Stacked Frag Tank Build (picture heavy)

[akitareefer]

A few weeks ago we officially started building 2 more frag tanks. We've been thinking of going "all out" for a while. We took down our 125 display and have moved everything over to our 6'x3' frag tank and purchased a 2'x4' frag tank for quarantine. The set up will now consist of 2 3'x6' and 2'x4' linked frag tanks as well as our 3'x6' quarantine tank. Instead of putting a ton of writing I'll show everything via pictures.

The cutting station (who needs to walk through the living room)
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P3277486_zpsb19c979c.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P3277494_zpsfa87eb53.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P3277505_zps9e496fff.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/d96e1d27-a3d9-4599-a239-0139a25fc5f1_zps9dc1a03f.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/52fcede7-4643-45c0-b1a2-cdd3f00bb304_zpsecfff50d.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P3277496_zpsaa264323.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P3277488_zpsc0833c67.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P3277504_zpsd1c095fd.jpg

[akitareefer]

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P3277511_zps6f565e80.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4027580_zpsceff8dff.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4027582_zpsd285e32e.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4027585_zps23db2f5d.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4027586_zpscffe363a.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4027590_zpsbb702c22.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4037600_zps18059747.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4037601_zpsb0a29d10.jpg

[akitareefer]

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4047655_zps45f4336e.jpg
What goes in
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4047656_zps2fcabb5d.jpg
What comes out
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4047657_zps2c418e74.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4037596_zpsd6bafca0.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4047658_zpsd3e0f1dd.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4037594_zps3b14e99f.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067754_zpsdb9936f7.jpg

[akitareefer]

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4047666_zps1b873b95.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4047676_zpse418b720.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4047686_zps14cb780e.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4047687_zpsbebe51e1.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4057701_zps86f2a227.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4057707_zps36199280.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4057711_zpsb40fd310.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4057712_zpsb32200e7.jpg

[akitareefer]

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067714_zps3d2187ce.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067716_zps2f06c921.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067721_zps0840e3be.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067722_zps186f0ef3.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067724_zpscdfc8673.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067725_zpsfa988fe7.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067730_zpse2dd9f76.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067731_zpsa4d31c38.jpg

[akitareefer]

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067732_zps734b9475.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067734_zps47b74fa7.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067737_zps03813a91.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067738_zps7a827b10.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067739_zps743597b3.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067742_zps4fa1b3d2.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067743_zpsaa857c24.jpg
With all the local fish store robberies we've taken extra measures
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067745_zps8c021d10.jpg

[akitareefer]

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067746_zps6e60804b.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/P4067748_zps743f0c18.jpg

Lastly an akita smile
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/build/7a2b428c-ecf1-4350-b24f-675cb45d804b_zps99f86314.jpg

[buddythelion]

Interesting build!

[organism]

Wow that's looking amazing, great work!

[channingd]

Wish I could get away with that.

Love the Akita smile.

[jcm2m9]

What is the brand name of the flood tables that you are using.

[silver17jo]

Looks cool man, south Florida we don't have basements only the beach. It would be nice to have something like this

[FoxDaddy]

Very interesting, can't wait to see it come together a bit more.

[reefer999]

Looking good, great job!

[akitareefer]

What is the brand name of the flood tables that you are using.
Botanicare. We tried using the black ones but they are much less durable and have a large lip limiting how high it can be filled.

Looks cool man, south Florida we don't have basements only the beach. It would be nice to have something like this
This is our first floor fish room. Although tons of room for expansion in the basement... I'd trade for the beach

[John Helm]

Awesome build. I'm beginning something similar but on a much smaller scale. One of my favorite parts is the security camera in the top corner... :spin1: Deter the bad guys. Dr. Mac at Pacific East lost a bunch of priceless brood stock corals to thieves at his retail facility. They should have kicked their a**es!

[kriv4o]

Dr. Mac at Pacific East lost a bunch of priceless brood stock corals to thieves at his retail facility.

Don't mean to hijack the thread but when did that happen?

To the OP awesome build!

[John Helm]

Sometime in the fall of last year. It was a couple from the DE reef club I think. They have video proof, etc. and are currently in court proceedings. Unfortunately several one of a kind corals were lost by these crooks.

[akitareefer]

Yes cameras have become a must these days. 3 local fish stores have been robbed, one even caught on camera. We're not having random people over to our house but it gives me piece of mind.... as if 4 dogs wasn't already a deterent

[1DeR9_3Hy]

Nice build, lots of good ideas.

You should also prominently display this, and get a pic of a remi 870 leaning against a frag tray :)

http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson2/upload/images/products/detail_md/360004101_md.jpg

[greenlime100]

hey, interesting build !
currently looking to do some plumbing in my sump mainly for my reactors. What adapter did you use to go from the PVC plumbing to tubing?

[akitareefer]

hey, interesting build !
currently looking to do some plumbing in my sump mainly for my reactors. What adapter did you use to go from the PVC plumbing to tubing?

I'm not sure exactly what the piece is called. I'll take a picture later tonight. All the parts are from home depot except the loc line.

[AndyH5512]

Where did you get the white frag tubs?

[akitareefer]

Where did you get the white frag tubs?

They are flood and drain tables used for hydroponics. Most hydroponic stores carry them.

[akitareefer]

I'm not sure exactly what the piece is called. I'll take a picture later tonight. All the parts are from home depot except the loc line.

hard line to flex tubing
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/0001_zps0440a391.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/0001_zps0440a391.jpg.html)

[lakeviewink]

great looking system!!

[akitareefer]

Stacked tanks are through their initial cycling phase, nitrates are slightly raised but zoa, palys, and torches seem to be doing fine. Phosphate levels are being held low but the tanks still have diatoms and algae growth. Going to load up some eggcrate in the top tanks and see if they leach any phosphate. Gfo reactor had to be turned off for a day due to extremely low phosphates.

We have a new Danner pump coming in the mail tomorrow. The "quiet one" does not have enough power. We can currently only open 2 of the nozzles on each stacked tank to get flow. We really wanted to do an external pump but many of them wouldn't work with our current plumbing diameter. It was just easier to get the Danner submersible than fiddle more with plumbing. Not to mention the external pumps for our system are $$$$

Also on the list, WE NEED NEW BULBS! lol. China stock bulbs have horrible color and we definitely need a better spectrum. Researching bulbs atm to figure out what ATI and Geismann bulbs we'll be using. From what I've read, with bulbs you get what you pay for. Right now were just hoping the fixtures hold strong although they only cost $143 with the bulbs.

In our other tank we're filled to the brim and waiting until the stacked tanks are more stable to move more over. Eventually we will be moving the skimmer over to the stacked tank system and replacing it with a smaller proper sized skimmer.

