Lanman 225-gallon tank build

[steveoutlaw]

It fragged itself overnight... just dropped off about a 1"x4" piece of 'plate' from somewhere. It has layers and layers of the stuff. Might have been laying somewhere inside, and a snail pushed it out or something. When the lights come on, I'll try to figure out if it's alive, or just a piece of rubble. There is so much surface area on that thing, if it grows well, I'll bet it could easily add 10 square inches of coral a day. It's just rings inside rings inside rings. I'm glad I have the CA reactor - I may have to set it up sooner than planned.

 

bob

 

 

Bob-

Even if the piece that fell off looks bleached, don't get rid of it. most of the areas not getting much light will be white like that. A week or 2 in the light and it will color up just fine.

[lanman]

Bob-

Even if the piece that fell off looks bleached, don't get rid of it. most of the areas not getting much light will be white like that. A week or 2 in the light and it will color up just fine.

I laid it on top of a rock where it will get some good light. I noticed some 'live' parts at one end where it was getting a little light. It certainly doesn't look 'dead' - just 'inactive'. I did a rough measurement yesterday, and it has over 100" of growth edge on it with all those sworls and layers. Looks like it will be producing frags without my intervention.

 

bob

[lanman]

ATO and Kalk stirrer hooked up and running:

 

 

Today's FTS; just a little movement of rocks.

 

 

bob

[davelin315]

Hey Bob, what do you think of raising the level of the water in the overflow and using that for frags? I keep on looking at your overflow and getting completely distracted with trying to figure out why the water level is so low... anyway, I think it would make a great frag tray!

[lanman]

Hey Bob, what do you think of raising the level of the water in the overflow and using that for frags? I keep on looking at your overflow and getting completely distracted with trying to figure out why the water level is so low... anyway, I think it would make a great frag tray!

 

It's only about 3" deep; short frags! Can't make it any deeper; in fact, I'm a little concerned about the depth of it now - apparently two 1.5" overflows can JUST handle 1800gph. Both overflow pipes are within about 1/2" of the top.

 

That Calfo overflow - and the way it's visually distracting with that horizontal line was one of my concerns in buying this tank - I'm hoping that I can get enough rock/coral up high enough to 'break' the line, so it doesn't stand out so much.

 

bob

[vaironman]

Bob,

 

On top of your Kalkwasser, I see there is a 1/4" tube coming out, what is that for? I have the same grey seas kalkwasser and mine does not have that tube. Not sure what's the function for it?

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

[jamesbuf]

I agree with the weird look of the overflow. I'm sure you'll get used to it though. Just like you'll get used to the 36" from front to back. Leaves alot of room for options for options with aquascaping.

 

How do you like the ATO? I've heard people complain about those not being very consistent.

[davelin315]

It's only about 3" deep; short frags! Can't make it any deeper; in fact, I'm a little concerned about the depth of it now - apparently two 1.5" overflows can JUST handle 1800gph. Both overflow pipes are within about 1/2" of the top.

 

That Calfo overflow - and the way it's visually distracting with that horizontal line was one of my concerns in buying this tank - I'm hoping that I can get enough rock/coral up high enough to 'break' the line, so it doesn't stand out so much.

 

bob

3" is fine, it will eliminate the need to place lighting directly on top of it as you'll be able to keep them in there with the indirect light from your lighting. It'll also be high flow for you to boot.

 

If you want to make it deeper, I would suggest doing a modified durso on it. I would think that if you modify the outside, you could increase the depth without danger of flooding. Take a 90 and shave it down enough where you can connect another 90 to it with minimal distance between the two bends. Mount this first one coming directly out of the bulkhead facing up and then mount the other one to that. Put that into a T with one pointing up and one pointing down and cap off the one going up with a John Guest fitting for 1/4" tubing with a mini-ball valve. Then run it down to your sump. This should create a nice silent overflow for you and it should also raise the water level up to the top of the highest horizontal level of the external piping. This is what I was thinking.

 

[lanman]

Bob,

 

On top of your Kalkwasser, I see there is a 1/4" tube coming out, what is that for? I have the same grey seas kalkwasser and mine does not have that tube. Not sure what's the function for it?

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

That's actually the input... and it's different now I forgot to put an anti-siphon 'T' on it. So now my pail of freshwater is kalk-enriched! The output is the 1/2" hose barb fitting with a black piece of tubing on it. Which you probably can't see in that picture.

 

 

 

3" is fine, it will eliminate the need to place lighting directly on top of it as you'll be able to keep them in there with the indirect light from your lighting. It'll also be high flow for you to boot.

