The 110 Tall (48x18x30) Project. Picture Intense!

[cerreta]

Wooohooo! Today is he day. I am well rested and will be switching tanks in the next three days. Be on the lookout for soem assembly photos.

Today, I am hoping to have the tanks swapped and all plumbing / electric in order.

I have a lot to do with arranging for the fish and corals in the old tank, as well as prep for the sand that will go in the new tank.

 

[Satori]

Good luck Scott! You put a lot of planning into this so it should go very smoothly. I'll be waiting for those pics!

 

[cerreta]

Wow, am I exhausted. I have been doing th echange-over the last four days with 11 hours of sleep.

Most of the softies have been sold and the rest will go into the nano tank. Yesterday i went to Ed's to pickup the sps corals.

WOW!!! is all I can say. Sometimes it is best to get the leftovers. Many of the corals were base pieces, which I prefer over frags, since it has more potential for growth and the base shoud be the most stable since it is attached.

I am too delerious to recoount all the details of the changeover, but I will do this when I find the time. I have collected over 180 photos of the process, so if you have ??'s about how I did something, let me know and I will find the pic.

However, I do have some stocking photos to share. I put the fish in tonight and they all looked scared. I also added a few newcomers since no terrritories have been established yet.


Pictures:

This is a picture of the rockwork with water in the tank, but no corals. I actually have a bit too much rock in there and it made adding Ed's monster Acros quite a challenge.
The layout came out better than I expected. I was trying to create a crossover in th ecenter, but I did not have a deep enough tank. 24" would have been much better:rolleye1:
The facets of this layout include cementing all the rock for a stable structure. I used Thorite Rapid Vertical, details later. I used Deltec purple Epoxy to attach the corals. This stuff totally rocks!!! I will never use another putty or superglue, ever again!
All the corals were attached with minimal effort and you can manipulate the epoxy under water for about an hour.

The sps corals are in place. The tank is still cloudy.

These are vaious pics of the corals. I have added the zoos, sps frags (puny compared to Ed's) LPS and other corals from my softy tank. I still have some more to put in there. Maybe tomoorw.

 

[cerreta]

I also put the fish in tonight and added a few more members.

 

[fishaholic911]

Looking good!

 

[Satori]

Looks like you've just about outgrown that tank, time for a new one.... J/K!

It's looking awesome!

 

[kscrimshaw]

I had the chance to see Scott's tank last night (before he added the fish), and it is amazing! I am always struck by the beauty of every reef tank I see, but his actually looks like a window into the ocean. Great job, Scott!

 

[cerreta]

Well, with the tank up and running, I will begin the arduous task of putting up the progress photos. This may take as long as the switch-overââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦hehehe


The 80gallon softy reef is about to come out.

I moved the nano tank over to a corner and got it all running minus the rock and sand. After catching the fish and a few corals, hey went in there using the same water as in the 80 gallon aga.

The water is drained and I am ready to recover the sand and the cpvc rack. Also need to remove all the plumbing and sump.

OK, the new stand and tank are in the home. The tank stand, canopy and chiller stand are replaced, however the side cabinet will not be changed. The stain color is the same, but it is a different stain so it does not match perfectly.

On the back of the Side Cabinet is the power center. I have 2 four plug transformer outlets bars, and one 8 plug outlet bar, two American DJ DC4 outlet centers (located inside the Side Cabinet) and one Neptune DC8 module. The outlet bars were bought at Walmart. I like them! The DJs can be bought at any music shop, or online.

Light Ballasts are mounted to the top of the Side Cabinet. They are electronic Reef Fanatic Ballasts, two 250watt and one 150 watt. The MH bulbs are Phoenix 14k HQI . The IceCap 660 runs 4 T6 lamps.

The stand has been leveled and the tank moved into place.

The Closed Loop Circuit (CLC) manifold is a one-piece unit. All connections in the manifold are glued. However, in order to put the manifold on and remove it in the future, I used joint compound. This stuff is great for leak-free non-permanent fittings. The compound was applied to the white reduce fitting, which reduce the 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ manifold to the Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ blue bulkhead. In order to keep the manifold from vibrating loose, blocks were assembled and the manifold is ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œUââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ clamped to the blocks.

