zccef 120 gal 2.0

[zccef]

here is a link to my old tank thread
http://www.michiganreefers.com/forums/members-tanks/84153-zccefs-tank.html

i have not kept my tank thread updated i had a 120gal up
for about 5ish months. it was more of a grow out/ glorified frag tank as i did
not have the time to make it more. Chris(polskareefer) had been giving me a
hard time to get my system up and running. Make something i could enjoy,
be proud of. Over the past couple of weeks i have been putting in alot of late
nights and weekends trying to get my tank where i want it. about a week ago
it was there (we all know this is a lie/ exaggeration as our tanks are never
there).

The story of zccef 120 gal 2.0 begin friday morning at 3AM.
I woke from a deep sleep, with one very clear thought in my head. I cant
stand that clear silicone on my fish tank I must have black. Costs and time
be dammed i have to pull my system apart and get a new tank with black
silicone. Quite coincidently i turned my head to the left and looked at my fish
tank with its silly clear silicone and saw water pouring from it on to the floor.
Nothing crazy but like a niagra falls for ants.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7873.jpg?t=1265038147

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7875.jpg?t=1265038180

I woke my dad up for some help on the 3AM tank revamp. I am very thankful
for his help as it would have taken a long time to do this my self.

I called up Chris from Reef Solutions Friday morning and explained to him the
situation. The silicone must be black! He told me he would make some calls
and get back to me. I barely had time to hang up the phone before he called
me back and told me he could have one for me around noon. Now thats what
i call customer service!

Once i got it home i prepped the tank for drilling. I used a drill press and a
diamond hole bit that would allow me to put 1in ID bulkheads in the tank.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7878.jpg?t=1265038788

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7879.jpg?t=1265038766

Next i siliconed the overflow box in.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0990.jpg?t=1265040875

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0993.jpg?t=1265040659

This is what an overflow looks like siliconed in with type II. Wrong silicone,
Type II releases ammonia as it cures. While this is not as harmful to humans
it is not good for marine life. Once it is cured it is supposed to be ok though.
Needless to say i removed the silicone and went to the store to buy the
correct stuff.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0992.jpg?t=1265040827

Ahhh there we go now i have to correct silicone. I also picked up a new tool
the pro caulk set. Had no idea if it would work but for $10 i figured why not
try it out. the tools required are shown in the picture, also the type II is on
the overflow in the back left. Turned out to be a great tool, i put extra
silicone on and used my finger to apply it one direction then went back the
other direction. I did this to make sure it had a good seal. I the used the pro
caulk tool to clean up the lines. This is what a overflow with the correct
silicone on it looks like. Notice the very clear difference.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0991.jpg?t=1265043892

from there i prepped the back for paint.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0994.jpg?t=1265046589

[zccef]

this is a photo of the above plumbing as it stood with the other tank. The problem i ran in to was sound. i did not think it would be an issue because the water was dropping such a short distance in to the overflow. i did not take in to account a need for air. an example of what was happening was a full two liter pop bottle turned upside down. The pipe was sucking air in between water going down it resulting in a lot of noise. the way i remedied this was to add a ball valve and more pipe on the return line back in to the sump add some flow. this allowed me to dial in the top feed, and keep it just under the point where it was making a lot of noise.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0995.jpg?t=1265050248

Part of the tank 2.0 is to employ a similar tactic to the Durso standpipes but on the outside of the tank. this will allow the water to flow freely while still allowing air to enter. these are not yet finished i will be adding more pipe so they are above the watter level just in case. also will be adding caps with a bunch of holes in an attempt to keep things out dust bugs....

