The 110 Tall (48x18x30) Project. Picture Intense!
- Thread starter cerreta
- Start date
cerreta
Premium Member
. . . today was a fun and messy day. I spent the day spraying foam into the tank, making a rack for the electrical switches, and painting the back glass black.
The foam used was the same stuff Scott (sidewinder) used in his 375 gallon tank. It is black foam for about $8.00 a can from Doctor Foster Smith. I used all six cans that I estimated for this project.
I first started off by taping everything. Later I realized my tape job was overkill. The foam is messy, but it comes out of the can in a slow ooze. Next I tested the foam by spraying it onto the CLC standpipe. It expands quickly and is soft a guey. If you mess with it in the first three minutes, the foam will loose its expansion and just flatten out.
I started off by using a sponge to texture the foam, but found it to be useless. I wore long sleeves and gloves for handling this project and I found that working the foam with a gloved hand was the easiest. After a few trys at working the foam , I developed a good technique. Another tip is that the side you are spraying must be facing up. The foam will not stick to vertical surfaces. Therefore, the tank had to be turned on its sides for application to the overflow. The foam sticks better to acrilyc than glass.
Spray the foam in horitzontal rows as evenly as you can. Next, wait for three minutes. Then the foam gets firmer with a dull surface. Next take a gloved hand, dab and pull the foam in vertical lines. I pushed the foam down towards the bottom of the tank so that little nooks and crannies would support placement of corals if I chose to add them. Running the foam in the upward direction would make this more difficult.
I also had a problem with the foam separating from the glass. After two hours, the foam was quite hard, but compressible with a firm push. While pushing the foam, I noticed some air pockets behind the foam. This worried me, since the foam is buoyant. I tried pushing it into the glass, but it would rebound. After turning the tank to the other side I noticed this problem started to resolve itself. I believe that the foam beneath the surface began to rise, thus pressing into the glass and forming a tight bond. I will know for sure tomorrow.
Here are the pictures:
Tank on its side before taping.
Tank is prepped and ready for foam.
Overflow shot
Foam sprayed to one surface of the overflow. In order to spray the other surfaces, I must turn the tank. Foam will not stick to vertical surfaces.
CLC standpipe is prepped and my first foam spray. The blue tape is covering the strainer. Notice the foam applied to the cap of the strainer.
Better shot of foam on the CLC standpipe cap.
The foam used was the same stuff Scott (sidewinder) used in his 375 gallon tank. It is black foam for about $8.00 a can from Doctor Foster Smith. I used all six cans that I estimated for this project.
I first started off by taping everything. Later I realized my tape job was overkill. The foam is messy, but it comes out of the can in a slow ooze. Next I tested the foam by spraying it onto the CLC standpipe. It expands quickly and is soft a guey. If you mess with it in the first three minutes, the foam will loose its expansion and just flatten out.
I started off by using a sponge to texture the foam, but found it to be useless. I wore long sleeves and gloves for handling this project and I found that working the foam with a gloved hand was the easiest. After a few trys at working the foam , I developed a good technique. Another tip is that the side you are spraying must be facing up. The foam will not stick to vertical surfaces. Therefore, the tank had to be turned on its sides for application to the overflow. The foam sticks better to acrilyc than glass.
Spray the foam in horitzontal rows as evenly as you can. Next, wait for three minutes. Then the foam gets firmer with a dull surface. Next take a gloved hand, dab and pull the foam in vertical lines. I pushed the foam down towards the bottom of the tank so that little nooks and crannies would support placement of corals if I chose to add them. Running the foam in the upward direction would make this more difficult.
I also had a problem with the foam separating from the glass. After two hours, the foam was quite hard, but compressible with a firm push. While pushing the foam, I noticed some air pockets behind the foam. This worried me, since the foam is buoyant. I tried pushing it into the glass, but it would rebound. After turning the tank to the other side I noticed this problem started to resolve itself. I believe that the foam beneath the surface began to rise, thus pressing into the glass and forming a tight bond. I will know for sure tomorrow.
