Looking for feedback on prop tank build

Steveb

Steveb

Premium Member
I'm looking into converting part of our tandem garage into a propagation area. Help me figure out what to use for propagation tanks...

Pros/Cons?

96lx24wx12h
FT120L_01_rgb.jpg

or
66lx36wx18h
aft39_rgb.jpg

or
Maybe 48x24x12 glass (home made)

For lighting I was considering a couple of 150w MH on a light mover for the 8' or one 150MW w/light mover over the 4' or 5' tank. I also thought abut T5 but am concerned about qty of bulbs and frequency of replacement.

For water movement I was going to use a tub w/live rock/chaeto/skimmer with up to four returns.. depends on length of propagation vessel. I was also thinking about using a borneman surge device on each prop tank. Anyone use one successfully?


The plan will be to install two to start for SPS and then will do another two for LPS/softies later. On the fiberglass tanks I need to buy 4 at a time to get a discount + incremental cost on shipping is not much. If I build the tanks from glass I dont have shipping but worry about build quality :) Also probably would not do a surge device w/glass.
 
It looks pretty solid. What are the tubs made from?

The surge device is a great idea as well as light movers to minimize energy usage.
 
My LFS used to have those 8x2x1 runways and always have hair algae problems. I'm not sure if anyone else has ran into that. Your design looks pretty good.
 
Layout looks good to me. Love the surges and light rail for efficiency. I say go all out and add in some solar tubes! :)
 
TellyFish said:
Layout looks good to me. Love the surges and light rail for efficiency. I say go all out and add in some solar tubes! :)
Click to expand...

I wish I could add some natural light! Unfortunately the tandem part of the garage is under the upstairs family room. We had talked about adding a sun porch off our breakfast area so that might be a route to look at but I don't think that will happen for a couple of years.
 
looks good, but i would go with a siphon wavemaker instead of the borneman wave maker as it has NO moving parts to mess up. if you google siphon wave maker there is a schematic on how to build one and how it works. the only thing i would add to it is another overflow bulkhead at the top of the bucket down to the tank just in case something does go wrong. another thing i have found is 150w halides do not work that well IMO i would use 250w hqi halides, it isnt that much in the way of power usage and i strongly believe you will have way better results. also i recommend using 10k lights for the growout tanks, the corals won't look as good under the lights but the growth is WAY more noticable, and that is what you are going for, right. ive seen a couple of guys who grew the majority of their corals under 10k lights then a couple of weeks prior to selling them move them under 20k and let them color back up. one more thing is you might want to think about adding a calcium reactor to your system as dosing might become a little time consuming. it also helps keep things a little more stable and stability is the keystone to rapid growth.

i hope this helps, good luck!:D
 
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slakker187 said:
looks good, but i would go with a siphon wavemaker instead of the borneman wave maker as it has NO moving parts to mess up. if you google siphon wave maker there is a schematic on how to build one and how it works. the only thing i would add to it is another overflow bulkhead at the top of the bucket down to the tank just in case something does go wrong. another thing i have found is 150w halides do not work that well IMO i would use 250w hqi halides, it isnt that much in the way of power usage and i strongly believe you will have way better results. also i recommend using 10k lights for the growout tanks, the corals won't look as good under the lights but the growth is WAY more noticable, and that is what you are going for, right. ive seen a couple of guys who grew the majority of their corals under 10k lights then a couple of weeks prior to selling them move them under 20k and let them color back up. one more thing is you might want to think about adding a calcium reactor to your system as dosing might become a little time consuming. it also helps keep things a little more stable and stability is the keystone to rapid growth.

i hope this helps, good luck!:D
Click to expand...

I was actually planning one tank at 6500k and one at 20k. But 10k may be a better option than 6500k. I will definitely check out the siphon wave maker.

I appreciate the feedback.
 
Will do. I signed the lease on a storage unit today to store all of the seasonal stuff that is in the tandem now. So hopefully will get it all moved tomorrow. Once that is done then I can enclose the tandem and open up the wall between the laundry room and the tandem. Can't believe my wife said ok to it....
 
I currently have 2 of the long tubs set up plumbed to a single sump. They are really nice. Solid and easy to work with and great dimensions for grow out. I have a 3 250 w MH over each. Really simple to get good flow. The returns are at one end the drains at the other, power heads for turbulence and increased flow.
 
