JAT's 240 Gallon Build...

[JohnnyAirtime]

Okay folks... I'll start a thread on a complete DIY project, of upgrading my 125gal to a 240gal. All comments, critiques, opinions... welcome.

Let me lay it out for you...
I picked up a tank (http://www.tydpoolmarine.com/ brand) from an SDReefer (Wraithy). It needed A LOT of work, so much that it wasn't realized until I got it home. Wraithy had given me lots of extras when I left his house, so it took some of the pain out of the purchase... but, it's still painful (when your unemployed!). None-the-less, I continued on with the project to swap out my 125gal (with corals outgrowing) with the 240, even though my wallet said NO!

The canopy I got... was, fugly. So I knew I was to rebuild it. But to make it match the stand (which was "just okay"), would have been too much work since it was laminated (and I hate to laminate anything). So, I decided to build all new stand and canopy... and fix the tank's seams (one was splitting, another about to), and polish it out to perfection. My filtration would stay the same as it's built for 300gal+ ... and my lighting would change, since I want the shimmer of Halides.

So here it goes....
Here's my stand (in progress)!

(click on any picture to make it larger)

I used (10) 2x4x8' Kiln Dried and Clear Douglas Fir, 1 sheet 3/4" MDF, 1 sheet of 3/4" ACX Plywood, and 1x3 and 1x4 Kiln Dried and Clear Douglas Fir for trim. A whopping $300+ in wood! Ouch!

To make my job easier, I bought the Kreg System. Awesome!


The base, before 3/4" ply added;


Frame and base, ready for top plywood;


And with plywood;


You'll notice I made the stand for the dual overflow bulkheads to clear the "framing". I noticed on the original stand, it was a bit "notched" for clearance and with my experiences (with leaking bulkheads)... I want "easy" access to them (just in case)!


With trim and 3/4" MDF skin. And with tank... ready to be pre-plumbed;


... now, all I have to do is finsih the stand's doors ... and complete the canopy (and finish the plumbing). Once I move the tank into place, I can trim out the bottom edge with 1x4 and start flowing some water!

[JohnnyAirtime]

Once done with the stand (minus doors still)... I began to get bored with woodwork and decided to take a stab at polishing the tank. I had already paid a professional to polish (and repair), but his polishing was sub-standard. He of course made the tank look better than when I bought it, but... still it was scratched, and people would ask... "did you have it polished yet?" Even though "better", it wasn't perfect. And I strive for perfection.

I did TONS of research into polishing, bought LOTS of things to do it right... and still, ended up with ONLY sand paper... and some Novus. I tried power tools, buffers, and several options... but 10 levels (320 to 2500) of grit wet/dry paper and a final touch of Novus 1,2,3 was by far the best outcome. Most work however!

Pictures do it NO JUSTICE of what it looks like, or the polishing itself;

Sanded... it looks cloudy;


Here's the other side... where I've not polished. It's messy with splatter and such, but looks pretty good in the photo. Up close... NO good;


Once polished (right side of blue tape), it's an amazing result of clarity (again, hard to tell in pictures);


I even had to polish inside the overflows. I'm not sure... but, how the heck do you scratch INSIDE your overflows?? Use the overflow as a sump and put rock rubble in there?! lol... I mean, really? I guess it could come from scraping coraline... or whatever. But, it looked horrible. Not anymore!

... I'll be done with the polishing this weekend. I even polished the top, where it had patches of glue or something that had spilled... and left clumps. I had to get aggressive in my sanding, but it's now a mirror shine up there.

[JohnnyAirtime]

Here I go with the plumbing....

Drilled 4 new holes across the top back. This will give me more loc-line to use as "powerheads", where my return pumps will feed the loc-line for water movement. I dislike powerheads, and with multiple return pumps (I use MAGDRIVE submersed pumps) I have a redundancy if a pump fails when I'm away. Did I mention, my pumps and filtration are on a UPS (backup battery supply) in case SDG&E fails me?!

I'll have a total of 6 return lines, fed by three pumps.

Here you can get an idea of the loc-lines across the back inside the tank, also... you'll see my "spray bar" which will spray down and into the back wall. Pushing detris and such away and out from the rockwork (I did this on my 125, and it keeps the backside of the rock/sand super clean of unwanted debris).


