240G Build Diary - Slow & Steady Wins the Day...

[T.J]

Hi all,

Decided to start a build diary for out 240g (900L) 8x2x2, its not quite ready for water yet as the silicon still needs a few days to fully cure and the stand needs some bracing but in the meantime here are few pics and some ideas to get started.

Also attached are some pics of the fish that will be moved across from a rather crowded Juwel Rio 400, they might look pretty small but those common plecs are both around the 18" mark and the rest of the stock is growing pretty fast lol The pictures of this tank are a little dark as one the plecs came up for air a bit fast the other day and bounced off one of the T5 tubes breaking it in the process

The tank itself is made from 10mm glass, the base pane is in two parts and the whole thing is floating in the respect that none of the glass actually touches another piece - i believe this reduces stress on the glass and allows for some "give".

We've had sliding covers fitted as some of fish we keep are notorious jumpers and the mrs is paranoid about this, there also a weir in the back right corner with two holes for 1.5" drains and the back and top edges are trimmed with black vinyl. Not 100% sure what type of glass has been used, its not optiwhite but looks much clearer than "green" glass and to a degree seems to have a slight smoked appearance, what ever it is it gives the tank a really nice finish

Will update as soon as some progress is made but in the meantime enjoy the pics and ignore my naff photography skills - think some of the "spots" are combination of dust on the tank and lens which the flash is highlighting like mad :-(

 

[bjbass]

Beautiful setup. Can't wait to see the progress!!

 

[Danzig86]

dude that common is a beast, any chance of some close ups????

 

[TaylorD]

dude that common is a beast, any chance of some close ups????

pretty friggen impressive !!

and agree with the others.. really looking forwards to updates.

 

[T.J]

dude that common is a beast, any chance of some close ups????

Hi,

Heres a quickie of one of them laying across the plant pots - they both about same size and pretty impossible to tell apart unless right next to each other. The other gives some scale of the pots, as the tank is an inch or so shy of 5x2ft Ignore the dirty glass, the tank was moved into the kitchen on a temporary basis the other week and is overdue a clean, the pale walls dont really help either

Cheers
T.J

 

[Redearsunfish]

wow, great stuff!

 

[jizon82]

sweet set-up

 

[T.J]

Hi,

Just a quick update... Taken some accurate measurements from the 4ft sump tank, no idea why but all the braces are different sizes so it took ages lol Anyway here's the idea, its based more or less on others i've seen here - if its not broken, don't fix it The outside dimensions are 4ft long, 18" high and 15" front to back.

The 1st compartment on the left will be mech sponges of varying grades, the water then passes up on to a drip plate for the wet / dry bio section and flows through this down to the bottom of the tank where the heaters and return pumps are. For the bio media I'll probably use "Alfa Grog" with a few layers of bio balls on top.

If i can puzzle out a system of relays or find something off the shelf the return pumps will be connected to a float switch in the sump's return chamber and another hidden in the display tank weir, this should turn the pumps off if the sump gets low on water or it raises to far in the main tank... i hope....

Should be picking up the glass in the next few days, will update again then.

Cheers
T.J

 

[epond83]

Just a heads up, the water in the bio section will flucuate with the return section since you don't have an extra baffel after the bio area.

 

[T.J]

Hi all,

Just another quick update... Sorted the bulkheads / stand pipes out and amazingly they were watertight 1st time, also did a test fill on the tank and that went ok Only slight snag is the tank's about 2 or 3mm (0.1" ish) off level along the 8ft length, can't tell by eye but spotted it by using the very hi-tech method of dipping a tape measure in the water

Tempted to leave it as it, if it wasn't for the tape measure I'd be none the wiser anyway and really dont want to manhandle the tank any more than necessary - suspect that by doing so i'm putting just as much stress on the seams as the slight slant...

Cheers
T.J