Here are the pictures:
Tank on its side before taping.
Tank is prepped and ready for foam.
Overflow shot
Foam sprayed to one surface of the overflow. In order to spray the other surfaces, I must turn the tank. Foam will not stick to vertical surfaces.
CLC standpipe is prepped and my first foam spray. The blue tape is covering the strainer. Notice the foam applied to the cap of the strainer.
Better shot of foam on the CLC standpipe cap.
cerreta
Premium Member
Once I developed a technique for spraying the foam, I took this pic. Foam is sprayed in even horitzontal rows.
After three minutes, the foam is stroked with a gloved hand in the downward (towards bottom of tank) vertical direction. This created nice cavities in the foam. It has a more rock-like appearance too.
Back of glass. The gray is well fitted foam. The black areas have a few spots where the foam separated from the glass and may have created air pockets. Will know more tomorrow on this.
Here is the tank on its side. The overflow is about to be foamed.
It is foamed now.
These are the electrical switches that will be stored in the side cabinet. These are made by American DJ. They are lighting switches for concerts. You can find them at any music shop for about $15.00 each. They look great.
Picture of the mounting rack for the switch box.
OK, that was all for today. Tomorrow I will work on more plumbing, staining some trim pieces, putting the two stands next to each other, finish the side panels for both stands, replace the center divider of the tank from ~10ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ to a 4.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
After three minutes, the foam is stroked with a gloved hand in the downward (towards bottom of tank) vertical direction. This created nice cavities in the foam. It has a more rock-like appearance too.
Back of glass. The gray is well fitted foam. The black areas have a few spots where the foam separated from the glass and may have created air pockets. Will know more tomorrow on this.
Here is the tank on its side. The overflow is about to be foamed.
It is foamed now.
These are the electrical switches that will be stored in the side cabinet. These are made by American DJ. They are lighting switches for concerts. You can find them at any music shop for about $15.00 each. They look great.
Picture of the mounting rack for the switch box.
OK, that was all for today. Tomorrow I will work on more plumbing, staining some trim pieces, putting the two stands next to each other, finish the side panels for both stands, replace the center divider of the tank from ~10ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ to a 4.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â
Roll221
Premium Member
Not to rush both you and Mike... but hurry up already!!!!! Andy would like his tank!! Kidding aside, Scott that is going to look really really nice. I think that foam is going to start going into a lot of new tanks. Looks like both of you are shooting for mid May for the change overs. Will be one busy weekend.
Ed
Ed
cerreta
Premium Member
Today I peeled away the paper, and painted the back glass. The foam seated nicely with one small air pocket, that I do nor forsee to be a problem.
I redid the plumbing for the retun line inside the overflow chamber. I forgot the pic on this. Before, I tried to tun a siphon line up from a T that was well below the water line. The tank would drain to that level. This time, I ran the return line up to the level of the overflow slits, then back down 5" to the retun bulkhead. This forces water to travel up that path, and when the pump gets shut down, a small siphon hole will suck air into the line just below the overflow slits and break suction.
I also had some major issues with the CLC manifold under the tank. I forgot to build a way to remove this. So, I have to rebuild it. I also have a hard time getting underneath the tank to do the work.
Then, duh, it came to me. Why struggle down there. Instead I placed the tank on its side and now I can do all the plumbing from the back.
Another tip I discovered today. It is a pain in the butt to tighten bulkheads from under the tank. Well, this can be done when the tank is on its side too. In fact it worked out great. Then to get the tank turned back to its proper side, I just pulled the tank towards the front edge (2" away) and tipped it back in place. The bulkheads went right through the holes in the stand. Nice fit!
Mike, you should try this.
When the time comes to put the tan kin the house, this is how I will do it.
1) Put stand in place and level it.
2) Carry tank in house and place on stand with front glass down.
