Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
Thought I'd go ahead and start this thread. This will be a slow moving thread in the beginning, since I don't have the bulkheads
and a few pieces of lumber that I need. It's in the planning stages right now. Hopefully this will pick up speed and finish out
nicely.
As many of you know, I currently have a 10g frag tank.
It works good, but I never did set it up right and it's more of a nano with frags than a true frag tank. I think Biff coined the phrase
"Fragano" :mrgreen: The tank has about 10-12lbs of live rock and a sand bed. I've just purchased magnetic frag racks from
here: Blackrock Reef
As you can see from the picture above, it's possible to fit 4 of these racks in the tank and load them up with about 80 frag plugs.
I've been using frag plugs from Currently Undergoing Maintenance and really like the products. But the tank gets pretty crowded
and hard to maintain because upper racks have to be moved in order to access frags on the lower racks. It works, but it's
crowded.
I've been running the tank without any fish for a few months, but recently rescued a 3-stripe damsel from a local fish keeper. The
fish had matured and become aggressive in his 55g tank. Typical damsel. The guy was going to flush the fish if nobody came
over to get it within a few days. I had been wanting a fish and didn't really care what kind of fish it was, so off I went, to rescue this
poor juvenile delinquent. The fish is like a crazed squirrel in this little 10g tank. It displays neurotic behavior that I can only
attribute to the shock of being moved to a VERY bright 10g tank. Consider this little fish came from a dimly lit 55g tank and it
makes it easier to understand why it's acting pretty freaked out with it's new surroundings.
Sooooo, not only did I rescue this fish from a trip down the American Standard whirlpool of freshwater death ........ I'm taking my
perfectly functional 10g frag tank apart and transferring all the contents to a 29g tank ........ just for the benefit of the fish. Just so it
can "stretch it's legs" if you will.
I know. I'm a total softy. :sfish:
Here's the plan:
I have a dry 29g tank. It measures 30L x 12W x 19H This will be the frag tank.
I also have a 5.5g tank that measures 16L x 8W x 10H This will be the sump.
I'm going to build a wood stand that measures approx 48L x 24W. I'll set the 2 tanks on top of the stand with the 5.5g on the left
side of the frag tank. The 5.5g tank is going to sit on a wood shelf or step that will put the top of the 2 tanks even with each other.
There is going to be a 1.5" overflow line drilled in the back of the 29g tank and piped over to the back of the 5.5g tank. This is a simple
matter of drilling (2) 2 3/8" holes and installing the 1 1/2" bulkheads. Then run a couple pieces of pipe and valves to connect the 2
tanks. I'll construct an overflow box from lexan polycarbonate
(thanks to Pat @ Stonehouse Signs in Arvada, CO. for the free lexan. :Cheers:).
The overflow box will be located inside the 29g tank - in front of the bulkhead. As with any other tank, the teeth in the overflow box
control the height of the water in the tank.
I'll be using a HOB refugium for filtration. It's the small refugium available from here:
http://shop.aquatraders.com/Hang-On-Refugium-with-Protein-Skimmer-14in-p/43016.htm
I am already using this refugium on the 10g tank. It will simply be swapped over to the new frag system. I'm not going to drain
it or replace the sand. I'm just going to unplug it, pull it off the back of the existing 10g frag tank, run across the room and slap it on
the back of my new frag system. My rationalization here is that this is a functioning refugium with an established DSB, live rock
rubble and cheato. It's loaded with pods of all manner. No sense in starting fresh if I have a good refugium sitting here.
Here are some crude drawings that I created in Microsoft Paint.
This is the top view:
And the same top view with measurements:
This is a side view looking from the front:
The HOB refugium is going to hang on both tanks. The MJ1200 powerhead will be located in the 5.5g sump. The outlet for the refugium
will dump into the 29g tank. The 29g tank will fill and dump into the overflow and bulkhead. Then water will run via a 1 1/2" PVC pipe
back over to the 5.5g tank.
Why am I doing it like this?
Because I need to utilize the equipment I have on hand. There is not much money in the budget and this tank needs to be put together
as cheap as humanly possible. My budget is NOT TO EXCEED $50.
By placing the MJ1200 powerhead (powers the refugium) in the 5.5g tank, this becomes the sump. The water level in the 29g tank will
always remain constant because the tank must fill up to the top of the overflow box before it can escape though the bulkhead.
Water level in the refugium will remain constant. The design of a HOB refugium makes it fill with the powerhead up and above the
level of water in the tank. It overflows a final baffle on the right side and then goes back into the tank. The only place the water level
will fluctuate is in the 5.5g sump. Since this is where the powerhead pulls water from, and everything else is baffled - the only place
the water levels will fluctuate is in the 5.5g tank. I am doing it this way, so that I don't have to worry about changing water levels in
the tank. Simply perform daily top offs into the 5.5g sump.
Hope that makes sense.
I plan to utilize the 78w PC light that I currently have on the 10g frag. I just need to install a cross brace about 20" from the end of
the 29g tank. The 29g tank doesn't have a factory support in the center, and my light legs run horizontally, so I need a
cross support 20" from the right side of the tank.
With the refugium on the left side, and the overflow in the dead center of the back, I have quite a bit of room to place my magnetic frag
racks on 3 sides of the tank. I will be able to put racks on the back, right side and front. In the future, I should be able to load up the
entire right side of this tank with frag racks.
I'll purchase a T5 light down the road. For now, the frag racks will simply be placed closer to the top of the tank. The 78w PC light is
more than enough to grow frags that are placed within 4 - 6 inches of the surface.
