Firemanreefkeeper
Active Member
The journey of this frag tank begins in February of 2018 when my friend was looking to trade out his redsea reefer 170 for something less cube like but he still wanted to be in the 30 to 50 gallon range. His other requirement was that it couldn't be a tall tank as he is vertically challenged and he wanted to be able to look down from above into the tank. He did some research and found this tank, a deep blue 34 gallon rimless frag tank, that fit his needs. He wanted a custom built stand that was only 28 inches tall so he could look into it from above easier too. I'm good at building things so I told him I'd build him a stand if he covered the cost of the wood and fragged me off a purple monster zoe. He agreed so the tank was bought and the stand was built and my coral was fragged.
The first of many self inflicted problems started shortly after he set it up. This particular tank came with a durso drain which I knew from experience was going to be hard to silence. I warned him about it but he insisted it would be ok. It was not. I told him what he needed to fix it, a gate valve, an emergency overflow, and plumbing up the back and over the tank since the tank only had 2 holes, a drain and a return, and the bottom is tempered. It was full of water and I had never drilled a tank before this so that was my fix, use the original drain with a gate, the return hole as the emergency overflow and run new plumbing up the back for the return line. I told him I'd fix it for him if he got the stuff. I drove the 45 minutes to his apartment to find he got a ball valve and nothing else. I warned him again before installing the ball valve that the tank was not going to be stable and it would either overflow the display or the sump. He said it needed to be fixed today so I had to use what I was provided. The tank was ok when I left but I knew it wouldn't last, tanks with a single drain never do.
The next week I was at his apartment again with a gate valve, emergency overflow and plumbing to run it up the back. 3 hours later, a few beers and lunch and he still hated it. The white pvc pipe coming up over the back of the tank was ugly. I told him to order black pvc and I'd come back over again and redo the plumbing, this would have to do for now.
A few days later I got a call from our other friend saying he ditched the tank and bought a new one. When I say ditched, I mean he took the tank, stand, sump and everything that went with it and threw it in the trash! I drove 45 minutes again to his apartment and recovered the tank, sump and return pump. The stand was in pieces in the trashcan, there was no saving that.
This was the first time I inherited the tank. Another one of my friends was interested in saltwater tanks as he had seen mine several times and wanted one. I told him I had a spare tank laying around, he just needed a stand, rocks, sand, and a few other things for a basic setup. He asked me to build him a normal sized stand (we both know the guy who threw the tank away, lol) and he'd pay me for it. He didn't want to grow coral, he wanted just fish. I told him I had an old light he could have.
About 2 weeks after I completed the stand he found out he was having another kid so the tank was out, he couldn't afford it anymore. I told him it was cool I'd just sell it myself. What a mistake that was. It was my first time trying to sell something online and all I got were scam texts and calls. I put up with that for about 2 weeks before I was done dealing with it. I deleted the post and left the tank covered in my garage.
My in-laws decided they were moving back to town to be closer to the grandkids. They also liked my tank and wished they could have one of their own. They were in luck as I just happened to have a tank sitting in my garage. I told them they needed a better light since they wanted to grow softies and probably a skimmer and the sand and rocks. They asked me to get what they needed and I could add it to the final bill. I bought the stuff, stained the stand and set it up at their house.
This was it all set up and ready to go.
Everyone knows it takes some effort and diligence to keep a reef tank. They did not understand that going in and I spent more time over there fixing issues then I did enjoying my own tanks at home. Between the hair algae, cyano, skimmer issues, the fish carpet surfing, the corals not growing, adjusting the lights back to what I had them at, it became a full time job.
Then it happened. I got 2 different stories on what crashed the tank but it crashed. My father in law used the water change bucket to wash the car and didn't rinse it out before it was used to do a water change or my mother inlaw had lotion or something on her hands then stuck them into the tank. It might have been both for all I know but the tank crashed. They finally threw in the towel and realized saltwater wasn't as easy as freshwater.
That was the second time I got the tank back. I cleaned everything up and set it in the garage again. My friend, the original owner of the tank, heard what happened and was interested in the tank again. By this time he had been through 3 more tanks trying to find perfection. Don't ask me what he was looking for but he couldn't find it. He tried the fusion 40, the SR60 and a custom built 24x30x10 tank. I told him he could have it again with the stipulation that if he was to change his mind again I get it back I one piece, not from the trashcan. I took it to his house this time and set it all up for him. A month later I get a call that it isn't quite what he was looking for so he was moving on again.
I have the tank again for the third and final time. This poor tank has been around the block 3 times, 4 if you count the guy who wanted it but wasn't allowed. I decided it's going to be my frag/incoming coral tank. I already have a custom modified 20 gallon frag tank that I've out grown so this couldn't have come at a better time. I've got to clean it up, make some modifications to the cabinet, and make enough water to fill it but I'm going to give it a good home and let it do the job it was meant to do.
I did some work on it today adding a shelf for the plugs and my dosing pump to sit on. I also modified the aquatic life t5 led hybrid light that I had over my old tank. It was 18 inches wide but I wanted it more compact so it didn't stick out as far. I made new brackets from some aluminum bar stock so the lights are an inch apart now. There is just enough room to run an aluminum bracket down the center to put my reef bright LED in there.
