Hasted's Frag Setup

[Hasted]

Well. I really had no idea I would have landed on this path... but here I am planning my basement frag tank.

Goals:
+ Set up by first quarter of 2021
+ Pay for some of the operating costs (salt, water, electricity) of itself + two other tanks (net positive operating cost at least for this tank)
+ Have a variety of corals to trade with other hobbyists.
+ Not fail! Ha!

Hopefully these are not lofty goals. I am not looking to make this massive income. I just want it to run in the positives rather than become a financial deficit.

Why?

Well, I absolutely love collecting, growing, and fragging corals. Thats really the main appeal. Selling and/or trading just comes with that territory.

Progress:

Well, other than a ton of research...

I contacted my LFS and they have a shipment of 2x Seapora 80g rimless frag tanks (48" x 24" x 16"). I was leaning heavier on their smaller 45g tanks that are 12" deep with the same footprint, but those are out of stock for my LFS.

Anyway. The owner said he would hold on to one for me if I decide I would like it. That gives me a couple more weeks to weigh my options between that tank and the more shallow one.

Steps:
+ Purchase said tank
+ Build DIY stand
+ 40 breeder into sump
+ Plumb the tank
+ Purchase return pump
+ Cycle with main tank media
+ Lights and racks for 1/2 tank
+ Introduce fish in waves (Lawn Blenny, 6Line, and/or YEyed Tang)
+ Grow some frags
+ More lights as frag population grows


As you see, my plan is to utilize only a section of the tank at first until I actually need more space. My original thought was to start with a smaller tank and then upgrade later. I figured it would cost me more money in the long run doing it this way.

This thread my start off pretty slow as my intention isn't to do too much until the start of the year.

I appreciate any input and thanks for any interest!

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

Good idea to cycle with main tank media! Have fun! I tried a frag tank. I added lights too fast since I plumbed it to my main tank. It still went through the uglies and it sucked. I recommend running it without lights for a few MONTHS with all your racks in the tank to let things stabilize before adding lights and corals. A good bio layer will help combat the uglies. Frag racks are a PIA to clean!

 

[Hasted]

Slow moving, but some progress.

I paid for the frag tank and just need to get out to pick it up.

Got a 39 gallon used sump lined up. Nice size for a decent price! Roughly the same cost as buying a new 40 breeder and a DIY baffle kit. The tank it is on is being torn down in the next week or two and will snag it.

Next up is the stand. Going to do a basic DIY with a bit extra room. Hope to have a little ledge and maybe small work space off to the side. If not, I can always build a small table on the side.

I have most of the equipment picked out. Since I am open to used gear, that list will change depending if anything in the area becomes available. Watching daily!

Hoping to actually have a picture to show of something within a month. Pretty boring thread so far. Haha!

 

[revhtree]

MTS! LOL!

 

[Hasted]

I believe I have researched enough to finally say I am comfortable building my own stand. It doesn't seem to be as difficult as I put it off to be. It doesn't have to be beautiful, so that makes things easier.

I plan to borrow one of my parents trucks to gather supplies and tools this weekend to bust out the project. Still debating if I should build it IN the room or build it in the garage and then try to carry it out and around into the room. I am worried that I won't be able to make some corners to get it in place...

I think I am going to make it 30" tall so I have the ability to bend over and reach the back easily. I hope I have enough space under at that height, also. The sump I have lined up is only 15" tall if I remember correctly.

I have two large bags of bio media cooking in the main sump. One was put in 12/24/2020 and the other was 1/1/2021 (I think). I should be able to get a month+ of sump time for each of these.

I am also about to order a bio brick now that BRS came back in stock yesterday! Should be a good starting point with all 3 of those.

Other than that.

Tank is sitting in my garage.

Sump is still in use from LFS, should have it in a week or so. I am in no rush.

Lights are not a huge issue. Going to use what I have until I outgrow the space. Not sure what others I am going to pick up to cover the rest of the tank.

For other equipment, I haven't really gotten that far. Not too rushed on anything other than return pump.

 

[Hasted]

Ripped up the concrete in this room expecting bare concrete. Nah. Half tiled, some broken tiles, and a mess. What is this even?

This is the 6' or so section I am tucking the tank. I needed that last 8" to also be level with the rest.

Now I am trying to decide what to do with the floor.