Also coming tomorrow are 3 hanna checkers which we hope will make testing easier. If anyone's wondering about dosing, we use b-ionic 2 part, magnesium, strontium, and coral accel. We use a special unit for dosing called; our hands :P Water changes occur every 2 weeks or as needed. The largest water change is no more than 45 gallons. We've been using reef crystals for the past year but recently moved to instant ocean.

Wondering where are fish are? In the FOWLR. We're done with fish nipping coral. Our older clowns and mandarin are the only ones allowed


http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238811_zps9f5a95a7.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238811_zps9f5a95a7.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238812_zps4d44dcb7.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238812_zps4d44dcb7.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/042313_010528_zps8ab39cc0.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/042313_010528_zps8ab39cc0.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/042313_010818_zps3e4e4c79.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/042313_010818_zps3e4e4c79.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/042313_010755_zpseaf8187e.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/042313_010755_zpseaf8187e.jpg.html)


http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/042313_010808_zps4e44392d.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/042313_010808_zps4e44392d.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/042313_010916_zpsa9956795.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/042313_010916_zpsa9956795.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/042313_010611_zpsc1a2cfbc.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/042313_010611_zpsc1a2cfbc.jpg.html)

[akitareefer]

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238837_zpsa059ad56.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238837_zpsa059ad56.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238835_zpsae7ce6f6.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238835_zpsae7ce6f6.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238834_zpsdf42c2ac.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238834_zpsdf42c2ac.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238833_zps94ad5429.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238833_zps94ad5429.jpg.html)
After ruining almost all our our bath towels
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238832_zpsb63a36ee.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238832_zpsb63a36ee.jpg.html)

[akitareefer]

Get to know our 3'x6' glass tank. Please note, this is not a sale forum...nothing is for sale.

We keep it simple. Tank, sock, carbon/chemi pure bag, skimmer, return pump, and powerheads. We recently ripped the sea swirls out after they both eventually failed. Now its just the Tunze doing the wavemaking. We keep a wide variety of corals in this tank, everything from walking denros, florida rics, chalices, to sps.
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/042313_011006_zpsaa2bca62.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/042313_011006_zpsaa2bca62.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/0003_zpsdffd5621.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/0003_zpsdffd5621.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238821_zps360a88d5.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238821_zps360a88d5.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238823_zps0d6bde58.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238823_zps0d6bde58.jpg.html)
Cage the animals!
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238822_zps9ae223e2.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238822_zps9ae223e2.jpg.html)
Oversized skimmer
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238830_zps296f9e72.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238830_zps296f9e72.jpg.html)
20k 400w MH with VHO
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4238838_zps1c6c0988.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4238838_zps1c6c0988.jpg.html)

[AndyH5512]

They are flood and drain tables used for hydroponics. Most hydroponic stores carry them.

Thank you.

[tippmannsniper]

Awesome frag setup! Nice when you've got the space to do it right! Are you going to be adding any fish for bacteria control or just hardware?

[akitareefer]

Awesome frag setup! Nice when you've got the space to do it right! Are you going to be adding any fish for bacteria control or just hardware?

We have considered adding stacked fish tanks attached to the frag tanks. We might add a pair of clowns to each separate tank as long as they don't bite hands or irritate hosted coral. We will not be putting any sps in the stacked frag system and I don't suspect we'll have any problems with softies or LPS.

[akitareefer]

Yesterday we got Hanna meters alk, calcium, and phosphate. Thought testing would be simplified and easier... not the case. At least it gives us a number and hopefully a more accurate reading.

Also got jugs of b-ionic in the large concentrated size along with a huge bottle of magnesium. We also got a bottle of potassium iodide. We're both not sure why we ordered it but I guess we'll be giving it a try.

Also yesterday, I added 2 bags of pink sand to the 2x4 glass frag tank. I also bought 4 sheets of white egg crate from Lowes and threw them in the top tank to leach out. I've heard Lowes brand leaches less phosphate so I'll be testing daily and cranking the reactor.

This morning the new pump came. She's a beast! Today we're trying to figure out how we'll go from 2" pump output down to 1.25" in a short distance. Also hoping she'll be quieter than the Quiet one. Maybe put a mouse pad under this time around, just nervous about it being reef safe

[akitareefer]

Here's the phosphates
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/042513_113201_zpsd6abad9c.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/042513_113201_zpsd6abad9c.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4258962_zps6e0443e2.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4258962_zps6e0443e2.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4258959_zps5ee272eb.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4258959_zps5ee272eb.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4258956_zps40ce4340.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4258956_zps40ce4340.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4258950_zps759f837c.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4258950_zps759f837c.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4258933_zpsbde10067.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4258933_zpsbde10067.jpg.html)
goodbye quiet one
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4258931_zps7b8bbe73.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4258931_zps7b8bbe73.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P4258929_zps4eec2eb6.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P4258929_zps4eec2eb6.jpg.html)

[floridascape]

Get ready for the algae outbreak from hell... Think twice about the egg crate I beg you... Acrylic is the way to go

[akitareefer]

Get ready for the algae outbreak from hell... Think twice about the egg crate I beg you... Acrylic is the way to go

we already have the algae outbreak from hell lol. We gave the bottom tank a major scrub down and it went from green to white in 15min. If phosphates continue to raise ill pull some of the sheets out. Overnight it went down to .07 so I'm pretty confident the reactor is doing its job. Our white plastic tanks also leach phosphates (from what I've read). I guess were going to deal with phosphates rather than avoid them.

In other news our piece of red cap which was the first coral in the stacked tanks is still alive and well with slight bleaching. I will continue to test occasionally for ammonia and nitrates but it appears the initial cycling is over. Waiting for new bulbs and the skimmer up and running before moving anything else over.

Going to do the first water change right now

[likefish]

great thread. Nice work, thanks for sharing it!

[ddwatson]

Sweet setup. Looks like the hard work is paying off!

[akitareefer]

Sweet setup. Looks like the hard work is paying off!

Thank you


When i came down to the fish room this morning i noticed there was barely any algae growth and the algae in the top tank was dying. I ran the phosphate test and it was at 0.00. This is the 2nd time the tanks have gone to 0 so I pulled out half of the phosphate reactor material and plugged it back in.

[Pdm2476]

looks awesome!

[motomatt86]

That's very cool, how many frag tanks total?

[akitareefer]

That's very cool, how many frag tanks total?

