Grow out tank helP

[SeymourDuncan]

Okey dokey! Now that I have become the local frag master it is time to expand. I am moving and planning a huge setup. well not super huge, just larger than what I have

My plan is this: Preform pond liner as a basement sump/ grow out tank that feeds up one story to a stairstepped tank setup for gravity convenience.

Each tank in the chain will have accommodating power heads and lighting per corals. Im going for at least 6x 55s or 10x 29s <this part is already fine>

The drain will go into a DIY bucket bubble trap that spills into the Pond. I want to use the pond as a grow out. I might even suspend it and have IT overflow into a large sump that will fit a huge skimmer. Does the pond liner sound like a good Idea as far as grow out? I will light it with 400 watt metal halides. it is 18 inches deep @ 250 gallons of water.

 

[revsgirl]

Not very good on advice, but I will be keeping up! Hopefully someone around here can help!

 

[OurReef]

Question

What type of corals would you be growing out in the pond liner? And why so many grow out tanks?

Now this pond liner your thinking about, how sturdy is it? Most I have seen are flimsy and won't
Hold their shape outside of being in the ground.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Question

What type of corals would you be growing out in the pond liner? And why so many grow out tanks?

Now this pond liner your thinking about, how sturdy is it? Most I have seen are flimsy and won't
Hold their shape outside of being in the ground.

As far as stocking im doing all types. I have softies, lps, sps, polyps, shrooms, gorgonians, you name it.
The tanks up stairs will be not for grow out so much as sale display. I want seperate tanks for them so i can seperate corals by environments once they are sellable.

The pond is a hard preform and yes, it is a tad on the flimsy side, but im making a box for it to be supported by. I read about the guy who did the out door farm and used the rubber liner with problems due to folds and stuff...this is hard plastic so it will be smooth. The liner has a spot for an overflow and i wass thinking an extra tank just for the skimmer

 

[OurReef]

Sounds like you have most of it figured out.

So second set of questions

Dimensions of liner?

So 18" deep minus what ever you use for frag racks puts you closer to the 12-14" range at the top of your corals.
In something that shallow is 400w halides necessary? Don't get me wrong I run three over my 180 but for my frag tank (40 breeder) I went with 250 hqi lighting, and I'm still getting too much light on my top rack. Maybe run t5s instead, save some money on cooling and light.

All I can think of right now

 

[coolname1]

Nice. How big is your basement? Any plans with humidity control and cooling?

 

[SeymourDuncan]

WEll...The pond is about 6ft wide. I plan on suspending the light about 3 ft above it...this worked with my 55 (yes I had 400watts on a 55 lol...overkill, but high enough up not to burn or create diatoms).

The light in theory will support any hard corals in the middle, and give enough light on the edges for shrooms and the like...Im not worried about visual appearance, just growth at this point. When the corals move upstairs they will be Color morphed via lighting to regain their natural beauty.

As far as humidity, I have an excellent exhaust system down there and a pretty big dehumidifier. I might even paint the entire basement with some out door paint. Its my moms house that I am taking over so luckily I can do this while shes still living there to speed up the move. The front porch will really need the humidity control..I get (I think its Tropical Fish Magazine...i havent went to my "office" today so i forgot) and they had an article on fish rooms...I found a few good ideas in there..a humidistat could benefit me greatly in this situation...But thats not going to be a hard issue for me since I build houses on top of all my other skills.

Im guessing the trickiest thing I will have is the lighting itself. Positioning it low enough for a clam and High enough for shrooms....The light hangs on wire, so maybe the trickiest thing will actually be just getting the pond downstairs...idk...its all in theory so far, So i am planning backup gorw outs...May even have to build one if I cant get anything large down there...its an akward angle for sure.