Dan H Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Yes, the must haves and nice-to-haves need to be figured out, but when it comes to electricity, I'm of the it's a must side of the fence. Especially in this scale. Back in the day when we had our 125, we didn't heed this wisdom and ended up having more than 1 electricity problem, including melting some surge protectors because they were over-loaded. 110V AC Electricity = can be dangerous. 110V AC Electricity + saltwater = dangerous. 110V AC Electricity + salt water + high amperage = super dangerous + major fire hazard. I computed that even with every single device running we would pull less than 10 amps, but I figured having a 2x margin of safety was well worth the money. I wouldn't be so much worried about losing the livestock as losing your house in a fire, or worse yet, your life. Ok, I'll climb down off my soapbox now. It exciting to see water finally going in! I'm going to have to make a visit down there soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnKoto Posted August 2, 2015 Author Share Posted August 2, 2015 When you're right, you're right! I'm getting it done on Monday. As soon as I get some fish and stuff in there, definitely want to do some beers and tank talk. Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Sounds good to me. Can't wait to see the finished product! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Looking real good sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnKoto Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 The tank has its first three inhabitants! Three little chromis in the sump each with roughly 110 gallons of system water. With the protein skimmer humming along it will probably take quite a while for an ammonia spike from the three :-) The return plumbing is working really well, never had a leak. The DC12000 is humming along... Things left on the list: - Plumb my closed loops - Stain the rest of the stand and canopy - Start to plan out the aquasquaping of the larger tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Yay for livestock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasReef Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Very nice build! I agree with Dan on the electricity. I think I am going to do a gfic breaker at the box. I have read about false trips at the socket level. Electricity is a large topic and many theories but when in doubt pay a pro. Also, not sure if you want to run the skimmer during the cycle. Again, many schools of thought here too. Sent from my SD4930UR using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnKoto Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 Okay.. first-things first... I'm not dead. I know I haven't posted about my build in over 7 months, but that does not mean that I haven't been working on it like crazy, especially lately. So, I am going to try and pick it up where I left off. With a goal of bring the build thread through some of my ups and downs. To start, I did have the electrician come in and run a brand new 20A circuit, and I sure am glad that I did for multiple reasons. First, yesterday I was trying to get a fish out of the tank and I splashed water over the back onto the outlet and the GCFI triggered and everything went down, but that was the extent of it--not even a blown fuse. The other major reason is with the 240G there is so much equipment to keep it up and running that I am quickly running out of Amps on the circuit. 15A would not have been enough, especially shared with another outlet. Okay, so now I have water in the tank, some left over sand in the sump, a bunch of dry rock sitting in a bin, and 3 Chromis. Now on to getting sand and live rock in there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Shawn of the dead! He's alive! Tank looks good there sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemoon Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Hurrah! Good to see you back onboard sir. Tank looks clean. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Glad your alive bud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Yay! I was hoping to see my tank doppelganger up and running soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJohnson Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Sent from my XT1045 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 ^^^^^^^ nominated for the most awesome post today!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 ^^^^^^^ nominated for the most awesome post today!!!!!!!!Agreed... it hit me right on the tickle bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnKoto Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 When I started looking into options for sand, I was blown away. For the tank and sump I was going to need around 350lbs+ of sand, which was going to cost me $1-$2/lbs shipped depending on quality. So, I was figuring $400-$600--just for sand! With that, I started doing what other people have done by going to big-box stores in search of the elusive Old Castle/Southdown sand or something equivalent. People have used it with great success for $5 a bag, but after searching every place around Austin and not finding a bag of anything that passed the vinegar test, I gave up. I almost pulled the trigger on MarcoRocks about a dozen times, but wasn’t pumped about the mixed sizes, so I held off a little longer to think on it. While I was researching I found these two articles: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/10/chemistry http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/2/short I know these are old articles, but they really got me thinking about Limestone, which is plentiful and cheap. Limestone is largely Calcium Carbonate in the form of Calcite and Aragonite, which is what we use in our sandbeds. It is also the primary substance that forms the live-rock that we put in our tanks. Now I know that limestone has other