Josh Murrah's 240G project.

Xster · Post by **Xster** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 1:18 am

I am so jealous of handy people!!! Looking great Josh!

SaltnLime · Post by **SaltnLime** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 7:22 am

looking good like a reef tank should.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 10:28 am

Scott wrote:How does that crown molding and chair rail factor into the design? Will you have to cut that? Are you going to make the stand and canopy match the wall (made from sheetrock with the crown molding at the floor)? Just curious.

The stand/canopy are going to be a wood/stained finish. I think we're gonna "skin" it with wall paneling or something similar...

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 10:22 pm

OK, a few updates... firstly, I was worried about the end 2x4's on top,
so I made new ones that are notched onto the side 2x4's on the top.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 10:25 pm

Next, I put in the outlets in the stand... each side of the stand has it's
own power cord.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 9:35 am

Well, looks like I did my power calculations wrong, and I'm gonna be over 30 amps. Terry, you were right all along! Here's what I calculated, somebody correct me if I missed something. Looks like I'm gonna have to pull a second 30A run w/ two more 15A GFCI outlets (4 total!).

Code: Select all

item                                 amperage
----------------------------------   -------------
lighting (MH, 1000w total)           8.3
lighting (VHO 4x160w)                5.3
pumps (2 x mag24 @ 3A)               6
heater (pro-heat II @ 1000w)         8.3
skimmer pump (Sedra 3500)            2
lights (refuge, 160w max?)           1.5

total amperage: 31.4

Question: The "outside" breaker box only shows a two-pole 60A breaker going inside to the subpanel... looks like I'm gonna be pulling a constant 30A draw just for the aquarium... does this mean I should upgrade the outside breaker to the inside sub-panel??? Does anyone have a clamp-on ammeter that I can borrow to test how much the house actually draws with everything running? Here's a pic of the outside breaker-box, the circled breaker goes to the subpanel in the garage.

Post by **snoopdog** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 11:39 am

I have one.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 11:41 am

Great! I need to borrow it sometime within the next 3-4 weeks; can you bring it to the meeting on the 27th?

EDIT: nevermind, I found a co-worker with one... thanks though Kevin!!!

Post by **snoopdog** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 12:12 pm

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 11:24 am

Welp, I just called, and the aquarium's delivery date got knocked back to Thursday; I'm ready and waiting!

I got the other 30amp circuit wired in, so I now have 4 x 15A GFCI outlets behind the stand. I also was able to stain and polyurethane the stand (outside only), looks pretty decent! I still have a 55G that I need to get drilled, however, I was gonna drop it off when I picked up the tank, so I guess I'll do that on Thursday. I'm currently trying to procure a pallette of Southdown or equivalent, waiting on a callback now for prices... I'm also waiting on more money to roll in, from the sale of my last project, so that I can buy heater/pumps/etc.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:00 pm

OK, well a few pictorial updates... I stained and polyeurothane'd the stand, and put the sump and refuge in place. I also decided I didn't want to wait around for the 55G to be drilled, so I did it myself. It's SUPER easy, took me like 20 minutes. Here we go....

SaltnLime · Post by **SaltnLime** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:30 pm

looking good.... are you going to have room to mount lights over the fuge ?

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 9:47 pm

It's HERE! It took six guys to get it off the truck, 4 guys to get it on the
trailer, and four guys (two of whom work out regularly) to get it into
the house and on the stand. There's coaming on the ends, which I have
not ever seen done on a braced tank, and there's only 1/2" glass in the
bottom, however, there's EXTRA bracing in the form of 1/2" panels in
the bottom, kind of like a mirror of the bracing on the top... weird.
anyway, looks awesome! I'm gonna have to brace up the legs of the
stand more probably, there's some sway to it if I push on the side of
the tank. PICS, here's pics:

Post by **snoopdog** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 10:03 pm

What is picture 238 ?? Did someone trip over your movies ?

tbmoore · Post by **tbmoore** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 10:53 pm

Yep ...They fell on top of the 20gal I was going to use as a fuge...I think he should let me have the 240 instead. Maybe we could vote sat nt. We can get some ballets from calif.