50/50 Reef Safe/Non Reef Safe Split Tank

[flagg37]

I just got this system up and running and I don’t know if this has been done before but I’ve never seen it. The idea came about when I helped a guy close down his local fish store and he had several 75 gallon tanks that he was giving away. I grabbed two and was trying to think what I could do with them. I’ve kept other reef tanks and there were some species of fish that I could never get because they weren’t reef safe.

I recalled one previous tank that I had with a zebra moray eel and made the observation that the fish would never venture into his cave. This gave me the idea to have one tank to house reef safe fish (and all the corals) and the other would have non reef safe fish in it with the eel cave being the connection point between the two.

I don’t know for sure if it will work so it’s a bit of a test at this point.

I’ll be posting all the details about how it’s built and plans for it shortly.

 

[flagg37]

To plan everything, I drew it all up in SketchUp first.

There is an overflow box in back that connects both tanks and uses a beananimal drain.

Then I 3d printed the inside boxes to be as small as possible in the tank. It’s only 1-1/4” deep, 5-7/8” tall, and 6” wide. I was able to make it this thin by printing the bulkhead into the part itself.

It passes through the tank and connects the exterior overflow box to the tank with the 2” bulkhead nut. I used extra gaskets since the bulkheads are only meant to have water on one side (the flange side).

Between the two tanks is another 2” bulkhead that allows the tanks to equalize their volume and will become the entrance to the eel cave.

I again 3d printed a part, this time to fit the exact distance between the tanks so that as I tightened the bulkhead, it wouldn’t squeeze the two panes of glass together.

 

[gnarlydudecory]

This is pretty cool. Following along. Also really like the flame angel. Looking to get one soon

 

[flagg37]

Once I got everything planned in SketchUp, I started the construction/prep for the area it would go.

This is the base of the stand. Here I’m using it to get the left/right positioning and to see where I’ll need to cut open the wall.

I cut open the “ledge” section of the wall for the middle of the stand to fit in. I added some 2x4s on the sides so I could screw the stand to the structure of the house to give it more lateral support. I also had planned for a much larger tank to go here (here’s the link for that build) so when I was building out our basement I installed several steel I beams in the floor to support the extra weight, a drain to the sewer, and a conduit of sorts to pass cables and waterlines through to the basement (where my water storage is).

This is the 3/8” tubing for fresh saltwater and RODI.

Since the tanks were used, they already had some holes drilled in them so the placement of the holes stayed the same but I made the holes for the overflow larger to accommodate 2” bulkheads, and created the new holes for the eel cave bulkhead. That was a bit stressful since those holes needed to line up very closely. The tank in the background on the left will end up being the sump and is being leak tested in the picture.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Very cool idea. Following

 

[flagg37]

The eel cave and the rock structure I had from a previous tank. I had to modify them a little to be able to fit them but I really like them so I’m glad I was able to reuse them. They had been sitting in my crawl space for almost 10 years. I cleaned them with bleach and a toothbrush to get off any remaining organic material.

A few months before getting this system up and running I had a friend put a Marine Pure block in his tank to seed it with bacteria. I put it in my sump and then added the fish from my basement tank (a flame angel, two clowns, a starry blenny, and a leopard wrasse). No signs of ammonia.

Here are a few of the corals I wanted to salvage from that tank.

 

[Devaji]

your SketchUp skills are on point. I used it years ago was nice then came back 2 years ago I could not do anything.

i also like non reef safe fish a have a 200 gal peninsula set up as a FOWLR
4 dwarfs angels and an emp. soon there will be butterflies.

cool idea curious to see how this turns out.

 

[flagg37]

your SketchUp skills are on point. I used it years ago was nice then came back 2 years ago I could not do anything.

i also like non reef safe fish a have a 200 gal peninsula set up as a FOWLR
4 dwarfs angels and an emp. soon there will be butterflies.

cool idea curious to see how this turns out.

I use SketchUp for work sometimes so I’ve gotten better with it by necessity.

This was a cool pic from the other day.

Shortly after, the ugly phase began.

A friend was ordering from SDC (Sea Dwelling Creatures) and asked if I wanted anything so I grabbed a clean up crew.

20 blue legged hermit crabs
20 tiger turbo snails (looks like trochus)
3 tiger sand snails (looks like fighting conch)
50 cerith snails
50 nassarius snails

They are doing a number on the algae.

 

[Devaji]

it's always nice when one can jump on an order for CUC.
I tried that a few months back but the pkg went from Fl. to hawaii then back to the rocky mountains. nothing made it.

 

[flagg37]

it's always nice when one can jump on an order for CUC.
I tried that a few months back but the pkg went from Fl. to hawaii then back to the rocky mountains. nothing made it.

Ugh, dead snails smell so bad.

 

[keithw283]

This is a cool idea. Keep us updated!

 

[reneeL]

I really liked reading and seeing your photos. Great job on the story. Waiting to see it up and running with more in them.
Just finished setting up a 180 Planet, due to a Red Sea failure. The front panel seams were about to let go. I like the bigger tank.

 

[flagg37]

So it’s been one year since the system first touched water. Not much has changed as far as livestock. Somehow aiptasia was introduced and has steadily overtaken things. It doesn’t really bother me much though. The corals I most care about don’t seem to be affected. I have a friend that periodically makes wholesale orders so I plan on buying a bunch of CBB’s, filefish, peppermint shrimp, or something.

 

[reneeL]

Don't waste money on hit or miss possible eating apitasia critters. The little nudbrancks take a month or so but when they get going... no more apitasia. I had a solid tank of the stuff. Now I just keep critters that are suppose eat those things. My CBB keeps them from the big display. They will not eat the large ones, the nudibranch will once they have a good population.