Show Off your prop System!

[apistomaster]

I have a tank I like for breeder or would seem like would be good for frag tanks. It is homemade glass/silicone. 30Lx 12Hx 16 W inches. Basillically a standard 25 laid on it's side. I use 3/16 thick glass. At one point I had sixty when I had a shop and was breeding fish, too.
They aren't too big for the thickness of the glass. They are an easy size to manhandle yet have a decent carrying capacity. They were one of my standard sizes . I transshipped and had to quarantine my fish for awhile before placing them in the sales tanks.
The other size I built in numbers were ten gallon also standard sized but layed on their sides for greater suface area.
If I went larger then I used 1/4 inch plate glass but that costs more.
I guess once one gets into reefs and corals cost is something that one gets used to. It is not a cheap hobby no matter how many corners you try to cut.

 

[grallster]

Glass should be cheaper than acrylic.

 

[JRod]

Api,

Did you silicone and make the tanks yourself?

I can get the glass free, just afraid of building one and having it blow out on me.

 

[purebullet417]

just make sure you silicone it good and nothing should happen

 

[apistomaster]

Hi jrod,
The tanks are very simple to make. I was in the position where I could get scrap glass back when I was building the tanks but now it costs me full price for it so I only build something that is unique and can't be bought ready made so yo are off to a good start.
Here some guide lines:Use 3/16" glass on tanks no taller than 16 iches and not over 30 gallons. Taller and larger volums use 1/4" plate.
Here the general steps to construct them.(3/16" glass.
1. Bottom is flush with bearing surface. The front and back sides are 3/8"longer than bottom piece.
2. The ends are cut the same width as the bottom.
All side pieces are cut to the desired heighth of the tank.
3. To make even lines mask off the interior so the silicone seams will be straight . Leave some tags to pull the masking off while the final inside seal is still unset.
4. Build the "box". Use more masking tape from underneath the bottom to come up to help hold the sides in place. Also prepare a couple of masking tape strips so you can place the at the corners , one near the bootom and the other near the top. These stay in place until the next day. Apply sealant at all butt joints just before bringing them together. The first corner is the hardest then the others are easy to bring together.
Ather making sure all the joints are square apply the interior seal. This only needs to be about a 1/4 in up each side and on the bottom piece. Then smear the rough bead smooth with your finger.
Keep plenty of rags or paper towels handy as this silicone is sticky and messy. Leave any drips or smudges alone until cured and scrape them off with razor blade scraper later.
5. I always added a 1 inch full length strip to the tops of the front and backside to add rigidity. For tanks over 30 inches long and 16 inches of more tall I add a 3 to 4 inch cross brace just under the top longitudinal braces.
I have build tanks up to 75 gallons only 16 inches tall X 6o inches long X 20 inches wide. On this tank I added more reinforcement but let's just try to make sure I answer your questions you may have about building 30 to 40 gallon sized tanks that are shallow.
Larry

 

[Shawnts106]

Well, heres my humble first prop system

20Gallon Long
Magnum HOB Filter
100Watt Heater
BB
Cup of LIVE SAND for bacteria
Magnetic M57 175watt Hamilton Ballast
Lumenarc MINI Reflector
175watt 10K Hamilton Bulb
No fish
first corals are:

Red Sea Pom Pom Xenia
2 frags Rainbow Montipora
frag of Sky Blue Zoathids
Neon Red Mini Zoathids
Green w/ Pink Polyp Capnella frag
Montipora (species) Unidentified yet ( Brilliant Purple with Red Polyps)

More to come:

Tortusa
Acro Florida
Montipora Monastriata Brilliant Blue
Idaho Grape Monti
Neon Blue Zoathids
Purple blue Zoathids
Bali Blue Zoathids
Dragon Eye Zoathids
Yellow Tonga Leather Frags
Acropora Valida
Hot Orange Montipora Digitata
Orange Ricordia
Blue Actinodiscus Mushrooms
Pipe Organ Frags - Tubipora Musica (snow flake white with long tenticles)
Fire and Ice Zoathids
Possibly Euphyllia frags.. I duno of what yet.. I just may leave them out
Blow Pop Zoathids
and anything else I can shove in.



