Ziggy953's 150 Build errrr....120 Build

[Ziggy953]

Ziggy,
Its taken about 3 days for me to read this thread. Talk about a wealth of knowledge in one thread, unfortunately there's always mistakes and mishaps that go along with knowledge. Im new to this hobby and loving it and you have taught me a lot. Thanks for taking the time to post all of this, im sure it was hard at times. I havent seen to many pics of your old bowfront but the 120 looks great. Im looking foward to see what you do with your canopy. I have a 110 gallon that im going to build for and will probably follow your footsteps. Thanks again.

My pleasure! I'm glad that you were able to learn some things from my thread. I wish I had documented more of the process but alas I did not. There are a lot of changes coming to my system that I will be sure to document more thoroughly.

Here is a link to the 72g Bow thread. I started the thread well into the process as you can see from the first post. I took tons more pictures that are saved on my computer of the growth of that tank I just didn't do much in the way of a thread for it.

Thanks again for taking the time to read through the thread!

 

[Ziggy953]

Well since everyone has said how nice the max-jet mod was I thought I would give one a try. I went with a MJ 900 with the sure flow 1600 mod kit. Whether or not it is moving 1600gph I don't know but I can say it is moving more water then my Tunze Nano Stream 6025 (660gph).

One of the biggest issues I've had on this new tank is flow. I can't seem to get enough random flow. One of my tunze's has been sent back for repairs/replacement. I have to say that their customer service is awesome! With the addition of this MJ Mod my duncan, GSP and RBTA are dancing about a lot more. I'm considering getting another for the opposite side of the tank and then putting my 2 nano streams a little higher pointing down towards the center of the tank. I'll make a decision in a few days. I picked up 2 MJ 900s from a local reefer for $5 each so I have a couple I can toy with.

I'm getting heavy in the design stage of the new canopy so that information will be coming soon.

My wife is really getting excited about starting up the nano cube and that is coming. I'll start a new thread for that tank and document it step by step with lots of pics.

That's all for now....

 

[Ziggy953]

Oh yeah. I did make one adjustment to the system. I have reduced the time my MHs are on by two hours. I was running them for 10 hours per day and now they will only be on for 8. I did this for a few reasons not the least of which was a high power bill last month. Im also reducing the photo period to prepare the corals for an even shorter photo period when I upgrade to the 250w MHs. I will run those for only a few hours per day for awhile to allow the reef to adjust to the increase in light. After the tank is acclimated to the new lights I will still only run them for 8 hours. The VHOs and T5s are still set to run for 11 hours.

 

[ryshark]

I switched from VHO to 250-watt Metal Halides with Lumenarc reflectors overnight, when I went from a 75-gallon to a 180-gallon. That is a big extreme difference. Not to shock the coral I started out at only 2-hours a day and gradually increased it. I am only at about 6 hours a day now and I haven't increased it in awhile, but my corals seem to be doing just fine. I think you are making a good move lowering it down to 8-hours. I may slowly bump mine up to 8-hour, after I get a fan to put down below with my sump.
If I recall correctly, the current totm on reefcentral uses shorter than "normal" full light strength periods too.

 

[Ziggy953]

I believe 6-8 hours is enough for good growth and tank health. My T5s and VHOs are on for 11 hours a day. I'm trying to cut back on the power use in my house. Since I'm going up to dual 250w ballasts and bulbs I need to do something.

 

[GhostKnife]

Hey Ziggy the aquarium background you had on your 72 is the same one I have on my 75 I am getting ready to build... We are like twins... HAHA jk

 

[Ziggy953]

I thought it was a nice background. I decided to go painted back on the new setup though.

 

[Ziggy953]

Ok...Tank update time

I haven't done much in the way of adding anything to my system. When I went a couple of weeks ago to get my new ballasts I picked up a frag of Green Eflo at the same time. It's a very nice tabling coral.

I've finally figured out and planned how I'm going to redo my lighting with the dual 250w MHs and keep all my other lighting (VHO and T5s). That project is slated to begin Saturday after I get my parents on a plane back to Nashville.

The major change to my system is the frag tank. I spent most of the day and night this past Saturday redoing the rack and cleaning up the tank. I had a very angry pair of clowns in the tank and was bitten at least a dozen times. I had used the excuse "well they have eggs on the tile so I'll wait to mess with the tank" long enough. I took out all the old stair-step racking and replaced it with 2 shelves. The left side is lower in the tank for my LPS and misc. corals, the right side is about 6" below the surface and is for my SPS corals. I have not fragged anything as yet getting the tank cleaned up and the racking in place was time consuming enough.

