Logzor's Rimless 150g Build

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,565
Reaction score
320
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hey Everyone - I am new to Reef2Reef but have been very active on various other forums over the past three years. So far I really like the Reef2Reef and enjoy the new environment, it is refreshing in some ways, compared to another popular forum. Apparently someone has already taken "Logzor" (which I use on just about every other site) so I had to use "-Logzor"...kind of disappointing.

I have been in the hobby for almost four years now. I began like many people, getting into the hobby because of a friend. That initial interest has turned into a full-blown addiction. This is my third tank upgrade. I'm going to go ahead and show the newest stuff (my new rimless reef!) and then provide some background on my previous systems and current holding tank.

The aquarium was built my Miracles in Canada, dimensions are 48x30x24, three sided starphire, drilled for glass-hole overflow. This is actually a replacement tank from Miracles, the first one was covered in hard-water spots from the factory, which were nearly impossible the remove, they worked with me to try and fix the spots but in the end, they sent a new tank. The new tank looks much better but I still notice some small spots, very disappointing but I don't think they will be visible. So I have another identical tank sitting across the room, not sure what to do with it...not sure if I can even get it out of my basement!

On to the tank build:

I designed the stand similar to the ELOS stands by utilizing full-frame door and panels without any trim work or extra ornamentation. I really like the clean / modern look and I think it will match the rimless tank really well. The main difference between this stand and the ELOS stands is that it will have an edge at the perimeter, I didn't want to risk hanging the tank over the front edge without support like they do.

tank_stand_1_by_logzor-d3bnvj0.jpg


tank_stand_6_by_logzor-d3bnvt2.jpg


Here is the finished stand with the aquarium:

The high-gloss paint turned out awesome, I just used rustoleum oil based high-gloss. In total, three coats of primer, three coats of oil paint.

tank_stand_complete_2_by_logzor-d3c0l5i.jpg


Side View, on the far side there will be a Vortech MP60, I can't wait to hook it up!

tank_stand_complete_3_by_logzor-d3c0l7k.jpg


I built a small electrical panel inside the stand, it is designed to be removed if I need to add more things or move stuff around. You can see the vortech battery backup in there, as well as a DJ powerstrip, which I painted white (it was rusting out a bit).

tank_stand_complete_1_by_logzor-d3c0l2v.jpg


Plumbing dry fitted, waiting for glue! Got the return plumbed last night, going to work on the drains this evening. I have designed the drains so that I can remove the union to change filter socks (if I end up using them). The black acrylic piece is designed to be removed if I decide I don't like having it. I really like to have a flexible system. I plan to have this reef up for at least 4-5 years so I want to take care to make sure everything is the way I want it!

aquarium_plumbing_1_by_logzor-d3cdg43.jpg


I am using the glass-holes overflow and return, they are pretty awesome!

aquarium_plumbing_3_by_logzor-d3cdg8x.jpg


You're probably wondering where my top-off and two-part systems will be located, as there isn't much room inside the stand. I will be running 1/4" tubing behind the tank, through the ledge in the celling of the basement, and into a small closet, which will fit my litermeter, two 5 gallon buckets for two-part, and the top-off reservoir, which will be connected to my litermeter top-off unit. The peristaltic pumps used in this system will allow me to move the two-part and top-off easily from the closet to the aquarium.

The new system will be geared mostly towards sps....pics to come of my old system and some corals.
 
OP
OP
-Logzor

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,565
Reaction score
320
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Lol - Just noticed the cat was in that last picture sitting on the railing, didn't realize I was being watched...

Right now all of my livestock is in this stock tank. I threw this system together very quickly (it looks a lot less crappy in person), I didn't have a lot of time when I moved from the apartment into the house last year:

temp_setup_by_logzor-d362846.jpg


Here are a few of the corals that will be going into the new system:

Icefire
icefire_echinata_2010_by_logzor-d3646pl.jpg

Rommels Watermellon
rommels_watermelon_acro_2010_by_logzor-d3646mj.jpg

No Name?
rainbow_acro_2010_by_logzor-d3646jy.jpg

Teal Stag
teal_stag_2010_by_logzor-d3646ik.jpg

Bird of Paradise
bop_2010_by_logzor-d3646gr.jpg

Cali Tort
blue_tort_2010_by_logzor-d3646ev.jpg
 

fsu1dolfan

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
May 9, 2008
Messages
2,642
Reaction score
53
Location
South Florida
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Welcome to Reef2Reef...Looks like you have a sweet new build going there. Love the look of the tank and stand!! Corals look great and that "No-Name" is beautiful!! What kind of lighting for the new tank?
 
