Going BIG when buying small! My Fluval 22 gallon Dual Display Mangrove Frag Tank!

[KellyCorals]

You’re welcome! I’m ready for you to get some salt in there too! It’s been a ton of fun watching you go through all the details, though. I think we could all do with a little encouragement and positive feedback. Never hurts to have someone to bounce ideas off of either.

I’m glad you liked my build, and I hope you’ll stop in and offer insight from time to time, too. I’ve got a lot to do still, and like you said, going back and changing/fixing things is a paiiiiin.

I sketched out the inside of your sump earlier to see if I could figure out anything that would help keep the baskets in place while also bracing the holder itself, but I’m still pondering over it. It might be a non-issue, honestly, when you put the mangroves in, as their weight may hold it down. If I come up with anything I’ll let you know! And thanks again for checking out my tank.

Hey thanks! That’s awesome that you even took the time to try and figure out something on my tank...I appreciate it! I’ll definitely check on your build from time to time. I really like your set up and I think the stand color is really nice but you can tell the guy didn’t take his time making the doors. I think if you address that one thing it will greatly improve the overall look of the tank. But what can I say about the rest of it...it all looks awesome! Just keep throwing more corals in it! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed reading my build and I agree, we all need encouragement from time to time and advice to know we are moving in the right direction!

 

[KellyCorals]

Found this book when I went to reef-a-poloza last weekend. Never seen it before and the vendor had a high price tag on it but cut me a break because I bought a lot of other things from him. After getting a chance to sit down and read it last night, I was super excited to see that almost right away the guy starts ranting on about Mangroves being used in the hobby! The book was made in 2007 - happy to see 14 years later I’m living that dream!

 

[Ricksreeefs]

Found this book when I went to reef-a-poloza last weekend. Never seen it before and the vendor had a high price tag on it but cut me a break because I bought a lot of other things from him. After getting a chance to sit down and read it last night, I was super excited to see that almost right away the guy starts ranting on about Mangroves being used in the hobby! The book was made in 2007 - happy to see 14 years later I’m living that dream!

Looks like an awesome book!

 

[Schraufabagel]

It’s been a busy weekend but I managed to squeeze in an hour or so to work on the mixing station. I have a block house so first step for me was to cut a couple 2x4’s and Tapcon them to the wall and then mount a piece of plywood on them so I could have an area to mount everything else - then I painted it white

For my RO system I chose the 4 stage “Value Plus” from BRS. I liked it because it already had a “in and out” TDS meter preinstalled and a pressure gauge. I marked the holes and mounted it up -

Then I mounted up my Hydros 2 controller. I wanted to be able to automate some of the filling / mixing and keep the mixed saltwater at the perfect temp. In retrospect if I had purchased the Hydros 4 I could have automated the entire process but I couldn’t justify the price for now. Good news is I can always upgrade it later. Here it is all mounted up -

I mounted up the power strip and DC solenoid valve that will shut off water coming out of the RO when it senses the barrel is full -

Well that’s all I got done today, not as much as I had hoped, next chance I get I’ll start plumbing the barrels!

I love the Hydros controllers. I'm happy to see others using them too!

 

[KellyCorals]

I love the Hydros controllers. I'm happy to see others using them too!

I totally agree! For my build in particular it was a great option because of its size and design. The unit itself also seems very well built. It worked out better then I planned to be honest. I haven’t set up the controller yet (I’ll have plenty of time to do that once it finally makes it inside) so I’ve only got to see it flash a bunch of LEDs and then blink red. If it’s not too much to ask, I might ask you for some pointers sometime!

 

[KellyCorals]

Looks like an awesome book!

Thanks Im actually pretty excited about it! There’s a lot of information on R2R and on the net in general but I haven’t seen a lot of books specifically written on the subject. The vendor knew what he had there...he didn’t let me have it for free...that’s all I can say LOL. But it’s got a ton of information about small systems, facilities as big as an entire warehouse and how to make them, concept tank ideas and of course the proper way to frag every coral known to man...amongst a wealth of other info. So I’m excited to read this one cover to cover.

 

[Schraufabagel]

I totally agree! For my build in particular it was a great option because of its size and design. The unit itself also seems very well built. It worked out better then I planned to be honest. I haven’t set up the controller yet (I’ll have plenty of time to do that once it finally makes it inside) so I’ve only got to see it flash a bunch of LEDs and then blink red. If it’s not too much to ask, I might ask you for some pointers sometime!

For sure! Ask away. I've run into some software issues as the controllers are quite new. But once you get those initial bugs roughed out, it works very well. The simplicity of it is really good. I use a Hydros 2 and a Hydros XS in a collective setup. I also use the temp probe, ATO, rope leak sensor, and a water level sensor to prevent the sump from running during a run dry issue.

 

[KellyCorals]

Almost done plumbing the mixing station!

 

[Smirkish]

I see your bucket stash! Envious of the mixing station too. Going to have to look back at this when I get to that point.

 

[KellyCorals]

I see your bucket stash! Envious of the mixing station too. Going to have to look back at this when I get to that point.

When you’ve broken down and set up a ton of tanks like I have, you some how find yourself with 20+ Home Depot buckets lol. But they come in handy!

Thanks I can’t wait to FINALLY start making some good water! It’s a simple set up but should work great. I had some left over clear pipe from building the tank so I threw that in there...I love that stuff lol. I would be happy to help you with yours when the time comes if you want!

