ALangley's Planet 260G

[ALangley]

Finally doing my first build thread! I will keep the history short I promise. I started freshwater around 2009 with the basic Mollies. I then progressed to a planted tank followed by Discus and finally African Cichlids. The colors of saltwater fish and corals just cannot be matched though with freshwater fish. I purchased my first saltwater tank in 2014 and fell in love. Though the ups and the downs I don’t think I could ever go without a tank in the house. My first tank was a 45 gallon all in one. It was the largest AIO tank there was at the time since plumbing scared me. I upgraded to an Innovative Marine SR120, which is a 120 gallon AIO. The largest AIO made at the time since plumbing scared me. See the theme here…

45 gallon

120 gallon

In 2020 we started looking for a new house and of course every one had to be evaluated based on the tank placement, water storage placement and ideally a fish room. We closed in October and on closing day I placed the order for the new tank! Planet Aquarium 260 gallon 84.5”x24.5”x29.5”. I went with a peninsula layout because I really liked the clear background of tanks I had seen in other builds, my biggest inspiration was “Chris’ Algae Farm”.


New tank in progress

Frank’s Tanks and crew moving it into the final position

The obligatory kid in a giant tank picture

 

[ALangley]

Aquascape

My next big project was the aquascape. Since my husband talked me into such a tall tank (29inches) I knew I needed to get the height right. I had been previously been using the shelf rock from Marco rock but I didn't think it would look good with the height I needed. I loved all the negative space aquascapes I had been seeing so my goal was to capture the look but with CaribSea Liferock. I laid out the cardboard and liked what I made on the first try. I was concerned about them braking during shipping since that is the biggest complaint in the negative reviews. One box of 4 arches was pretty broken but everything else was pretty intact. Since I was gluing the scape anyways everything was easily repaired.

CaribSea Liferock used:
1 x 24" Arch
1 x Shapes package
2 x Arches packages
1 x Reef Tree package
1 x Reef Tree Extension Kit

I was concerned with the heavy weight and sharp edges of the large arch pressing on the glass. I went ahead and added some thin acrylic sheets and siliconed them to the bottom just to be safe.

During the gluing and drying process I used the Styrofoam that came with the rocks as support to keep them off the glass if they fell.

 

[ALangley]

Sand

I know a whole post about sand but it was something I really went back and forth about. I want Wrasses and gobies for sure so bare bottom was never an option. I didn't want the sand to blow around but didn't want it all large grain. I eventually settled on a mix. Maybe I was just being indecisive but I really liked it once it was in. The depth of the sand is more than I have done in the past. We will see if I like that long term. I figure I can always take some out.

120lbs Special Grade
40lbs Fiji Pink
10lbs Florida Crushed Coral

 

[ALangley]

Backlighting

I was really inspired by the Current USA background light for freshwater tanks. This is another reason that I went with the peninsula layout instead of having a giant overflow box right in the middle. I could not find anything made this large for this exact purpose so I just bought one on Amazon.



I tried to figure out a way to attach these with the tank against the wall but no such luck. We had to move the tank away from the wall to get the strips attached well and I am glad that I did. I was able to make sure it was attached evenly.

I finally was able to start adding some water. That meant I had to confront my greatest fear.... Plumbing!

 

[ALangley]

Plumbing

Luckily we found a great house with the perfect fish room. Ok, the washer and dryer happen to be in the same room but it was so large and the perfect layout! The sump is right behind the tank and I still have room for storage or a frag tank in the corner. I found a used Planet Aquarium 48" sump at a reasonable price. My wonderful husband built the stand out of 2x12s and 1/2 in plywood. The stand couldn't be too high since the plumbing would have to go though the wall. I think the easy access will help a ton during maintenance!

Since I had the sump in the fish room that meant drilling though the wall of our brand new house! Just added stress to the plumbing stress! We purchased a new stud finder and drew out the studs and holes on both sides of the wall before drilling. I also debated a lot on what to use each hole for. It seems that an emergency drain is a highly recommended thing but I was planning on using a UV and running one on it's own return pump is also recommended I had to make some hard decisions. I eventually decided to go without an emergency drain after much research. The plumbing was just too complicated any other way. Two drains and two returns makes since. It took a full weekend to get all the plumbing done. We focused on one section at a time to not get overwhelmed. If I can do this anyone can, just go slow and keep in mind that the pipe will go into fittings farther with glue than dry. I keep the water level in the sump low so if the tank drains slow the return pumps will not overfill the tank. There is not enough water in the system for that to happen. Overall I am pleased with the final product and we did not make any errors. I added corrugated plastic to the wall to prevent splashes or salt creep ruining the drywall. For the drilled holes I used desk hole grommets without the cord cover for a more finished look.

Return Pump: 2 Syncra SDC 9.0 Wifi Pump
UV: Pentair 50 watt (BRS open box)
Skimmer: Reef Octopus 200-Int (Used)

 

[ALangley]

First Fish

In the past I have struggled with ich, velvet and various other diseases. I have tried observational QT, medicated QT, tank transfer method, dump and pray, ich management. It was all stressful and complicated so this time I am taking the easy way out and only ordering from vendors that do a full quarantine for me. I knew I wanted my first fish to be clownfish to start off with so I found these beauties on TSM.

They came in looking great! after a quick acclimation they were settling into the tank well.

 

[reefpaddy]

Very clean, love the backlight!

 

[ryanrick]

Your previous tanks are very clean and beautiful. I am excited to see how this one turns out.

The corrugated plastic is a good idea.

How do you like the sand mix?

Following!

 

[ALangley]

Snowpocalypse 2021

I live in Texas. I think that is all I need to say... It was fine for the first few hours. Rolling blackouts are fine if everyone takes their turn. I knew it wound take awhile for that big of a volume of water to change temperature and how much air do two tiny clownfish need? I wasn't too worried. However, the electricity just never came back on. After 6 hours we realized this was going to be an overnight thing so my husband plugged up the car converter and turned the car on to power an air pump that I had. We closed off exterior rooms and started the fireplace. That kept the main room a decent temperature but that was definitely not enough with it getting down to zero outside. I had been saving gallon jugs for other projects that came in handy. Since we had a gas water heater I was able to fill them up with hot water every few hours. The lowest the tank got down to was 70 degrees. After 43 hours without electricity the power finally came back on. It was rough reading the stories of locals loosing their whole tank so I am very grateful that I only had my two clowns to worry about and that I did not have to go longer without power. Like many, a generator is now on my list of equipment to purchase soon. Also, the clowns now have names: "Snow" and "Pocalypse".

I haven't done much since then, just letting the tank mature and settle. I do have another fish order with TSM due to be delivered at the end of the month though! Looking forward to some color since it has been set up about 3 months now.

 

[ALangley]

Your previous tanks are very clean and beautiful. I am excited to see how this one turns out.

The corrugated plastic is a good idea.

How do you like the sand mix?

Following!

I love the mix! the varied grain size looks much more natural than just one uniform grain size. The only thing I would change is maybe add some small rubble or crushed shells. That may look too messy for me though. We will see...

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Nice clean build. I've not see the backlit tank style before, but it looks kinda cool. I hope your choice to mix sand sizes works out. From my research it tends to separate out after prolonged exposure to flow.