- Rip out a 2' section of the tile to fit the tank.
- Lay tile in the low part to even it all
- Fill that space. With something...

On top of that, I am going to need to seal this wall. I am thinking some things plywood. At the bottom half add in some plastic sheet that you find in some bathrooms and utility rooms. Seal the floor / wall corner as well as I can in case of leak.

This adds some work I wasn't thinking about (because I am dumb). Good thing I am in Zero rush.

Good news is that I had all the boards and such ready to rock. I could build the stand when ever.

 

[Hasted]

Getting things taken care of here and there.

Tank is chilling in the garage until...

I finish up the stand (90% finished).

Then on to leak proofing the room and adding some quality of life upgrades to the back walls. Close! A bit ahead of the super relaxed schedule I gave myself.

 

[Hasted]

Alright. Let's catch this thread up! Going to type everything up on my PC and then add pics through my phone in an edit. If there are not pics, give me a second and refresh.

I have been doing quite a bit last couple weeks! WE ARE CLOSE!

Stand finished. Assuming I am not skinning the stand or painting it. Just bare 2x4s atm. Which is fine for this build. For now.

I have nearly finished the room. It started with bare studs and insulation. The other end of the wall has our home gym, so drywall (with mirrors mounted) straight ahead. Left side is concrete I assume (below garage), and right is another bit of drywall with fridge on other side outside of door. Why am I explaining this? Doesn't matter. Moving on.

SO. First thing was to fix the floors. They were uneven. Half tiled and half bare concrete. I bought Pond Liner to lay down on the entire floor.



I then mounted thin sheets of plywood to the walls as a cover. My dad was all "You could use drywall" and I was "Overkill is in my bones." So here we are.

After the boards were up, I ran the pond liner up the walls about 5 inches. Gonna have to have a catastrophe to get the walls wet now...

THEN! I put FRP on top of the walls covering the liner. FRP should be able to withstand anything.

Since the floor was all jacked up, I added 2500 lbs worth of leveling feet. Worked like a charm so far. Let's hope they hold up. If not... then it will be a catastrophe. Yay.

SO, now tank is in place. Just gotta hook up electric and we are off to plumbing and leak testing.

Swapping the stock Durso over to a Herbie, though. I think. I understand a herbie a lot more. I will use the "intended" drain and return holes as the main and emergency drain and then run the return over the side and into the tank.

So

1. GFCI Installed
2. Sump installed (plywood bottom to be added also)
3. Plumbing
4. Leak Test
5. Salt it up!
6. Cycle with media that has been cooking in the main tank since December and add two new bio bricks.
7. Ignore it for a while to let bacteria build up.
8. Lights, racks, fish, cuc.
9. Corals
10. Add equipment as necessary (more lights, flow, skimmer, controller, dosing, etc)

Things to do at any point in time during this whole process:
A. Somewhere in there add the last two FRP boards to the side walls.
B. Seal back wall from furnace room to prevent dust, moisture, etc from bouncing between the two. (Small 2 foot gap)
C. Create a better work space in the room to be able to store materials, cut corals, etc.
D. Upgrade water storage system that is currently taking up too much room all over this room.

 

[Hasted]

Had to go a few steps back. Once I got my sump (taller than the one I had lined up), I realized I didn't have quite enough space inside the stand.

Sooooooooo, I ripped off the legs and cut longer ones. NOW I feel like I have some space for plumbing and skimmer.

I am short just two short 26" boards (after splitting on when trying to hammer it in).

Gonna snag a 2x4 today and MAYBE some paint.

I don't need to paint it. Why would I get that in my head.... stop!

So! If no paint, maybe wet this weekend.
If I paint it, wet next weekend.
Will update with plumbing regardless.

 

[BaysEndReef]

This build thread is AMAZING so far! Can't wait to read and see more! You really have a way of capturing the reader's attention!! Kudos!

 

[Hasted]

Hit it with that fancy plumbing!

Why fancy plumbing? I dunno.


Got it 99% ready to go. Gonna be filling it up very soon!

 

[Hasted]

Well, that escalated quickly.


Filled. Check.
Leak test. Passed.
Cycle. Started.
Now we wait.

 

[Hasted]

Well, I have zero complaints. Media from main tank cycled the tank quite quickly. Dosed some ammonia to make sure and it was gone in just over 24 hours.

