sorta like most of Krishes

Slick, If you ever want to close the thread so you can post up a bunch of photos let me know I might be able to help, not sure If I can do it like that for you but worth a try!

 

[tamarindthai]

wowww!!looking real good ,gonna be the great one
,yes,,,alot of room for more frag.

 

[Slickdonkey]

More pictures

A purple slimer, from mattseattle's old tank (RIP). They don't call it a slimer for nothing, let me tell you.

Frogspawn. I got a good deal on this large piece but it may have to go as well; I think these are chemical warriors.

Here are some shots of my anemone, of powerhead fame. It's looking a lot better. Sadly this is another one of those additions that might have to go. If this guy decides to start moving around he could do a lot of damage. Everyhing is doing fine now but I'm a little worried about the long-term viability of some of these livestock combinations.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Here's some more livestock I cannibalized from Matt's tank.

Poccilopora (sp?):

Xenia:

Mike the Mandarin, aka "MC Pod-Killa"

 

[CarlaW]

If it hasn't been a problem, then more power to you. You really have done a nice job, you and your wife ought to be commended!!!!!!! The rock work is outstanding.

 

[Slickdonkey]

If it hasn't been a problem, then more power to you. You really have done a nice job, you and your wife ought to be commended!!!!!!! The rock work is outstanding.

Thank ye sir. She is the "aesthetic advisor". When I failed in my stacking ability she said "here, let me do it" and took over while I supervised and drank beer.

We'll see about the livestock choices. I think almost anything can work in the short term, it's the long haul that I'm worried about.

 

[Slickdonkey]

The hydnophora seems a little brown. Once my actinics are back up that should help a little, and so will 400W halides, maybe.