New Frag Tank! 50 gal lowboy!!!

[Sawyer Breslow]

Been keeping a reef tank for about 3.5 years now. Since I started reefing I’ve definitely got the bug for more coral, more fish and more tanks! I started selling frags here and there out of my main display and ran out of room with magnetic frag racks. So begins the chapter of my 50 gal low boy frag tank!

Picked up this low boy already drilled from my LFS for $80 and built the classic 2x4 stand.

Next up was plumbing and sump. The tank was drilled with a stand pipe in the tank rather then an overflow box. You can see I have a 1” stand pipe going into a filter sock/first chamber. I picked up the baffle kit off eBay and siliconed into an aqueon 20 long. The return pump is an old Sicce 3.0 I had and the return is 3/4” that T’s off to a triple manifold and over the back return line. Definitely Got more money on the plumbing, haha

I’m pretty excited how this turned out and can’t wait to start growing some coral!

Next steps are lights and cutting some frag racks to size. I’m planning on going with the Quanta Reef LED bars ( 2 meso blues to start).

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Forgot to add that I’m running a icecap gyre 2k for flow. It’s powered and controlled off my Hydros controller and wave engine from my main tank on the first floor of my home

 

[ReefingDreams]

Nice hardpiping! People seem to think its difficult. Doesn't have to be. Good luck with the build!

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Nice hardpiping! People seem to think its difficult. Doesn't have to be. Good luck with the build!

Thanks! It took me a while to do the plumbing because I was a little afraid of it but once I got started it was really pretty easy. I have a legit pair of pvc cutters and that made a huge difference.

 

[reaper93]

Awesome. Lowboy would be an ideal frag setup for me so I am very interested to see how you take this build!

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

So I got the tank wet and water tested. Plumbing and tank held up like a charm! Decided to just mix salt in the tank. The gyre 2k is a beast and mixed the salt in no time. Once the tank was up to temp I moved my live rock, couple clowns and yellowtail damsels right over to the new tank. Gotta love instant setup!

next steps:
- cut up some egg crate and left over pvc(frag rack legs). Thinking about doing some different height racks even though the tank is pretty shallow. Any height recommendations for the racks?

 

[Sawyer Breslow]

Build update:
Got my lights in and mounted. I went with the QuantaPro Mesa Blues from Mahina Corals. These are the 4 ft led bars.

Lots of blue right now but I’m mainly going to be growing Zoas, softies and some LPS. I’m going to rent a par meeter from LFS to get some readings.

 

[jkobel]

super interested in this, cant wait to see how it goes!

 

[jtone_philthy_aquatics]

tagging along! im about to pick up a lowboy thursday and ill be drilling and plumbing it in with my redsea system as a fragtank with some more fish as well. sweet setup tho dude! def wanna see how your corals do with the quanta pro leds

 

[ScubaShane]

Looking good so far. I'm following.

 

[Mullin22]

Looking for an update. How is this frag tank treating you?

 

[drolmaeye]

Looking for an update. How is this frag tank treating you?

OP hasn't been on R2R for over a year, so unlikely we'll get an update. But I'm curious, too. Just about to start a 30" x 20" frag tank so looking for any info.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Any updates?

 

[ChaseS10]

Drooling over this. Just setup a 40 breeder after being out of the hobby for 10 years.