My 240g Build

[pbnj]

Well, here we go.....

This 240g tank (96x24x24) was built by OceanView; it's Reef-Ready, Euro-Braced (no center-bracing), and it was purchased from River City Aquatics. Many thanks to Jake for putting up with my many requests for price quotes on various tanks in the preceding months! I wasn't going to buy my new tank until this spring, but I had an opportunity to buy this tank back in NOV09 (on my birthday) at a significant discount because of a small, cosmetic imperfection on one of the horizontal braces (minor chip/shaving). The good thing about waiting so long to start the actual build is that I've had ample time to ponder the many equipment options, as well as create the design for my custom canopy and stand. Good thing indeed, because I've changed my mind at least a few dozen times about the direction I want to go. In addition, new equipment has come out since last year, some of which I want to incorporate into the build.

[pbnj]

Since this is going to be an SPS-dominated tank, lighting took center-stage as my main area of focus. I went back-and-forth between Lumenarcs and LumenBrights. Given that this is not a particulary wide tank front-to-back (24") and I wanted to have strong PAR readings directly under the bulbs, I decided on the LumenBrights. So which ballasts to go with these reflectors? After many hours of online research and some feedback from fellow ARC members, I decided on the Lumatek 250W dimmable ballasts. They're one of the best and most popular ballasts in the hobby these days and they will allow me to use a wide range of bulbs, should I choose to experiment.

My order from Marine Depot arrived today. Four ballast kits (ballasts+cords) on sale for $119.99 each (free shipping). I will be using either the LumenBright Mini's or the Mini-Wide's. If I go with the Mini's, I may even go with 5 reflectors instead of 4, but that's another decision that's a few weeks away. Believe it or not, the Mini's and Mini-Wide's actually have better PAR readings under the bulbs than the large reflectors. Marc from Melev's Reef did some comparisons, and the smaller reflectors showed better PAR readings. With the large reflectors, he suspects that the light has to travel further from the bulb to the reflective surfaces, then bounce down to the PAR-meter.

Update (04/16/10): I decided to go with 5 LumenBright Mini reflectors, so I ordered another Lumatek ballast. Ordering the reflectors next week.

[Salty Jeff]

Looks good. Can't wait to see it completed.

[pbnj]

Another crucial reef component, yet I'm still not quite sure which way I want to go. So many options (and price points), but I've never had a tank this big before. I'm not exactly sure how much flow I need or what kind of flow I want. I already have a large Tunze Wavebox, the overflow returns, and I may incorporate some Tunze Turbelle's at some point (I'm avoiding the VorTech's), but as a starting point, I ordered two Koralia Magnum 8's, which were on sale at Marine Depot for $87.99 each (down from $109.99).

The one critique/complaint I've read over-and-over online is how big & bulky these things are, but quite honestly, there's too much exaggeration going on. Are they bigger than a VorTech or even a Koralia 4? Yes, but there's no doubting that they move a lot of water and you can't beat the price or energy efficiency.

[+cyrus]

I have a 240 also its 8'. It was reccomended on a calculation site to get Seio 2600's and a controller. If you already have a wavemaker you may only need one or two not so powerful. They are cheap to 70ish

[pbnj]

Thanks for posting. In addition to the Koralia 8's, I'm looking into the Vertex MOcean wavemaker with the Tunze Stream adaptor bracket.