Building a frag tank, what equipment is needed?

Zeal · Dec 30, 2019

Mical said:
I just had "luckreef" on Ebay build me a frag tank. https://www.ebay.com/usr/luckreef?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

His acrylic work is 2nd to none. I have a couple of his ATO res's and other pieces and they run circles around the mass produced & commercially sold units. And his prices are reasonable.

I’ll check him out!

Zeal · Dec 30, 2019

TheCoralExchange said:
Yo you still alive kid. Nice to see you still at it!

YOOO I’m gonna message you

Mical · Dec 30, 2019

Zeal said:
I’ll check him out!

Trust me, you'll like his prices and his quality is awesome.

Zeal · Dec 30, 2019

Coastie Reefer said:
LOL, thanks. If you have the room why not swing for a 50g lowboy. 48x24x10 and they retail for about $130.

Can’t too big the best I can do it a28x28x8 without it being an eye sore in my room

Zeal · Dec 30, 2019

Zeal said:
I’ll check him out!

How’s his shipping? I’m in south Florida

ScottB · Dec 30, 2019

Zeal said:
Interesting.. but idk about spending 500$ on just pumps. I think the best gyre could be enough?

As for height wouldn’t more water cause less light to hit the corals at the bottom? Unless you’re running something super strong

Yeah I go a little overboard in this hobby sometimes. OK, every time. How about this package for under $200 total? It is Sicce stuff which I trust and own. With a single powerhead, the flow is too unidirectional IMO. I have gyres in the back of my DT. The laminar flow is cool but they are a lot of work to keep clean just FYI.

and two of these:

As to light penetration of the extra 2 inches you would lose some, but not much. All just food for thought.

Mical · Dec 30, 2019

Zeal said:
How’s his shipping? I’m in south Florida

His shipping is pretty good - usually FedEx. I'll say one thing his packing of his goods are over the top. The last res I ordered from him was a box in a box and packed with tons of styrofoam peanuts. I mean tons!

Zeal · Dec 30, 2019

ScottB said:
Yeah I go a little overboard in this hobby sometimes. OK, every time. How about this package for under $200 total? It is Sicce stuff which I trust and own. With a single powerhead, the flow is too unidirectional IMO. I have gyres in the back of my DT. The laminar flow is cool but they are a lot of work to keep clean just FYI.

and two of these:

As to light penetration of the extra 2 inches you would lose some, but not much. All just food for thought.

Does the wave controller make any noise? I have the Hydor one that I stopped using because it would make noise when they would turn off and on.

now I got a MP10

ScottB · Dec 30, 2019

Zeal said:
Does the wave controller make any noise? I have the Hydor one that I stopped using because it would make noise when they would turn off and on.

now I got a MP10

The controller does not make any noise. That said, I was running the 7 pumps off it and the initial torque of starting did make a sound. Hard to describe the sound, but a low range chirping sound. Once every 60 seconds. They were too strong for an 80 gallon frag tank, sloshing water out no matter what I did. Replaced them with MP40s. They now sit on the shelf with most of my A/C pumps.

Zeal · Dec 30, 2019

ScottB said:
The controller does not make any noise. That said, I was running the 7 pumps off it and the initial torque of starting did make a sound. Hard to describe the sound, but a low range chirping sound. Once every 60 seconds. They were too strong for an 80 gallon frag tank, sloshing water out no matter what I did. Replaced them with MP40s. They now sit on the shelf with most of my A/C pumps.

Good to know. All my options are open

everything is so expensive in thishobby

Frey · Dec 30, 2019

I have two of the low boys running and picked up two of the icecap 1k gyres on sale for a little over 100 bucks at brs. You don't have to buy a seperate wave maker etc, the magnets are plenty strong. I have a mix of frags growing. Sps, softies, lps, and zoas. I have the sps more central in the tanks where the most flow is and the others scattered around. Between those and the return pumps there is plenty of flow and most of the debris seems to collect about 3 inches in front of the gyres, i just suck it out with hose when doing water changes.
I have the artic t247's on them for lighting. Simple 2 channel lights, inexpensive and gets the job done. Comes with built in timer etc.

ReefRondo · Dec 31, 2019

I would go with gyres for sure. My MP10’s struggled to hold on my glass. Also the flow they give works really well especially for keeping detritus suspended and giving good surface agitation.