New Frag Tank Build

dbartkow

dbartkow

New member
Hi Everyone,
Been lurking here a while and I thought I would come out of the shadows and share the new frag tank I am building. I have been working/dreaming about it for about 6 months and I am finally making some good progress on it.

fragtank1.jpg


I made it from 3/8" acrylic and it is 4' x 3' x 1'. I did a water test over the weekend and it held up without any leaks. So I am pretty excited about that! I am working on some euro style bracing for the top and then I will move onto the sump and stand. I am planning on using an old 55 gallon tank I have laying around for the sump.

I'll keep you posted on my progress...

Dave
 
I didn't notice any bowing, but I didn't hold a straight edge to it either. I will have the euro bracing completed soon and that should minimize any bowing.

Dave
 
Thanks,
It has been an interesting project. I have never worked with plastic before, so there was a learning curve. But, it has come our pretty decent so far. I finished the euro-bracing last night. I will try and post some pictures later today.

As far as lighting goes, I was planning on going with T5's. But, now I am not sure. I am not sure what type/size of fixture(s) I would need to cover the 4' x 3' area. I am open to recommendations here. I hope to be growing both SPS and LPS. I know it is not ideal to do them both in the same tank, but that is all I have for now.... maybe someday I will make another one :)

Dave
 
T5's were what I figured you'd use. Personally I'm an MH proponent. Check out some of those big Lumenarc reflectors. Might get you some big bang for the buck coverage of that area.
 
Brent,
I purchased a 4' x 8' x 3/8" sheet of acrylic from Laird Plastics in Rochester. I called all over and they had the best price. If memory serves me right, it was a little over $200.

Dave
 
Brent,
I just bought some acrylic from Great Lakes Plastics on Broadway. http://www.greatlakesplastic.com/

Just go there and they will cut the pieces to size for you. I bought (3) 12"x12" 1/4" pieces for just over $6 each. They are pretty reasonable for all of your plastic needs.
 
Could you install some kind of temporary baffle to lower the flow in the LPS side? Just throwing an idea out there.
 
Well, I don't know if I have been intentionally taking my time. My wife is just doing her best to slow me down with home projects ;)

redbj, I had never considered the baffle idea... it might work. I was just planning to position powerheads appropriately. I was thinking of seeing how that goes and hopefully house the LPS in the calmer areas.

Just took some updated pictures. Will hopefully have them up soon...

Dave
 
Yesterday I was able to finish the euro-bracing. Actually, as you can see by the pictures, it isn't a full euro-brace. I didn't have enough acrylic left to do the full brace, so I had to do this modified version instead.


fragtank2.jpg



fragtank3.jpg


I am pretty happy with the results. Cutting the top was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I used a router with a guide, but it was still difficult to keep it moving straight. You can see where I took a couple of nicks out of the acrylic. Also, I didn't have a guide for the curved parts, so I just had to guide the router by hand. So, it isn't perfect, but should be fully functional.

Now it is on to the stand. I am using the design in this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1567110

I will be heading to Home Depot for the wood tomorrow and I also need to find a glass supplier for the baffles in the sump.

Anyone have any recommendations on the type of silicon to glue the glass baffles in the sump?

Thanks,
Dave
 
Looks awesome!!

I went to the plumbing store on Hertel the last time that I bought glass. They didn't have the 1/4" thick panes though. Not sure if that matters. I used DAP aquarium sealant, which the Depot frequently has. 2 tubes was enough to put 5 baffles in my 29, but I probably could have gotten by with 1.

I also used that stand template for my 75, and it's very sturdy and a pretty straight forward build.
 
Found some time to work on the stand today... this is as far as I got:

fragtank-stand1.jpg


Now that all the wood is cut, it shouldn't take too long to put together. So hopefully in the next day or two I will have some completed pictures for you.

Dave
 
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