CR's Frag Shack

[Rjukan]

Man, I love this. It's like having a tree house or a fort in the woods when I was a kid in Pennsylvania but only 1000x better. I love the fact you can get out of the house and enjoy some peace and quiet with the tanks.

Great work on everything getting to this point, can't wait to see things progress with the tanks. Sorry to hear about the problems with the lowboy.

 

[Haggisman14]

Straight up man cave...i like it!

 

[Stuartmercer]

Can't wait to see what this will look like! I just recently set up my frag tank mostly because of a "weed" coral called Hollywood Stunner Chalice, you might know it. But it's growing a lot so I need something to put frags in, and I can use the frag tank as a fish quarantine.

 

[blackizzz]

Great project Coastie! Some real nice handiwork so far, can't wait to see the tanks full!

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Low boy finally came in fully intact! Third time really is a charm. In the meantime I was able to sand and paint an old cabinet that I’m going to be using to store all my supplies and have a brute can in place for rodi.

Here’s a panoramic view of what it looks like so far. Need to build a simple 2x4 skeleton stand for the frag tank then I can move on to plumbing.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Built a stand for the lowboy and topped it with 3/4 ply. The bottom trim isn’t sitting completely flat. One corner and the middle of the back have about 1/16” gap. Just enough to see light between the trim and the plywood... any ideas on how to fix or is it that big of a deal? Was considering a couple ships between the 2x4 framing and plywood.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Shims seem to have done the trick... at least I feel much better about the way the trim sits.

Apparently there was a serious bow in one of my 2x4s

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Just a little progress...

Lowboy is drilled. Back is painted. Eshopps M overflow box installed.

 

[Rcpilot]

Great thread! Following along.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Well I hope to get lights hung this weekend, just need to get a few hooks from the hardware store. I’m going to be using a my Hydra 26s paired with a 36” aquatic life hybrid over the 75 and a mars aqua 300w with another 36” aquatic life hybrid. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to boil the water in the lowboy!!!

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Needs some wire management but the sun is hanging high over the lowboy.

 

[UM Aquarium Club]

Wow! Looks like a great build, looking forward to seeing the tanks filled. Would be quite the dream to have a room that size able to be customized for reefing!

 

[Coastie Reefer]

It’s hard to get pics in these tight quarters, but both hybrid fixtures are hung. I call it a successful night!

 

[Coastie Reefer]

A little wire management goes a long way!

 

[tripdad]

This looks like a blast! You must be having a lot of fun building this "Reef Cave". You are doing a great job so far.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Wow! Looks like a great build, looking forward to seeing the tanks filled. Would be quite the dream to have a room that size able to be customized for reefing!

Thanks I’ve been wanting something like this for a long time. I wish it were a little bigger but it’s definitely nice to have a place for tanks and a place to get away at the same time.

This looks like a blast! You must be having a lot of fun building this "Reef Cave". You are doing a great job so far.

Thanks, I appreciate it. It’s been a lot of work, but most of it has been pretty enjoyable (not the drywall... definitely not the drywall)

 

[Coastie Reefer]

It’s alive!!!!

Moved my little 10g nano out to the shack. At least now I don’t have to sit and stare at empty tanks lol.

Ignore the nasty looking rock. The tank has been severely neglected over the last couple months. Nothing a little gfo and water changes won’t take care of.

 

[TMB]

Great job man!! Keep the updates coming, I love this Man -Reef Cave!

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Great job man!! Keep the updates coming, I love this Man -Reef Cave!

Thanks! I'm currently in a holding pattern waiting on a new overflow to come in. It should be in today and I can drill the new 75g. Once that's done I can start working on the plumbing... that's going to be fun as I've never plumbed a sump, much less 2 tanks to one sump LOL.

I'm trying to see what I can do to setup an easy water change system. My current idea is to drill another "return line" hole in the lowboy. From that bulkhead I can run a separate drain with an inline shut off valve directly into my sewer drain. I'd have to go through the wall (or floor) then under the building to tie in. If I can use a pvc 90 or even some locline to set the depth of a known volume I can simply mix up that amount of saltwater, shut off the return pump, open the drain, close the drain, and pump in the new saltwater... There's probably a much better way to do this, but that's what I have in my head at the moment. If anyone has some ideas, I'm all ears!

 

[Rcpilot]

There's ALWAYS a way to add complication.

I'm trying to fully automate my water changes. I want to dump a bucket of salt into a hopper and walk away. Run a timer to make the whole thing sing and dance on a schedule or a push button for whenever the mood strikes to perform any unscheduled water changes.