New to Me Used Frag Tank Build

[Dsnakes]

I wouldn't worry about the bottom. I can't wait to see this up and running, full of coral!

 

[Brian Kracht]

Ok so update and thoughts time. I am looking at the plumbing going on for this tank and have some deciding to do. First, I plugged in the plumbing essentially how it was when I got it. There is one single drain and one single return that splits to two heads. The return line has a reducer down to half inch. The rest is 3/4 inch plumbing. If I decided to go with two drains (one main and one backup), I would have to drill this 3/4 inch acrylic tank which seems like it will be quite a process. I might just leave it how it was since it must have been working. The last thing I am thinking of fixing is the over flow since you can see it drops my water level down to 9 inches... I am considering filling in some of the teeth of the overflow at the bottom to raise the low level of the teeth an inch. Basically fill it in and inch so my water level will go up to ten inches instead of nine.

Beyond that part of the plumbing I plan to run that sump all the way to the side like the picture will show below this text. Next to it, I will.be grabbing a ten gallon tank or whatever size is biggest and will fit on the space next to the sump to run a refugium.

 

[Brian Kracht]

Thanks to the recommendation and some research after it I made a choice on lighting and that showed up today! I went with the Ocean Revive T247s and I have two to light this tank. Only complaint I can come up with is the fan noise is a little loud, but I'm sure it will be a wash once the entire tank is up and running. Otherwise they seem great.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Thanks to the recommendation and some research after it I made a choice on lighting and that showed up today! I went with the Ocean Revive T247s and I have two to light this tank. Only complaint I can come up with is the fan noise is a little loud, but I'm sure it will be a wash once the entire tank is up and running. Otherwise they seem great.

That is brilliant ours arrived on the same day. Are you planning on doing any LED swaps?

I haven't set mine up yet so I'm not sure about the fan noise but I'll let you know.

 

[Brian Kracht]

That is brilliant ours arrived on the same day. Are you planning on doing any LED swaps?

I haven't set mine up yet so I'm not sure about the fan noise but I'll let you know.

Replied to your thread about this, but I do not plan to swap any LEDs. I am most likely going to have a ton of LPS and very little SPS so I am assuming I will get enough light off these for LPS and maybe some softies. I must be the weird person since I do not really see the appeal to SPS. I understand the color variations and whatnot, but LPS are so much cooler! I will eventually get par readings from these lights and I will know.

 

[Asonitez]

Instead of filling in teeth just use a high standpipe

 

[Brian Kracht]

Instead of filling in teeth just use a high standpipe

So ditch the drain I have here and make a different one that is at the level I need? Do I go with a different style of drain? I like the suggestion.

 

[Brian Kracht]

New update.

Finally painted the back. Might throw one more later for good measure tomorrow. Just used black latex paint. There are a lot of scratches on the bottom and I realized once water is on it, you can't see it anyways and the few scratches on the side and front glass I will just leave and ignore. I also got a mat for the bottom which is black so I don't have to paint the bottom.

First coat

After a few coats

 

[Brian Kracht]

Ok looks like the picture isn't going from after a few coats of the paint

 

[ihavecrabs]

Replied to your thread about this, but I do not plan to swap any LEDs. I am most likely going to have a ton of LPS and very little SPS so I am assuming I will get enough light off these for LPS and maybe some softies. I must be the weird person since I do not really see the appeal to SPS. I understand the color variations and whatnot, but LPS are so much cooler! I will eventually get par readings from these lights and I will know.

Let me know when you get some PAR readings on them. I'm still a while away from getting these over a tank with water but when I do I'll grab a meter from my local group and let you know too (with the adjusted LEDs of course.)

So ditch the drain I have here and make a different one that is at the level I need? Do I go with a different style of drain? I like the suggestion.

I like the idea too. One of my last builds was a shallow 60g acrylic tank and I ended up drilling new holes for the returns and using the one in the overflow as an emergency/secondary drain. I'll see if I can dig up a picture.

 

[Asonitez]

So ditch the drain I have here and make a different one that is at the level I need? Do I go with a different style of drain? I like the suggestion.

Exactly.. 2 things I took into account when doing my last frag tank.

#1 - My hands and tools were in and out of that tank on a regular basis. Especially after a show or a trip to the LFS. I tried to keep my Frag tank as clean as my display and frequently due to dosing and supplements to color up and take care of the tank it got dirty and grew coraline like a monster. On acrylic coraline will be a BEEEEEETCH to keep off the acrylic and if left will get in deep and haze it over. KNOWING my hands were better than a similiar tool I wanted my overflow to be easily able to take the added volume of my hands being in there without overflowing or splashing everywhere to rearrange or place frags. The designer of your frag tank probably had that in mind.