The overflows, ready to connect into my sump drain lines;


With the above, you'll also see the 4 returns (2 returns are in the overflow boxes) plumbed with back flow prevention. Even though the loc-line will be close to water level when the overflow boxes drain... I want more reassurance I won't overfill my 80gal sump!!

After several trips to my LFS and HomeD... it still wasn't enough. Here I am counting what I have, and what I still need for plumbing;


... this weekend, I'll finish the polishing... and finish the plumbing (temporary until it's moved into place). I'll build the canopy this next week... and install the lighting. READY FOR SWAP OUT the following weekend of the 24th!!

[JohnnyAirtime]

... more to come. stay tuned.

(I'm already thinking to change out my 90° elbows on the 1 1/2" drains. I like the idea of two 45s to make a 90. But, it might drop my drain too low... as it needs to line up with a 3" hole in my wall - my sump is in the room's closet behind my tank) ... and as I sit and stare (my design method), ideas come to mind.

[reefhobby]

Nice work. Looking good. Please keep us posted Id like to follow this thru.
Ray

[sdsocal]

Nice job Johnny....... and done in Johnny style. Along for the ride and ideas for when I replace the 46 we got from you.

[junkie]

Great write up, and I dig the "locklines" across the back. This reminds me how much I hated sanding out my tank. Looks good though...

[Live Water Aquariums]

Looks really good Johnny! It' really coming along well. Thanks for the hook up on the old stand. I took all the extra wood off that fugly canopy and its really not in that bad of shape. Still wouldn't work with halides and doesn't even compare th what you've built. Will be perfect for my garage fowlr though! Your corals are going to make that tank look small in no time! Good luck with the transfer!

[JohnnyAirtime]

Thanks all.
And remember, if you see something that can be done simpler, better, or you just have your own ideas... throw'em out there. I always like to lean on others open minds for ideas.

... I'm heading out for some sanding/polishing. Oh Joy My arms, chest and shoulders hurt from only 4' linear feet of work. I have 8 more feet to go!! ... more .... I guess I should use that all-in-one gym I have in my 4th bedroom more often huh?!

[JohnnyAirtime]

Today... took most of the day to make it right (nice and clear, and polished), as I had more scratches on the left then the right side of the tank. Deep ones, where I had to use a random orbital sander to do the grunt work with 220, then 320 and 400 grit. Then I finished with hand sanding of 400, 600, 1200, 1500, 2000, and final of 2500. *phew* *sweating* !!! Glad thats over with!!!

It's full of water, and I'll start finish plumbing it tomorrow... with water tests via a trash can for a sump, and a spare return pump by end of day or first part of next week.

... time to enjoy a night out with the fiance' !!

[REEF KING]

I know if anyone can mack this thing you will...Holler at me if you need some back up.

[JohnnyAirtime]

I have to say... IT'S IN!!!!

... I was able to get the plumbing 99% done prior to install.

... I was able to get the lighting done before install (which took me well into the late night since I had to steal some T5 HOs from my 125 tear down - and waited for them to turn off).

What I still had to do;
Was break down the entire 125, putting it's contents into small kiddie pools, buckets, bowls, trash cans...etc. As well, I filled the kiddie pools 2 days prior to get the water to warm up (Scripps water), as during the breakdown I'd add some of my tank water to "acclimate" the corals to the new Scripps. (see, I don't really do water changes. None... I only add 5gal/week of Evap RO/DI water! ya, I know... a bit of a rebel).

Once the 125 was broken down, I cut a hole into my floor just big enough for me to fit through. This allowed me to add another 4x6 brace to my floor joists for the additional weight being added (read here for that 'story'). I realized I couldn't fit the 4x6 through my new hole in the floor... and had to send it in via a floor vent. You know, the ones on the side of the house in the stucco. To accomplish this, I also had to remove some fence boards and send it through from my neighbors yard. That, and the additional blocking I did... plus move an existing 4x6 brace (further to the end of the tank), took me an additional 3hrs.

Done with the bracing, I was able to cut the "floating floor" so that my new stand didn't sit atop the new floor, but so it would sit on the OLD floor. No problem... done.