Thank you. We're up to 3 3'x6's and 1 2'x4'

[akitareefer]

updates

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P5029341_zps48689bf4.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P5029341_zps48689bf4.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P5029342_zpsd4d2cdb1.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P5029342_zpsd4d2cdb1.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P5029344_zpsb700bd81.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P5029344_zpsb700bd81.jpg.html)

[akitareefer]

Not too much happening in the way of building. We got some Jakarta corals to fill some room in the tank. I unloaded 156lbs of boxes by myself and checked and dipped them (8 crab feast for the FOWLR tank).... that's 36lbs more than I weight lolhttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/05/07/ety7e3et.jpg

Levels on both tanks are perfect. Alk was a little low but has been adjusted. Phos have held at .04 with 3 sheets of eggcrate, good job reactor!. Heat is becoming a major problem. I installed 3 fans and the temp is still peaking over 81° mid day in upstate ny. We don't have central air so I've literally been waving air in through the sliding glass door. Don't worry we're fixing it. We bought a 1/10 HP chiller for the 3'x6' glass tank (120g).Then we have a whopper of a chiller for the stacked tanks. Unfortunately it requires a temperature controller.... in the snail mail it comes. We are looking at some issues that could arise such as huge amounts of condensation and the fact that our home is like a damp den. These are things we'll just have to deal with slowly. Were considering tarping off the fish room... drilling a vent hole.... dehumidifier.... air conditioner. Who knows what's next. To make things even more hilarious a tube fell out the 55 saltwater drum and water went all over the floor. Later in the day we noticed the drum water was gone and the floor was dry. Immediately went to the basement to see the damage. No sign of water.... because its an addition the water drains through the floor into no mans land. This is good because I'm the queen of dumping water and ruining stuff, who doesn't like to electrocute themselves occasionally.

New ATI and Giesemann bulbs look amazing compared to the stock bulbs. Was thankful for help in the RC lighting section, they helped me pick out the color scheme and I learned so much about the different bulbs... who would have thought a blue + would have so much par. I'm still a MH junky but I'm beginning to like T5s more and more. Got some pretty sweet shots with the T5 coloration.

Tomorrow we pick up our official frag swap tank. 36' acrylic. from some guy off eBay. We've got 3 36" t5 that were hoping will do well over it, poor fixture has been sitting in leftover gear land for a year. I'm doing a frag swap by myself this week so it will be interesting... just signed up today lol. Luckily we fragged stuff a few months ago and frags are grown out and healed. I'm personally not a fan of fresh cut or small frags. IMO there's a better chance of loss in its new tank. I think sps is a little different as far as that goes but I'm really not a stick fan nor do I have the knowledge.

I suppose that's it for today. Dreading our 9 hour round trip car ride through 3 states. I wish all 4 dogs could fit in the car

[dahenley]

my walmart doesnt carry large quantities of frag plugs like that.....
may i ask where you got them?

[akitareefer]

my walmart doesnt carry large quantities of frag plugs like that.....
may i ask where you got them?


EBay. We've tried 2 different vendors. No specific recommendation yet.

[dahenley]

if you want to get fancy...... you can get custom ones from boston aqua farms.
they made me over 100 with my screen name stamped in them. they are ceramic pentagons. (just something different you know haha)

they are the same price as regular ones, but custom shape and stamp. if i buy more, i thing they give bulk discounts.

i was just curious.

do you cure them before using? i see they arnt ceramic.

[akitareefer]

if you want to get fancy...... you can get custom ones from boston aqua farms.
they made me over 100 with my screen name stamped in them. they are ceramic pentagons. (just something different you know haha)

they are the same price as regular ones, but custom shape and stamp. if i buy more, i thing they give bulk discounts.

i was just curious.

do you cure them before using? i see they arnt ceramic.
I like the pentagon ones and how they fit together on the eggcrate, thats pretty sweet

We've tried about 5 types of frag plugs/tiles/disks. All of the cement ones we've bought have all been "pre"cured. I personally don't trust it so I soak them in a bucket and change the water regularly.

We have access to a ceramic studio and have made a bunch of tiles. Unfortunately we looked at the numbers and for a few cents more we can order bulk, and can save our time and trouble.

I love the idea of having identifiable plugs/tiles but then again I don't really like frag plugs other than in frag tanks.

[akitareefer]

So I haven't updated in a while. A couple weeks ago I dropped a fan into the sump...whoops. The surge of electricity must have gone straight through the main pump. The pump was not salvageable so I quickly ran to the hydro store and bought 3 large pumps. I closed down the top tank and ran return tubes to the bottom tanks...real ghetto setup. We ordered another pump but decided to go smaller. The 6000gph was overkill for the system and was adding a ton of extra heat in the tanks. We went with a 4800gph and installed it tonight. In other changes we swapped out a t5 fixture for a diy dimmable LED (RB,NW, and UV) fixture we had sitting around. I ripped off the optics and we put it on the bottom tank so the fixture would no longer heat the tank above (T5's give off more heat than you think). Speaking of heat, its been really hot and we don't have central air. We had 2 chillers lined up before the pump electrocution. When we thought about wasting power on cooling we said, why not cool ourselves too? Luckily my fathers central air was out for a week last year and he bought a bunch of ac units and one with a dehumidifier. We can now keep the tanks at proper temp and the dogs love the AC.

Other things that have happened:
installed a gfo reactor on the "quarantine tank"
Ran out of Alk reagents... ordered a ton of back up for all tests
Having trouble keeping alk high enough, dosing large amount daily testing regularly..dose mag
Replaced GFO media on stacked frag tanks (phosphates were rising)

Glad to have everything running back to normal tonight. Nothing better than feeding coral and relaxing.

cell pictures, sorry
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/6_zpsd27fbea2.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/6_zpsd27fbea2.jpg.html)


http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/5_zpsb06f428d.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/5_zpsb06f428d.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/3_zps5f3f9413.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/3_zps5f3f9413.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/2_zps91097bb5.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/2_zps91097bb5.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/1_zps188048a6.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/1_zps188048a6.jpg.html)

[Hazratty]

Hey..

Nice stock list you have there!!! Curious if you find your overflows on your frag system loud, looks like they would be quite loud siphoning based on how you have them setup?

[akitareefer]

Hey..

Nice stock list you have there!!! Curious if you find your overflows on your frag system loud, looks like they would be quite loud siphoning based on how you have them setup?

Yes the overflows are pretty gurgly but its not really a problem since its the "fish room". Main goal was to keep it simple and effective, they can handle a lot more water than anticipated. The overflow pipe can easily be pulled out and the entire tank can empty, if needed. We can't hear it (water or pumps) from the kitchen or living room, which is all that matters.

