241 Gal peninsula Mixed Reef Build

Oshanickreef

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Welcome to my build thread. This is going to be my last tank so I am going all out. I’m moving into a new place after some renovations and wanted to document my ideas and if anyone has anything they would like to share or think would be helpful please do t hesitate! I have already been planning out this system for some time now and have some really awesome local people around to help me out so I def want to make a shoutout to our local St. Louis fish club, SLASH.
This is the tank:
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I went with an external overflow to maximize space in my DT because my current system (100 gal DT) is completely packed to the gills with coral and I don’t want to deal with space issues “again” …

The tank is going to be built into the wall with the fish room behind it. This was an issue for me since one of the long sides will be built into the wall and not visable from the living space… but I haven’t been able to come up with a better idea. I will still be able to see from inside the fish room so it’s a compromise.
Here is the layout:
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This last image is not going to work exactly because there is a support beam in the way so I still have to figure out the layout for the fish room. But I added it to give an idea. Currently the plan is to plumb a 100 gallon tank (the tank I am currently using as my DT), a 60 gallon frag tank, and a sump that can handle a 350 ish gal system. In addition, if I can find room I would like to add a 60 gallon water change tank that is plumbed in so I can block it off and then drain it and refill for easy big water changes.

Other preparations:
Auto water change reservoir 50 gal
Ato reservoir 50 gal
Floor leveled in fish room.
Floor drain fish room.
Backup generator.
Ventilation fan.
Dehumidifier.

That’s it for now will update soon. Thanks for checking out my build!
 
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Dreminon

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Are you going to be drilling the tank yourself to install the overflow? If so may want to consider putting it on long side that is in the fish room instead of the short side. The short side seem to be going towards the door along with going to lose a good amount of length with the wall itself.
 
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Oshanickreef

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Are you going to be drilling the tank yourself to install the overflow? If so may want to consider putting it on long side that is in the fish room instead of the short side. The short side seem to be going towards the door along with going to lose a good amount of length with the wall itself.
Lose a good amount of length? I’m not sure I’m following. The tank I’m assuming will be predrilled.
 
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Oshanickreef

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Wanted to make a post about my current tank that I’m combining with this new system. Current setup is a 90 gallon display with a 50 ish gallon sump, a 20 gal long frag tank and an 8 gallon frag tank. The sump and frag tanks are all crammed into a closet so it’s safe to say I can’t wait to have all this stuff out in a fish room! Also can’t wait to have room in the tank for my corals. Been getting tight in there as of recently.

The Display is mixed reef; primarily SPS corals, few lps, and some softies as well.

Here are pics:
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Dreminon

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Lose a good amount of length? I’m not sure I’m following. The tank I’m assuming will be predrilled.

from your picture the tank will be in the wall. you have to take in the 2x4 and the drywall, can range about 4-5" thick depending on drywall size. with it already being predrilled nothing you change anyways.
 
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Oshanickreef

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Finally an update! The tank took 5-6 months to arrive. Planet aquariums 241 gallon. The LFS I ordered from said they would help me move the tank to my destination the day before. Then when I got to the store they said they would only help load it in the truck…

Luckily, I had a few close friends to help move it. We carried it into the fish room. Next step is to leak test which I plan to do tomorrow and then I’ll be cutting out the area in the wall for the tank. Still trying to figure out how to Frame the tank in the wall. Any ideas?

After that, I plan to start collecting rock on sale when I can and designing a scape. I have to wait to fill the tank until it gets hot outside (early summer 2023) because I have to spray for brown recluse spiders and it can only be done in warm months. Once that is complete I can move my current tank into the house. But for now I will be cycling live rock in a Rubbermaid. That way when I transfer things the rock will already be aged slightly. My goal is to find good deals on the purple arch rock by Carib sea.
 

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Oshanickreef

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Another partial update. I am filling it up with fresh water to leak test. So far it’s not leaking (as expected). Going to leave it be for 24-48 hours (depending on how crazy the Halloween weekend is) and then I will drain it and start thinking about the rock scape. Sorta looking forward to taking my time designing the scape before adding water vs constantly being unsatisfied and changing my scape every other week with all the fish and corals in it.

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Oshanickreef

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I still have a lot of time until this tank is going to be online but in the meantime I thought it would be cool to share a recent change of my system that has very much helped my coral. I started dosing primarily Kalkwasser about a month ago. I start dosing as my lights start to ramp down to keep my ph as stable and close as possible to 8.3. I had been dosing 2-part for about 10 years and I must say Kalk is the bees knees! I love that it keeps your phosphates at bay also but it is so much cheaper and easier to deal with than 2 part it just makes sense. I still have my 2 part dosers online and I still dose daily but instead of 200 ml per day of solution I am down to 10-30 ml per day and I can adjust based on alkalinity and calcium needs.

Kalk seems to be what my reef tank has been needing because my Acropora look better than ever!

