550G Display + Fish Room Frag Tanks = 900G of Fun

[Blue Tang Clan]

Before: There is a thick layer of gunk in the bottom of the 100G mixing container - I could use a spoon for it. Time to finish off the RC and then take a power washer to the inside of the container!

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

After:

 

[VegetaD]

I made the same investment again this year. Picked up 10 bucket. Did a larger order last black friday too. My holding room now has 31 buckets. Should be set until next black Friday


Love tropic marin pro. Mixes very clear with little to no residue. I to have a 10in x 4.5 sediment filter on my mixing station that I run it through after it has mixed for 24 hrs

An older picture before adding the filter. My fish room is a mess with a fish a fish pond holding fishes in observation but will have better pics when I do a build thread

 

[Tristren]

After:

I use Aqua Forest. Definitely does have residue but not that much.

How long will that last you?


Tony

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hi gang, this is my journey toward a new tank build which is part of a new house build. I expect to have keys to the house by May 1, 2019, and I hope to have water in the tank a month later.

Display dimensions: 120x36x29
120" long is because I want to have Tangs that prefer long distance open water, like Hippos and Powder Blues
36" wide so I can easily reach the middle from each side
29” deep allows me reach the bottom without a snorkel. I am 6'4 and have long arms, but my 25" tall 90 gallon is already a challenge to get things in the back/bottom.

Display Style:
The tank will be similar to an in-wall tank, but instead of being flush up against a contiguous wall, the "wall" will be wrapped around the tank. It's a little more work, but if you're starting from scratch... So, in-wall, but with a 36" protrusion into the room. Normally, you would only get the long view from being behind the wall, but I want everyone to be able to look through 10 feet of reef action!

Fish Room:
The Fish Room will be 16'x16' -- this is a true privilege, and I am excited to be able to build a dedicated room with floor drains, plumbing, and all of the necessary support equipment to make this a great display tank.

Both the display tank and the fish room will NOT be "in" my house for "Oh $@%#!!" leak risk reasons -- instead it will be connected but on its own separate slab, next to my garage slab. I haven't seen my design before on these forums, but I'm sure it's been done before.

I view this build as a collaborative effort with everyone here on the site, so don't be shy about posting best practices and lessons learned from your own builds!

_

super nice, thanks for sharing.

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

Enough salt to mix 2400 gallons?!? It will definitely last until next Black Friday.

My goal is to do 1 bucket per month. 100G water changes are my default so that’s two 100G changes (semi-monthly) or one larger 200G water change once per month.

I have one or two more water changes worth or Reef Crystals to go, and then I’m going to take out the mixing container and power wash the crud out of it. I really want to clean it now, but I’d rather not disassemble everything twice.

The water bulkhead outlet at the container bottom is a few inches up, so the crud isn’t free-flowing out just yet. Seriously, I could use a spoon on all of the precipitation gunk. The tank has only had water for 9 months...

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

Custom overhead lighting racks: I see lots of them being built with 80/20, but is that really the right material for the purpose?

I love extruded aluminum (my stand is made from it) but wouldn’t 1x3 or 1x4 wood be better?

With 80/20, it’s complicated to attach lights, and then change things on the fly. With wood, it’s still lightweight and you can screw in brackets etc.

What are folks here using for DIY light racks?

 

[jwilliams860]

Custom overhead lighting racks: I see lots of them being built with 80/20, but is that really the right material for the purpose?

I love extruded aluminum (my stand is made from it) but wouldn’t 1x3 or 1x4 wood be better?

With 80/20, it’s complicated to attach lights, and then change things on the fly. With wood, it’s still lightweight and you can screw in brackets etc.

What are folks here using for DIY light racks?

This has been on my radar and in the planning stages a while for me.

I've been gathering everything for a 500 gallon tank.

On a prior 300gallon I built a floating rack out of aluminum L channel from Lowe's and it was all riveted together. I then wrapped it in 1x6 and stained it. It housed 2 old school all t5 power modules and before they metal halide setup.