Light is on its way
Eggcrate for racks on the way
Things are looking good!

Which is good! Made another 12 frags yesterday from main tank. All my racks are covered in there! Can't wait to move all my extra stuff over here so the main display looks clean again. Not going to look like much at first. Check back in a year and let's hope it is less barren!

 

[Hasted]

A good chunk of racks have been added! I will post pics soon. Par metered the tank and will do it again tomorrow specifically to each area of the rack. It appears I have everything from 400 par to 50 par covered. Flow is the next thing to iron out.

I moved over 15 or so frags into my nano tank (empty other than 1 fish and a hammer). I am going to use that to check for any "undesirables" for 2 weeks. Once each frag passes inspections, I will send them to the frag. Essentially now an office nano QT for corals. I work in my office two days a week and in there most nights playing games. Lots of eye time to find stuff. Working so far! Just makes the process a hair slower.

PROGRESS! Now I need a dang ATO because filling up this tank daily is for the birds. And I ain't no bird.

 

[Hasted]

We are a month in! Well, in two days we will be.

A few Zoas and a couple Kenya trees have passed inspection and have been added to the tank.
Lawnmower blenny is now in charge of keeping the plugs clean. He does a great job. Feeding him also since there really isn't all that much for him to clean up, yet.
Added just a few snails and a single hermit. Help out the ole Blenny.

Can't say I like how I set up my frag racks. I tried to be fancy and do multiple levels. Top level gets 400-200 par (depending on how close to center). It also can swing out of the way to better access the rack that is directly below it. Why did I do this? I should have just did a basic rack all one layer. Would be easier for me. May rip it all out.

The Icecap 2ks are doing great. I have one right through the bottom and the other vertical on the back wall. Seems to be keeping everything moving.

Got one media cup to replace one of my socks. Will get another the next online order I make.

Still not wanting to add too much too fast until this tank gets a bit older. I did use old media, which should make it fine... but still. Would hate to add 40 frags and then get hit by something and lose some.

With that being said... I literally have 41 frags in my 15g nano that I am inspecting. Hoping to move over 10+ a week. Did that completely contradict what I just said?

The Viparspectra light is doing fine keeping the few things in there happy. I am so used to higher end (AI Prime/Kessil AP9x) lights that have immense controllability and crazy colors. While I can modify the channel 2 (whites) to hit 0 to get heavy blues, it is still more work. Also, even 1% white drowns out pretty much all blue. I need like a 0.2 white... I wanted a decent cheap light and that is still what I got. I do run whites at 20% through the day just because I am not actually in this room except when feeding the dogs or working on this tank. No need to go blue really...

UPGRADES?

As I mentioned (I think?) before, my goal is to have this tank self sustaining at minimum. If I can manage to trade/sell enough to cover some of the operating costs of the other two tanks, that would be even better!

With that, I am wanting to include any equipment that I end up adding. I currently have 40+ variations of zoas. My plan is to start with those, Kenya Trees, GSP, and such. Easy stuff that I hope I can sell to LFS or local hobbyists for cheapy cheap. I hope it will add up to where I can use the store credit and/or money to purchase upgrades for the tank. These upgrades (in no particular order) include:

ATO
Light to cover other half of tank
Skimmer
Dosing Pumps
Maybe a controller

All of these items are pretty tentative. For example, I may never end up needing a skimmer depending on what I end up growing, how I feed the corals, etc.

-For a controller, I am heavily leaning towards a Hydros Control4 with a WaveEngine connected. With that, I can drop the Icecap controller and also connect some future equipment to these. I use the C4 on my main tank and absolutely love it. I could go the Apex route... but I have 0 experience with it and seems like so much.
-Skimmer can then be a Varios2 or Varios4 powered skimmer to ditch the power supply all together.
-ATO: Hydros ATO can be run off the Hydros to eliminate a cord.
- Dosing: Tomorrow comes the Hydros update that will enable the Control to play nice with dosing pumps. So that will be decided on direction once the community finds which ones are best paired with C4. If they end up being meh, I will just use the Kamoer pumps that I have come to like.
- Lights: I haven't a clue what light I would add on. More than likely one that has easier controls and use it for any picture taking that I will need to do.

I feel like I just blabbered on for 10 minutes. I don't actually expect anyone to read any of this. More of me just documenting... Sorry if I made your eyes bleed.