If you look at the schematic I am planning on using surge devices as part of the prop system. I have been trying to come up with a way to use an ATO - the problem is levels in the sump are bound go up/down as the tanks fill and then release. Anyone ever dealt with this and if so how?
 
Maybe something along these lines
http://fluidswitch.com/pages/OpticalLiquidLevelSensorOS-900.htm

Optical Liquid Level Sensor - OS-950
OS-950 Miniature Plastic Optical Level Sensor
These solid-state optical level sensors have no moving parts. The built-in optical electronics provides a switched output level sensor that can sense the presence or absence of fluids to 125°C. The Polysulfone housing ensures this level sensor is compatible for use in a broad range of liquids, ideal for medical and industrial OEM level sensing needs. This miniature plastic optical level sensor is ideal for low level or point level monitoring for medical diagnostic equipment, sterilizers and washer, or dialysis equipment.

OS-950B
"ON" when Dry (dry sink output)
imgELS900Group.jpg

dimELS900.gif


And then set it so that when both surge buckets are full that should be when the sump has the lowest amount of water in it and if dry then ATO needs to activate?
 
It is far more cost effective to build frag tanks out of plywood, any number of variations, make a trip to Tropicorium in Romulus MI, and see what he has done over 20 years with this as a sole income. The manufactured tanks are nice, colleges love them, but those trying to keep a black bottom line find more economical places to put their cash.

Dicks are wooden vats with black pond liners. Go and see what he has done. He has built a good business .
 
Thanks Jake I am considering wood/EPDM pond liners as an option. Getting up to Michigan might be a difficult sale to the wife but who knows.
 
No offense meant Jake, but I'm not sure how much you would really save making your own tanks. If you were doing a bunch then definitely, but for 1 or 2 I am not so sure. I really like the strength of the fiberglass, and between building stands, hanging lights, installing circuits, etc, etc, etc... The last thing we would have wanted was another project which would have slowed cash flow. I guess if this was your sole income then the more diy the better, but we really have needed to balance this venture with our day jobs, families, etc. Now while saying that, aquatic ecosystems is a couple miles away so we didn't have to worry about shipping costs.

We just finished installing the third trough yesterday, so were super excited. On the ato, could you have a portion of the sump somehow not affected by the surges? Maybe with large baffles? Do you need an ato? It would sort of scare me to have one with that much $$$ in those troughs. It takes several days for our sump to start blowing bubbles, so as long as we stop by at least twice a week were ok. We have a HUGE sump, about 200 gallons, so I am sure that doesn't hurt with evaporation.

Something we found with lighting is that everything looks iike crap under the MH, so we put t5s on one trough. When we open to locals we will move everything to the t5 trough that we are trying to sell. (we only do foot traffic 2-3 days/month currently.)
 
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I would forget the ATO and put in an ATS, problem algae wouldnt be a problem,

that close to AE the troughs are cost effective, if you were adding shipping they wouldnt be, all those expenses you refer to are the same ones you incur with the troughs, all need stands, lighting, wiring etc.

Check out the ATS, lot of good variations, and save a LOT of problems.
 
gp2 said:
On the ato, could you have a portion of the sump somehow not affected by the surges? Maybe with large baffles? Do you need an ato? It would sort of scare me to have one with that much $$$ in those troughs. It takes several days for our sump to start blowing bubbles, so as long as we stop by at least twice a week were ok. We have a HUGE sump, about 200 gallons, so I am sure that doesn't hurt with evaporation.
Click to expand...

No I don't have to have an ATO (but would like to have one..). I just need to find the time to play around with a old sump that has baffles to see how the water level is effected when that surge bucket is filling, full, releasing, empty. I have the same concern about flooding w/fresh water. I may end up nixing the whole surge bucket concept.


I also put out some requests for quotes for glass to build troughs. But I really don't want to go that route (I already don't have much time - a kid in Jr. High and a kid in Sr. High). The problem is being in the garage (well off of the laundry room) it has to have some aesthetics to keep the wife happy. If I go and throw a bunch of ugly (looks i'm gonna flood the house) stuff in there she is gonna balk. It has to look nice no matter what I end up choosing.

I wish I was a few miles from AE :D

Maybe I could convince the wife we need to swim with the Manatee's and then swing by and strap the troughs to top of my truck on the way back :lolspin:
 
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