3) Relevel with weight
4) Make sure all bulkheads are in place and tight.
5) Pull tank to front edge and tip into position.
How does everyone else do this?
I did a bad job of taking pictures today, but here are two of the foam-work. It came out very nice!!!
You can see the CLC drain in place with its textured foam too. Just above that is the return line.
BTW, I decided not to rush it. I have too much work still . I had trouble getting the center divider out of the tan kto replace it. What a PITA. I hope I don't crack the front glass trying to get it out.
I redid the plumbing for the retun line inside the overflow chamber. I forgot the pic on this. Before, I tried to tun a siphon line up from a T that was well below the water line. The tank would drain to that level. This time, I ran the return line up to the level of the overflow slits, then back down 5" to the retun bulkhead. This forces water to travel up that path, and when the pump gets shut down, a small siphon hole will suck air into the line just below the overflow slits and break suction.
I also had some major issues with the CLC manifold under the tank. I forgot to build a way to remove this. So, I have to rebuild it. I also have a hard time getting underneath the tank to do the work.
Then, duh, it came to me. Why struggle down there. Instead I placed the tank on its side and now I can do all the plumbing from the back.
Another tip I discovered today. It is a pain in the butt to tighten bulkheads from under the tank. Well, this can be done when the tank is on its side too. In fact it worked out great. Then to get the tank turned back to its proper side, I just pulled the tank towards the front edge (2" away) and tipped it back in place. The bulkheads went right through the holes in the stand. Nice fit!
Mike, you should try this.
When the time comes to put the tan kin the house, this is how I will do it.
1) Put stand in place and level it.
2) Carry tank in house and place on stand with front glass down.
3) Relevel with weight
4) Make sure all bulkheads are in place and tight.
5) Pull tank to front edge and tip into position.
How does everyone else do this?
I did a bad job of taking pictures today, but here are two of the foam-work. It came out very nice!!!
You can see the CLC drain in place with its textured foam too. Just above that is the return line.
BTW, I decided not to rush it. I have too much work still . I had trouble getting the center divider out of the tan kto replace it. What a PITA. I hope I don't crack the front glass trying to get it out.
cerreta
Premium Member
Been awhile since I have updated.
Replacing the center divider was a huge chore. The original divider is 11" wide and two pieces. The top piece is 1/4" thick and extends from the front edge of the front wall to the back edge of the rear wall. The bottom piece is 1/2" glass and fits the way most traditional dividers are place. It extends from the inside of the front wall to the inside of the back wall.
Needless to say, I did not realize this when removing the galss. I was trying to avoid removing the plastic trim piece, so I was unable to see how the divider was placed. After breaking the hell out of the glass, I discovered what had happened and removed the trim sections to remove the fragmented glass bits.
I also realized that this style of divider adds great strength to the tank, since the top divider has greater contact area with teh tank and tons more surface area for silicone to bind the tank.
The divider I chose to use is three 1/4" pieces laminated together with silicone and the top piece extends across the whole tank just as the original divider did. The width of this replacement divider is 4.5"
I also rebuilt the CLC manifold this time remembering to not use permanent glue on the reducer fitting, thus allowing removal of the CLC manifold.
This time I tilted the tank on its side when building the manifold. I completed it in about 30 minutes, instead of two hours. It saves a lot of time when you don't have to stoop under teh stupid stand to put this in place.
Here are some pics
This is the rebuilt CLC manifold
Here is a shot of the return line plumbing. I rebuilt this too, after the original only featured a riser pipe, and it would not break suction. This forces water thru the loop where a small hole is drilled into the bottom of the black spaflex hose, thus breaking suction and not letteing six inches of tank water drain into the sump.
Center dividerhas been partially removed. You can see the trim has been taken off. The divider has been removed from front glass, but you can see the fragmented parts still attached to the top edge of the back wall.
