Where to begin with my tank

Pandora Expeditions · Feb 15, 2020

We are a diving outfit that has decided to begin harvesting coral to fragment and re plant back onto our house reef to keep it more vibrant (and repair any damage from inexperienced divers). However we are only just learning how to set up a frag tank. we are planning on starting off with a 600L or 158G tank. we are looking for advice on how to set up everything from what kind of pumps and filters to use through to how big the tank with live rock needs to be and what kind of lighting is required. Thank you for any assistance

CuzzA · Feb 15, 2020

Is the tank location close enough that you can pump water from the ocean to your tank?

lapin · Feb 15, 2020

I would suggest a visit to one of the large coral grow out facility. Some thing like WWC to see how they do it. Being there in person is a lot more informative than words can describe.

CuzzA · Feb 15, 2020

I don't know how much an aquarium facility compares to a house reef rebuild. House reef means a shore dive to a reef at the waters edge from their dive shop/resort. That changes the setup significantly if you can pump house reef water into the grow out tanks. There would be no need for dosing, skimming and the various other systems we employee in closed home aquariums.

If I were setting this up I'd run a large pump from the reef to a large vat. Much bigger that 158 gallons. More like a 600 gallon trough. I'd run wave makers for flow if the pump can't do it alone and use the sun with a big canopy diffuser to account for the shallow depth. A par meter would be needed to ensure the canopy isn't blocking too much or letting in too little light.

A setup like that negates the need for temp control, expensive lighting, dosing, excessive energy consumption, live rock, et cetera.

This is a proven system already being employed.

Pandora Expeditions · Feb 16, 2020

CuzzA said:
Is the tank location close enough that you can pump water from the ocean to your tank?

it should be close enough to pump water from the sea

Pandora Expeditions · Feb 16, 2020

CuzzA said:
I don't know how much an aquarium facility compares to a house reef rebuild. House reef means a shore dive to a reef at the waters edge from their dive shop/resort. That changes the setup significantly if you can pump house reef water into the grow out tanks. There would be no need for dosing, skimming and the various other systems we employee in closed home aquariums.

If I were setting this up I'd run a large pump from the reef to a large vat. Much bigger that 158 gallons. More like a 600 gallon trough. I'd run wave makers for flow if the pump can't do it alone and use the sun with a big canopy diffuser to account for the shallow depth. A par meter would be needed to ensure the canopy isn't blocking too much or letting in too little light.

A setup like that negates the need for temp control, expensive lighting, dosing, excessive energy consumption, live rock, et cetera.

This is a proven system already being employed.

this looks like a system set up we could be able to do. is there any filtration required if pumping from the sea. Also we regularly get cyclones during the wet season how would a system like this cope with strong winds and very heavy rain.

Pandora Expeditions · Feb 16, 2020

lapin said:
I would suggest a visit to one of the large coral grow out facility. Some thing like WWC to see how they do it. Being there in person is a lot more informative than words can describe.

we tried talking to a local coral grow facility and they were reluctant to even speak to us let alone see their facility

legrunt · Feb 16, 2020

The sea itself will be your filter... how I envy you guys...

CuzzA · Feb 16, 2020

Pandora Expeditions said:
this looks like a system set up we could be able to do. is there any filtration required if pumping from the sea. Also we regularly get cyclones during the wet season how would a system like this cope with strong winds and very heavy rain.

I would buy or fabricate strainers for the pump intake to prevent debris clogging your pump. The wider the better. Something like a pool strainer that would prevent large animals from becoming stuck. These are specifically designed for pools to keep kids from getting pinned down to pump intakes. You could also put a wye at the intake. This way if one pipe gets clogged the other would be open. If you have really clean water you may not need any filtration after the pump, but if you find sediment and detritus building you could just use filter bags in the vat. I would try to design it so that your pump pushes all the water to the return, thus, pushing detritus out.

Your return and drains should be at the water level. Placing them in the bottom will result in failure because when the pump fails or electricity is lost the tanks will drain back to sea.

As for cyclones you obviously would either want to bolt the system down solid. Alternatively you could put it on casters to allow you to move the vat inside. Since cyclones don't last but a few days the system would just need a source of power and a wave maker during a storm to keep everything alive. As for rain, I wouldn't worry too much. Canopies would deflect a lot and you should be pumping enough seawater in that salinity wouldn't be effected all that much. If the rain is torrential you could just put a temporary cover over it.

I'm curious. Where are you located?

Pandora Expeditions · Feb 19, 2020

CuzzA said:
I would buy or fabricate strainers for the pump intake to prevent debris clogging your pump. The wider the better. Something like a pool strainer that would prevent large animals from becoming stuck. These are specifically designed for pools to keep kids from getting pinned down to pump intakes. You could also put a wye at the intake. This way if one pipe gets clogged the other would be open. If you have really clean water you may not need any filtration after the pump, but if you find sediment and detritus building you could just use filter bags in the vat. I would try to design it so that your pump pushes all the water to the return, thus, pushing detritus out.

Your return and drains should be at the water level. Placing them in the bottom will result in failure because when the pump fails or electricity is lost the tanks will drain back to sea.

As for cyclones you obviously would either want to bolt the system down solid. Alternatively you could put it on casters to allow you to move the vat inside. Since cyclones don't last but a few days the system would just need a source of power and a wave maker during a storm to keep everything alive. As for rain, I wouldn't worry too much. Canopies would deflect a lot and you should be pumping enough seawater in that salinity wouldn't be effected all that much. If the rain is torrential you could just put a temporary cover over it.

I'm curious. Where are you located?

I think im getting a pretty good idea on how to set something that might work. One more question what should the flow rate be of the water going into / out of the coral tanks.

We are starting up a new business that will be located in the NT of Australia

CuzzA · Feb 19, 2020

Pandora Expeditions said:
I think im getting a pretty good idea on how to set something that might work. One more question what should the flow rate be of the water going into / out of the coral tanks.

We are starting up a new business that will be located in the NT of Australia

If I were setting this up I would have a few outlets going into the tank with VCA random flow generator nozzles.

Random Flow Generator | Vivid Creative Aquatics

vividcreativeaquatics.com

Ideally you would want enough flow that nothing settles in the tank. It is really hard to say, but I would shoot for around 10-20 times tank volume. More will always be better especially if you have a variable speed pump or you can dial it back with a valve or creative uses of flow. Like a bottom tank outlet to push detritus. The pipe would need a siphon break in that I stance. You're going to need to look into aquaculture pumps. These are going to be like pool pumps so they are above the water line, but capable to withstand the marine environment. I would do some measuring to see what the distance is from your water source to the tank location. Figure out what size tank and how high it is going to be off the water level at low tide to determine the head height. Then call Pentair and see what they say as they manufacture pumps for this application.