Kevin's Frag System

[kevin34]

well the time is getting near to start this project so I figured I might as well make the thread now. I am gone next week but after that finally have some free time this summer. I am breaking down my 125 because is is started to become too much work to run a whole reef system. if I could go back in time i would have made my whole set up very different and much easier to maintain. in the 125's place i am setting up a 55g frag tank. It will be a smaller system, no fish, and a fresh start. i realized i am much more into the growing of corals than keeping fish.
Soooooooo....
The system will be made up of 2 55g tanks. one for the display and one as a sump/fuge. I will be building a nice and tall stand so I have plenty of room to work on the fuge, clean the return pump, empty skimmer and all that stuff. the frag tank will have 3 shelves. a high one for acros and other sps, middle shelf for rics and zoas, and a bottom one for more zoas and acans. the way i thought it out is that every shelf will be free standing and as they get lower, each one will be a fraction of an inch narrower than the one above it. that way each shelf can slide over eachother to make one 3 tier tower that i can move around the tank for easy cleaning.
Lights will be 2 250w MH 15K that i already have on the 125. i am probably going to end up hanging these and keep the top open on the frag tank.
I am not sure what to do about the return pump. i have a mag 18 now but figured it would be too much for a 55g. the overflow box i am looking at is listed at 800 gph. but then i thought if i wanted the stand to be pretty tall i might need the power of the mag 18 to get the water back up into the frag tank. any thoughts?
open to questions and comments

 

[cedarreef]

Sounds like you've already put a lot of thought in this operation so far! I really like frag tank builds so I'll be keeping an eye on this one. As for the return, I would downsize. That is a lot of water to be pushing out for that overflow.

 

[kevin34]

well unfortunately I really dont think I have the time or money to run a system the size that i planned. I am thinking of getting a 28g nano cube and making that my frag tank as I still want to keep and grow corals. Anyone here ever see a nano cube as a frag tank?

 

[markw]

Why not get a 30gal breeder tank instead? It will incnrease the footprint, but decrease the depth of the tank. This will get the corals closer to the lights and increase the footprint of the tank.
Just a thought.
Mark

 

[king_neptune]

Originally Posted by Kevin34 http:///forum/post/3106390
Lights will be 2 250w MH 15K that i already have on the 125. i am probably going to end up hanging these and keep the top open on the frag tank.
I am not sure what to do about the return pump. i have a mag 18 now but figured it would be too much for a 55g. the overflow box i am looking at is listed at 800 gph. but then i thought if i wanted the stand to be pretty tall i might need the power of the mag 18 to get the water back up into the frag tank. any thoughts?
open to questions and comments

Cap the mag 18 and throttle it down, a simple $5 ball valve will do that just fine. No need to buy a new pump. I have a 55g sump/fuge. its dual chamber with a return section in the middle. I can independently control the flow as needed to either side. my mag 18 I keep throttled down to about %70 so I get about 400GPH each side. with around 800GPH going back up top to my 125DT.
as for lights, 10k spectrum gets you better growth. The higher you go..the nicer blue tint you get. Hear is a good solution to having the best of both worlds:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/349033/neptunes-125-reef-diary
Bulbs that do both 10k and 20k spectrum's. they alternate between each on/off switch. Interesting read, and over all longer life in the bulb. You can have your high growth 10k during the "Away from tank" times. And low growth but nice lighting for your "I'm at home and want to look at my reef" times.