That's them over my current 20 gallon frag tank. I plan to make the move Thursday since I have a few days off. If everything goes smoothly I'm guessing 3 hours to break one down and set the other up. Then I'll spend an hour getting powerheads in the right places. I'll post more. Thanks for reading.
The first of many self inflicted problems started shortly after he set it up. This particular tank came with a durso drain which I knew from experience was going to be hard to silence. I warned him about it but he insisted it would be ok. It was not. I told him what he needed to fix it, a gate valve, an emergency overflow, and plumbing up the back and over the tank since the tank only had 2 holes, a drain and a return, and the bottom is tempered. It was full of water and I had never drilled a tank before this so that was my fix, use the original drain with a gate, the return hole as the emergency overflow and run new plumbing up the back for the return line. I told him I'd fix it for him if he got the stuff. I drove the 45 minutes to his apartment to find he got a ball valve and nothing else. I warned him again before installing the ball valve that the tank was not going to be stable and it would either overflow the display or the sump. He said it needed to be fixed today so I had to use what I was provided. The tank was ok when I left but I knew it wouldn't last, tanks with a single drain never do.
The next week I was at his apartment again with a gate valve, emergency overflow and plumbing to run it up the back. 3 hours later, a few beers and lunch and he still hated it. The white pvc pipe coming up over the back of the tank was ugly. I told him to order black pvc and I'd come back over again and redo the plumbing, this would have to do for now.
A few days later I got a call from our other friend saying he ditched the tank and bought a new one. When I say ditched, I mean he took the tank, stand, sump and everything that went with it and threw it in the trash! I drove 45 minutes again to his apartment and recovered the tank, sump and return pump. The stand was in pieces in the trashcan, there was no saving that.
This was the first time I inherited the tank. Another one of my friends was interested in saltwater tanks as he had seen mine several times and wanted one. I told him I had a spare tank laying around, he just needed a stand, rocks, sand, and a few other things for a basic setup. He asked me to build him a normal sized stand (we both know the guy who threw the tank away, lol) and he'd pay me for it. He didn't want to grow coral, he wanted just fish. I told him I had an old light he could have.
About 2 weeks after I completed the stand he found out he was having another kid so the tank was out, he couldn't afford it anymore. I told him it was cool I'd just sell it myself. What a mistake that was. It was my first time trying to sell something online and all I got were scam texts and calls. I put up with that for about 2 weeks before I was done dealing with it. I deleted the post and left the tank covered in my garage.
My in-laws decided they were moving back to town to be closer to the grandkids. They also liked my tank and wished they could have one of their own. They were in luck as I just happened to have a tank sitting in my garage. I told them they needed a better light since they wanted to grow softies and probably a skimmer and the sand and rocks. They asked me to get what they needed and I could add it to the final bill. I bought the stuff, stained the stand and set it up at their house.
This was it all set up and ready to go.
Everyone knows it takes some effort and diligence to keep a reef tank. They did not understand that going in and I spent more time over there fixing issues then I did enjoying my own tanks at home. Between the hair algae, cyano, skimmer issues, the fish carpet surfing, the corals not growing, adjusting the lights back to what I had them at, it became a full time job.
Then it happened. I got 2 different stories on what crashed the tank but it crashed. My father in law used the water change bucket to wash the car and didn't rinse it out before it was used to do a water change or my mother inlaw had lotion or something on her hands then stuck them into the tank. It might have been both for all I know but the tank crashed. They finally threw in the towel and realized saltwater wasn't as easy as freshwater.
That was the second time I got the tank back. I cleaned everything up and set it in the garage again. My friend, the original owner of the tank, heard what happened and was interested in the tank again. By this time he had been through 3 more tanks trying to find perfection. Don't ask me what he was looking for but he couldn't find it. He tried the fusion 40, the SR60 and a custom built 24x30x10 tank. I told him he could have it again with the stipulation that if he was to change his mind again I get it back I one piece, not from the trashcan. I took it to his house this time and set it all up for him. A month later I get a call that it isn't quite what he was looking for so he was moving on again.
I have the tank again for the third and final time. This poor tank has been around the block 3 times, 4 if you count the guy who wanted it but wasn't allowed. I decided it's going to be my frag/incoming coral tank. I already have a custom modified 20 gallon frag tank that I've out grown so this couldn't have come at a better time. I've got to clean it up, make some modifications to the cabinet, and make enough water to fill it but I'm going to give it a good home and let it do the job it was meant to do.
I did some work on it today adding a shelf for the plugs and my dosing pump to sit on. I also modified the aquatic life t5 led hybrid light that I had over my old tank. It was 18 inches wide but I wanted it more compact so it didn't stick out as far. I made new brackets from some aluminum bar stock so the lights are an inch apart now. There is just enough room to run an aluminum bracket down the center to put my reef bright LED in there.
That's them over my current 20 gallon frag tank. I plan to make the move Thursday since I have a few days off. If everything goes smoothly I'm guessing 3 hours to break one down and set the other up. Then I'll spend an hour getting powerheads in the right places. I'll post more. Thanks for reading.