 

[KellyCorals]

So big change over the weekend...I sold my 90 gallon DT. I’ve really put everything into my new tank and know I won’t really have the time to manage another tank when I already manage 4 tanks in my house lol. So it had to go and it’s bitter sweet because I loved it but it was a BEAST to take care of! I sold all my corals with the tank to a guy that lives 6 minutes from my house - with the exception of 4 frags I wanted to keep. So that caused a situation because I didn’t have anywhere to keep them but my friend Eric had a 5 gallon frag tank laying around his garage that he let me pick up for a deal. Then I dropped by the LFS and picked up a Reefwave 25 and ReefLED 50 and hooked it all up! So I’m happy to say that I still have one saltwater tank running in my house.

I just fed the zoas so some of them are still finishing eating lol. I’m happy to keep a few frags in this tank until I’m completely ready to put life in the Mangrove tank! I actually like the small tank it’s super simple and I think I’ll keep it for my QT tank. I just couldn’t stand to have NO saltwater flowing somewhere in my house!

 

[KellyCorals]

So I finally got my lid for the tank and I realized something at the same time. If you want a CUSTOM tank with CUSTOM equipment more than likely you’ll need a good fabrication guy to make you lots of CUSTOM parts to make it all work. The lid was no exception -

Once again I had Modular Marine cut me a custom size lid to my specs and make the cut outs for the XR15 and Plank feeder. I also had him make a 3/4” finger hole to make the lid easier to remove.

Then I realized that the clamp bolt for the light mount arm was too long and interferes with taking the lid off/on. So I removed the light and cut that and the rubber cap shorter -

Next problem was the heater cord - had to make a notch out for that using the dremel tool -

Finally I could put the lid on. Before I ordered the Lid I already noticed that I had made my overflow a little too tall so the only lid brackets that would work were these stainless steel ones off EBay. They brought the lid height to the very top of the tank and the back corner is supported by the overflow itself. I’m happy with the custom fit around my equipment! Finish pics -

 

[KellyCorals]

With how well everything turned out, I started feeling a little underwhelmed by my choice in ATO containers. It looked cheap standing beside the tank and I started to think it wouldn’t hold enough water. Here I go changing out parts before the tank has even seen saltwater. I used Modular again to make me one that’s the length of the entire shelf. Then all I had to do is repeat what I did to mount the original-

So like last time I cut a 3/4” hole for the bulkhead in the bottom of the ATO. I found a more sleek and lower profile bulkhead that would allow almost all the ATO water to empty before running dry. And I changed the RO line color to blue...for fun lol -

 

[KellyCorals]

Took some pics of the tank last night...it’s 95% done. I have one more part I want to add but it’s not crucial. And of course once I move it inside fill it with live rock and substrate + mangroves corals fish and so on and so on. Just have to finish the mixing station and finish the kitchen remodel because it’s going to be located right by the kitchen and I dread the thought of drywall pieces landing in my tank while I’m trying to cycle it lol

 

[KellyCorals]

My favorite sticker on my stand -

 

[Boosterman]

How is your Konaflow holding up? I’m looking for a flowmeter to measure the output from the UV Sterilizer. Do you recommend it?

 

[KellyCorals]

How is your Konaflow holding up? I’m looking for a flowmeter to measure the output from the UV Sterilizer. Do you recommend it?

So the Kona flow works but I have such a small pump that it’s hard to see the gauge move. It’s basically there at this point to show “pump on” lol. But it’s part of the build I could have done without. If you have a bigger system / pump I’m sure it will work fine - simple design and built well.

 

[lubeck]

Wow what an amazing build. I love your attention to detail!

 

[KellyCorals]

Wow what an amazing build. I love your attention to detail!

Thanks I appreciate the feedback! I tried to take my time on this build. In the past I’ve guilty of rushing things. It’s been a year in the making!

 

[KellyCorals]

So after much debating I decided to move the tank to the office at my work instead of putting it at my house. My logic was that at my house maybe a total of 10 people will see it a year and at my work at least 10 new people will see it daily. Besides that I will get enjoy it for 8 hours a day M-F.

Moving the tank was nerve racking at best and my neighbor actually sat in the back of the truck to make sure nothing happened to it during the move. Thanks Milton your the man!

Once we got it there it was time for some brief reassembly. Then it was time to add the substrate to the sump and pebbles to the main display. For substrate, I went with a mix of my own design. Time will tell how it works out. The mix is as follows -

I went with a mix of Miracle Mud, Koralagoon Substrate, Carib sea sand and a small bag of “accent pieces” which was mostly bigger shell and coral fragments (to give the mangrove roots something to really grab on to).

After mixing all that in a 5 gallon bucket I added it to the sump and also decided to add my rockwool cubes to the baskets so they could start to “cure”.

I filled all 3 baskets with plenty’s of cubes knowing that I will remove some later to make room for the mangroves.

After that I added black pebbles to the Main display. Filled it with saltwater (finally), threw a carbon bag in the sump to soak up any impurities and changed my filter sock to a 225 micron to grab as much trash as possible. Here’s what it will look like minus the mangroves and live rock + corals and fish. I’m going to do a long cycle and really let things establish this time…I’m tired of algae blooms lol.

Next chance I get I’ll post up about the programming…that was a mission in itself! Thanks for following along!