OP
OP
-Logzor

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,565
Reaction score
320
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Welcome to Reef2Reef...Looks like you have a sweet new build going there. Love the look of the tank and stand!! Corals look great and that "No-Name" is beautiful!! What kind of lighting for the new tank?

Thank you! I can't wait to get everything up and running. The no-name is a piece I have had in my system for three years now, it get this mottled tricolor pattern to it. For now, I will be lighting the tank with my current fixture (above the stock tank) which is a 7 bulb aquaactinics constellation. I am really tempted to get LEDs but I need to save for a couple years!
 

fsu1dolfan

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
May 9, 2008
Messages
2,642
Reaction score
53
Location
South Florida
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thank you! I can't wait to get everything up and running. The no-name is a piece I have had in my system for three years now, it get this mottled tricolor pattern to it. For now, I will be lighting the tank with my current fixture (above the stock tank) which is a 7 bulb aquaactinics constellation. I am really tempted to get LEDs but I need to save for a couple years!

lol years...Sell some of frags of your No-Name piece and you will have LEDs in a few months!!
 

revhtree

Owner Administrator
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
47,603
Reaction score
85,991
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Awesome build bro and welcome to R2R!! Can't wait to see more. Sick tank!
 

Wy Renegade

Zs and Ps/PE collector
View Badges
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
3,785
Reaction score
156
Location
Wyoming
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Welcome to R2R, glad you are enjoying the site. Sounds like you have a very nice build underway, unfortunately I can't see your pictures right now (blocked by work filter I assume), so I'll have to check out the pictures later at home.
 
OP
OP
-Logzor

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,565
Reaction score
320
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks for the warm welcome, glad you like the build so far!

I have sand and rock ready to go for the new tank. In an attempt to get a "fresh start" on my new tank, I cycled rock separately from my main system, I had an undesirable algae, dicytota, that I could not seem to get rid of. Not sure exactly what I did right, but it has since died off, I had been concerned about letting it into my new system, it is very invasive and tends to grow on the base of acropora.

I have all of the rock packed in a 30L, I am using an AI LED module as lighting, this will later be converted to my frag tank or QT light fixture. I really wanted to try out LEDs, so far I think they are amazing. Going with a full array on the new tank would be way too expensive, for now I get to play around with a single module. This began with 99.5% dry rock, along with a tiny piece of coraline encrusted rock. The coraline algae has really exploded under the LED lighting. Unfortunately some bubble algae made it in, probably from moving water into this tank from my main display, I don't think this is a very big deal, as bubble algae has never caused me trouble like the dictyota had.

rock_cycling_1_by_logzor-d3bnvvj.jpg


For what it's worth, here is my old 90g tank and a couple macro shots from that system:

November_2009_FTS_by_Logzor.jpg


Forest Fire Digi
Forest_Fire_Digi___full_colony_by_Logzor.jpg

Appleberry Montipora and my Unnamed Encrusting/Plating Purple Cap (VERY slow grower but absolutely stunning)
Appleberry_Monti_Combo_by_Logzor.jpg


Could post a handful more but I don't want to overwhelm you :)
 

SaraB

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
2,985
Reaction score
42
Location
Lemont, IL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Love the tank and stand! You've planned a nice clean system with your plumbing and stand configuration! Can't wait to see it filled with that beautiful "no name" coral and the rest!
 

Tabasco1

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 15, 2009
Messages
2,123
Reaction score
64
Location
Rocky Mountain High
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Love your build thread, the new tank looks amazing! Coral looks beautiful, I especially love the teal stag. Your previous tank was amazing as well!
 