Here are a couple of poor shots of the frag tank:

Sunday I had a very near disaster with the very frag tank I had spent all day the previous day making look pretty. I was sitting at my computer and kept hearing a popping/cracking sound. With the history of my system any time I hear those kinds of sounds I check everything. Well I looked over the 120 from top to bottom and every where else I could see and I still heard the sounds. I walked over to the frag tank and almost had a heart attack. The plastic center brace was breaking before my eyes. I FREAKED out. I grabbed my measuring tape and checked how far the glass was bowed out, 1/4-3/8" in the center as compared to the ends. Quick as a flash this is what I came up with to solve the problem until a more permanent solution can be put in place:

This bit of engeneering genious closed the bow/gap to about 1/8". I've got to come up with a better option but for now it is doing the job very nicely. Oh and yes the PVC is glued together.

That's about all for now....

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

Looking amazing as ususal! Nice fix for the close call!

 

[Ziggy953]

It is working well. I'm tempted to superglue the pvc to the plastic trim and leave it. It's not in the way as it sits right on top of the trim. I don't know for sure what I will do.

 

[blrrobinson21]

What kind of tank is that. It looks similar to the one I have.

 

[Ziggy953]

The 55 frag tank?

I'm not sure what brand it is. I got it from a friend of mine to help clear out some space in his shed. It is a standard 55g tank my guess is it is an AGA but I don't know that for sure.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

That looks like a 55, is that right? I had the center span break on mine while I was gone in the Bahamas for a week, the gap was closer to 1/2" if I remember right. From everything I've read, the glass is actually strong enough so that it wouldn't break if the center support gives way, so I wouldn't panic at this point. Nice fix though. I'd get a bar clamp instead though, so that you can squeeze it back together, then take a couple pieces of plastic and size them to fit on either side of the support bar, then glue them in place and let sit for a good long time before taking the clamp off.

 

[Ziggy953]

That looks like a 55, is that right? I had the center span break on mine while I was gone in the Bahamas for a week, the gap was closer to 1/2" if I remember right. From everything I've read, the glass is actually strong enough so that it wouldn't break if the center support gives way, so I wouldn't panic at this point. Nice fix though. I'd get a bar clamp instead though, so that you can squeeze it back together, then take a couple pieces of plastic and size them to fit on either side of the support bar, then glue them in place and let sit for a good long time before taking the clamp off.

Good suggestion. Yes it is a 55g tank. I just don't know who made it, my guess is AGA.

When I cut the PVC I made is shorter then the span so I could pull the center back together. I closed the gap to a little less then 1/8" when compared to the ends of the tank.

 

[GhostKnife]

I did not know that they were "load bearing" if you will. I cant see how that would make the tank either shatter or anything like that. It was flexing the glass part tho ziggy... I would have crapped my pants. Do you know what caused it to weaken and break?

 

[Ziggy953]

The center brace of any tank that has one is important. Tanks without a center brace usually have euro-style bracing around the edges. You never want to remove the center brace of a tank it is there for a very good reason.

I think it is because of the age of the tank and the fact that I've been baking it under MH lighting for some time. I didn't get the tank new so I don't know the history of it. I expect it was stressed before I got it.

My solutions is working, I'll do something more permanent after my parents visit this weekend.

 

[goisles1]

Same thing happened to my AGA 45Gal. I ended up replacing the entire top collar. My LFS ordered me one and It cost me $15 plus a tube a silicone.

Bad thing was I had to empty the tank to do it and the Old Collar was a b$#% to remove.

 

[Ziggy953]

Yeah I don't think I'm going to go through all that. I'll come up with something permanent that will work. I'm not draining the tank that is for sure! I have way too many corals in there plus I have 5 fish in the tank as well. Right now the PVC is working beautifully so I'm going to leave it alone.

 

[BeachBum2012]

Wow. That's the first thing that comes to mind.

I've kept a few freshwater tanks in the past and now have a few empty tanks that are just sitting in the garage. I'd been thinking of setting one up again for a while now. I took the girlfriend to a few local fish stores to look at fish for her new tanks and she fell in love with the reef tanks. I've always wanted to set one up but didn't know much about them vs a freshwater setup. I've spent the last two months doing research on the net and learning a lot.

I have to say that you have inspired me to go through with it. Your tank is beautiful and I think I've learned more good information in this thread than a lot of what I've learned in the last two months. Thank you for going through the trouble to document everything in such detail.

Brian

 

[Ziggy953]

Brian,

Welcome to AA!!!

Thanks for taking the time to read through all of this. I'm glad that some of my experiences have helped you out. Starting off slowly and researching everything before making a decision will save you lots of time, money and headaches!