My 240 Gallon Build Thread

Brian Drab · Mar 23, 2020

Badilac said:
Sweet build. I couldn't imagine having my sump under my tank and my stand is 4ft tall. After my last tank I decided to never do that again. I also really dislike not having access to the inside of the tank from the front, I'm willing to bet you will hate that also.

I already have regrets but live and learn....

Picard's Lionfish · Mar 23, 2020

My rock wasn't fully submerged. The second batch should be much different than the first. Lots of sponges, stars, colors. Mine came in August. Not sure about march. I would still have it posted as a standby. Its quiet expensive to use TBS. The second batch will be the money batch. I would definitely lose some of the base rock and keep the 2and batch coming. You can store it in buckets and some cirulation or trade it with your LFS. I would be all over my installer to get my salt mix station hooked up. You are doing it the hard way. You can always glad 2 brute trashcans and mix a much larger amount at a time

Brian Drab · Mar 23, 2020

Picard's Lionfish said:
My rock wasn't fully submerged. The second batch should be much different than the first. Lots of sponges, stars, colors. Mine came in August. Not sure about march. I would still have it posted as a standby. Its quiet expensive to use TBS. The second batch will be the money batch. I would definitely lose some of the base rock and keep the 2and batch coming. You can store it in buckets and some cirulation or trade it with your LFS. I would be all over my installer to get my salt mix station hooked up. You are doing it the hard way. You can always glad 2 brute trashcans and mix a much larger amount at a time

Ahhh OK. Then I definitely will have them ship all the rock. Thanks for the info.

CrystalMcdonald · Mar 23, 2020

Really nice build, can't wait to see more pictures.

JumboShrimp · Mar 24, 2020

I enjoy following what you are doing

Brian Drab · Mar 24, 2020

CrystalMcdonald said:
Really nice build, can't wait to see more pictures.

Thank you.

Brian Drab · Mar 24, 2020

JumboShrimp said:
I enjoy following what you are doing

Thank you.

Brian Drab · Mar 24, 2020

Day#2 (yesterday):
Skimmer was working well and I had to add some water to replace evaporation. Did a Ammonia test and it wasn't quite to 1 ppm yet.

Day#3:
This morning before I left for work I checked the skimmer which was working well and did an Ammonia test. Looks like we are at about 1ppm so I assume when I go home from work today that I should do a water change. Any suggestions on how much of a water change I should do? Too little and it's a problem and I'm told too much and it will just make the tank cycle tank longer.

Bob Lauson · Mar 24, 2020

Brian Drab said:
More Updates...

1/6/2020 - Plumbing

A few shots from underneath the tank.

Starting to make some RO/DI in a temporary tub until my two 75 Gallon water tanks arrive.

I have never had good long term luck with those less expensive PVC ball valves. Mine have always become impossible to turn over the the years. While more expensive, the union ball valves seem to last forever and can be disassembled for cleaning. Of course my post is not very timely since it looks like that ship has sailed.

Brian Drab · Mar 24, 2020

Day#3 - Evening
I put the filter socks in.
I did around a 60 Gallon water change.
Checked the TDS and it's reporting 1 now (instead of 0) and it does indeed look like the DI Resin is all used up so I just ordered some more.
Salinity is a little high after the water change. Currently at 1.026. I lower that for sure on the next round.

After a couple hours I did another ammonia test. I see more of the yellowish tint so I know I'm below 1 again which is good.

Hercaluis · Mar 24, 2020

Man this looks amazing. Can’t wait to see it running

Brian Drab · Mar 24, 2020

Hercaluis said:
Man this looks amazing. Can’t wait to see it running

Thanks. Me too!

Brian Drab · Mar 24, 2020

I figured I would test the Ammonia with my Reefbot as well to see what it showed. It's crazy how subjective and varied the results can be. What to believe.......sigh

Picard's Lionfish · Mar 25, 2020

You said your DI resin is spent. How much RODI water have you made so far? I make between 150-200 gallons a month. My DI resin last at least 3 months or more. I also use a dual chamber DI set up.

As for water change, what did TBS recommend? I would follow Richard's instructions to the letter. Dont rush it to soon. I waited till mine was 0 for ammonia.

Brian Drab · Mar 25, 2020

Picard's Lionfish said:
You said your DI resin is spent. How much RODI water have you made so far? I make between 150-200 gallons a month. My DI resin last at least 3 months or more. I also use a dual chamber DI set up.

I last changed the Resin on 10/5/2019. I've made close to 600 gallons of water since then. So it makes sense.

Picard's Lionfish said:
As for water change, what did TBS recommend? I would follow Richard's instructions to the letter. Dont rush it to soon. I waited till mine was 0 for ammonia.

TBS Recommended to only change once it is above 1ppm. If it was 1.25ppm then do a 25% water change. The problem is, how practical is it to get to that level of resolution. I just don't see how it's possible to do visually with the test kits that are out there. That's why you use a robot like the ReefBot some would say.

Brian Drab · Mar 28, 2020

Day#4 - Wednesday 3/25
Nothing of note. Added water because of evaporation

Day#5 - Thursday 3/26
Added water because of evaporation and tested the water.

Day#6 - Friday 3/27
Added water because of evaporation and tested the water. It's the first time I've seen a bunch of snails out roaming around.

Day#7 - Saturday - 3/28 (Today)
Added water because of evaporation. Cleaned the skimmer (OMG the smell was horrible), changed the filter socks and tested the water.

Picard's Lionfish · Mar 28, 2020

Getting close

Brian Drab · Mar 29, 2020

OK, we're good to go. This is my new tank. Time for shipment#2.

And here is a test from my existing tank.

Brian Drab · Mar 30, 2020

Unfortunately TBS gave my rock to someone else without even letting me know. I understand that we are in uncertain times but a heads-up would have been nice.

So may be awhile before I report back anything.

liverock · Mar 30, 2020

Well...that may have been because we are under lock down here...got the news Friday night......no going out....and the airlines are basically closed...we are in strange times here folks........I could have saved your months old rock for when things get back to normal...but I would rather send you the killer rock we just harvested.....and we are all happy!

sea ya
Richard TBS