[akitareefer]

Everythings up and running perfectly. Impressed with the 4800gph danner pump thats been running for about a month, glad we went smaller. Still hand dosing 90ml of alkalinity daily and bi weekly water changes. Been watching magnesium levels deplete so now I regularly dose it. Now keeping a calender diary documenting everything. Spending hours daily maintaining all tanks by myself.. not sure what happened to split duties lol (men are lazy) All while fitting in a full time job and providing food, exercise and plenty attention to 4 spoiled dogs

Last week my mom snagged me a camera from work and had it sent here, joys of having a parent who works at Canon. Got the Canon T3i with stock lens. New lens I want was on backorder :/ Frustrated with the adjustment from Olympus to Canon, especially for white balance.

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P6110827_zps02b1375e.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P6110827_zps02b1375e.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/P6110832_zps6c14f614.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/P6110832_zps6c14f614.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_1092-2_zpsff868ba8.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_1092-2_zpsff868ba8.jpg.html)

T3i dog photo
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_0900_zps3d809233.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_0900_zps3d809233.jpg.html)

the pack... not just akitas
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/621937_673930850185_658371579_o1_zps00e2c0cd.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/621937_673930850185_658371579_o1_zps00e2c0cd.jpg.html)

[jonthany]

What tank is that with the center overflow?

[akitareefer]

Glasscages custom 6'x3'x1'. Not the best of craftsmanship but she's been up no problems for a year

[Ghetto Man]

Wow. I'd love to have something like this. One day...

[treefer]

Nice Build, Where abouts upstate are you?

[akitareefer]

Outside Rochester

[S14Swap240sx]

I don't think with those akitas your gonna be having much problems with thieves.. awesome build!

[treefer]

Awesome, Im down In Corning. What are you plans for the Coral farm? lol, from the looks of this setup its turning into that!

[akitareefer]

It's not all farm but there are some pieces that we grow out. Some of the stuff we grow are named stuff like bubblegum monster chalice, Jason Fox Jack- O- Lantern Leptoseris, Jason's green lepto, Seasons Greetings Montipora, tons of red cap, high end zoa/paly, dragon soul favia, acans, blastos, lobos, varities of cyphastrea growing like weeds and a wide variety of no name beauties. Been able to double our Florida ricordeas since we started the build. My favorite coral is hands down chalices. Bubbglegum monster was our first chalice, I think I've been able to make 10 frags from it so far. Only sold to friends so far and done one frag swap. It's been really nice to have LED, MH and T5. I move things around and see where they do best. Found that our lobos like LED, favia and rics doing well under T5 and almost everything likes the MH/VHO.

Here's some frags :)
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_0780_zpsbf4c4886.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_0780_zpsbf4c4886.jpg.html)

[aandfsoccr04]

Wow that is a great build. I'm impressed with all the coral you have in those tubs and how slick everything turned out.

[akitareefer]

Wow that is a great build. I'm impressed with all the coral you have in those tubs and how slick everything turned out.


Thank You :)

[akitareefer]

Did some major zoa fragging today. Noticed some of the zoas were growing off their mother rocks/frags. Used the scalpel, peeled them off and glued them down. Bought more plugs from myfragsource, they stay much cleaner but I don't necessarily like the size and shape options. They look much nicer for the "fancy" corals.

Here's the tubb blues colony after her trim back
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2134_zpsb324c09c.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_2134_zpsb324c09c.jpg.html)
not even sure if the other zoas have names, but I had a fragathon
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2135_zps1953d771.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_2135_zps1953d771.jpg.html)

We finally got the new part for our broken inland today, it only took 2.5 weeks to have it sent to the door...lol We got the thing back together and I hope to use it tomorrow. The backup Inland is on the outs and the screws are rusted on so we can't even get to the motor. Might be time for an upgrade at some point. The commercial ones look nice but I have a feeling they cost a small fortune.

[Quintis]

Very awesome set-up!

[akitareefer]

Okay it was finally time to say goodbye to the 400w bulbs over the one frag tank. We took and old 250w fixture with PC, a VHO hood and dissasembled it. In the VHO hood we stuck the old 400w fixture, switched them to 250w and added some new 454 VHO bulbs in. We went with 14k phoenix to create a more natural look, not that I don't love 20k.

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2212_zps64751ee7.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_2212_zps64751ee7.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2200_zpse8769333.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_2200_zpse8769333.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2202_zps0c24f698.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_2202_zps0c24f698.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2208_zps47348bd3.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_2208_zps47348bd3.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2213_zps353ff196.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_2213_zps353ff196.jpg.html)

[akitareefer]

And we set set up another frag tank in the living room.... personal viewing pleasure lol

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/Fotor0710212622_zpsbf383005.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/Fotor0710212622_zpsbf383005.jpg.html)

[Meldrath]

Absolutely beautiful, if I didn't know better I would say it was my LFS!!!! (I want those blue/green skirted zoas.... *juicy*)

[akitareefer]

So after the 2nd Inland kicked the bucket we're ready to buy our next saw. I think the inlands are great for regular hobbiest but when it comes to serious cutting and fragging they just don't make the "cut". We're looking at the Gryphon c40 or possibly something more industrial. If anyone has any suggestions please chime in.

[Centralcampus]

Our local club has a Gryphon and we love it! It is a lot better for fragging in the long run that the Inland.

[akitareefer]

Yes I have heard so many great things about the gryphon. I think we agreed last night that's the way we're going. Now we just need $300-400 lol

Currently having a website built, which is really exciting. It should be done in 2 weeks.

[SCC315]

Very nice and very jealous, where did you get the frag trough from?

[akitareefer]

In tank news:
Corals are adjusting fine from the switch to 250w. I'm still holding alk steady in all tanks using my hand dosing. Phosphates are in check. Not sure if I mentioned but we added a reactor to the glass tank. Since I'm somewhat new to the whole reactor thing I've been changing my methods slightly. I noticed that phosphates were dropping to 0.00 very quickly after changing the gfo. I now put the reactors on timers and I fill them with a 1/4 of the gfo I was using previously. I change them more often but everything is very steady.

Eye candy
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2193_zps001f57f5.jpg
All the red is 3-4m growth
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2180_zps5a936abb.jpg
New and slightly battered
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_2174_zpsab9727ba.jpg

[akitareefer]

Very nice and very jealous, where did you get the frag trough from?

They are hydroponic trays

[mcfarrow]

Have you addressed the humidity yet?

[akitareefer]

Not really. We run the ac which has a dehumidifier. When i get home tonight I'll give you guys the humidity reading of the fish room and other rooms of the downstairs.
At this point were looking to put a ac and dehumidifier directly in the fish room and already have it tarped off from the rest of the house. The problem is we either need to drill a large hole or put in a window.

Luckily our house was built in 1890 and needs a complete tear out. It makes us a little less concerned of damages to floors and walls that we've already made.

