Who uses hydroponic trays for frag systems

[whyoming.white]

So my wife finally gave me the go ahead to tag a frag system off of my main system. After looking at glass and acrylic frag tanks I am thinking I might make out better(cost wise) using a hydro tray. I found a 2x2 on amazon for $80 compared to the $200 for a 2x2 acrylic tank. I also only keep acros and I love looking at them top down so that’s another reason for wanting to do a tub instead of a tank

My main question is plumbing. Is there a way to plumb a hydro tray so it runs silent? My wife can not stand gurgles and running water sounds and my main display runs almost silent.

Does anyone have an example of how they plumbed there tray if they are using one?

How do you like the tray as a frag system?

 

[John3]

TSM Corals in NJ uses some kind of trays for their massive coral system. I love the setup. If you Google them and look at images you can see their setup.

 

[Katrina71]

Wait a sec. There was a really nice one posted the other day. Lemme look.

 

[esolo16]

BRS has an old video setting one up. It has two stand pipes so the noise can be dialed back. Don't know if it would be completely silent though.

 

[whyoming.white]

I found a thread on some forum a little while ago and someone made a “floating” overflow box using uniseals from bulk reef. He could slide the box up and down on the stand pipes to set the water level and was able to have the primary drain low enough to creat a full siphon. The use of the box allowed him to keep the drain low and not drain the whole tub into the sump.

I think I’m going to go this route. I have a 2x2 space to deal with. I can grab a 2x2 flood tray for $50-60 and a stand to match my current display tank for another $50 probably less. So I’m thinking maybe a total investment of ~$100 since I already have lights and extra pumps. Compared to roughly $200 for an acrylic one.