The new center divider has been placed and siliconed in place. It has three laminated 1/4" pieces, with the top piece expanding from the front edge of the tank to the back edge, while the two other pieces extend from the inside of the front watll to the inside edge of the back wall. This appears to be extremely strong.
If you look close, you can see where the top glass divider overlaps the tank edges. More area for silicone to secure the glass. This is much stonger than standard dividers, so I am sure it will suffice.
Up next is a few minor fixes and placement of the side panels.
Then Monday Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent on switching tanks over from the 80gallon to the new 110tall. I still have a lot of work ahead and plan to make some great changes in the aquascape. I will be using some new materials for this install, which includes Thorite cement to secure the rocks in place, and the Deltec purple epoxy to mount corals in place.
I still have to sell off many of my softies to make room for the new sps, so please come buy them. Check out the other thread for those details. Prices are cheap, and the corals are BIG!. They look much bigger and better in person than in the pics, just ask Gary!
Cheers
Replacing the center divider was a huge chore. The original divider is 11" wide and two pieces. The top piece is 1/4" thick and extends from the front edge of the front wall to the back edge of the rear wall. The bottom piece is 1/2" glass and fits the way most traditional dividers are place. It extends from the inside of the front wall to the inside of the back wall.
Needless to say, I did not realize this when removing the galss. I was trying to avoid removing the plastic trim piece, so I was unable to see how the divider was placed. After breaking the hell out of the glass, I discovered what had happened and removed the trim sections to remove the fragmented glass bits.
I also realized that this style of divider adds great strength to the tank, since the top divider has greater contact area with teh tank and tons more surface area for silicone to bind the tank.
The divider I chose to use is three 1/4" pieces laminated together with silicone and the top piece extends across the whole tank just as the original divider did. The width of this replacement divider is 4.5"
I also rebuilt the CLC manifold this time remembering to not use permanent glue on the reducer fitting, thus allowing removal of the CLC manifold.
This time I tilted the tank on its side when building the manifold. I completed it in about 30 minutes, instead of two hours. It saves a lot of time when you don't have to stoop under teh stupid stand to put this in place.
Here are some pics
This is the rebuilt CLC manifold
Here is a shot of the return line plumbing. I rebuilt this too, after the original only featured a riser pipe, and it would not break suction. This forces water thru the loop where a small hole is drilled into the bottom of the black spaflex hose, thus breaking suction and not letteing six inches of tank water drain into the sump.
Center dividerhas been partially removed. You can see the trim has been taken off. The divider has been removed from front glass, but you can see the fragmented parts still attached to the top edge of the back wall.
The new center divider has been placed and siliconed in place. It has three laminated 1/4" pieces, with the top piece expanding from the front edge of the tank to the back edge, while the two other pieces extend from the inside of the front watll to the inside edge of the back wall. This appears to be extremely strong.
If you look close, you can see where the top glass divider overlaps the tank edges. More area for silicone to secure the glass. This is much stonger than standard dividers, so I am sure it will suffice.
Up next is a few minor fixes and placement of the side panels.
Then Monday Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent on switching tanks over from the 80gallon to the new 110tall. I still have a lot of work ahead and plan to make some great changes in the aquascape. I will be using some new materials for this install, which includes Thorite cement to secure the rocks in place, and the Deltec purple epoxy to mount corals in place.
I still have to sell off many of my softies to make room for the new sps, so please come buy them. Check out the other thread for those details. Prices are cheap, and the corals are BIG!. They look much bigger and better in person than in the pics, just ask Gary!
Cheers
cerreta
Premium Member
I did a bit more tidy work today, getting ready for the tank switch out on Monday.
I have sold off some softies and the tank is looking bare. That big Green Finger leather really hogged a lot of space. I will miss it. It came off in three pieces, two were attached to small rocks (sorry Gary). Linda got a good deal on that monster. It spanned the tank from the sand bed to the water surface, when fully open.