OP
OP
-Logzor

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,565
Reaction score
320
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks for the kind words, it has been so frustrating not be able to observe my corals and other inhabitants from a side view. Having only the top view makes it very difficult to observe the corals well enough to give them the optimal flow and position. Having said that, I'm pretty happy with how everything is doing. Everything has been in the stock tank for almost 8 months now! After being held up by 2 months, waiting for a new tank to be built, I am getting very excited. On the other hand I still feel like there is no end in sight, since than has been the truth for awhile now, but I'm getting close forrealz now.

Regarding the issue with my first tank, the problems were blatant in my opinion. The glass was covered in hard water marks, but you wouldn't notice them in room lighting. They were obvious in natural light, but I never imagined they would be so difficult to remove, Miracles told me to use 0000 steel wool, when that failed they sent me two cleaning products, which fogged the glass (but removed the hard water marks perfectly). When I couldn't get rid of the fogging they agreed to send me a new tank, which was great. I wish I could sell the old tank but I'll probably never get it out of my basement, it's crazy heavy and the path out is tricky! In the end I'm out some cash because of moving costs, borrowing suction cups, and feeding the 5 people that helped me move the tank...twice. Their explanation was that they water softening machine broke.

As for the new tank, first impression, it looks perfect, no visible imperfections in natural light, unlike before. Once I got it setup in the basement I did a quick cleaning then inspected the glass with my high-power maglight flashlight (this thing can outshine my LEDs and T5s at full power). I noticed a few tiny hard water spots on the glass, as well as signs of that glass having been polished to remove the hard water marks (tiny swirls, ultra ultra tiny micro-scratches, and steel wool pieces). At that point I promised myself never to use the flashlight on the glass, as I was beginning to obsess over every tiny mark. In the end, when the tank is full of water and up and running, I am hoping it will all look perfect, we'll see.

Is it normal for people to inspect a tank this closely? If I were to ask someone to inspect the tank without a high-power flashlight it would be absolutely impossible to find any marks, so who knows...I figure that with aquarium lighting, it's aiming down into the aquarium, not being shined through the side like I'm doing with the flashlight.
 

thewackyreefer

(formerly luvmyacans)
View Badges
Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Messages
2,873
Reaction score
348
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Honestly, I wish I would have inspected my tank that closely. I have some bubbles in the silicone I didn't notice until it was all filled up. Unfortunately the manufacturer (Lee-Mar) would not step up and rectify the issue so the retailer gave me a partial refund and took the loss himself. Good lesson to learn though!
 
OP
OP
-Logzor

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,565
Reaction score
320
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I guess I should have inspected it even closer. The other seam looks pretty much flawless but this is freggin bootleg:

silicone_seam_by_logzor-d3cg4pw.jpg
 
OP
OP
-Logzor

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,565
Reaction score
320
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Here is the other one, which more or less looks fine:

silicone_seam_2_by_logzor-d3cg5jx.jpg


What do you folks think of the issue with the seam?
 

thewackyreefer

(formerly luvmyacans)
View Badges
Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Messages
2,873
Reaction score
348
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Those are the exact issues I have and I was told it won't affect the integrity of the tank...whether I believe that or not is another story but the manufacturer stood firm on it being okay.
 
OP
OP
-Logzor

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,565
Reaction score
320
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Those are the exact issues I have and I was told it won't affect the integrity of the tank...whether I believe that or not is another story but the manufacturer stood firm on it being okay.

Well that's good to know...because the tank isn't going anywhere. I already have an identical tank trapped down here, if I have to get another new one I might as well forget the whole basement entertainment room thing and start a LFS. I'll be contacting the manufacture to let them know this happened. How visible is this kind of defect when the tank is up and running?
 

cichlidtx

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
129
Reaction score
34
Location
Spring, TX
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Great build you have going. Those tank measurements are perfect. Plumbing in clean. Looks like you planned the tank well. Great looking corals as well. Keep updating.
 

SaraB

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
2,985
Reaction score
42
Location
Lemont, IL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Well that's good to know...because the tank isn't going anywhere. I already have an identical tank trapped down here, if I have to get another new one I might as well forget the whole basement entertainment room thing and start a LFS. I'll be contacting the manufacture to let them know this happened. How visible is this kind of defect when the tank is up and running?

My Miracles tank looked like that and my AGE has the same thing ... you are going to look at the fish and coral when the tank is running and so is everyone else, so don't sweat it ;)
 
Back
Top