240 Gallon Mixed Reef Build

ChrisKey · Jun 4, 2013

Here are some updated pictures of the stand skinning. I will be building some door this week and painting it as well.

ChrisKey · Jun 5, 2013

And some new additions to the tank. Thank you H@rry for the awesome pieces!

ORA Birds of Paradise

Blue Digitata

Green Spongodes

Greensleeves digitata There is also a rock directly behind this digi encrusted with Tyree Jedi Mindtrick.

Pink Lace Birdnest

Ponape Birdnest

I also got a rock encrusted with Pokerstar encrusting Monti, but I forgot to take a snapshot of it. Plus the polyps haven't come out fully quite yet.

revhtree · Jun 5, 2013

Looks great!

Chameleon · Jun 5, 2013

Looking very good! Loving the workmanship. Also I love the spongodes colony. I got a frag of a brown unkown coral from someone at the NARC Febuary meeting I think. everyone was trying to guess what it was thinking either pocillopora or stylo. Well it turned out to be a bright green spongodes and is growing like crazy. Hope mine turns out like yours.

aslmx · Jun 6, 2013

Man ,,Harrys frags are a lot bigger then I remember.

ChrisKey · Jun 10, 2013

Here is the completed stand. I was going to put on some molding and trim work, but I think I like it just as it is for now. I noticed my temperature rose about 1 degree yesterday, so I definitely need a cooling fan under the tank.

revhtree · Jun 10, 2013

Wow it really looks good. I likey!

Chameleon · Jun 10, 2013

You'll never see salt creep again with that stand. Nice work

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

ChrisKey · Jun 12, 2013

Here is the skimmer after routing it to the laundry room.

Pumps located in the laundry

Completed rack for 40b refugium (top) and 40b frag tank (bottom). You can also see the phytoplankton culture station on the lowest shelf.

ChrisKey · Jun 12, 2013

Here is the phyto plankton station setup with 3 different types of microalgae and also has a 5g tank currently culturing brine shrimp from my hatchery, but will culture copepodes soon.

ChrisKey · Jun 12, 2013

Here is the sump with the new saltwater fill valve. the biggest downside is the new tank has raised the temp of the tank 1 degree because of the lack of air circulation. So I will have to put in a few more fans.

Gotta love all the piping.

Jason_R · Jul 17, 2013

Love the thread. Looks awesome!

TrishW · Jul 18, 2013

Looks great! Love the remote location of the skimmer, pumps, etc. Don't you love how quiet it is at the tank? I run my sump from my garage. Everyone said it wouldn't work, but I hate noise so I tried it anyway. At our old house in VA the garage was on the other side of the wall the display was on. Here in AL it's 40 feet away but the house is built on a crawl so it wasn't too bad.

Just remember that if you ever decide to sell, repair any holes from the house out to the garage before you list. Apparently it's a big deal when you cut a hole in a fire rated wall.

ChrisKey · Jul 18, 2013

I will try to update this tomorrow. I took a bunch of pictures of it tonight so I will try going through them and posting some updates.

markkazdad · Jul 18, 2013

Cool, looking forward to it.

ChrisKey · Jul 24, 2013

Ok, it has been about a month since the last update. I have been focusing on getting some more SPS frags as well as zoas/palys.

I also bought a pair of Jebao WP40 pumps and run them in W2 S2 mode at 75% power. I will be purchasing 5 of the WP25 pumps to replace some other hydor koralia, my MP10, and MP40 pumps. I am thinking of placing the WP40s on each end, then maybe have another pair of WP25 on that end as well with a pair of WP25 on the back wall. I am a little concerned with the flow for my leathers and LPS if I put this much in the tank, but I think if I put the back pumps on ELSE mode at 50% and the side WP25s in W2 mode at 75%, it will not be overpowering. Maybe I just have to give it a try and see if it works.

So here is some new pictures of the tank. I adjusted a few pieces on the left side of the tank so I can create a zoa garden at the bottom of the caves. I will post some pictures of that later when they get adjusted to the new light and open up.