impurities, but so does our live rock. So, I started going to rock-yards looking for sand-ish stuff made from limestone in bulk. I probably looked like a real weirdo walking around all these rock yards with a jug of vinegar… I would just go up to the giant pile of anything that was sandy with a light color and tested it. Finally, I found one that at Whittlesey Landscape Supplies: I think that they called man-made sand. They described it as left over limestone that they pulverize into sand. It passed the test with flying colors. Once, I found that it fizzed like crazy, I also tested it with the Nitrate test solution and the results were perfect. Not sure how to change this pic to portrait. So, I had them fill a 110 gallon tub with sand for $30! As you can imagine, there are a lot of sizes in this sand and it is very dirty from sitting outside. Because of this I decided to put it through sieve. I used this and it worked extremely well. It had four options: 0.5mm, 1mm, 2mm and 3mm. It took a long time because I ended up loving the size when I put the sand through two different sieves, the .5mm and the 1mm. That left me with a .06-1mm size that was not too small that blows around too much, but still looks good--at least I think so. I did this over three separate buckets and It took me about 2 hours to get a whole bucket of 1mm and clean it with the hose. It took a heck of a long time, but I ended up with a result that I really love. One last point is that you will have a lot of left over larger and smaller sand. I put the smaller one in my sump. If you read this far into this post, I know what you are probably thinking... "This is way too much work and I would have just bought the sand." I get it... but I promised myself from the beginning that I would do whatever I could to reduced costs while not compromising too much on quality. This is why I got a scratched up tank and polished it out and built a sump from scratch. I do this with the understanding that even if it takes a long time to complete the build and find components, this is a hobby and I don't need to rush it. In fact, people tell me that patience is the key to this whole thing anyway. I hope this was helpful to people looking for another more economical option for sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Very cool! How deep are you planning on making your sandbed? I used about 100 pounds and have about two inches over the entire tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Very ingenious and dedicated there sir! How deep are you planning for the sandbed? I think I used about 160lbs in my 215-gal if I remember right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnKoto Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 Yeah, for 2 inches it was going to be about 200 lbs and I thought originally that I wanted 2.5- 3" but once I started putting it in I found 2 inches seemed like plenty. Then I had the 6-8" in my sump, which was another 150+ lbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Yeah, for 2 inches it was going to be about 200 lbs and I thought originally that I wanted 2.5- 3" but once I started putting it in I found 2 inches seemed like plenty. Then I had the 6-8" in my sump, which was another 150+ lbs. Oh nice! Remote DSB in the sump? You're all over this new tank. Great job bud! [emoji106] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 If you read this far into this post, I know what you are probably thinking... "This is way too much work and I would have just bought the sand." You might be this guy, because that's spot on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnKoto Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 Very cool! How deep are you planning on making your sandbed? I used about 100 pounds and have about two inches over the entire tank. I have to say 100 lbs for a tank your size seems really low for 2inches. I don't think the math works out unless you have a lot of live rock on the bottom of the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnKoto Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 Yeah, for 2 inches it was going to be about 200 lbs and I thought originally that I wanted 2.5- 3" but once I started putting it in I found 2 inches seemed like plenty. Then I had the 6-8" in my sump, which was another 150+ lbs. Oh nice! Remote DSB in the sump? You're all over this new tank. Great job bud! [emoji106] Yeah, I first considered it on the main tank, but that really takes up a lot of space, and would be a huge amount of sand. I know DSBs are controversial but it seems like the common consensus is that if it does work that you need at least 6-8". I have a pretty large refugium section of the sump that is about 40x17x19 and I will mostly be using for a frags, extra nems, and a little macro. So, I thought that 11-12 inches is plenty of left over water depth for those things and will save me on lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 You only need 4+ to work, but the reality is if you start with 5-6 it'll end up at 4-5 as it compacts down a bit and gets moved around by current, fish, etc... We targeted a minimum of 4 and max of 6 and it's settled nicely. I'll try to get a pic but you can clearly see it working, producing nitrogen bubbles frequently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnKoto Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 You only need 4+ to work, but the reality is if you start with 5-6 it'll end up at 4-5 as it compacts down a bit and gets moved around by current, fish, etc... We targeted a minimum of 4 and max of 6 and it's settled nicely. I'll try to get a pic but you can clearly see it working, producing nitrogen bubbles frequently. From the stuff you have researched do you think that you can go too deep? I have around 7 in there now on one side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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