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0996.jpg?t=1265051096

As i am unsure of the reason the old tank leaked i wanted to take as many precautions as possible. The stand was level aside from one side being slightly raised. this only effected the water line and overflow. with the help of my father i leveled the stand. also he proposed that we check to make sure the board was flat. we did find out there was a little bow in a few places. for this we used more "shims" to support areas that were dropping down. I say "shims" because we figured out how much we needed to raise the tank and then cut and or sanded boards rather then using shims. my father suggested some sort of forgiving material be placed under the tank such as rubber. the thought behind this was where the tank makes contact with the stand are not all perfectly the same. due to this different parts of the base of the tank are in contact and others are not. we went to home depot and asked for rubber strips and of course they didnt have them. when we explained the idea and what we were trying to accomplish we received a crazy look and were directed to the hardware isle? am i the only on who receives crazy looks when i go out to buy parts for my projects? most of the things i do are custom and i am capable of explaining what i am trying to accomplish almost all of the people i interact with at these types of stores are not able to think outside of the box. example when i went to home depot i asked an associate about the new pro caulk tool's (discussed in above post) effectiveness i started talking about how i was going to caulking a fish tank and i received a crazy look. i immediately switched to caulking a tub and the guy wouldn't stop talking. He couldnt tell me that it would make nice straight lines on a fish tank but it will for a tub. sorry for the tangent. i ended up with this DIY/ custom curse from my father so i was in good company in searching for something to put under my tank. We decided upon a foam strip used to weather seal garage doors.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_1003.jpg?t=1265051125

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0999.jpg?t=1265052961

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_0998.jpg?t=1265054953

Next came filling the tank back up.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_1001.jpg?t=1265055010

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_1000.jpg?t=1265055975

this took a little bit of time because i had to wait for the dust to settle so to speak. here are some photos of the aquascapeing i had finished just two weeks ago. sorry not great photos i took them to document it quickly. did not figure i would have to redo it. glad i did though otherwise i would have no document of the 12-16 hours of work i put in to it.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7855.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7856.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7857.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7858.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7859.jpg

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_7860.jpg

[zccef]

now to the task of remaking my rock work. below are the tools i used.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_1004.jpg

this is the start of my aquascapeing

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_1005.jpg

this photo is what happens when you drop a razor blade that you were using to cut the zip ties in to the tank and loose it. i found after a very long time of searching i had to tear apart all of the progress i had made. once i pulled it apart i was still not able to find the blade. i then grabbed one of my koralia 4's and moved it around the bottom of the tank until it grabbed the blade with the magnet.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_1006.jpg

this is where i ended last night around 1 got a lot of the hard part done and i have a nice plan of attack for tonight. i am really hopping i can finish my aquascapeing tonight. one thought i was originally using the two part plummers epoxy and it does not work at all. i was able to accomplish a little with it but it was much more two steps forward one step back. in my opinion zip ties are the way to go, if you are smart about it they can be used and virtually unseen and add a lot of structural stability. i think my plan is to use some of the plummers epoxy to glue small rock pieces over the zip ties. this way the epoxy is not load bearing so it might work better?

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_1007.jpg

[ReeferRob]

Awesome awesome awesome, keep the updates and pictures coming!!!

[jimsflies]

Eric thanks for sharing! Posting your tank here on CR will add +10 Tank Strength, +8 to Beauty, and adds 30% more growth. :)

[zccef]

thanks guys, Jim talking to you at the swap was all of the reason i needed to check out Captive Reefs but +10 Tank Strength, +8 to Beauty, and adds 30% more growth that is the icing on the cake.

[jimsflies]

thanks guys, Jim talking to you at the swap was all of the reason i needed to check out Captive Reefs but +10 Tank Strength, +8 to Beauty, and adds 30% more growth that is the icing on the cake.

As if that's not enough, I believe being here on CR also helps with the ladies.

When I was up making annoucements at the swap I observed what appeared to be schoaling women around schminksbro, rabidgoose, reeferrob and tazzy as they were manning the CR table. The only explanation I caan figure is it was the power of CR manifesting itself in yet another way....

