Seamor's Frag Tank

[Seamore]

Another pic laden update on the build this one has the ending you all requested.

Cleaning the burs off the bulkhead holes and adding silicone to make a good seal. corners for the frag racks, mock up and try in for fit


Zip ties to hold the eggcrate, spacers to create room for flow and CUC they stack for bottom cleanup, and a hole for the air to exit.

[Seamore]

Added a shelf to the bench, this is the return manifold with a drain for WC, silicone the overflow drain lines and hose clamps, dual dursos, one as full syphon second as back up and Water! no leaks, (provisional sump w/Mag7)

[crvz]

Looks great so far. I wish I had more space to dedicate to frags. Well done.

[Seamore]

Thanks Chris, that was one of my new years resolutions, going to work on a plan for the sump, make sure the water is good then try my hand at fragging some of the faster groing coral I have. Have to say reading your thread along with some otheres here on TRT has been both a benefit and a motivator for how much my interest and success in the hobby has progressed. Stay tuned.

[biowheel]

Awesome job . It really pays off to do things right the first time . If all works out . By the time you get the frags going I'll need stuff for my tank "hint hint'" Seamore's Discount Frags !! Hmmmm .

[Seamore]

Thanks Biowheel, well I don't want to get too far ahead of myself but do I hope to have some frags to trade and share with friends. If the corals I frag grow at same the rate they do in my reef check back in a few months.

[biowheel]

I was just kidding . I'm still learning and still have a long way to go . My nem is gonna be my goal for now . If I can get him to where he should be then I'll consider adding something else .

[aquawolf]

Great job Seamore! That is looking fragalicious! Where are the lights and how are you going to mount them?

[Sndwave80]

Looks Good!

[Jadinop]

Been debating on posting this because all of my posts seem to be negative but I would hate for you to end up with a potential leak. Bulkheads should never be installed with silicone on the gasket. It can cause the gasket to slip out or buckle which can cause a leak. They also should also only be hand tightened, maybe 1/4 turn past feeling tight. No wrenches or channel locks as it is possible to put too much torque on it. If you tighted up the nut too much it stresses the thin plastic inside between the nut and flange. A little bit of pressure on the piping or a few months of use and the threaded plastic part will split causing a major leak. If the tank is still empty now is the time to fix it and do it right.

[quader94]

thats pretty cool. what lights are you running

[Antdizzle]

the thing is sexy... Ive had the pleasure of seeing 1st hand and man did you do a great job Jose !

[Seamore]

Thanks all, no problems with advice Jadinop, I've used the sam technique on the six reefs I've built and have found the most common leak is around the bulkheads and since I incorporated the 1/8" bead along the base of the threads the most common leak does not occur. The channel locks were used for the last 1/2" of rotation only, the leverage of the handle gives me a better sense of feel of the torque used for the final seat. I agree great care must be taken in both steps so as to create the best long term seal without damaging any of the components, this seems to work consistantly for me but then again I tend to use a torque wrench and taught my son to do the same when we are wrenching on our cars.

As for the lights, I have three 36" 4 T5 bulb Nova Extreems (bought 2, 4 month old units off RC for $100 each and had one on my 37G reef). I think that will be enough light and will give me the ability to play with the intensity and photoperiod over different areas of the tank depending on the frags. As for mounting original legs for now, untill I devise (advice welcome again) a method of mounting them that alows each to be independantly set a their optimal hight. This is also a bit of a research tank for me to tinker with different principles that are too hard/costly to experiment with on the 75G reef (Which has had mostly ups, great coral growth new pair of diamond gobies, and a few downs, lost clams they were inadvertantly moved damaging their foot (GSMC is on the verge of eviction) and one birdnest RTN?, have to update). For now the sump is slated as this weekend's project, thinking about building an eggcrate cage for the return pump to keep emerald crabs and snails out eliminating the need for the last chaimber and alowing more room to stack the rock I have (from 37G reef) and fitting a bubble trap on the skimmer/overflow side. Once done the Ero 85 will go to the frag tank and the 37G will be no more (much to my wife's joy, HOT overflow is not so hot in her opinion). Stay tuned I'll be thinning the corals in the DT sometime this month once the frag tank is stable (should be fast with 100% very cured establishd LR), and thanks again for the input and compliments.

[aquawolf]

Thanks for the update. I am definitely with you on the ups and downs side of things. My pair of GSM's are still in my 75 as well, but the good news is the yellow wrasse is still alive as well. I hope I didn't just kinx myself.

[Seamore]

Got to love those yellow wrasses, mine has almost doubled in mass due no doubt to the constant hunt and eat nature they have. Is your eating the nudies AW? Hope so, theres one on my short list for the frag tank to patrol for pest.
Time to work on the sump.