100 Gallon Renovation

[silentscream]

I got the Ghost Overflow in the mail on Friday, but just didn't have time to update until today. I will say that I am happy with the product, but as someone with a small amount of acrylic work behind them, I'm not in love with it. There are a few errors in the measuring process that makes for some funky fitment of the magnetic lid/teeth, though I am probably being anal. If I was building this, I would not have been happy with selling the piece until those fitment issues were corrected. In the end, it looks cool and I'm sure it works wonderfully, and I would never be able to machine in some of the cool finishing touches.







Next on the list is to buy some diamond hole saw bits to install the overflow and return lines. Once that is out of the way, the stand will be the only thing holding me up.

[Tweakes182]

After looking at all of the acrylic work you did I think you have every right to be nit picky you did a great job on your sump and refugium. Contact Vanessa Lowe @ sales@synergyreef.com I am sure they would like to hear your thought about the overflow. They were very helpful in donating to the MARS raffle. I personally would like to hear a review on how well it works this is what I am planning on using when ever I buy a glass tank.

[silentscream]

Thanks for the kind words and passing along their contact info. I think when a company builds acrylic projects in an assembly line manor, these things can happen. I saw a post in the Ghost Overflow thread in the advanced topics subforum where their laser machine was cutting out several dozen overflows at once.

It still looks cool and I'm excited to get it mounted to the tank.

[Saltwaternooby]

It does look cool, not sure it's worth the extra for the laser engraving for me. It looks like to me the bulk heads are upside down, gaskets on the bottom and not inside the box?

[silentscream]

The overflow shipped with the bulkheads installed upside down so it would fit in a smaller box. I just need to flip them around.

[Saltwaternooby]

Ok just checking

[silentscream]

I unintentionally took a bit of a break from working on the tank for the last couple weeks. I sent my stand back up to my father's shop to get repaired and have just been doing lots of springtime housework. I recently got the stand back and now I need to get back into high gear if this thing is going to see water before the end of the month.

First up, the part I've dreading but actually turned out easy


Ta-da!


...and back inside the house. Returns added to each side of the overflow.


I'm very excited for the new design, it opened up a huge amount of space otherwise blocked by the original overflow. Today I'm going to southgate glass to get an 8x5" glass tile cut to patch up the holes on the bottom. I've got to clean the tank up nicely before moving on as well. Coming soon, stand pictures!

[Saltwaternooby]

Good stuff, drilling a tank is ALWAYS nerve racking

[silentscream]

Here's a little bit of what's been happening lately.

Want to see what $50 worth of glass looks like? Well, there you go. 8x5.75x0.5"


Here it is with black silicone to match


Here it is with the holes filled in with silicone from the bottom. I also applied the black vinyl background, which after re-installing the ghost overflow, it now really lives up to its name.


My friend came over this evening and helped me get the tank back on top of the stand, I'll have some more pictures to post in the next few days as I finish painting the bottom platform for the sump and refugium.

[silentscream]

Here's the latest developments in the Reef Renovation:



Cut a piece of PVC and siliconed it to the bottom. I wasn't originally going to use black silicon, but it was all I had on hand from patching up the original overflow holes and I wasn't going to buy a tube of clear just so I could use a small amount and potentially cover it with sand down the road. I kind of like the contrasting black silicon now.



Lastly, I've been working over the last couple days forming the aquascape using Epo-putty. This picture is early on in the process.



Finally, my ode to Peter's (nineball) 1350 gal reef from Canada. He's a big inspiration and was my favorite build in the forums. My wife pointed out that one of the rocks looked like a dinosaur skull, so I couldn't resist forming some teeth for it.

[tfp]

very nice overflow and build!!

[silentscream]

Originally Posted by tfp

very nice overflow and build!!

Thank you! Can't wait to get this thing wet.

[silentscream]

Built a heater bracket today. I originally thought I'd weld it to the actual side of the sump, and I may still do that down the road, but for now I like the idea of having this movable holder.



I've been busy on the tank lately, including cycling the rock and getting the refugium up and running with a Tampa Bay Saltwater package. Pictures to come soon!

[Wills612]

Great idea. I like the attention to detail.

[Coral2Coral]

Very detailed and informative! Learn a lot fallowing your project.

[silentscream]

Originally Posted by Wills612

Great idea. I like the attention to detail.

Originally Posted by Buyer94112

Very detailed and informative! Learn a lot fallowing your project.

Thanks for following along!

[Saltwaternooby]

Good stuff Justin.

[mnc]

Awesome love the overflow Justin

[pigtaru]

Genius on that heater bracket. I'm stealing that one.

[silentscream]

Haha, I think you may have a loose definition of genius, but none the less, thanks! The suction cup holders never last long for me, so this should help organize things a bit.

[silentscream]

Time to play catch up a bit here. Probably about 3 weeks ago now I ordered the "package" from Tampa Bay Saltwater to put into the refugium.

Here we go, part one of the package. Fresh from the airport.



Wait, I can't see anything!



That's better!



Then after a week of making sure everything was stable, we get the second part shipped in. There was no cycle for either shipment, this stuff is so fresh. The life on the rocks and everything Richard includes in the package is amazing.



I flip flop back and forth about my regret as to not purchasing the package for the entire system and just being done with it, but at least by doing it the way I did and using dry rock for the display, I could heavily customize the aquascape. The rocks that are included in the package are cool and interesting shapes, but a bit difficult to aquascape outside of the stereotypical rock pile look.

So right now I have the new aquascape trying to cycle in the display tank before I pipe the entire system together as one. Once the ammonia is reading zero in the display, I will buy live sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater and connect the refugium below. This rock has been cycling for 3 weeks now, and no dip in ammonia. I cannot wait for this to be done, so I can get this temporary tank off the floor and get my fish back in their home.

Boy, it is so difficult getting good color through iphone pictures, my apologies.

[Jet Black]

Originally Posted by silentscream

Boy, it is so difficult getting good color through iphone pictures, my apologies.

With AI I find the pictures look like the real thing if you take the two of the blue channels down to 0%.

Everything looks really nice! Good luck on the move back.

[silentscream]

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that out and post back the difference

[Borchers]

Amazing work sir. I love the Sponges and life.

[Pico1]

I like the rockwork on the new tank!