[zccef]

it just gets better

[zccef]

took A LOT longer to get the rock back to where i wanted it. have had it in
place for about three or four weeks. still have not made an attempt to cover
the zip ties but that will come with time. were does time go?? spent some time
placing frags two or three weeks, i am happy with how that went. i was
looking at some old pictures of my tank i never ended posting and my tank
was FULL! everything looks empty. i did however place everything in great
places to grow out.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2287.jpg?t=1267682330

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2293.jpg?t=1267682351

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2292.jpg?t=1267682375

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2298.jpg?t=1267682399

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2299.jpg?t=1267682424

[zccef]

this is what i ended up doing to take care of the overflow noise. it worked out
quite well, using the same method of the Durso stand offs.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2276.jpg?t=1267682641

this is my frag/ sump setup, not finished but working well.

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2303.jpg?t=1267682658

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2320.jpg?t=1267682718

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2334.jpg?t=1267682776

[ReeferRob]

Great looking scape man, got any more pics for us?

[schwim]

Saw this build in person today (Nice to meet you, and thanks for the great deal on the T5 Teks, Eric). This set-up is awesome, very professional-appearing work, man. What is the specific name on that GE silicone you used. I need to use some, also in black, and don't want to get the wrong one with the anti-mildew chemicals in it? Looks like the "I" version, is that correct?

Thanks, Chris.

[zccef]

thanks Rob i will get you more pictures as soon as i can.

Chris the silicone i used was GE type 1. i did not use the black for the over flow, i should have but it was a RUSH job. when i sealed my other tank i looked locally for the type 1 black and i was not able to find it i would say the Internets would be your best bet probably cheaper as well.

[PolskaReefer]

looks great eric but where are all the pictures :big_grin: you promised, coral pictures that is

[tazzy695]

looks awesome it was nice to read a detailed build/rebuild thread for once on everything they did

[zccef]

ha ha thanks Chris i will get you some more coral pictures, doesnt seem like i ever have any time to get it done. But i will make time at some point this week.

Thanks Tazzy, it was a pain for me to remember to take pictures through the process. As silly as it sounds that was the hardest part of the leak. I know how much i enjoy photos, detail and watching peoples process i figured i would offer the same to others opportunity.

[Sir Patrick]

Love the rescape!!! Tank is lookin great!

[iyachtuxivm]

First off great looking tank! Loving the arch. Once the zipties are covered in coralline you wont even know they are there. Really like the way you documented your progress.
Great story line I'd give you +5 to charisma for the tale telling (oops leting my D&D show)

When I go to lowes right by my house I get "hey whats up fish tank dude" so I understand. And yes they have a very hard time thinking outside the box which is frustrating at times to say the least. One guy has a fish tank but he is always going wow I never thought of that, So he isnt really any help.

Cant wait to see this mature!

[zccef]

thanks Sir Patrick

thanks iyachtuxivm, it took a long time to get it where i wanted but i am very happy with it.
The plan it to get some two part epoxy and stick rocks over the zip ties, very tricky and i dont
have to wait for coral/ coralline to cover. Instant gratification. Thanks for the +5 to charisma
with the additions from JimsFlys +10 strength, +8 beauty, 30% growth, and helping with the
ladies i am feeling pretty good about the situation.

[PolskaReefer]

yea really good for you maybe you will have a chance with the ladies, but eric you would be better not telling them about your crabs! :lmao: :lmao:

[zccef]

ha ha ha, im sure you guys have someting to take care of that. interceptor? ...more crabs?

[zccef]

Got a hold of some mesh from JimsFlies at the Lansing swap and finally had
time to assemble my screens. It didnt take a whole lot of time, i am tempted
to glue the screening spline in. In an effort to make it more permanent, any
one have any thoughts? I didnt think the whole project through completely,
return pipes and cords going in to the tank. I ended up cutting a square for
each return and jamming the screen in with the wires. not optimum but it
will work until i figure out another plan

materials and hack saw
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_2339.jpg?t=1268525562

both screens finished
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_2405.jpg?t=1268525593

left
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_2402.jpg?t=1268525619

right
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/IMG_2403.jpg?t=1268525642

[zccef]

here you go guys
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2357.jpg?t=1268522333

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2367.jpg?t=1268523824

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2375.jpg?t=1268523842

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2380.jpg?t=1268523865

[zccef]

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2371.jpg?t=1268524673

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2393.jpg?t=1268524723

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2383.jpg?t=1268524743

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2391.jpg?t=1268524778

[zccef]

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2384.jpg?t=1268524824

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2343.jpg?t=1268524853

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2349.jpg?t=1268524878

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2354.jpg?t=1268524905

[iyachtuxivm]

Wow nice pics! So what are you planning to put in the tank that you need those top? Hmmm?

