Temporary Frag tank, later... reef tank ?

[Katze]

Hello everyone,

I have 100g lagoon-ish style display.

I am going to use DIY reef rock which needs a lot of time curing and since I am impatient and other causes (mentioned later), I would like to keep only corals and algae (cheato/bubble or something like those) with 1 small surgeonfish to eat pest algae, nothing else until the rocks are added (or needed).

-NH3 will be monitored, understandibly
-NO3 and PO4 aswell, just in case they reach 0.00 so the corals won't starve
-I will also add a few ceramic media with bacteria to be sure

Planned Filtration for the frag tank period:
Skimmer, algae and corals perhaps, maybe some filter media

Why would I like to do this?
Long story short the problem solving costs of my current tank are incredibly high, without any actual solution, so I want to move sensitive corals to the mentioned aquarium.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I switched from bigger tanks (90g to 180g) to a couple of 40g aio tanks. One is a cube with just a filter sock. I have mostly sps & lps corals and some cuc... no fish. It's been running for a year now and everything is doing just fine!

 

[ryanjohn1]

Probably won’t need that skimmer

 

[Katze]

Probably won’t need that skimmer

I have a spare skimmer either way My lfs (who can be trusted) also mentioned that I may have to add more fish to compensate for the nutrient up-take. If NH3 rises then I'm going to add algae, just in case of emergency.

 

[kevgib67]

Pictures?

 

[Katze]

Pictures?

Currently there is not much to show
The whole thing is a DIY (mega)project.:
-Stand
-Sump
-Plumbing

Once the DIY part is finished I'll be using:
-Maxspect Jump/Cloud Gyre as the main wavemaker
-2x Jebao/Jecod SLW 10
-And the pump is still undecided, either Aquamedic or Jebao/Jecod
-When the tank is fully operational (rocks and fish added ~2-4 months into the future) I'll be using the RS skimmer (once it's actually needed)

 

[kevgib67]

Currently there is not much to show
The whole thing is a DIY (mega)project.:
-Stand
-Sump
-Plumbing

Once the DIY part is finished I'll be using:
-Maxspect Jump/Cloud Gyre as the main wavemaker
-2x Jebao/Jecod SLW 10
-And the pump is still undecided, either Aquamedic or Jebao/Jecod
-When the tank is fully operational (rocks and fish added ~2-4 months into the future) I'll be using the RS skimmer (once it's actually needed)

Looks like you’re off to a great start! Happy Healthy New Years!

 

[Ron Reefman]

And you've got a good quality light fixture!

 

[Katze]

Looks like you’re off to a great start! Happy Healthy New Years!

To you too!

And you've got a good quality light fixture!

Yes! The best possible. Thanks to @VintageReefer
Where I live it's not popular, in fact only one fishstore sells it for about $1100-1200, so I had to order the fixture from the US.
In my opinion it's even better than AI or Ecotech, especially the pricing. But that is just my point of view.

 

[VintageReefer]

To you too!


Yes! The best possible. Thanks to @VintageReefer
Where I live it's not popular, in fact only one fishstore sells it for about $1100-1200, so I had to order the fixture from the US.
In my opinion it's even better than AI or Ecotech, especially the pricing. But that is just my point of view.

Looking good! Keep us updated!

 

[Katze]

I did not plan this to become a build thread, but sure why not?

Currently the stand is in progress:
I had experience with stands which are not tall enough and are a mess to work with. This one has the same issue, luckily the stand isn't complete this means that I can cut 6 extension parts for the legs and by welding those in place, the stand gains a proper height. (Currently it's 60cm and will be 90cm)
Since the metal scaffolding is not the best design, I'm going to cover it with a better looking "shell"
I will provide pictures about the heightening process as soon as I'm done.
(The whole DIY project shouldn't take more than 2-3 weeks, each week goes to 1 step, like the stand and the sump)

 

[Katze]

The drilling is officially done !
I'd say that this is the hardest part in a diy system, if the glass breaks...
I will have 1 (32mm) overflow, my other system has 1 aswell without an issue, never had too much flow but that has 2000l/h so I'm a bit worried.
The maximal flow will be 3500l/h troughout the system.

The hole it's self is not the best, but a bit of sanding got the job done.


I found a tank which is perfect for a sump, it's quite long but a bit tall. About 77l as total volume.
However baffles must be fitted either way.
I'm planning to add a RedSea filter-roller so I had to count for that to have place.

The next step is the stand, which should be done later, maybe during the next week.
The return pump should arrive by then.

This all means that the earliest start could be on 01. 14.

 

[Katze]

Okay so the metal part is done.
However, the start date has to be delayed since another problem occured... the wall behind the tank is waterlogged (or whatever it's called) so a tiny bit of renovation is needed.
Everything had arrived, returnpump, salt etc. are all here.
Next planned start is 01. 16.-17.

Next to be done: Plumbing, and glueing the baffle.
I'll update later this week.

 

[Katze]

Here it is !
Tons of delays, the plumbing is the last and will be finished today, but the glue's curing time forces me to fill the tank tomorrow.

The wall had to be tiled...

The limescale must be eliminated... or will the saltwater just "tare" it off ?

In 3 months time the stand will have an outer "shell" for aesthetics and will be filled with rocks, but for now it is just a frag tank.

 

[Katze]

Everything is hand-made ! (Except the equipment I guess)

 

[Katze]

Plumbing is done ! Now the cureing shall happen.

 

[Katze]

Everything is ready for the fish and corals ! Salinity is 1.025-6 SG with 25C° + skimmer online !

 

[Katze]

The scopas is in with the corals. Acans look very well zoas not yet open... (they did not open in the other tank either)
Tomorrow I'll upload pictures.

 

[Katze]

Hello ! This is the current state of things:

they look better day by day...

Currently nutrients are 0, my mission is to get acceptable levels
Next day I'll have a zoa/lps (yet to be figured out) arriving.
However the zoas which were closed in the old system are still closed here !