Its been 90s the past week and its been real hard keeping the tanks at an even 78, using a controller and fans. The drop from 400w to 250w halides has definitely helped the one tank. We have the chillers on standby if needed

[SCC315]

Hey man can you give me a detailed explanation of your overflow and returns? :D

[akitareefer]

this is as detailed as it gets. 2 standpipes draining to the sump

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/cd8be1d8-6f20-4902-aeb8-05fab073cb0a_zps2be082db.jpg
(http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/cd8be1d8-6f20-4902-aeb8-05fab073cb0a_zps2be082db.jpg.html)
and some couplings on the top of the pipes
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/27e7d6b2-0e2b-4217-8f3f-b4631c611c14_zps072c46fd.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/27e7d6b2-0e2b-4217-8f3f-b4631c611c14_zps072c46fd.jpg.html)

[akitareefer]

as for humidity:
The fish tank room with the tarps open to the rest of the house for days, is 78 degrees and 44% humidity. This is with about 90 square feet in the house, of exposed saltwater surface with fans. I'm surprised and I'm sure everyone else that installed crazy ventilation systems is too. Will be interesting to see what happens in the winter, but I think the central heat will also pull out the humidity.

[SCC315]

How will you go about adding corals and(ever thought of substrate) to such a shallow tank?

[akitareefer]

Thought about substrate. For now we just use tons of live rock in the sumps.

Cycle and add corals once parameters are stable

[akitareefer]

A view from the video camera. Always checking in on them to make sure the lights are on.

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_20130720_165111_zpsa2b891d9.jpg

[PSU REEFER]

Looking good. Love the dogs!

[BlazinNitro16]

Looks great! I really like how you did the plumbing on the hydroponic tray frag tank.

[Centralcampus]

Really like the setup. Addressing the cooling and moisture issues all at once is the best approach to take. There are cost effective ways to deal with moisture when installing an AC unit that are much better than running a separate dehumidifier.

[akitareefer]

Just doing an update. Everything is going well and levels are steady. I need to vacuum more often, its amazing how dirty the tanks get with just coral. Tomorrow we're picking up our 150 starphire cube for the living room.

Heres 2 of the tanks

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_3400_zps278f4ced.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_3400_zps278f4ced.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_3391_zps20089c39.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_3391_zps20089c39.jpg.html)


And a picture of one of our growouts. This echinata? was a brown nub that we bought from a tank crash. It's taken a year to get here lol

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_3354_zps9d1b0848.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_3354_zps9d1b0848.jpg.html)

[ChrisRaubs]

Looking great man!!!

[ninja66999]

man i want some of the anbovre and the red chalice!!! looks awesome!

[akitareefer]

so no new updates really. We got a 150g cube up and running for our display. We got a few fish with the tanks, some of which now live in the glass frag tank. Currently battling to keep the magnesium at 1400, its been a real b to get it over 1300. I've got drip dosers coming in the mail so when I dose alk it will give a more even dosing. Yes I still 100% hand dose everything daily :)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_3769_zps9ddcfed8.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_3769_zps9ddcfed8.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_3794_zps00febdfc.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_3794_zps00febdfc.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_3795_zpsaf7b9ed6.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_3795_zpsaf7b9ed6.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_3459_zps78b7131f.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_3459_zps78b7131f.jpg.html)

[akitareefer]

Switched over to drip dosing, no more pouring it all in at once. This is a bag of alk and rodi.http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/31/amusepa7.jpg

[reefincredible]

aw hell, is there a build thread for the cube?


-Jared

[akitareefer]

aw hell, is there a build thread for the cube?


-Jared

No thread yet. Want to get the equipment in and rock cycled properly. For now its just a boring tank

[akitareefer]

So the past few days temps were in the 90's and we accidentally forgot to turn on one of the ac units.... I found the tanks at 84 yesterday so last night I slowly brought everything back down to 78. I was wondering why things weren't looking so great, and why I was getting cyano with my phosphates in check.

In good news the Gryphon aqua saw arrived. I had to leave for work before I got a chance to play with it. Its been about 2 months since I've fragged, can't wait to do some chopping

[akitareefer]

before and after. Just fragged and rounded her out with the new gryphon. Loving the gryphon and all the frags I made yesterday. Currently on vacation for the week. Abandoned the bf, 4 dogs, fishies and coral, hope everyones alive when I return :)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/Fotor091620639_zps7d6bd060.png[/URL]

[alpine]

Any new updates???

[akitareefer]

When I came back everything was live and well. The tanks did overheat a bit which set off an algae bloom, I've finally got it under control. While doing maintenance the other day I unplugged the main pump(Danner ProLine 4800) of the stacked tank. The pump then decided to never turn on again... So we ordered a 2nd pump and we're sending the broken one back on warranty. What a pain! Lastly we inherited some new fish from a friends breakdown. 5 anthias, 1 purple pseudochromis, 1 lawnmower blenny, and 1 purple firefish. I took some pictures of some frags and growouts.

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5078_zpsb61d2794.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5078_zpsb61d2794.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5075_zps3b874875.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5075_zps3b874875.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5073_zps677a1e1b.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5073_zps677a1e1b.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5069_zpsa85d1874.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5069_zpsa85d1874.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5067_zps8509104b.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5067_zps8509104b.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5066_zps5321b71b.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5066_zps5321b71b.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5065_zpsf4851e4f.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5065_zpsf4851e4f.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5062_zps650c3645.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5062_zps650c3645.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5061_zps0caa403f.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5061_zps0caa403f.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5060_zps3e8159e0.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5060_zps3e8159e0.jpg.html)

[akitareefer]

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5057_zpsecb4f2c9.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5057_zpsecb4f2c9.jpg.html)
forming greenish rim
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5056_zps369f2ebb.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5056_zps369f2ebb.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5053_zps3ebf9337.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5053_zps3ebf9337.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5050_zpsc69d0de6.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5050_zpsc69d0de6.jpg.html)
frag coming back from the dead
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5046_zps5eb4f44e.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5046_zps5eb4f44e.jpg.html)
the new fishes
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5027_zpsb8c3b4cf.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5027_zpsb8c3b4cf.jpg.html)

[SantaMonica]

I really like the white plastic tank... similar to the black one I used for my reef pool. Unbreakable, and I guess un-leakable.

[akitareefer]

Found something in the frag tank..... he's got a new home in the fowlr
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/13/ubapuhaj.jpg

Phosphates in the glass frag tank have been unbearable. I've been keeping them under .05 but using a ton of gfo. I started by taking out 30lb of live rock from the sump assuming that's where it was coming from. Phosphates are still out of whack so I added a power head, did some major vacuuming, and I'm planning to clean the bottom of the sump. Since the start of the build we've run through 5lbs of gfo which I've saved. I ordered lye and I'm planning to regenerate this week.