 

If you want to make it deeper, I would suggest doing a modified durso on it. I would think that if you modify the outside, you could increase the depth without danger of flooding. Take a 90 and shave it down enough where you can connect another 90 to it with minimal distance between the two bends. Mount this first one coming directly out of the bulkhead facing up and then mount the other one to that. Put that into a T with one pointing up and one pointing down and cap off the one going up with a John Guest fitting for 1/4" tubing with a mini-ball valve. Then run it down to your sump. This should create a nice silent overflow for you and it should also raise the water level up to the top of the highest horizontal level of the external piping. This is what I was thinking.

 

I'm sure that would work - but my over flow is DEAD silent right now - Shhhh... don't want to mess with it. I put a piece of 1.25" pvc on the output of my skimmer to JUST get it below the water surface - and the loudest thing in the system now is the appliance timer motor on the kalk stirrer. It's amazingly quiet.

 

Now, I'm going to look over the other systems and figure out why they are so darned NOISY!

 

bob

[dandy7200]

Black acrylic insert inside the calfo? Thats the way my external overflows are setup.

[YBeNormal]

Black acrylic insert inside the calfo? Thats the way my external overflows are setup.

 

 

Or designed to hang over the front of the overflow so it can be removed for cleaning.

[Guest Bemmer]

Hey Bob,

The tank looks great. It is funny to see my old tank reborn again.

 

I have not been on the boards for quite sometime but now that I found your thread I will keep an eye on ya'.

You might want to move this over to the new Tank Threads forum in the Public Forums.

 

Anyway, as it relates to the water level in the overflow, two options to hide it are:

1. Let the coralline algae grow on the front of the overflow trough like I did or...

 

2. Glue on some star polys and let them grow across the overflow. That mightlook really cool. There is a small lip on the bottom of the overflow that was designed to hold some coral frags.

 

Best of luck and Merry Christmas

 

Rebecca

[lanman]

Hey Bob,

The tank looks great. It is funny to see my old tank reborn again.

 

I have not been on the boards for quite sometime but now that I found your thread I will keep an eye on ya'.

You might want to move this over to the new Tank Threads forum in the Public Forums.

 

Anyway, as it relates to the water level in the overflow, two options to hide it are:

1. Let the coralline algae grow on the front of the overflow trough like I did or...

 

2. Glue on some star polys and let them grow across the overflow. That mightlook really cool. There is a small lip on the bottom of the overflow that was designed to hold some coral frags.

 

Best of luck and Merry Christmas

 

Rebecca

 

Hi, Rebecca!

 

If I could turn back time - I'd have you put the hole for the closed-loop on the other end of the tank; other than that, it's turning out fine for my purposes! And even that only takes a few minutes to get used to, and then you don't notice.

 

I added my first fish to the tank yesterday. Couldn't pass up a pistol shrimp/Yashia goby pair. So now a 1" fish is the only swimmer in a 240-gallon tank. Unfortunately, the shrimp decided to take up residence under a rock I had just put in there temporarily - I will eventually be ripping the roof off his house. Here is the pair before they started digging:

 

And yes - I have planned to move this to the tank-thread topic as soon as I get admin access.

 

Welcome back!

 

bob

[lanman]

I got the rest of my lights:

 

 

AND - I put a front on the canopy; kind of temporary until I can think of something prettier, but not much heavier!

 

 

bob

 

Hey Bob, what do you think of raising the level of the water in the overflow and using that for frags? I keep on looking at your overflow and getting completely distracted with trying to figure out why the water level is so low... anyway, I think it would make a great frag tray!

 

Was looking at it today, and it occurred to me that as it is - if the pump goes off, it's going to have 1/2" of water in it. I'd have to make it STAY deep enough for frags.

 

bob

[Guest Bemmer]

Hi, Rebecca!

 

If I could turn back time - I'd have you put the hole for the closed-loop on the other end of the tank; other than that, it's turning out fine for my purposes! And even that only takes a few minutes to get used to, and then you don't notice.

 

Glad the tank is working out for you. Sorry about the placement of the cc hole. I guess my right is your left. You will get used to the placement of the hole. But be careful as the coralline algae grows onto the strainers it does not clog the intake for the closed loop.

 

I added my first fish to the tank yesterday. Couldn't pass up a pistol shrimp/Yashia goby pair. So now a 1" fish is the only swimmer in a 240-gallon tank. Unfortunately, the shrimp decided to take up residence under a rock I had just put in there temporarily - I will eventually be ripping the roof off his house. Here is the pair before they started digging:

 

Welcome back!

 

bob

 

I loved the Yashia goby/pistol shrimp combination. Don't be surprised though, when it disappears for awhile in that big tank. BTW, I like the sand you picked. Whose sand is that?

[zotzer]

Looking GREAT, Bob!!!

