55G overhaul - what could possibly go wrong?

[ubas]

Here's my photojournal for some major work I did on my reef recently. First - the tank before starting:

Looks pretty good from a distance, but a closer look shows that it's being overrun by various forms of hair and macroalgae, and several of my LPS/SPS have suffered damage over the last year due to moving, long power outages (like a dummy, I still haven't picked up a generator), and a few corals falling on top of each other. I was also having problems because as the corals grew, they needed more flow, and the mj1200's just weren't doing it anymore. Worse still, the socket that connects to the u-tube on my prism skimmer cracked, causing it to severely overflow the collection cup. By severe, I mean that it dumped a good 5 gallons into the basement overnight, which was of course replaced by 5g of fresh water from the auto topoff, causing the salinity and alk to drop dangerously The *first* time that happened, I thought I had just dialed it in wrong. The *second* time it happened (and I was still recovering from the first), I realized that the stupid thing was broken and that's why it was going nuts I only consider myself fortunate because the water seemed to have an easy time finding its way from the wood floor down the concrete wall of the basement.

Even though it makes me a little bit ill to look at myself, here's a survey of some of the damage:

So here's the big plan:

1. Build a new sump to house my new ASM G2 skimmer (wouldn't fit in the compartment of my existing sump)

2. Pull out all of the nasty sand and replace with a cutting board.

3. My 1" elbow overflows weren't doing the job - I had to throttle my mag 9.5. Upgrade to 1.25" (redrill + new plumbing).

4. While everything was out of the tank, remove all nuisance specimens (anthelia!) and frag out all damaged corals.

5. Install a frag shelf with high flow.

I started work on this back in November, when I ordered the cutting board. I had also installed glass baffles in the new 15g sump, and the skimmer was all broken in, ready to go. I built the frag shelf out of 1/2" pvc and a sheet of acrylic with holes drilled in it.

New sump:

Last sunday was finally the big day. The silicon was going to need 24 hrs to cure for the new bottom, so as soon as the kid went to bed, I drained the tank and relocated everything to bins in the basement. Each bin got a powerhead and a heater (it's cold down there!):

 

[ubas]

Since the curing time was the big scheduling factor, I put the cutting board in first. I would have preferred to have done the drilling first, but I wanted to minimize the time everything spent in bins. To install the bottom, I routed the edge of the board so it would clear the existing silicon in the tank, and masked off near the edges for the new silicon:

I put a bead of silicon around the bottom, dropped the board in, then did a bead around the top edge (I also masked off the glass):

That was it for the night - I didn't want to touch anything else until the silicon was tack-free. Next day I started the drilling. I used a diamond dremel bit. I had bought a new one (about $15 at HD), but I didn't keep enough water off it to start, and I burned out the tip of it almost immediately. I ended up using the old bit that I used a few years ago to drill the 1" bulkheads. It was a little dull and the glass chipped more than I liked, but in the end everything was ok:

I found that the new 1.25" sched 80 plumbing was quite a bit bulkier than the 1", but everything was fitting ok:

I put the sump under the stand and started fitting the drains. The first drain went in just fine, though it was not quite angled correctly. It wasn't glued, so a little twist should fix it. Hmm. It's in there pretty good. As long as I twist within the socket and don't flex the fittings it should be just fi---

*POP*

Uh-oh.

 

[ubas]

I didn't scream. I barely cursed. I didn't cry or kick my dog. I was quite distraught though. By this time, my dogs were begging for their walk, so I put my coat on and went out into the fresh air to do some thinking. When you break a tank, there are exactly 2 options.

1. Call it quits.
2. Go bigger.

A few hours later:

Say hello to my new 90G AGA - RR! This was neither the tank or stand of my dreams, but these were desparate times and I didn't budget for this. I would have loved to have gone with seamless corners and nicer furniture, but the size and price were right (plus it was available for immediate pickup). I was really happy they had the corner overflow in stock, because it fits well with the tanks' positioning in the room.

That night, I installed the megaflow, plumbed in the sump, and painted the back black. The following night (day 3 now), I put down the sand (40# of sugar aragonite - so much for BB!) and emptied my 30G trashcan of new saltwater into it. I didn't have enough water to completely fill it, so the livestock would have to spend another night in the basement.

Shimming- it was off by nearly 1/2" across 48":

Sump/fuge:

 

[ubas]

Day 4 (Wed evening, started Sunday evening) - I finally got everything in the tank. I cut the back off of my old 55g canopy so I could use the existing lights until I get the new stuff in place. Here's the pics. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the aquascaping. I managed to leave some room around all sides for good flow and easier cleaning. I used all of the rock from my 55G, plus I had a 30lbs or so sitting in a tub in the basement.