The next project will be to build a nano tank that sits on the side cabinet. The pipe on the side of the manifold will feed the CLC of the nano tank. Just planning ahead.

On the left is a 1.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ drain line for the CLC, that goes to the Ampmaster 3000. The right line is 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ PVC that feeds the CLC manifold.

 

[cerreta]

This is a shot of the back. The ampmaster 3000 is attached to a shelf mounted on the side cabinet. It vibrates a bit and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m not sure what I will do with it. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m hoping all will quiet down once the biofilms develop.

The sump is in place.

Panworld Return pump. This pump is quiet as rated. It runs cool too. I am very happy with this purchase, thus far. The return pump will send water to the chiller then back to the tank through via 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ spa flex tubing. This is reduced to Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ pvc just before the return locline. The flow was measured to be at 500gph. The pump is rated at 1100gph with 0 head pressure. This return flow is just what I was hoping for. The sump turnover is 5 times. Based on 100gallons of actual water volume.

This brings up another point. I measured all the water being placed in the tank. After all the rock, sand, and filters were in place, This 110 tank and 40 gallon sump only holds 95 gallons of actual water. This includes water inside the skimmer, chiller, overflow, etc. I round this up to have a 100 gallon total system.

Chiller in its very own stand.

Here are all the lines in ordert from left to right.. The 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ return line, 1.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ drain, 1.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ CLC drain, and 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ CLC manifold

Return line run next to the CLC manifold. All this plumbing is kept up high so it does not interfere with accessing the sump.

Aqua C EV-180 skimmer. The drain pipe is to the left of the skimmer. There will be a poly bag that strains the drain water of detritus.

Plumbing under the stand. The two electrical cords power the skimmer and 6500k LOA daylight sump light.

Polyfilter sock is on the drain pipe. The drain pipe is reduced from 1.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ to 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ PVC. This is a necessary facet of building a quiet Durso standpipe, that is often overlooked. You must reduce the Durso standpipe once the PVC passes through the bulkhead.

Chiller plumbing.

 

[cerreta]

Recovered the cpvc frame from the old tank and modified it a bit. It will be stacked agaist the back foam wall for supporting the big rock. I zip tied the rock to the frame which adds more support then leaning the rock against the wall.

I started off with the frame in front of the rear left CLC LocLine, but after seeing the big rock stick too far out, I moved it back to the other side of the Locline.

Side View

LocLine return line coming out of foamed overflow. This is 6ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ below the overflow teeth. It will not drain down this far, because the loop built insode the overflow. See previous pics earlier in the thread for those details. This works very well, and prevented me from inserting the LocLine one-way check valves, which I thought would likely reduce the output flow too.

Everyone has there own strategy for aquascaping and assembly of the tank. I have done it both ways in the past, and prefer the dry method in lieu of the wet method. The wet method means you put the water in first, then the rock and sand.

I will describe the dry method with the next series of shots. The major advantages to this method is ease of placing sand and rock without constantly getting your hands wet. It is also easier to use cement and zip ties during the dry method. The last major advantage is that the water will be less cloudy since you are not dumping sand into a filled tank. This can take days to clear.

STEP ONE: Add 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ to 1.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ base layer of sand ( Iused Pacific sand here to extend the expensive white sand). Notice its yellow color vs the white color of Bahama sand.

STEP TWO: You should have a general plan for your aquascape design. Next, Place base rock into the bottom layer of sand and press it until it meets firmly with the glass. The base rock will be completely covered (in most cases) by sand. So, this is the place to use dry rock. I used a bit of live rock and some dry rock too. The dry rock is not cheap rock, but the good calcium carbonate reef rock. In other words, it too will add to the buffering capacity of the tank.

STEP THREE: Add all of the sand. It should be rinsed with fresh water first. This is the time to create any wavy areas if you desire. I have a 7ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ layer on the left which dips to 4ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ at center and back up to 6ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ at the right. The sand layer also varies from 7ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ in back to 4ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ in the front. Add live sand to the top at this time to seed the bed.