In other news I've been adding some potassium iodine for the past 2 weeks. I've noticed some coloring up of some of the chalices whether its related or not. I've also ordered a potassium supplement which I've read is recommended for large frag systems. I going to be dosing small amounts to see if I can get colors to pop more, some of the corals are a little dull looking. I'm not paying $50 for the darn test kit, just going to wing it.

Also I think I'm officially a zoa/paly collector. I've been hunting locally and found some nice polyps that I'm excited to grow out.

[scubasteve2580]

Man I'm jealous!!! My little 20 gallon frag tank isn't enough for nothing. Time
To upgrade I guess

[akitareefer]

Update: I'm finally cleared of high phosphates. It was either the high temps 2 weeks ago or the live rock. I've been dosing iodine and potassium since my last post. I haven't noticed insane coloring but my washed out bubblegum moster chalice is finally coming back and getting some of the yellow spotting. The only negative effect is my skimmers are running wild. It has to be because of the potassium or a few more fish. Yes more fish in the fish free system... the 3rd tank breakdown in the past 6 months that needed a home. My favorite new fish is an ancient 4"+ starry blenny.

Some time this week I'll be doing some fragging, I'd like to make a video if possible. I plan on fragging the tubb blues and some acans. Yesterday I found the acans growing in a circle underneath themselves. I'm also going to check on the BTA's. If they are fully healed and healthy I'll frag them too

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5262_zps714bcfce.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5250_zpse8306ec7.jpg

[li_newb]

got a website yet? that orange ric is yelling at me lol

[akitareefer]

got a website yet? that orange ric is yelling at me lol

No website yet. Just up and running for fun ATM.

[akitareefer]

Tank have sadly been neglected the past few days due to dog injury. One of the dogs took a tumble down the stairs and broke her femur in half... http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/28/arerazeh.jpg

[jandlms]

Yeah, umm. The link's not working. Even with the old copy and paste all I see is a blank page. Sorry about the puppy..

[jandlms]

Yep. Thanks.
Poor pup...... Looks like its doing pretty good.

[tonyda1st]

Great job with the pictures.

[dcmartinpc]

That pink acan is SICK!!! Must have!!!!!!!

Great build! Everything is looking great. Have you ever considered running an external pump for your return? I've been running Japanese motored iwaki pumps for years and I have never had one fail. If external isn't an option, then never mind :)

Are you planning on tying the 150 cube into the frag system or are you going to keep them separate?

Don

[akitareefer]

External pump is the way to go but we started with a free quiet one. Now were stuck internal unless we want to replumb and move the sump over.

The 150 is staying separate since there is no easy way to plumb it over to the frag system. I never planned on having 4 separate systems in the house but I guess I have a lot of backup in case something goes wrong...

[lemkerailroad1]

very nice setup

love the coloring of the coral

will you ever go to LED????

[akitareefer]

I just recently replaced my diy led with t5. I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures but the bottom of the stacked tanks was diy neutral white/royal blue/uv LED. I took it down this past week after 6months. The euphyllia was doing great under it but nothing else. Some things got bleached no matter how much I played with the intensities. I now run 5 48" t5 ,bulbs. IMO simple LED builds and some of the cheap Chinese LEDs are great for temporarily holding corals. In fact a lot of LFS and wholesalers use them but they aren't keeping coral for prolonged periods of time. If I were to go LED I might consider AI, Radion, or possibly a reef breeder fixture. I'm so relieved I didn't go all cheap LEDs at this point like i was initially planning. My t5 Chinese fixtures were dirt cheap and have held up and kept the corals healthy so that what I'll be sticking with for now.

[mntnbighker]

I just recently replaced my diy led with t5. I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures but the bottom of the stacked tanks was diy neutral white/royal blue/uv LED. I took it down this past week after 6months. The euphyllia was doing great under it but nothing else. Some things got bleached no matter how much I played with the intensities.

Do you have a PAR meter? I would be curious, aside from spectrum, how the PAR readings would compare. You hear tons of stories about people overcooking things with LED because they have more horsepower than it seems. At least with something like Kessil in theory they provide the needed spectrum and you mostly have to avoid cranking them up too high. Then again I'm a newb and all I have ever used is Kessil. If I build a frag tank/tray I will likely go t5 although I have power constraints that make LED very attractive. I wish there was solid data on what to use when growth is your only priority. And it would be nice if there was an effective way to pipe photons from that big yellow thing up in the sky. ;)

[adamgoldberg]

Tank have sadly been neglected the past few days due to dog injury. One of the dogs took a tumble down the stairs and broke her femur in half... http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/28/arerazeh.jpg
Aww! Poor Corgi.

[trinidiver]

tagging this thread.......

[LouisianaReefer]

Great thread! great work!

What do you use to vacuum out the detritis with as you mentioned?

[a.browning]

Any updates? Great prop setup!

[trinidiver]

Any updates??

[reefngeek]

Very interested in a update. looks awesome!

[ynot65]

Very nice, following along

[Sps Dream]

Follwing :)

[akitareefer]

sorry for lack of updates... Been super busy at work and life, not to mention the ridiculous weather. All the tanks are still doing well. been spending a lot of time on the living room 150 cube display. Slowly starting to switch over to LEDs, 3 Radions coming on Monday :) Also thing we might install central air should it get warm sometime this year. More pictures to come this weekend
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6764_zpsabbf5a31.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6764_zpsabbf5a31.jpg.html)

[msderganc]

What size are your drains? I have a similar flood table, and had a hard time getting the bulkheads in for 1" (and even 3/4") sizes.

How did you get yours to seat properly?

[akitareefer]

You really have to make sure you can get them on the flat area for the drain. Then razor and sand them really well. We also used a little silicone and tightened them as tight as possible without messing up the o-ring/plastic washer thingy. It took a few water tests to get it perfect.
In addition, these will be the last flood and drain tables we use. I believe they are still leaching small amounts, they provide too little buffer water and the lights have to be raised because it's too easy to penetrate. Also the ridges collect debris and create dead spots. I don't like the extra work. All of my tanks will be glass from now on.

[Steveb]

What size are your drains? I have a similar flood table, and had a hard time getting the bulkheads in for 1" (and even 3/4") sizes.

How did you get yours to seat properly?

Have you tried uniseals?

[akitareefer]

Have you tried uniseals?