And the biggest benefit of all - the little damsel gets a whole 29g tank to swim around in. Thats the whole idea behind this
adventure. Settle in for a ride my friends. This is gonna be fun. None of it is going to be pretty. But it's gonna be fun!!
and a few pieces of lumber that I need. It's in the planning stages right now. Hopefully this will pick up speed and finish out
nicely.
As many of you know, I currently have a 10g frag tank.
It works good, but I never did set it up right and it's more of a nano with frags than a true frag tank. I think Biff coined the phrase
"Fragano" :mrgreen: The tank has about 10-12lbs of live rock and a sand bed. I've just purchased magnetic frag racks from
here: Blackrock Reef
As you can see from the picture above, it's possible to fit 4 of these racks in the tank and load them up with about 80 frag plugs.
I've been using frag plugs from Currently Undergoing Maintenance and really like the products. But the tank gets pretty crowded
and hard to maintain because upper racks have to be moved in order to access frags on the lower racks. It works, but it's
crowded.
I've been running the tank without any fish for a few months, but recently rescued a 3-stripe damsel from a local fish keeper. The
fish had matured and become aggressive in his 55g tank. Typical damsel. The guy was going to flush the fish if nobody came
over to get it within a few days. I had been wanting a fish and didn't really care what kind of fish it was, so off I went, to rescue this
poor juvenile delinquent. The fish is like a crazed squirrel in this little 10g tank. It displays neurotic behavior that I can only
attribute to the shock of being moved to a VERY bright 10g tank. Consider this little fish came from a dimly lit 55g tank and it
makes it easier to understand why it's acting pretty freaked out with it's new surroundings.
Sooooo, not only did I rescue this fish from a trip down the American Standard whirlpool of freshwater death ........ I'm taking my
perfectly functional 10g frag tank apart and transferring all the contents to a 29g tank ........ just for the benefit of the fish. Just so it
can "stretch it's legs" if you will.
I know. I'm a total softy. :sfish:
Here's the plan:
I have a dry 29g tank. It measures 30L x 12W x 19H This will be the frag tank.
I also have a 5.5g tank that measures 16L x 8W x 10H This will be the sump.
I'm going to build a wood stand that measures approx 48L x 24W. I'll set the 2 tanks on top of the stand with the 5.5g on the left
side of the frag tank. The 5.5g tank is going to sit on a wood shelf or step that will put the top of the 2 tanks even with each other.
There is going to be a 1.5" overflow line drilled in the back of the 29g tank and piped over to the back of the 5.5g tank. This is a simple
matter of drilling (2) 2 3/8" holes and installing the 1 1/2" bulkheads. Then run a couple pieces of pipe and valves to connect the 2
tanks. I'll construct an overflow box from lexan polycarbonate
(thanks to Pat @ Stonehouse Signs in Arvada, CO. for the free lexan. :Cheers:).
The overflow box will be located inside the 29g tank - in front of the bulkhead. As with any other tank, the teeth in the overflow box
control the height of the water in the tank.
I'll be using a HOB refugium for filtration. It's the small refugium available from here:
http://shop.aquatraders.com/Hang-On-Refugium-with-Protein-Skimmer-14in-p/43016.htm
I am already using this refugium on the 10g tank. It will simply be swapped over to the new frag system. I'm not going to drain
it or replace the sand. I'm just going to unplug it, pull it off the back of the existing 10g frag tank, run across the room and slap it on
the back of my new frag system. My rationalization here is that this is a functioning refugium with an established DSB, live rock
rubble and cheato. It's loaded with pods of all manner. No sense in starting fresh if I have a good refugium sitting here.
Here are some crude drawings that I created in Microsoft Paint.
This is the top view:
And the same top view with measurements:
This is a side view looking from the front:
The HOB refugium is going to hang on both tanks. The MJ1200 powerhead will be located in the 5.5g sump. The outlet for the refugium
will dump into the 29g tank. The 29g tank will fill and dump into the overflow and bulkhead. Then water will run via a 1 1/2" PVC pipe
back over to the 5.5g tank.
Why am I doing it like this?
Because I need to utilize the equipment I have on hand. There is not much money in the budget and this tank needs to be put together
as cheap as humanly possible. My budget is NOT TO EXCEED $50.
By placing the MJ1200 powerhead (powers the refugium) in the 5.5g tank, this becomes the sump. The water level in the 29g tank will
always remain constant because the tank must fill up to the top of the overflow box before it can escape though the bulkhead.
Water level in the refugium will remain constant. The design of a HOB refugium makes it fill with the powerhead up and above the
level of water in the tank. It overflows a final baffle on the right side and then goes back into the tank. The only place the water level
will fluctuate is in the 5.5g sump. Since this is where the powerhead pulls water from, and everything else is baffled - the only place
the water levels will fluctuate is in the 5.5g tank. I am doing it this way, so that I don't have to worry about changing water levels in
the tank. Simply perform daily top offs into the 5.5g sump.
Hope that makes sense.
I plan to utilize the 78w PC light that I currently have on the 10g frag. I just need to install a cross brace about 20" from the end of
the 29g tank. The 29g tank doesn't have a factory support in the center, and my light legs run horizontally, so I need a
cross support 20" from the right side of the tank.
With the refugium on the left side, and the overflow in the dead center of the back, I have quite a bit of room to place my magnetic frag
racks on 3 sides of the tank. I will be able to put racks on the back, right side and front. In the future, I should be able to load up the
entire right side of this tank with frag racks.
I'll purchase a T5 light down the road. For now, the frag racks will simply be placed closer to the top of the tank. The 78w PC light is
more than enough to grow frags that are placed within 4 - 6 inches of the surface.
And the biggest benefit of all - the little damsel gets a whole 29g tank to swim around in. Thats the whole idea behind this
adventure. Settle in for a ride my friends. This is gonna be fun. None of it is going to be pretty. But it's gonna be fun!!
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