STEP FOUR: Add a small amount of saltwater to the sand bed to keep it wet. Then begin adding Live Rock to create your aquascape design. Many materials can be used at this phase for securing rock. I chose to use zip ties to anchor the big rock to the cpvc frame. I then used Thorite Rapid Vertical Cement to cover the zip ties and to attach rocks to each other. This cement must be kept wet to cure, but working time is over an hour and it is totally awesome!!! This cement is exclusively used at the Wikiki aquarium in Hawaii, and I got the idea of using it from ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œThe Reef Aquarium Vol 3.ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚

STEP FIVE: Once I place rocks in a position I liked, I used the Thorite to fix them in place. Next, I pressed a spoonful of medium sized aragonite sand into the sand to breakup the grey color and to make it look a bit more reef like. In either case, coralline algae will cover this stuff in time.

A picture of Thorite cement and in the red cup is some aragonite sand. I mixed 3tbs water to 1 cup Thorite cement. This project only used about 2.5 pounds of Thorite. I was generous with the stuff too. After the cement cured, no rocks wiggled at all! The stucture is solid.

 

[cerreta]

Here are a few more cement spots. This cement stays workable for about 25 minutes or so. It gets hard in about an hour. It cures under water, so I would use a turkey baster to keep wetting the cement and rock during assembly time. BTW, I later tried using Thorite under water and it does not work. It will fall out of your hand and turn into mush. It must be used in the dry method of aquascaping. If you look close, you can see two patches of Thorite with white aragonite sand pressed into it. This worked well at hiding the gray color cement.

I found a couple nice pieces of curved rock that hides the CLC drainpipe. I did not cement these rocks, since they will have to be moved if I need to service the CLC drain.

Here is another view of the rock covering the CLC drain.

Several rocks are cemented in place now. The basic aquscape is coming together.

This is a look form the top down. There are four CLC return lines. Two in back and two in front. This is a pic at the back right CLC return line. I found a nice rock to cover the LocLine Y. You can see the cpvc frame against the back wall.

More rocks covering the CLC drain and stacked against the overflow box.

STEP SIX: Once the aquascape is done, saltwater can be added to the tank. In order to avoid stirring up the sand, place a metal (something that wont float) bowl in the bottom of the tank and pour water into the bowl. It will stop the rushing water from disturbing the sand bed. This trick works great!!!

STEP SEVEN: Do not pour water into the sump. Instead, pour water into your overflow and let the drain do the work for you. Fill the sump to the expected water height with the system turned off. Be sure to preload any chiller, skimmer, or other filters during this process.

If using measued buckets of water, this is a good tie to keep track of how much water is added to the system, so you have a reference point of total water. The 110 tank with 40 gallon sump only hold 95 gallons of actual water. I am calling it 100 gallons for simplicity.

Off to bed. Hopefully I will finish the tank progression pictures tomorrow.

 

[Satori]

"Picture Intense" is an appropriate title. It's great though, I follow every post.

I didn't neck down my 1.5" drain but I put on a reverse durso that comes down to within 1" of the bottom of the sump. It's totally quiet. I should have gotten a picture before I put the rest of the stuff in the sump.

I also used a reverse durso where the fuge drains into the sump.

 

[cerreta]

"Picture Intense" is an appropriate title.

Yeah, I think there may be more pictures than words in this thread.

 

[cerreta]

OK, here I continue with photos of the switch-over.

Top of the tank. The return lines provide about 500gph and are directed softly towards the water surface. You can see a good pic of the swapped out center divider. This sure does make a huge difference when reaching into the tank. Now that I think about it, I have nothing hanging above the tank except lights. That sure is nice. All the return lines and CLC lines are plumbed through the overflow and bottom glass, respectively.