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Dee tre

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Finally an update! The tank took 5-6 months to arrive. Planet aquariums 241 gallon. The LFS I ordered from said they would help me move the tank to my destination the day before. Then when I got to the store they said they would only help load it in the truck…

Luckily, I had a few close friends to help move it. We carried it into the fish room. Next step is to leak test which I plan to do tomorrow and then I’ll be cutting out the area in the wall for the tank. Still trying to figure out how to Frame the tank in the wall. Any ideas?

After that, I plan to start collecting rock on sale when I can and designing a scape. I have to wait to fill the tank until it gets hot outside (early summer 2023) because I have to spray for brown recluse spiders and it can only be done in warm months. Once that is complete I can move my current tank into the house. But for now I will be cycling live rock in a Rubbermaid. That way when I transfer things the rock will already be aged slightly. My goal is to find good deals on the purple arch rock by Carib sea.
Wow I love your setup and ideas keep it up. And i see we're both in the lou im new to saltwater so lm learning what it means to be a hobbyists siphoning through advice and ideas...
 
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Oshanickreef

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Wow I love your setup and ideas keep it up. And i see we're both in the lou im new to saltwater so lm learning what it means to be a hobbyists siphoning through advice and ideas...
oh wow! a fellow STL reefer! very cool. I dont know if you know... but we have a pretty awesome local reefing club. join slashclub.org on facebook. I owe everything I have learned to those peeps. we usually meet up once a month and have drinks and go to a fellow reefers house to check out their setup. The next one is December 15th. Potluck style. were going to play rob your neighbor with corals. I'll bring a few different corals for the game. you should definitely come check it out. this guy has over 1000 gallons dedicated to his systems. its wild.
 

Dee tre

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oh wow! a fellow STL reefer! very cool. I dont know if you know... but we have a pretty awesome local reefing club. join slashclub.org on facebook. I owe everything I have learned to those peeps. we usually meet up once a month and have drinks and go to a fellow reefers house to check out their setup. The next one is December 15th. Potluck style. were going to play rob your neighbor with corals. I'll bring a few different corals for the game. you should definitely come check it out. this guy has over 1000 gallons dedicated to his systems. its wild.
Now that's crazy... i like how that sounds I'll look into it i travel almost every month do to work for days at a time so Dec won't work for me. But to play that I'll have to up my coral game im almost year in December 7 is my anniversary and i just upgraded from a 55 to a 90gal in October its fun work. Hope we meet one day though I'll be checking out your updates for sure. And thanks for the invite.
 
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Oshanickreef

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I have yet another update! For starters I wanted to post a pic of my current display because it is looking pretty great with the new growth phase. Secret is dosing KALK. If you dose two part... stop, save your money and time, and dose kalk. It has many benefits over 2 part ... IMO. Another benefit I have noticed is my coraline seems to be outcompeting the blue clove polyps that have completely overrun my entire tank. Every surface of the tank has BCP (including return lines). It might take a long time but there are spots where the blue cloves are dying off and they are surrounded by small amounts of coraline algae. I am hoping that over the long term the coraline will win the battle.

PSA: never ever put blue cloves in your tank. they are the worst.

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Ok now for the actual update.
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I had to cut the wall out to put the tank in place. Thanks to 5 buddies I was able to move the tank fairly easily.

I am going to be working on the cabinets around the stand and canopy next. I have a lot of time until I can fill the tank but that should give me the time to cycle all of this new dry rock I found off FB marketplace. Definitely excited about this rock as it is a bunch of pukani and tonga and other flat rocks. it all looks like dead coral which is pretty neato.

Was thinking about aquascaping.. I was thinking of maybe just planting every SPS colony on a piece of rock by itself. That way I can move them around as they grow, eliminating the issue of having a bunch of acros encrusting and branching into eachother and ultimately dying off.. I am currently experiencing this issue in my 90 gallon and my solution is trimming but I would love to pick and choose which ones to cut and which ones to let grow. This is just an idea though.

Seven months until the tank gets salty! Plenty of time for prep work.
 
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Dee tre

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Now thats going to be really nice... Congrats on the progress. I was or am dosing two part i have and will dose kalk but i stop to test a theory on which is better im only two 1/2 weeks in my conquest i will go a month to get results. Its a kinda i got see for myself thing. But thanks for the update you seem to be taking it easy though i.e the open toes in the photo. Lol
 
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Oshanickreef

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Now thats going to be really nice... Congrats on the progress. I was or am dosing two part i have and will dose kalk but i stop to test a theory on which is better im only two 1/2 weeks in my conquest i will go a month to get results. Its a kinda i got see for myself thing. But thanks for the update you seem to be taking it easy though i.e the open toes in the photo. Lol

thanks! i actually didnt cut my 2 part dosing completely. i still dose it today but im down to dosing like 15 ml per day vs 200 ml per day.

the open toes are my buddies lol. we were hanging a bit after the tank move.
 

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