No

[Psionicdragon]

Tank have sadly been neglected the past few days due to dog injury. One of the dogs took a tumble down the stairs and broke her femur in half... http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/28/arerazeh.jpg

aww..he /she looks sooo sad

[GLHFriends]

How's she doing! (the Corgi) and oh the uh aquarium heh

[akitareefer]

Roxy is back to her crazy self, fastest dog in the house. I brought her to work on Sat
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/photo_zps8c1ee1e0.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/photo_zps8c1ee1e0.jpg.html)

[akitareefer]

Okay so here the picture update:

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6972_zpsa0386118.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6972_zpsa0386118.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6968_zpse8a00f31.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6968_zpse8a00f31.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6966_zps91dab650.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6966_zps91dab650.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6965_zps0c0e2868.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6965_zps0c0e2868.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6963_zps8d5db59f.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6963_zps8d5db59f.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6967_zps61c6e7e0.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6967_zps61c6e7e0.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6960_zpsbe31a7ec.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6960_zpsbe31a7ec.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_6961_zps6f973de0.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_6961_zps6f973de0.jpg.html)

[SanClementeEric]

Where are you guys out of? I'm planning a tiered frag rack too but a bit different (Using a Gorilla rack). Been researching ideas.

[akitareefer]

Where are you guys out of? I'm planning a tiered frag rack too but a bit different (Using a Gorilla rack). Been researching ideas.

If I were to do it over again I'd stay away from stacked tanks. It's very hard to get up there and do maintenance and is often forgotten about. By stacking you are also limiting the height that you can hang your light. With such a shallow tank I had to take it down to 3 54watt t5s in my 8 bulb fixture. You also have to remember that the heat from the light will heat the tank from above. It's a great space saver but a real pain in the butt.

We're located in western ny :)

[SanClementeEric]

Thanks for the tips. I spent some time out there 10 years ago. I lived in Warsaw, NY.


We're located in western ny :)

[akitareefer]

I haven't been on RC as much as I would like. I had to take taptalk off my phone because i was blowing through data ;) I've seen a lot of the other threads die off, I don't want that to happen

so the radion g2's have been up for a few weeks. All corals adjusted nicely. 2 red chalices have bleached but i believe the worm I found in them was the culprit. I also bought a bottle of revive for the heck of it and now its one of my favorite dips (acans LOVE it). I currently use peroxide, iodine, and coral rx for different things. Next I'd like to try RPS all out. I also ordered my first box of Kent salt and will test it out next week. Anyways here's the fish tank room, I like to keep it a mess lol

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7478_zps33248acb.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7478_zps33248acb.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7933_zps29150d99.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7933_zps29150d99.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7932_zps7f934487.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7932_zps7f934487.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7931_zps40736156.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7931_zps40736156.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7930_zpsee11fdf3.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7930_zpsee11fdf3.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7924_zps65e73108.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7924_zps65e73108.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7923_zps710b0396.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7923_zps710b0396.jpg.html)

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7922_zpsa6bc0b02.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7922_zpsa6bc0b02.jpg.html)

[a.browning]

Looking good! Glad to see some updates. How is that gryphon saw, any complaints? I have the inland and it really isn't well designed or reliable.

[reefngeek]

Your collection is surreal ;)

May I ask where you are located?

[akitareefer]

Just outside Rochester NY. The gryphon is amazing so far. Already on my 2nd blade due to wear. Not one blade has snapped which is a common theme with the inland. I was going to sell my extra Inland parts but instead they went to the garbage where they belong. Lol

[akitareefer]

Also, I cleaned up after myself yesterday and made the room presentable. I'll take pictures when I get home from work. Preparing for a frag swap on Sat. Hoping to score some amazing trades and unload some frags. We're taking the top tank down when room is cleared. I cringe when my fiancé brings home more coral, and that's not right. It's way too hard for me to maintain the top tank. I feel like spider woman when I have to get in there for deep cleaning. One of these days I'm gonna fall in or out, neither will be pleasant.

[robn70]

Akitareefer, What size bulkheads are you using on the hydro tray for your return lines? I have one of the 2x4 ft 7" depth trays and have been undecided on what use.

[akitareefer]

Akitareefer, What size bulkheads are you using on the hydro tray for your return lines? I have one of the 2x4 ft 7" depth trays and have been undecided on what use.

1" bulkheads

[akitareefer]

So i tested and ran a water change with Kent reef salt. Mixed well, wrote down the parameters and lost them... here's off the top of my head Alk 175ppm hanna, phophates 0.0 hanna, nitrate .01 salifert, and mag 1260 salifert. Everything was puffed out and happy today.

here's some growth stuff, not amazing but growing
October
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5075_zps3b874875.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5075_zps3b874875.jpg.html)
Now
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7959_zps0306372e.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7959_zps0306372e.jpg.html)
October
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_5057_zpsecb4f2c9.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_5057_zpsecb4f2c9.jpg.html)
Now
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/IMG_7976_zps52926684.jpg (http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/akitareefer/media/IMG_7976_zps52926684.jpg.html)

[SeabassSA]

Exceptional setup. Please post more pics of your Ricordea. When you frag them it would be great to see a video of the process. How do you propagate them, will you give a breakdown of how to do it together with what is required. Alt you could PM me wrt propagation of rics.

[akitareefer]

I will possibly shoot a video when I get out of work. It is very simple! I use a razor, cut inbetween 2 mouths into 2 pieces, then drop it in a tray of crushed coral (in the tank) if there's nothing attached to the foot. You really can't go wrong as long as you have 2 mouths. I have one with a red mouth and base color, can't wait to propagate her.

[Easttuth]

Sorry if I missed this, but are you doing a frag set up to support your larger tank or just sell off the frags? Just curious if it's a profitable venture.

Looks great btw

[akitareefer]

Sorry if I missed this, but are you doing a frag set up to support your larger tank or just sell off the frags? Just curious if it's a profitable venture.

Looks great btw

We sell frags locally and do frag swaps. We both work full time jobs and at this point it's for fun and experience. In the future we would love to open a real shop when we have the capital.

[Reefed419]

Looking good man.

[akitareefer]

Radion switch has been great
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/th_Movie_zps723cdf33.mp4 (http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj538/akitareefer/Movie_zps723cdf33.mp4)

[xdunaticx]

How did you handle the storms that came through there?


Also wanted to add, you've definitely inspired me into starting a prop system. all of your stuff looks amazing.

[akitareefer]

Storms passed right by. We haven't lost power in 3 years *fingers crossed*. IMO frag tanks and prop tanks are more fun than displays!