Inside of the overflow. The pipe on the right is the 1.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ Durso AGA mod drain. The pipe on the left is the return line that comes up to the surface then heads back down to the return bulkhead. If you look close, you can see a water stream coming out of this pipe. This is the siphon break hole shooting water down into the overflow chamber. This really came out well! Function is perfect. The water does not crash through the teeth and make a lot of noise since the water level is so high in the chamber. This is die to the AGA mod in the Durso standpipe.

All the water is in the tank and both the return and CLC is running..

Now the canopy is on top and the lights are on.

Doors open on the canopy. I only have one fan installed, the other went on after the photo. These are 6ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ Patriot fans. I put them on a light dimmer and throttle them way back.

Close-up

A day has gone by and the water is still cloudy. I picked up the sps corals from Edââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s reef, and will begin placing them in the tank. This pic is the monster rock with two Acropora nana, a green zoo colony and three other Acropora sp. This piece alone was worth the $365.00 I spent on all the corals. Ed, thanks so much for the corals, your help, friendship, and everything else!

I whipped up another batch of Thorite for attaching corals to the rocks. I planned to apply this underwater, unlike when I cemented the rock was done in a dry method. Well, this did not work at all. When I submerged the cement in water, it began to disintegrate. I abandoned its use for this purpose. Instead, I used the Deltec Aquascape epoxy. There is no other like it, and I only wish I bought more!

Aquascape putty. Nice color.

Branching Hydrophoro in place.

 

[cerreta]

Boy is that cloudy!. More corals in place.

Orange cap on the return line, blue tort on mid right, green slimmer yongei below it, and orange monti to the right of that. There are a couple frags epoxied to the overflow foam wall too.

Acropora Formosa is in the upward right part of pic.

Full tank shot with all Edââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s sps in place. Still no fish or my softy corals yet. I will only be adding a few shrooms and zoanthids.

Side view

Sump photo. You can see the filter sock drain and two phosban reactors. One has phosban, the other has carbon. You can also see the monitor probes and the AquaC skimmer. I will soon upgrade this to the new model Euro-reef RC80

Behind the tank shot. You can see the CLC plumbing and the Dolphin return pump. Below that is the Ca Reactor and CO2 tank.

Black eggcrate used on the back of the canopy to keep the fish from jumping out. It also helps reduce light lost to the room.

The eggcrate is flush with the wood canopy and a simple way to secure the eggcrate was with a screw and wire tie. I used three wire ties.

 

[cerreta]

Full tank shot with my corals in place and the fish have been added.

full tank

blue tort and pick zoos.

Right side view.

So, that is it for now. These pictures were taken last week after the tank was setup. The water is cloudy and has since cleared. I can see a mini bloom on the horizon, as algae is starting to bloom. I will try to post some updated pics and close-ups too. Tomorrow I will add the UV sterilzer for the break in period, then later remove it.

I also have the euro-reef RC 80 on order. I also added some new fishies today too.

Water parameters were tested yesterday:

pH 8.11
temp 79.1
ORP 276
DKH 7.6
S.G. 1.024
NO2 0
NO3 0
Ca 500
PO4 .03
Si 0
Iodine .04
Mg 875

 

[Satori]

Great pictures Scott. What kind of algae are you getting? I'm getting some diatoms on parts of the sand. Hopefully it'll be a short cycle.

 

[cerreta]

Diatoms everywhere. The sand and on the rock. I even notice a bit creeping up on the corals. Any suggestions on the prevention of this prob? Would it be wise to stirr the sandbed to break up the diatom film?

I have decided to cut back on lighting. I won't run the T6s at all. I will run the HQI for about 8hrs a day. This may help.

 

[cerreta]

Ohh, I'm going to install the UV sterilizer today too. I should have done this from day one!
Cheers

 

[Satori]

When I started my 55 I was plauged by diatoms for an unusually long time. I tried everything. It wasn't until I finally gave up and stopped messing with it that it ran it's course and disappeared.

I really do think new glass and new plumbing can trigger a bloom. When Ed first put the egg-crate frag rack in his frag tank, it triggered a cyano bloom only on the egg-crate. It never spread anywhere else, and after it ran it's short course it was never seen again.