[ReeferRob]

Could it be some........wrasse?!

Killer pics! Love the what I am seeing so far! What other favias do you have?

[Manoj's Reef]

I like those orange palys. Nice picture. Does it have a name?

[demonclownfish]

[QUOTE=zccef;65618
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2393.jpg?t=1268524723
QUOTE]

what is this i love it!?

[schminksbro]

Nice build, great pics, and a fantastic thread! I can't wait to see this one grown in! Thanks for sharing and keep us posted!:)

[Sir Patrick]

Great to see an update! and a sweet update it was!

[thefishgirl]

Beautiful tank! LOVE the aquascape. Thanks for sharing the story. Keep the pics coming!

[zccef]

Thanks everyone!

iyachtuxivm the tops are because i am thinking about maybe some more wrasses and maybe jawfish? i want to make sure everything is "nailed down" before i add jawfish.

rob as of right now i have the grapes of wrath favia which is one of the photos i posted, not 100% sure it is a favia though saw a couple of people calling it something else. Also christmas favia, and an unnamed one i got from cherry coral a long time ago.

manjo i picked them up as lunars.

demon that is the Oregon mummy eye, amazing piece can not wait until that grows out.

[demonclownfish]

demon that is the Oregon mummy eye, amazing piece can not wait until that grows out.

me either lol, so that i can get a peice :big_grin:

[iyachtuxivm]

Thanks everyone!

iyachtuxivm the tops are because i am thinking about maybe some more wrasses and maybe jawfish? i want to make sure everything is "nailed down" before i add jawfish.

rob as of right now i have the grapes of wrath favia which is one of the photos i posted, not 100% sure it is a favia though saw a couple of people calling it something else. Also christmas favia, and an unnamed one i got from cherry coral a long time ago.

manjo i picked them up as lunars.

demon that is the Oregon mummy eye, amazing piece can not wait until that grows out.

I loved my jawfish but my corals hated him Lol good luck!

[zccef]

A couple of new shots. i picked up a new camera body so as soon as i get a macro lens and
a couple of other thing i will be shooting a lot more.
dendro
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2517.jpg?t=1270519894

UC Watermelon
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2508.jpg?t=1270519934

and the Tropical Wizard
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2504.jpg?t=1270519972

http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reIMG_2501.jpg?t=1270520011

[zccef]

Ok so it has been a while since i have updated so i figured i would let you all know what i have been
up to. as you all know it is off season so i have not been spending much time on my tank. most of my
time has been spent at work; when not doing that i have been trying to get **** done around the
house. i wanted to put in some dedicated outlets for my tank and found the time to a couple of weeks
ago.

supplies
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reDSC_5084.jpg?t=1275873888

finished outlets on the left each is hooked to a 15 amp breaker both are GFI
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reDSC_5085.jpg?t=1275873980

this is another project i have been working on. will post more when finished.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reDSC_5128.jpg?t=1275874047

[ReeferRob]

this is another project i have been working on. will post more when finished.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/zccef/reDSC_5128.jpg?t=1275874047[/QUOTE]

Okay I gotta know whats up with the kegs?!!

[zccef]

ha ha sorry i now see how that could have been interpreted. the kegs are for brewing beer
not related to my fish system. aside from enjoying a home brew while enjoying my tank.

[Sir Patrick]

Very nice pics!!

[ReeferRob]

Pics are to hot on this tank, need more!

[PolskaReefer]

went over to erics house and saw first hand some really sweet corals!!!
great job on the tank eric and when your done with makin beer i might have to seing by again