I'm building my new one out of t slot. I happened to figure out that the new g5 radion brackets will fit 25mm t slot(I need to double check the size on this piece) there is an area in the middle of the radion bracket that is used to mount to the RMS system that fits the t-slot and it's a snug fit. The bracket can then be screwed into the top of the radion. The clearance is about 1/4" off the fan so I don't think it will impede it's function. Stand off spacers could be used and longer screws.

Pics below for reference.

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

This has been on my radar and in the planning stages a while for me.

I've been gathering everything for a 500 gallon tank.

On a prior 300gallon I built a floating rack out of aluminum L channel from Lowe's and it was all riveted together. I then wrapped it in 1x6 and stained it. It housed 2 old school all t5 power modules and before they metal halide setup.

I'm building my new one out of t slot. I happened to figure out that the new g5 radion brackets will fit 25mm t slot(I need to double check the size on this piece) there is an area in the middle of the radion bracket that is used to mount to the RMS system that fits the t-slot and it's a snug fit. The bracket can then be screwed into the top of the radion. The clearance is about 1/4" off the fan so I don't think it will impede it's function. Stand off spacers could be used and longer screws.

Pics below for reference.

That’s a very clever and convenient mounting option for those lights!

Do you think the 25mm (approximately 1”) size would work for a 9 foot length? I can’t tell the length on yours right now.

I was hoping to get down to 20mm (approximately 0.75”) if I went with an aluminum option - T-Slot is pretty rigid and strong.

 

[jwilliams860]

That was just a test piece that's 4ft long. Mine will be 6x3 when it's finished.

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

COVID and a new baby have slowed down progress, but things are still progressing. I've had water in the tank since March and things are finally stable. Some of my woes were just from new tank syndrome and getting a massive amount of bacterial filtration instituted. As we always say, nothing good ever happens quickly in reef tanks.

My goal for 2021 is to take a more active approach to updates, so I made a quick Fish Lab video with some full tank shots as well. It's still has a ways to go, and my 4-month old takes all my time when I'm not at work!

Here is a quick video of the behind the scenes:

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

To nudge myself toward creating new video content, I'm going to try to add some more subscribers to my YouTube channel.

At 11:59pm on December 30th, I will be giving away eleven $10 gift cards to Bulk Reef Supply. Anyone who subscribes to my YouTube channel is eligible and I will notify those usernames (chosen at random) so they can place an order on the 31st.

Subscribe for a chance to win!

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

Does anyone have a good tutorial (or video) for fragging Zoas? I need to frag my first ones, and they seem so small and delicate

 

[VegetaD]

Than from Tidal Gardens

 

[Zach B]

Wow your setup is incredible! Very cool

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

Than from Tidal Gardens

BOOM! Thanks!

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

Today marks the end of the journey with Reef Crystals!

 

[JBKReef]

Today marks the end of the journey with Reef Crystals!

With distinct differences in major elements do you plant to adjust dosing around the big water changes? Or does TM Pro more align with your tanks parameters as is?

 

[madweazl]

Today marks the end of the journey with Reef Crystals!

I used TMP for about a year after using IO for years and didn't note any differences other than not having to drop alkalinity on the IO (handy but not worth the extra $60 a bucket).

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

With distinct differences in major elements do you plant to adjust dosing around the big water changes? Or does TM Pro more align with your tanks parameters as is?

Most of the elements in TM Pro are where I'd like my tank to be, with the exception of needing to bump up the Alk a little bit.

With the amount of crud in the bottom of the mixing tank (caked on doesn't begin to describe it) -- I got tired of wondering if the precipitate residue was having adverse effects on the tank. I don't think it will be wildly different, but I'm going to give TM Pro a shot for a year to see what clean mixing (and the potential to store for a few days without issues) does for me. I don't think there will be any wild improvements in the tank, but for maintenance and dosing purposes, it's a good experiment to take.

I've actually shed a few buckets in the last few months -- passing them on to local reefers (for cost, no profit) who need TM Pro while the supply chain is constrained.