So I lined up the chiller stand with the main tank stand and it looks good. Once I build the nano tank to fit on the chiller cabinet, it will likely weight 500pounds. So, I made the outside panel removable, with four screws. These are the only screws visible in the whole project thus far. Only two of those screws will be seen. Pulling the panel off will allow for the chiller to come out for maintenance.
I also decided that I may need to remove the interior panels for maintenance, so instead of gluing them in place, I made some small wood pieces that locks the panels in place.
The other feature to the chiller stand is the black eggcrate. This allows the chiller exhaust to blow air out and away from the tank. This will prevent introducing a new heat source to the system.
Here are the pics:
Front view of the tank and chiller stand without the trim piece.
Side view of the chiller stand. Notice the black eggcrate at the bottom. This allows the chiller to exhaust heat into the room away from the tank.
Front view with the trim work in place. The system will be setup without the Nano tank on top of the chiller stand. That will be my next major project. I will build the tank and plumb it into the main system. So, the trimwork wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be put on until later.
Side view of the trimwork on the chiller stand.
I have sold off some softies and the tank is looking bare. That big Green Finger leather really hogged a lot of space. I will miss it. It came off in three pieces, two were attached to small rocks (sorry Gary). Linda got a good deal on that monster. It spanned the tank from the sand bed to the water surface, when fully open.
So I lined up the chiller stand with the main tank stand and it looks good. Once I build the nano tank to fit on the chiller cabinet, it will likely weight 500pounds. So, I made the outside panel removable, with four screws. These are the only screws visible in the whole project thus far. Only two of those screws will be seen. Pulling the panel off will allow for the chiller to come out for maintenance.
I also decided that I may need to remove the interior panels for maintenance, so instead of gluing them in place, I made some small wood pieces that locks the panels in place.
The other feature to the chiller stand is the black eggcrate. This allows the chiller exhaust to blow air out and away from the tank. This will prevent introducing a new heat source to the system.
Here are the pics:
Front view of the tank and chiller stand without the trim piece.
Side view of the chiller stand. Notice the black eggcrate at the bottom. This allows the chiller to exhaust heat into the room away from the tank.
Front view with the trim work in place. The system will be setup without the Nano tank on top of the chiller stand. That will be my next major project. I will build the tank and plumb it into the main system. So, the trimwork wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be put on until later.
Side view of the trimwork on the chiller stand.
cerreta
Premium Member
These are stained panel locks with counter sink holes. These locks will keep panels in place. By turning the lock, a panel can be removed. I will use several of these throughout the stand and canopy, so I just cut, drilled and stained a whole bunch of them in advance.
Stained side panel with 3.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ hole for monitor probes and water lines to be introduced from the side cabinet (a tall cabinet on the left side of the tank. This is on the old 80 gallon tank).
Inside view of the chiller cabinet laid on its side. You can see the panel locks holding the wood panel and eggcrate in place. Both can be removed by unlock the panels.
Outside view of the chiller stand on its side
Closeup of the panel lcok. It is a very simple design.
Outside view of the left side of the tank stand with the panel in place. Monitor probes and top off water lines will go into the tank stand through this hole.
Same panel looking at it locked in place from inside the sump area.
Next up is more tidy work and adding acoustic foam to deaden any sounds from inside the sump area.
Stained side panel with 3.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ hole for monitor probes and water lines to be introduced from the side cabinet (a tall cabinet on the left side of the tank. This is on the old 80 gallon tank).
Inside view of the chiller cabinet laid on its side. You can see the panel locks holding the wood panel and eggcrate in place. Both can be removed by unlock the panels.
Outside view of the chiller stand on its side
Closeup of the panel lcok. It is a very simple design.
Outside view of the left side of the tank stand with the panel in place. Monitor probes and top off water lines will go into the tank stand through this hole.
Same panel looking at it locked in place from inside the sump area.
Next up is more tidy work and adding acoustic foam to deaden any sounds from inside the sump area.
