240g Cube Build - Upgrading from 120g

[jharding08]

This will be a build thread for the 240g, 48"x48"x24" glass cube tank that I bought off Craigslist.



We bought a house and I thought it would be a nice time to upgrade from my 120g 4'x2'x2'. Plus the 120g needs to be resealed and instead of using multiple smaller holding tanks, I can get the 240g up and running at the new house and do one move and sell the 120g afterwards.

This is the 120g. Coast to coast internal overflow with bean animal drains. I will be integrating the 3 live rock pillars into the new setup. Essentially, the 240g is just double this one, but with a center overflow



Initial Evaluation of the new tank:
After getting the tank to barely squeeze into my SUV and getting it home, I unloaded it and was able to clean the glass off to see exactly what I'm dealing with. I removed all the old bulkheads and plumbing to get it totally clean. The previous owner siliconed the bulkheads on both sides, so it was more of a pain to remove them than it should have been.

The tank glass is in good to very good shape. Not alot of scratches that I could see after getting the grime off. It was a fresh water tank so there is some hard water stains left over that need some extra attention.

The silicone seals on the inside are not good. I was able to pull some of it off that was already coming off and the whole thing will need to be redone. More on that later

The holes drilled for drainage/return are for two 3/4" and one 1" bulkheads. I really need to figure out what I am going to do with this. Initially I will be using my Waveline DC6000 return pump at full power, which will put out 1585 GPH. I dont think a 3/4" return line much less one 1" drain will work, so I might have to have all three holes as drains and run the returns over the side, since this tank will be against the wall. Any ideas on this?

For my aquascaping, I want to use the rock pillars I have in my 120, since the coral is all attached to them, but I also want to cover the overflow with live rock, to make it look like another pillar, so I can attach coral to it. I will use epoxy and make it permanent, just like my current pillars. I dont want to obstruct the fish from swimming in a circle, but the rock pillars I have now are kind of big. I might need to get creative.

I am going to use RocketEngineer's stand building techniques to build a strong and durable stand. I need to make it look nice for the wife to approve, so I'll add some molding and nice doors to it.

I want to add an isolated area for all the electronics, since I will be plumbing my 32g frag tank into the sump as well. Right now, the frag tank has a separate sump since I couldnt put it close enough to the display tank to run drain/return lines. They all run off the same Apex though. I'm wondering if I could put the frag tank under the stand of the display? Just some ideas.

32g Frag Tank:


We close on the house end of this month (july) and will have a little over a month to put new hardwood in downstairs and install the tank. I have alot to do, so this is my game plan.

To Do:
1. Clean tank fully
2. Reseal tank and overflow.
3. Apply aquascaping to overflow.
4. Build stand - skin, paint
5. Move stand and tank.
6. Install tank after flooring
7. Cycle tank.
-Use some water from 120g water changes.
-Use rubbermaid bin for sump for time being
8. Once ready, move live rock pillars and livestock in one trip
9. Move sump, frag tank, Apex, dosers, etc
10-100. Everything I forgot

Concerns:
1. My number one concern is resealing the new tank. I have not done it before, but it doesnt look complicated. I am getting a quote for a store to do it, but I really dont want to spend a ton if I can do it and it will last for a good long time. If I do a seam on each side that is two times the thickness of the glass, will it hold? I am just super nervous about the DIY part of this, although I'm not sure how much different a store would do it. Would I need to redo the outside seams or bottom if it has the black brace around the top and bottom?

2. The three overflow hole sizes. How should I do my drains/returns if I have two 3/4" and one 1" Should I just do two durso's where i up the PVC size a 1/4", so it would be one 1 1/4" and one 1" but just with a smaller bulkhead? I'm not sure a 3/4" return will work for a DC-6000, much less a Reeflo Dart since I will need to upgrade return pump size in the future. Should I just run the returns exterally?

3. Tank size. Assuming the seals are good and the stand is sturdy, based on the picture of the tank, should I have anything to worry about as far as size goes? Its one 4'x4' piece of glass going to hold up however many pounds 240 gallons is? The tank will sit on the stand by the black frame on the bottom, which is about 1/4" from the glass. The bottom pane of glass is very thick though, looks like more than an inch.

That is all for now. I'd appreciate any and all feedback. I need to start executing on my plan of attack. I hope everyone joins me for the ride. I will post plenty of pictures as I go