Tracy

[lanman]

Glad the tank is working out for you. Sorry about the placement of the cc hole. I guess my right is your left. You will get used to the placement of the hole. But be careful as the coralline algae grows onto the strainers it does not clog the intake for the closed loop.

I loved the Yashia goby/pistol shrimp combination. Don't be surprised though, when it disappears for awhile in that big tank. BTW, I like the sand you picked. Whose sand is that?

 

The sand is CaribSea Seaflor Special grade, purchased at BRK. I'm not using a closed-loop. Hoping I can get enough flow with my fairly well-hidden powerheads. That calfo overflow makes a kind of a shady spot underneath; makes the equipment under there less noticeable. I may add the closed-loop eventually - so I capped off both the inside, and the outside.

 

bob

[lanman]

I've decided to call my little Yashia goby 'Diva' ... Here is a shot of the Diva supervising construction of a new walk-out side entrance:

 

Every time the shrimp starts new construction - Diva is there supervising. The shrimp basically never stops moving sand around. There is now a main front entrance to the mansion, a back entrance (obviously the construction entrance - all of the excess sand is piled up back there), and now a new side-entrance.

 

A Yashia and pistol shrimp just like these two were partially responsible for getting me started in the hobby. I must have spent two hours watching them in the little display tank at Marine Scene. And now I have my own pair!

 

bob

Edited December 24, 2007 by lanman

[Connor]

excuse me for asking but how much were they i might want to add a pair into one of my tanks?

 

Connor

[zotzer]

Oh my gosh...they are too darned cute!! Makes me want to get a pair, but I am very worried that Medusa would eat them.

 

And "Diva"...that's a perfect name!!!

 

Tracy

[lanman]

excuse me for asking but how much were they i might want to add a pair into one of my tanks?

 

Connor

 

I don't remember... I bought a bunch of things that day. Somewhere around $50? $70?

 

Sorry!

 

bob

[lanman]

What we won't do for our fish tanks...

 

I just had the electrician over. I have a Federal Pacific main breaker panel. They are known to cause fires. It is 25 years old. Many/most of the breakers have been replaced over the years with better ones, but the main breaker hasn't - and it's the main fire hazard (never properly tested by UL, etc.) I am having a new panel installed. I am having wire run, and a sub-panel installed behind the 240-gallon tank. The sub-panel will have TWO 20-amp GFCI with ARC fault breakers. The whole job is going to be just under $6,000. And that's from a neighborhood electrical company. The cost of breaker panels has gone up almost 400% over the last several years - because the materials in them have risen drastically in price.

 

JUST the combination GFCI and ARC fault protection breakers are $200 each! And these will be REQUIRED for breakers for bedrooms in the very near future - possibly already in new construction. By 2009, they will be required for kitchens, etc.

 

bob

[davelin315]

What we won't do for our fish tanks...

 

I just had the electrician over. I have a Federal Pacific main breaker panel. They are known to cause fires. It is 25 years old. Many/most of the breakers have been replaced over the years with better ones, but the main breaker hasn't - and it's the main fire hazard (never properly tested by UL, etc.) I am having a new panel installed. I am having wire run, and a sub-panel installed behind the 240-gallon tank. The sub-panel will have TWO 20-amp GFCI with ARC fault breakers. The whole job is going to be just under $6,000. And that's from a neighborhood electrical company. The cost of breaker panels has gone up almost 400% over the last several years - because the materials in them have risen drastically in price.

 

JUST the combination GFCI and ARC fault protection breakers are $200 each! And these will be REQUIRED for breakers for bedrooms in the very near future - possibly already in new construction. By 2009, they will be required for kitchens, etc.

 

bob

 

AFCI are already code in most states, I believe, for bedrooms. Wow, that's a lot of money for the combination breaker! Have you considered doing the subpanel yourself? It's not as hard once you know how to do it... Oh, and you may want to add more breakers into your subpanel. I have 3 20 AMP breakers and I don't feel that I have enough, should have gone with one more because my lights alone take up an entire breaker.

[lanman]

AFCI are already code in most states, I believe, for bedrooms. Wow, that's a lot of money for the combination breaker! Have you considered doing the subpanel yourself? It's not as hard once you know how to do it... Oh, and you may want to add more breakers into your subpanel. I have 3 20 AMP breakers and I don't feel that I have enough, should have gone with one more because my lights alone take up an entire breaker.

 

I might have done the sub-panel myself, but seeing as they're going to already be here for the main breaker panel replacement, figured I'd have them do the sub-panel as well. He did warn me that some motors when they get old and worn can 'false trip' the AFCI breakers. I told him my fish tank would call me if that happened. He was duly impressed.

 

bob

[jamesbuf]

........I told him my fish tank would call me if that happened. He was duly impressed.

 

bob

 

Hahahaha. That is great. Still working on getting my ACIII up and running.