My 55 gallon reef project

That's what we were looking at as well. I know some organizations can gain 501c3 status, but that's not easy to do unless you prove you're an educational group and not just a hobbyist club.

I'm assuming then, that you end up paying some tax every year (or should :)) if you receive many funds outside of member dues.?
 
I'm not an accountant, nor do I want to be, but from what I've understood, you have to show a specific amount of profit over a three year term. If you exceed that number, taxes may be due. Our club spends money every month, so we have very little profit occurring per year.
 
haha....i am an accountant, but not a tax guy......I just thought I'd ask a few people that had experienced the issue before.

..........I will add that most times I don't want to be an accountant either. :)
 
I posted this in the Reef Discussion forum as a new thread, but I thought maybe some of you folks that frequent this thread may have some thoughts too.

I just had a wild idea.

I have a 55 gallon reef tank with a 29 gallon sump/fuge.

I recently purchased a 125 long that I won't be able to setup for a year or so.

Is there a feasible way for me to set the 125 on the floor and hook it into my system for use as a frag growout tank until I'm ready to get it up and going as my new reef?

I'd like to do it without drilling yet, but I can't come up with a safe way to do it.

If I split the overflow from my DT, and return a pump from my sump and the 125, there's risk for flooding if one pump dies.

Anybody have any ideas, or is this totally not worth it?
 
You need it on a short stand, and you'd have to use a HOB overflow. If you keen an eye on it and it maintains siphon, it will work fine.

Alternately, you set it up as its own system, and that way isolate it from possible problems occurring in your reef. Sort of like the old saying, "Don't keep all your eggs in one basket."
 
I kind of had the same though, but the bump i was running into was having the 125 high enough for the sump, but low enough for the overflow coming out of the bottom of the 55.

Thoughts?
 
With a stair step system, it shouldn't be too bad. The plumbing can come out the bottom of the 55g, go over and up into the 125g. You may have to play with it a bit, but water will always flow due to gravity and the 55g is the high point.

Also, you need to make sure your sump can hold all the water that drains from the 55g's surface as well as the 125g's surface if the pump or power fails.
 
Alternately, you could put temporary dividers in the 125 and eliminate the 29 gal sump. You'd just have one very large sump.

Phil
 
Well, here's the initial plan for the stand. One question, what's the best way to connect the bottom and top frames to the support posts? Toenail them or use angle brackets, or something else?

StandPlans.jpg
 
You can you metal angles in the corners.

You can nail or screw metal brackets on the inside where the two touch. They have kinds that are T-shaped, and they have rectangular ones that you pound into the lumber that have a bunch of sharpened spikes, similar to how trusses are made.

You could scab a thinner board on the inside and screw or nail it to the base plate, the upright and the top plate. 1/2" plywood would be fine.

I'm not a fan of toe-nailing, as it is the weakest connection you could make.

If you glue each joint before fastening it together, it will be even stronger. Don't use a water-based glue though.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13635997#post13635997 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev

If you glue each joint before fastening it together, it will be even stronger. Don't use a water-based glue though.
Click to expand...

I'll second this. I'm a big fan of glue and screws. The screws are mainly to hold things together while the glue dries.

Phil
 
I've been acquiring quite a few sps frags recently, and I've built a small little frag rack in the corner of my 55 gallon.

I've gotten various species of monti digitata and capricornis, as well as a couple acro millepora. Most of which are doing well. I do have a blue tipped digi that I somewhat destroyed when I first got it. I wasn't dosing Ca or keeping up with water changes and I had it right next to a modded maxi jet. I basically blew the flesh off of it. It has recovered a bit, but is battling algae on the dead part of the frag.

I recently picked up what was coined a tri-color acro at a local frag swap. It's purple with green polyps. I've yet to see a third color, but I haven't seen much polyp extension since adding it to the tank.

I added a powerhead closer to the frag rack to ensure that there is ample flow in that area of the tank.

Since I'm not too sure what normal polyp extension should look like for this species, I'm not sure how well it's acclimating. It's been in the tank less that a week.

I'm dosing ESV B-Ionic to maintain Ca and Alk. I'm using IO salt, which I've discovered has low Mg. I'm considering a slow change over, but I'm not sure which brand I'll switch to yet. The B-Ionic does contain Mg, so hopefully that is supplementing a bit. Mg is the one test kit I don't own, so I won't be able to provide test results for that element.

I just wanted to get some initial thoughts on this.

I'll post pics and params tonight.
 
You can always dose Mg as needed, but you'll definitely need a kit to know what the level is to dose accurately. Elos has a good kit, and Salifert is good as well.
 
Here's a pic of the frag. Wife's hungry, no time for water tests now ;)

What do you think?

I know the glass is dirty, it's hard to clean by my little frag rack.

DSC_0107.jpg
 
Be sure to move the rack when you clean the glass.

That montipora in the background looks very healthy, so magnesium is probably in good shape.
 
I definitely will. I need to make some sort of hanger for the rack so I can move it out of the way safely to clean.

What are your thoughts on the acro?

I'll post pics of the whole rack tomorrow. I'm really impressed with the green mille. It's starting to spread across the frag plug.
 
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