240 Gallon acrylic

I got one!

240 acrylic w/ overflow and lights/ballasts.

Now i have to clean it and fix up the stand/hood. Jeez, it makes my 120 look so little...

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Congrats on the new tank are you already planning on what you'll stock it with or are you just focussing on your next steps?

Same fish, new tank!

It will probably be a week or two though til its ready to go in the house.

Awesome!

But that does not mean you can remove "Bigger tank!" from your wish list.

there is that...

Zerc, that's very exciting stuff. are you thinking you'll keep the 120 or stick with just 1 tank?

Nope, 120 is going to get sold as soon as the 240 is ready.

DMD123 wrote:But that does not mean you can remove "Bigger tank!" from your wish list.

TRUTH!!

You setting it up the same way as the 120? I liked the room dividing thing that the tank created. You did say that was where the main floor supports were...

Yup, it's going in the same spot.

Does anyone know the best way to clean acrylic w/out scratching it? This tank used to be a salt tank so its got some crusties... On the bright side, (haha) i took all the lights out of the hood last night to replace the bulbs, and i counted the ballasts. It is going to take SIX plugs just for the lights on this thing! The plan today is to take the tank outside to clean it, and then then leave it covered outside. Then i will be able to clean the stand. Hopefully next weekend i can set this up in my living room!

Dont forget the pictures. That is one thing I did not do with my 210g set up. I really wish I would have taken more pics. A lot of the extra stuff I did with the reinforcing floor, customizing the stand, custom plumbing for the FX5's was missed. So on my next tank I will get more pics!

To get rid of the salt water crustiness, use vinegar and water. It will fall right off.

It's got potential. Nice! Looks like it took a tree and a half to build the top and bottom.

Congrats... keep us updated with pics.

Cleaning sucks.

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No freakin way. How did you fit into that thing?

haha, i laid it down on some towels and crawled in the side!

it would be impossible to clean all the salt crustiness out w/out getting in.

Thats going at it with a bit of elbow grease! Nice PJ btms

It's also amazing when you see a picture of a big tank with fish in it you never realize how big it is till you see it in person or with a person in it!!

So once it's set up, Zerc, are you going to get SCUBA or snorkel gear and go in to clean it? You could start your own show... "Tanked Again"!

That's a beauty of a tank, though!

Love the pic! Had me on the floor laughing. Cant wait to see it set up!

Its in my living room!

Half full of water, i will finish plumbing it tonight.
20 lbs of black sand in it right now, petsmart only had ONE bag... so im going to headhunt the other petsmart stores on the east side tomorrow. Hoping to put in 200 lbs.

my biggest problem is LIGHTS!

It came with 4 ballasts, each has two cords that each hold a 4 pronged CFL bulb, but there is no power rating or brand name that i can see anywhere. no idea how i am going to find lights, but lowes had nothing...

With luck, there will be fish in the tank by saturday, with or without fancy new lights!

Good to hear... and sorry about the lights. I hope you figure something out.

Your fish will be happy in their new home!

So i finished the plumbing!
Hopefully fish in the tank tonight.

more good news, I think i found the correct lamps for my ballasts (i will need 8 of them)

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bad news is they are $25 each... crap!

Wow thats a lot of money. Seems cheaper to buy new fixtures.

Have you considered some DIY LED's?
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I have a light on my 75 gal. with 2 of the 65 watt compact lights inside and it is just right... 10 of them on a 240 seems like a lot.

i went to lowes and got four 4' t8 fixtures, so i have 8x 32 watt 4' fluorescent lights.

only cost $100 for fixtures and lamps, half what those others would cost for just lamps!

I still want to build a canopy for my 210. I think I will go with LED's when I do that to cut down on electrical cost.

Glad you found a reasonable substitute.

I like how LEDs look, but im scared of having to replace the whole strip when some burn out

Fish are moved! Pics soon.

6 bags of tahitian moon sand so far, going to buy another submersible fan before i get more sand though.

pics of the tank and the fish looking around!

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Looking good!

looking nice.

the Bichir had (within 10 minutes) swam into the overflow to look around.... then swam right back out again!

Hm... apparently new tank means new fish.. right? right?

I bought a 2" A. Lyonsi from APFP today!

I think I need to start thinking about which fish to get rid of in the next few months.

I think the Jag will be the first to go. (least interesting/colorful imo)

Looks great man. Keep up the good work.

I think you should just get a BIGGER tank, then you can keep everything!

i DO want a bigger tank! I would have been all over that 400 gallon last week, but there just isnt 10 feet of space for a tank in my current house...

Zerc wrote:i DO want a bigger tank! I would have been all over that 400 gallon last week, but there just isnt 10 feet of space for a tank in my current house...

Buy it for the next one.

Spent an hour on the phone with Gage @ Cichlid Connection (Don Conkels partner) and now I soooooooooooooooo want to increase the fish room and get a couple more myself. Maybe by the Summer.

Will be placing an order from him in about 3-4 weeks if any are interested.

Tank is looking great Zerc. Really looks like it could use some more fish though.

sent you a pm!

Sent you one back.

madness let me know when you are going to order, I might get another pearsei.... even though it would mess up the whole SA thing.

You interested in another Oscar?

Zerc, the tank is looking good I really like the black sand with the color of the stand and canopy.

madness wrote:You interested in another Oscar?

No...

Why?

I am thinking of possibly only keeping one of my O's. The colorful one is a jerk and not a good fit in the community tank.

Really like the color of sand zerc. Tank looks great!

thanks guys

I am going to try vacuuming the tank tonight, taking off the hood looks like its going to be really lame.

Yeah, taking off the hood to vacume sucks. But its worth it. It looks so good when its all together.