Best Style Frag Rack in Frag Tank?

[Eckolancer]

If I understand you correctly this is how I was thinking of doing mine on my new set up. It would gain a little space as the crate would be longer front to back at an angle than it would be front to back laying flat. Like this _ compared to /

My concerns are A: the frags falling out or pulled out easily by crabs, snails, fish. B: Cleaning under it.

I think I could get around the cleaning under it by using some framing and making a square access hole in the middle to temporarily remove the middle section of rack. I probably would just not angle it a whole lot to avoid frags being jostled around. Obviously the greater the angle the more space gained, but the easier to uproot frags as well.

like this...

Yes this is the design I was talking about.

 

[d2mini]

Well after fooling around with more black egg crate and pvc this weekend, I decided to take a different approach.
I came up with the design pictured below and since www.buildinganobsession.com is local to me and does great work, I contacted them and they are building this for me.
You'll notice that the clear section is a little taller.
It's taller and in the middle so it's closer to my MH for higher light SPS.
And it's clear so I can put some low light stuff like chalices underneath on the tank floor.
These will be supported with legs made from acrylic rod. And this rack is built in smaller sections to make maintenance easy.
I can remove the frags from one rack at a time and soak it in vinegar and then return it to the tank and move on to the next rack.
It will also make accessing the tank bottom for cleaning or stray frags much easier.
The holes in the pic below are just for illustration purposes. I whipped that out quickly without worrying about scale.
But the real thing will have 1/2" holes spaced 1.5" on center.

So overall this should work out much better than the original DIY stair stepped rack.
Should be picking it up this weekend!

 

[jlanger]

I have machined frag racks on a CNC Router using ¼"or ⅜" clear polycarbonate with ½" polycarbonate rod for legs. The polycarbonate makes for a very strong rack that holds up well.

Multi-level and nesting rack system for a friend that uses the Korallen-Zucht frag system.

 

[FMF0331]

good thread, would love to get more ideas

 

[Daytonareefing]

Can I ask what they are charging you to build it all together.

 

[jlanger]

Dennis...
A good idea would be to have the holes drilled a bit larger than 1/2".
I think the holes in my racks are 17/32" or so to accomodate some of the plugs that are larger than 1/2" in diameter; like the ORA plugs.

 

[d2mini]

Yeah, I almost went bigger but I had to design the rack based on the frag plugs that I use, not what others use.
I hate ORA's plugs. And I have some tiny space-saving plugs that I use sometimes so I had to make sure I didn't go too big.
Anything over 1/2" was starting to make me uncomfortable.
I also use a lot of the flat discs with no plugs. In fact, I currently use those almost exclusively but have been thinking of going back to regular plugs for a bit.

 

[d2mini]

Done!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/d2minis-200g-reeftastic-reef-part-deux.178519/page-25#post-2356939

 

[Reefnjunkie]

You'll like the acrylic better in the long run. Over time hair algae (bubble algae if your main display has any) grows between the squares on the egg crate and its a major pain. I had a similar stair step set up on a 40 breeder and after many months of beauty the egg crate got nasty and it was a PIA to stay on top of.

All my racks now are removable acrylic with holes for plugs-they get bad I swap one out and toss the bad one in the sump, the darkness kills of any algae and I just keep them there until I need more.

Nice design you ended up with