thetedinator's 240g Mixed Reef Build

[thetedinator]

A short video of my filefish going for a ride. Evidently, he went to sleep locked onto some Nori attached to a veggie clip.

Enjoy.

http://goo.gl/n001XA

 

[thetedinator]

Red Striped Goby (Trimma cana)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[thetedinator]

Some coral pictures...

A happy Chalice I received as a frag from o2manyfish. It has a pretty light blue tint under Radions at 14k.


Montipora confusa frag from DFS.


Montipora undata frag from DFS.


Pocillopora damicornis colony I received from o2manyfish. This coral is very happy in my system. It has a purple hue which is not showing well in this photograph.

 

[mlb7225]

Nice pics Ted! Tank is looking good.

 

[thetedinator]

Sort of mesmerizing.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[thetedinator]

Deleted

 

[thetedinator]

Some photos of my 80/20 stand.

Assembled stand before adding cross bars to support my 36" long sump inside the 60" frame.


I wanted flush doors and panels which meant I could not use corner braces. My design did not require corner braces for strength. Detail of how the members are attached together.



Frame after adding cross members for sump. Poor planning on my part.



Assembled stand with flush mounted doors, and black polypropylene panel for the tank.



View from the side with side and back panels removed.

 

[Idoc]

Does anyone know the strength rating of the 80/20 frames?

 

[thetedinator]

I used 80/20 1530 (1.5" x 3.0") extrusions in what is called a 'stack' configuration. This was the recommended extrusion and configuration from 80/20.

80/20 publishes specification data but they will evaluate your design and application for free.

 

[thetedinator]

Feed time tonight. Enjoy.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[thetedinator]

I get asked questions about my aluminum stand. Here is information that may answer some questions:

My stand is made from 80/20 extruded aluminum (www dot 8020 dot net).

I used an 80/20 cad tool (runs on Windows, google "80/20 Frame Designer") to create the frame design and then reached out to 80/20. The 80/20 website has 'plugin' tools for Auto Cad as well. You could also reach out to 80/20 or an 80/20 distributor and work with them on the design.

I am not handy and wanted to make sure it all came together correctly so I used the Frame Designer cad program to create the frame design and then reached out to 80/20. They recommended using the 1530 extrusion in the stacked configuration (different than what I had used) and then put me in touch with a distributor in Southern California, Prime Resource. Oscar at Prime Resource was very helpful. He worked with my design to create the final version. He created a BOM that included cutting and drilling the stock, all of the anchor fasteners, etc.

I wanted flush mounted doors and panels and you can't flush mount with gussets. So instead of gussets holding my stand together, I am using anchor fasteners. These fasteners require counter sunk holes at the correct locations in the extrusion to hold the stand together.

If you are handy, have the tools and are comfortable working with aluminum stock, you can buy raw stock from 80/20 and cut it yourself and then use 80/20 gussets to put it together. This would save money.

My stand is 60"W x 36"T x 36"D. My stand, not including doors, panels and some miscellaneous hardware ran about $1200 IIRC. This included cutting and drilling as well as shipping. I had to assemble my stand because the dimensions precluded getting an assembled stand into the house. It took most of a day to assemble. I love my tank dimensions but assembling the stand was a PITA. Prime Resource will assemble and deliver the stand and IMO that is the way to go if you are using anchor fasteners and counter sunk holes.

Hope this helps.

 

[thetedinator]

I have several Emerald Crabs in my system. They are great at beating back bubble algae (Valonia) and grape algae (Caulerpa). Here is a short video of one of my crabs feasting in a coral war zone. No polyps were harmed in the making of this video.

 

[thetedinator]

System is still up and running. This list is the current fish in my system.

1 Goldflake Angelfish (WC)
1 Starry Blenny (WC)
1 Bluefin Watchman Goby (CB)
1 Aiptasia Eating Filefish (CB)
1 Orchid Dottyback (CB)
1 Black Neon Dottyback (CB)
2 Blue Damselfish (WC)
2 Orange Spotted Goby (WC)
3 Coral Beauty Angelfish (CB)
5 Yellow Tangs (WC)
6 Azure Damselfish (Chrysiptera hemicyanea) (CB)
9 Ocellaris Clownfish (CB)

WC - Wild caught
CB - Captive Bred

 

[mlb7225]

Very cool! Great to see your post. How's things been?

 

[thetedinator]

Hey Mike. Things have been good.