Im probably going to change the bulb out to a good 15K bulb, If I can find one, or possibly a XM20K because the PAR is good on them.

Then again... I just may leave it 10K

WHO KNOWS! HAHA

 

[Shawnts106]

Oh yeah.. and

A RIO600 pump with a HYDOR FLOW Rotating water deflector on it., for the time being, untill someone gets the Tunze Nanos in


I also put a sheet of Styrophome under the tank to reflect light up.

 

[apistomaster]

I have only kept large reef tanks with LSP corals when I lived in Seattle and now I live in the high desert of Eastern WA. But can you raise that many corals in a 20 Long or are they just passing through on the way to your larger display tanks.
I have severe summertime heat problems where my water can reach 88 to 90F. Just way to hot. It is frustrating because I would like to grow corals but have had to stay with warmwater freshwater fish for now.

 

[miatawnt2b]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9145232#post9145232 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shawnts106
Oh yeah.. and

A RIO600 pump with a HYDOR FLOW Rotating water deflector on it., for the time being, untill someone gets the Tunze Nanos in


I also put a sheet of Styrophome under the tank to reflect light up.

Why not get one of the new Hydor stream pumps. They seem to be getting great reviews for 1/2 the price of the Tunze nano's.
-J

 

[DrBDC]

Not much here. I have a 110 gallon frag tank to add to the system that has a couple 400's on it. And another mh for the side that has pc's up high. I keep procrastinating doing the work. I also have to use part of my sump that has a 400 over it as well.

 

[jessp]

a rubbermaid prop tank i set up on my patio, it receives indirect sunlight and is lit by a 175 mh 14k hamilton pendant. used for zoas, lps and softies. live rock and flow w/ one fish to ensure low bioload.

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b94/vbcoach22/fragsetup003-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b94/vbcoach22/fragsetup002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

 

[The0wn4g3]

This is by no means a "prop system"... but it's the best I can do in my 46g

 

[JRod]

Larry thanks so much for the info. The tank I am looking to do is only about 2 feet in length and width and about 8 inches high, nothing major.

 

[bkwudzjeep]

No longer running and for sale.....worked well though. I can't find any pics of it actually running unfortunately.

 

[bkwudzjeep]

 

[apistomaster]

DrBDC's 110 prop tank is built exactle the way I describe the costrucion of my glass/silicone 75 gal tank right dow to the top longitudinal stffener sytrips an the mid point cross brace.
Dr is your 110 glass or plexi? It looks like it's glass but it's hard to tell. If glass, it's a very good example of what is possible. They can be cheap if you come across some free glass. It still happens. I built a dozen 6.5 gal tanks a couple years ago out of some free tempered glass shelves I was given.
Larry W.

 

[DrBDC]

That is just a 50ish gallon frag tank. My 110 is actually a lobster tank 4X2.5 is the footprint. I'll have both plumbed up to the system. The 110 is glass but that frag in the pic is plexi. I don't think it's any high grade acrylic even. It's pretty thin but it's been through a lot before I got it even. What's nice if you aren't concerned about a high quality tank is that when you change holes you can just slap on some cement and another piece over the hole, then give a silicone on it just in case and cut a new one. A place called zomania had it first, then gateway aquatics, then I picked it up for 50 bucks.

 

[Shawnts106]

Why not get one of the new Hydor stream pumps. They seem to be getting great reviews for 1/2 the price of the Tunze nano's.

I just might...
Where can I get these again?

 

[jer77]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

 

[Giovanni]

Here is mine frag/prop setup. It is small so don't laugh, I swear the water was cold. LOL It is plummed into my main system and has aobut 225 watts over 5 gallons of water with 660 gallons of random flow from some new hydor prop pumps.

Decided to go large with the skimmer though.

JK