270G - 4'x8' Plywood Frag Tank Build

[James Hopkins]

so I'm starting a new project next week. I have a 4' x 8' table i built in my basement and I'm going to make a frag tank out of it. I will put a layer of 1.5" foam board over the table then another piece of 3/4" plywood over it.

The sides will be 3/4" plywood also. I'm thinking of using white Pond Shield to coat the whole inside and the top lip. Ill inbed all the seams with fiberglass.
I'm going to screw the sides into both bottom pieces of plywood. I think that combined with the 2x4 on the upper lip will give it good support and shouldn't bow. The sides are 16" tall but the tank will only be 13.5" deep. That should give me enough room to put frag racks raised 6" and allow the fish in the system somewhere to hide if they want.

I'm going to have 3 power heads on each side under the racks to keep the bottom clean and provide alot of flow

For lighting i have 2 36" 4 bulb T5 with a 250w metal halide i am putting over half of the tank for now and the other half was going to get 4 kessil A360w or i may just go with the older A360's since there cheaper.


I hid the side panel in the drawing so you can see the frag rack better.

Take a look at my sketchup drawing and let me know what you think.
Please speak you mind and let me know if you think i can improve anywhere.

 

[sfin52]

is that Stan lee

 

[James Hopkins]

haha no but i should put him in it.

 

[dantimdad]

I would like to suggest running a closed loop on the system. Since it's plywood, drilling bulkhead holes is easy and really won't weaken it. Just make sure you seal the edges of the holes.

This will keep clutter to a minimum and you can put the outlets at different levels to keep detritus suspended.

Just my thoughts.

 

[James Hopkins]

I would like to suggest running a closed loop on the system. Since it's plywood, drilling bulkhead holes is easy and really won't weaken it. Just make sure you seal the edges of the holes.

This will keep clutter to a minimum and you can put the outlets at different levels to keep detritus suspended.

Just my thoughts.

Thats a really good idea. I can do 3 on each side and off set them.
It will also be alot cheaper then using 6 power heads and im not even sure if the magnets will go through 3/4" plywood lol

 

[dantimdad]

They probably won't. There are ways around that but, again, I think the CL would be better.

I am going that route with the long frag tanks for my store. I think it will me much cleaner looking. The outputs will be left unglued so I can change positions at will. Just remember to put a valve near each bulkhead so you can turn off one if you need to. And unions are your friend. Eventually, all plumbing needs to be cleaned out. The other good thing is you can drain the tank down to nothing should you ever need to by just opening a valve.

 

[James Hopkins]

where do you think the suction should be for the return for the CL?

 

[dantimdad]

I would put it in two locations. Probably either end of the tank.

 

[James Hopkins]

What do you think of this?
Im thinking ill do 2 closed loop systems each with 2 suction and 4 returns and ill use an external pump for each. maybe a panworld pump.

 

[dantimdad]

NICE!

 

[James Hopkins]

Sketchup update.
I think im as far as i want to put into sketchup. I got some plywood today and am going to start building it this weekend.

 

[Silver14SS]

Very cool mock ups, looks like Mike Ditka as the model in the first one!

 

[andrewkw]

This looks like a really cool project. Do you mind if I ask if you're building this out of plywood for fun or to save money?

 

[dantimdad]

Gonna be sweet!

 

[NeverlosT]

This sounds and looks pretty cool!

 

[James Hopkins]

This looks like a really cool project. Do you mind if I ask if you're building this out of plywood for fun or to save money?

I have alot of coral already and need more room and this is the best way to get more for less money. Im also going to be selling coral online so i need an area to keep frags and larger colonies.

 

[RobW]

so I'm starting a new project next week. I have a 4' x 8' table i built in my basement and I'm going to make a frag tank out of it. I will put a layer of 1.5" foam board over the table then another piece of 3/4" plywood over it.

The sides will be 3/4" plywood also. I'm thinking of using white Pond Shield to coat the whole inside and the top lip. Ill inbed all the seams with fiberglass.
I'm going to screw the sides into both bottom pieces of plywood. I think that combined with the 2x4 on the upper lip will give it good support and shouldn't bow. The sides are 16" tall but the tank will only be 13.5" deep. That should give me enough room to put frag racks raised 6" and allow the fish in the system somewhere to hide if they want.

I'm going to have 3 power heads on each side under the racks to keep the bottom clean and provide alot of flow

For lighting i have 2 36" 4 bulb T5 with a 250w metal halide i am putting over half of the tank for now and the other half was going to get 4 kessil A360w or i may just go with the older A360's since there cheaper.


I hid the side panel in the drawing so you can see the frag rack better.

Take a look at my sketchup drawing and let me know what you think.
Please speak you mind and let me know if you think i can improve anywhere.

Love me some sketchup. Used it to lay down my ideas for my build too.

 

[James Hopkins]

I started to build last night.
I cut 7" off my basement workbench and added the 2 side pieces. I used wood glue and put 2" screws every 2 inches.
It was actually very strong feeling when i was done. Im going to add the end pieces tonight and then make the overflow cutout and box.

 

[CoralWealth]

definitely following along.

 

[James Hopkins]

Also now that i am building it and see how big it is im thinking of maybe putting the tank this way.
What do you guys think? A or B

A.

B.