Frag Tank - Aquarium Advice

Ziggy953 · 12-09-2007, 01:59 PM

Well I got the go-ahead for the frag tank. I have a 55g that has been sitting for a long time collecting dust. Since my corals are growing fast enough that I need to do some fraging I thought I would turn the 55 in to a frag tank. I'm working on it now. In stead of using an overflow box I decided to drill the back of the tank and put a bulkhead in. One less thing to worry about. If you have never drilled a tank take it takes time! I went slow and used lots of water to keep the bit and glass cool. I'm going to plumb it into my current system increasing my system volume to about 175g.

I'm going to use T5 lighting for the frag tank and several Korilas for water movement. This will be a bare bottom tank with egg-crate shelfs for coral frags. I'm going to use a Mag5 to supply the tank with water from my sump which will return to the sump and back through the rest of the system. I've been taking pics, I will post them later.

Innovator · 12-09-2007, 02:15 PM

Do be aware that any sloughing from any coral could affect the main system. Keep that filtration and chemical filtration up!

chase33 · 12-09-2007, 03:28 PM

Can't wait to see the pics. Did you ever upgrade you tank ziggy?

Ziggy953 · 12-10-2007, 04:23 PM

I have not upgraded the tank yet. I don't think I'm going to anytime soon. The next tank I get will be the big one and it will be built into the house my wife and I are going to build. I have tons of plans drawn up for that tank but it is a few years off yet.

I have to pick up a couple pieces of plumbing to finish hooking the frag tank up. I probably wont get to that until this weekend.

Ziggy953 · 12-15-2007, 10:10 PM

The 55g frag tank is up and running. I have it tied into my main system. As I said above I drilled the tank instead of using an overflow. That has worked out very well. I'm using a spare MAG5 as a return pump and I have 3 Koralia 1s in the tank for water movement. I haven't bought the T5s yet so I'm using a PC fixture that I had laying around. Unfortunately only half of the tank has light as one of the ballast has blown. So I took the fixture apart and built a custom temporary light holder. While I was out and about today I stopped in at my favorite LFS (Blue Ribbon Koi) and picked up an awesome little clown fish. I got a No-Bar clown (ORA) this little guy has a single white spot on his left gill. I have tried to get a pic of him but he is a fast little sucker so that will come later. We are in the middle of a nasty little wintery mix situation here so I'm not going to try and upload a lot of pics of the new system. I'll do that later in the week.

Anyway Just a quick update. I'll get some pics up in a few days.

chase33 · 12-15-2007, 10:29 PM

Sounds good Ziggy. Can't wait to see the pics

Ziggy953 · 12-18-2007, 02:43 PM

While I was working on the frag tank I also did a little modification to my Main systems lighting. The PC Fixture I had had 4 LED moon lights in it. I didn't want those to go to waste so I installed them in the canopy for my 72g tank. Pretty cool effect at night. I had forgotten how they look on the tank. I'll get a couple pics of that up too. My interenet connection is still crappy right now. Hughes net is messing around and not fixing the problem so I'm running on about dial up speeds. PAIN!!!!

**ccCapt** · 12-18-2007, 11:25 PM

hehehe :P

Ziggy953 · 12-20-2007, 02:25 AM

I know. This weekend I will be able to get the pics up, then it wont be such a useless thread. :-p

ellisz · 12-26-2007, 09:56 PM

My frag tank is 6ft long and I have a MH pendent on one side that covers a 2x2 area and a 2x96 PC DIY fixture for the other 4x2 section.

On the chemical warfare issue, I have a little rubbermaid box that the frag tank drains into that I keep a bag of carbon and some sponge in. The water drain from it into the sump via holes I drilled.

Congrats on the frag tank. I started with a 10gal, then I had a 20L, then a 33L and now I have a 72x24x13 frag tank.