#2 - I would look into doing the herbie overflow. I would use 1 hole for the main drain and 1 hole for the emergency drain. This would allow you to raise the height of the emergency drain to what ever you need it to be to set the water level. The longer teeth would allow you to skim the surface AND a few inches below the surface and the emergency drain would mean that you can stick your hands in when ever you want and the overflow will handle and self regulate when needed. Pain the pipes black with some krylon paint or use black pvc from brs and you wont even see it. The additional volume will also enable you to put your revives a little closer because the light will dissipate and spread without having as harsh of a hot spot.


AS for the RETURN your better off using a over the top return in either corner pointed low in the tank under the racks to keep detrius suspended and angled toward the overflow to make sure that crap is suspended and sucked town. One of the things I hate MOST about returns in the overflow box is that the return seems to PUSH detrius away from the overflow boxes sometimes making it harder to get nasty stuff down the pipe. When I'm faced with that I tend to spend a fortune in longer locline and extend the returns far from the over flow box and angle them down to make sure im just not overflowing water that was just returned.

Drilling 3/4" acrylic shouldn't be too bad at all and might make for a cleaner return than an over the top one. If you got a good enough return pump you can put some eductors on them or even plumb the returns to a seasweep and avoid 2 more cords and expenses from pumps. It would also avoid not being able to place corals to the very edges of the frag tank because they too close to a powerhead.

 

[Brian Kracht]

Let me know when you get some PAR readings on them. I'm still a while away from getting these over a tank with water but when I do I'll grab a meter from my local group and let you know too (with the adjusted LEDs of course.)I like the idea too. One of my last builds was a shallow 60g acrylic tank and I ended up drilling new holes for the returns and using the one in the overflow as an emergency/secondary drain. I'll see if I can dig up a picture.

I will definitely post PAR readings. It will also be a while until that happens though.

 

[Brian Kracht]

Exactly.. 2 things I took into account when doing my last frag tank.

#1 - My hands and tools were in and out of that tank on a regular basis. Especially after a show or a trip to the LFS. I tried to keep my Frag tank as clean as my display and frequently due to dosing and supplements to color up and take care of the tank it got dirty and grew coraline like a monster. On acrylic coraline will be a BEEEEEETCH to keep off the acrylic and if left will get in deep and haze it over. KNOWING my hands were better than a similiar tool I wanted my overflow to be easily able to take the added volume of my hands being in there without overflowing or splashing everywhere to rearrange or place frags. The designer of your frag tank probably had that in mind.

#2 - I would look into doing the herbie overflow. I would use 1 hole for the main drain and 1 hole for the emergency drain. This would allow you to raise the height of the emergency drain to what ever you need it to be to set the water level. The longer teeth would allow you to skim the surface AND a few inches below the surface and the emergency drain would mean that you can stick your hands in when ever you want and the overflow will handle and self regulate when needed. Pain the pipes black with some krylon paint or use black pvc from brs and you wont even see it. The additional volume will also enable you to put your revives a little closer because the light will dissipate and spread without having as harsh of a hot spot.


AS for the RETURN your better off using a over the top return in either corner pointed low in the tank under the racks to keep detrius suspended and angled toward the overflow to make sure that crap is suspended and sucked town. One of the things I hate MOST about returns in the overflow box is that the return seems to PUSH detrius away from the overflow boxes sometimes making it harder to get nasty stuff down the pipe. When I'm faced with that I tend to spend a fortune in longer locline and extend the returns far from the over flow box and angle them down to make sure im just not overflowing water that was just returned.

Drilling 3/4" acrylic shouldn't be too bad at all and might make for a cleaner return than an over the top one. If you got a good enough return pump you can put some eductors on them or even plumb the returns to a seasweep and avoid 2 more cords and expenses from pumps. It would also avoid not being able to place corals to the very edges of the frag tank because they too close to a powerhead.

Thanks for the thoughts on this. I will most likely be doing this. I think I will just look for a hang on over flow to throw over the top. While aesthetics and important to me, I think with my background being painted black I will be able to tuck it away into the corner without not sticking out too bad. Also, I really like this idea because without making a ghetto rigged change to the teeth to raise the level I will have a cleaner look with just changing the plumbing. In addition to the other benefits you said about reaching in and moving things and the safety of a backup return line. I will be doing this plan. Thank you!

 

[Asonitez]

I'm glad you like the suggestions!

 

[Brian Kracht]

Alright well what is a frag tank without a grow out tank to go with it. I picked up this ~45 gallon tank which isn't the best looking tank but it will more than do the job. Got it for 25 bucks, and tried to clean up the acrylic scratches which again arent a huge deal since it's just a grow out tank.

The before and after pictures don't do a very good job of showing scratch removal. This was also after the first attempt at cleaning it up. So it already looks better than it was when I got it. Still need to either buy a stand or make one for it and I will be plumbing it into the same sump as the frag tank.