I then moved in the stand. Oh boy... heavy, but with three of us (2 guys, 1 girl) we got it in... and settled. It was already perfectly level. We then moved in the tank... and I finished the plumbing. By now, it was 5PM (we started about 7AM)

I added a full 35gal trash can of sand (from my old tank and some I had from the 240 buy). And then started to pump in 150gal of fresh scripps water, that I let sit outside in the sun to warm up. No prob.... soon, we were pumping in the rest of my old water and would begin to add more base rock that I also got from the 240 buy. It'd been dry for a long time... I wasn't worried, as I had plenty of rock to 'seed' the tank. I still couldn't see the back wall, let alone a rock being the water was so murky... but, we got it placed by "feel".

I let the water clear up as much as I could, since the kiddie pools water was getting colder and colder. I only had one extra heater... so 2 other pools were pretty cold. I moved in ALL my rock and corals by about midnight, or midnight thirty (I don't remember), and by then could see pretty well through the once murky water. I watched the tank until about 2AM, and fell asleep on my couch.

No leaks, no loss of corals or fish... and only one burnt out Halide (that I was able to replace temporarily with an older one). NOT BAD I'd say!!!

... Today, I get to enjoy the 240... and the much needed room my corals now have to grow. I want more growth... and this will allow it. LESS Fragging was my goal.

(pictures coming soon)

[H4Rk3R]

I really like your woodworking on the stand! good job. Cant wait to see the newest photos.

[N2REEFS]

Great job JJ! Wow, sounds like you had a very busy weekend. I got tired just reading your post. I'm sure you were exhausted after all of this.

Post some pics of the canopy when you get a chance. I'll swing by sometime later this week to see the new pool, uhhhh I mean tank.

[JohnnyAirtime]

I guess I got a little ahead of myself by posting about the install, before showing the Canopy Build. So... with that, here it goes;

I didn't take too many pictures of the Canopy Build, as I was on a role. Didn't want to lose momentum. I bought the wood the day prior and still didn't have an exact plan of how I was to build it on paper... mostly in my head. So I bought the wood and guessed at the quantity (oh goodness).

I first built two rectangular wood frames out of 1x2 Poplar (and in doing so, realized I was going to be out of my Kreg Tool screws right quick), one would be top and another bottom. I then added the center supports of those rect. and followed them up with uprights to give them my "box" look of the canopy frame (still no pictures just yet). I then added center supports out of 1x4 poplar, which will hold the lighting "trays" at several different heights if needed. Meaning, I can move my lights up or down by 2" at a time... for tank cleaning, feeding, or depending on my coral needs. Most importantly... I can move them up high to keep the heat off the water and tank acrylic. With all of this, I was able to make sure it's square and start adding the sides of 1/2" MDF. And the center MDF piece.

With the MDF on both sides, the center light supports and the back MDF in place... It looks like this;


I then started putting my light supports on each end (out of 1x2 poplar);


I built a light tray, and put my Halide reflectors into it. The light tray is made of furring material, or 1/2" thick rough cut lumber. WHY? Well, I figured it would be replaced more often (in many years to come) and why build it out of nice wood when all it's to do is hold lights. Here's the light tray installed at the top most level, and without my T5 bulbs/reflectors;


From the direct front;


With that... I went ahead and built the two front doors... or removable panels and added a 1x2 trim to the very top. Oddly, I was out of 1x2 when I needed ONE MORE 6" piece. And I found it laying around... a 6.5" piece that I was using as a block to pount against. Putting the beat down side against the MDF... you couldn't even tell. But to say I "guessed" at my wood needed... I was LUCKY as I had just enough 1x2. *phew*


The two front panels slide up, and come off. I didn't hinge them, as it'd be too much work to hold them up.... and OUT of the way. So, they simply slide into place and lock down tight using the existing wood as a guide or hold. When the lights aren't on... they get a bit tight (wood swelling?), and when the lights are on... they come off super easy. Hmmm, maybe I'll need to sand'em down a bit more;


The light trays sit on only a 1/2" of material on each side of the 'tray'. And if you were in the tank, moving things around and knocked one... it may 'pop off' the shelf the tray sits on. So I made some quick little 'stops' to keep them from moving side to side (I call'em mini telephone poles);