Full tank:

No - the heater is not staying in the display, and the powerhead setup is temporary.

Right side - hammer looking good:

Left side:

Wide shot - mismatched furniture:

At this point, the tank certainly isn't finished, but I'm going much slower as I let things break in and acclimate. I have 2x54W T5 on order from reefgeek to go with the existing 4 bulbs, plus I ordered a Tunze 6100 w/ controller Yes - I've read a bunch of threads about maximods and hydor koralia's, but I went with the Tunze.

On a side note - I pulled the cutting board out of the broken 55g (I'm going to cut it up and actually use it in the kitchen) and found that the bottom bead of silicone was still wet even days later. If I were to do it again, I would skip the bottom bead or give it several days before doing the top bead, assuming I had the time to wait.

To do:
1. Canopy/lighting
2. Hook up auto topoff
3. Frag frag frag
4. Finalize flow after Tunze kit arrives.
5. More fishies! After the last power outage this summer, I was down to my last fish (pajama cardinal). I intentionally didn't restock as I waited for this rehab to occur. Today I picked up a foxface. In a few weeks or so, assuming all is going well, I'll add some more. I'm not really planning on adding more corals unless I do some local frag trades. I want to let the ones I have grow out and fill in the tank.

All in all, it's been a very long week...
UB

 

[badpvtdan]

You have the same tank and stand I have Great post and I will be checking back in to see how you are doing

 

[ubas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9333285#post9333285 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by badpvtdan
You have the same tank and stand I have Great post and I will be checking back in to see how you are doing

I'll do my best to post some updates. I'm really liking the 90g so far. I almost went with a 75g just because I was afraid of the extra height due to lighting concerns, but it really makes the tank look more expansive than the 75's and it has opened up my options for livestock choices.

 

[vapovick]

Looking good! Sometimes cracking the ol tank is'nt so bad! Minus the surprise expense... Anyhoo, looks like everything is going smooth. Let me know if you need help with the canopy! As for the new livestock options, any ideas yet?


./vapo

 

[ubas]

I'm waiting for things to settle down before I add anything else, but I'm considering (probably not *all* of these, but some):

6-line wrasse (waiting for pods to re-establish first)
firefish
small school of green/blue chromis
I need to do a little research to see if I can keep a tang with the foxface in a tank this size.


For corals, I need to get the fragging done, and once those are established I hope to do some trading locally to get a little more diversity in there.

I've got a Tunze 6100 with controller on order - should get here soon.

I might start the new canopy this weekend. I want to put the t5's about 3-4" from the surface, so I'll probably put the top and front panels on hinges (open from both sides, split in middle). That way I can access the tank for feeding without moving the lights around, but I can also open the top completely for bigger maintenance.

 

[kamla]

Nice...

Where did you get the cutting board....

Plus how did you get the whole piece in your tank...
Dont you have a center brace...

Thax

 

[vapovick]

Yeah-- did you use the cutting board in the 90g?

 

[ubas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9359559#post9359559 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kamla
Nice...

Where did you get the cutting board....

Plus how did you get the whole piece in your tank...
Dont you have a center brace...

Thax

http://cuttingboardcompany.com/http://cuttingboardcompany.com/

It was slightly too long when it arrived (about 1/8") - but I'm not sure if that was due to their cutting or my measuring. There was plenty of clearance around the brace - just come in at an angle. No need to cut in half or anything like that.

Vapovick - didn't reuse the cutting board because it wasn't the right size anymore and with all of the added delay of the new tank, I wasn't prepared to wait another 24 hours for the silicone to cure. Also, would be tough to fit it around the overflow. I'm going to cut it into a few smaller sections, maybe route out a trough around the edge and use them as (if you can believe it) cutting boards. I hear they're good for that too

 

[Jayelle]

Newbie question: what was the reason for the cutting board in the first place? I haven't heard of doing that before.

 

[ubas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9363203#post9363203 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jayelle
Newbie question: what was the reason for the cutting board in the first place? I haven't heard of doing that before.

The cutting board is a variation of going barebottom. Compared to bare glass, it looks nicer (in my opinion), and it also helps protect the bottom glass from rocks falling in it and it keeps the light from the sump out of the display tank at light. You'll hear others talking about using a material called "starboard", which is very similar (though more expensive). Search rc for starboard or bare bottom and you'll have tons of reading to do - some of which is very amusing because some people are very passionate about the subject on both sides.

 

[Jayelle]

Ah, I get it now. Thanks!