[akitareefer]

Just wanted to post a little photo update of the living room tanks

[akitareefer]

Okay so here's the good news, fish tank room is getting torn down. Yup all but one 2x4 frag tank. We just signed the lease and we're opening up a storefront. We've got all the plans drawn up and so far everything is going as planned. On August 1st our contractor's tearing down some walls and installing a drain and water line. As of now we'll have 3 60g rimless deep blue frag tanks and the glasscages 3x6. The space is not much larger than our current room but I will be thankful to have it out of my house. I think we've learned a lot from our in home build and we're ready for the next adventure. We want to make sure our store build is simple, space saving, and somewhat automated. I'll admit we've strayed from more of the propagation aspect although I do want to have an entire portion dedicated to aquaculture. We all know that aquacultured corals are generally hardier, healthier and grow faster. I want to ensure the health of every coral before it leaves our tanks.

Please note that this is not advertisement. I don't plan on listing the store name or selling on RC. If you have questions feel free to PM. If it's okay on RC I will post our store frag tank builds purely informational and inspiration :)

[msderganc]

If it's okay on RC I will post our store frag tank builds purely informational and inspiration :)

Awesome! I'd love to see you guys document the build!

[reeftanknewbie]

best of luck on the store and keep us posted. I have learned a lot by your build.

[Thekingy]

Yes please document the store build, I am also throwing around the idea of a possible storefront if I can find the right place for the right price.

[akitareefer]

So the new build has been underway for the past month. The space is 13x16ft, 400$ a month all inclusive. We tore out a wall, added a water line from the basement and replaced all outlets with gfci. The tanks are 2 80g deep blue rimless frag, 1 60g deep blue frag, 2 48"x18"x18", 1 48"x8"x8", and lastly we're thinking 6'x2'x1'. We have 2 55g upright water containers. We're using most of the equipment we already have. I switched all pumps to the Jeboa dc3000's. They are 25w, adjustable and surprisingly powerful. Here's the first of our pictures:
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a633/houseofcoral1/shop/A4EC38AC-1735-4180-9184-E5665E163FE0_zps8odvlcuu.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/houseofcoral1/media/shop/A4EC38AC-1735-4180-9184-E5665E163FE0_zps8odvlcuu.jpg.html)

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a633/houseofcoral1/shop/2FBB8D45-2458-40A2-9ADF-7BDD617FCC45_zpsxic3fllp.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/houseofcoral1/media/shop/2FBB8D45-2458-40A2-9ADF-7BDD617FCC45_zpsxic3fllp.jpg.html)

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a633/houseofcoral1/shop/FDF10EB3-FA85-4D5D-85CB-DAF600AA9167_zpsh05yewqv.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/houseofcoral1/media/shop/FDF10EB3-FA85-4D5D-85CB-DAF600AA9167_zpsh05yewqv.jpg.html)

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a633/houseofcoral1/shop/BDD3C7C4-45DA-4438-947F-18CADC81474B_zpsrozwacfu.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/houseofcoral1/media/shop/BDD3C7C4-45DA-4438-947F-18CADC81474B_zpsrozwacfu.jpg.html)

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a633/houseofcoral1/shop/C97BB375-DC22-46E1-9F7B-727FAE8BF501_zpsgkpxxkwt.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/houseofcoral1/media/shop/C97BB375-DC22-46E1-9F7B-727FAE8BF501_zpsgkpxxkwt.jpg.html)

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a633/houseofcoral1/shop/A070FF3E-7424-46AB-AFF8-B2998BA65EA6_zps14nupmxc.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/houseofcoral1/media/shop/A070FF3E-7424-46AB-AFF8-B2998BA65EA6_zps14nupmxc.jpg.html)

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a633/houseofcoral1/shop/5D03CFD6-2D2E-43F2-9720-46DD08F1A371_zpskzrzewcv.jpg (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/houseofcoral1/media/shop/5D03CFD6-2D2E-43F2-9720-46DD08F1A371_zpskzrzewcv.jpg.html)

[drukkosz]

Thats awesome!!!! Congrats and best of luck.

[talwen]

Where did you get the bank of tanks from?

[XxNewReeferxX]

Awesome build! Are you planning on selling any other livestock like fish or inverts? It would be cool to have a 100% aquacultered only and breed clownfish, shrimp etc. Again, amazing build and frags!

[Scuba_Steve]

Just read though your build and learned a lot! I am starting up a similar venture here soon. I am going a little smaller and using 36x24x8 cement mixing tubs from tractor supply and DIY led fixtures above each tank. I will not be stacked as well. Any single piece of advice you can give that you learned along the way?

Good luck on your next build!

[Marcoss]

This was awesome. What ended up happening?

[Jay_R]

Bump - Any updates? Pic Pic Pic!

[Ssteve]

Updates?

[akitareefer]

Here's a photo update of the past year
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/dfcb75e0a06e479c63a264d7a3833e71.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/02ac99f11be7a14656068c0d801e6eeb.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/2a5072251e4d3e959e5d2c473f806bdd.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/202df5a47d7bc4ab2df9bf45e0163b53.jpg

[akitareefer]

This is what the room looked like a couple weeks ago
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/56388d55424b7582f3bc87fbca7b64d9.jpg

Here's the new space
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/b3e849f2905d325462d41f35395f0e7d.jpg

Attempting to lay out floor plan
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/84b4becb5f739db8f0398ed46abd6562.jpg

1000g system
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/3da3239dbbe7a3cda38a4ea47e0c70d8.jpg

Plumbing nightmare
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/1dd06fa8a850f10f129567324a689d8e.jpg

Behind the scene
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/a26205338076acd99be1af961487edb3.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/787d7bb557db134d3def519892643cae.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/224e8bc24bb8078c5beaa679966ac835.jpg

All acrylic tanks were used and refurbished, lots of sanding and buffing
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/f5bdbf8a805aa6b9e151d0d90511db56.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/13/f886bdf0d225a0368c4662f354199d97.jpg

Feel free to ask any questions, I know I skipped the fine details. Our systems are in no way perfect but the 2 of us build and design it all ourselves.

[Ssteve]

So the first location was a hit and you outgrew it?

[akitareefer]

I wouldn't say a hit but we did pretty well. Our 1 year lease on a 350s/f was up and the landlord didn't have more space as he lead on. We couldn't comfortably fit more than 5 people in the room and we needed a back room badly. I believe its unprofessional to keep any hurting fish or corals in the same system and visable, it's something that we really needed to fix.

[mr9iron]

Great thread.

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Updates???? Love to see your next big build upgrade. Lol

[mr9iron]

^What he said!

[Joey Gon]

Wow very nice it looks like it's been coming together very well for you keep up the good work and best of luck 2 you

[Fish doctor]

You have put a Lot of work into your business. It looks great, I know you will continue to do well in the future.

[NBarry]

Updates? i would love to see everything full of fish and coral.