Zoo Prop system in the works come along for the ride

[raskal311]

Hi, folks

Well Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m starting a zoo prop system and since itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s going to be mainly zoos I thought Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d post a thread here. Any advice anyone could give me in term of a system mainly for zoos would be great.

- Main tank would be this 4x4x1
- Lighting will be 400watt SE MH on a Luminark/Luminmax (sp)
- Filtration
- Approximately 100lb of live rock which will be in the sump
- 1/2 ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ 1 inch sand bed, just for looks and maybe some light reflection.
- G4X skimmer, which will only be running 6hrs a day ( I hear them zoos love dirty water).
- Sump will be 4.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢L 2ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢W 14ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ tall (built from an existing 180gal tank)
- Circulation
- Iwaki MD30RLT on return
- 2 Seio M820, 1 Seio M1100
- Penductor on return line

The Plan:

Today Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be dropping by Home Depot to pick up some 2x4 to build the stand. I made a trade for the 400watt ballast last night and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be trading some corals for a luminark reflector in the next week or so. I already have the sump; all I need is to install a few baffles, which should be done by the end of the week. The stand should also be done by this weekend. So the plan is to have water in and system running with in the next two weeks.


Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be post a lot more pictures as I progress so stay tuneââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.

 

[ecotoxlady]

Cool! I'm along for the ride

 

[daFrimpster]

Where did you find a tank like that?

 

[raskal311]

Off an online local ad. I leak tested it already and all is well but I think I may re-seal it anyway.

 

[CoralNutz]

My buddy has the same exact setup only acrylic, 4x4x1. I wish I had room for a couple of those but use 33L's instead due to space restrictions. He has a monster klaus (sp?) skimmer. 400Watt 15 XM in a luminarc reflector. IMO the lighting doesn't get out to the sides enough and you waiste a lot of floor space in the dark. That reflector is really ideal for a 2' spread. They are designed to blast a lot of light downlard but the spread isn't very good. If your looking for best coverage in a tank that size I would look at 4x54W t5s then you could space them to cover the whole tank. You could get a different reflector that would be better for the 4' spread, but IMO one metal halide isn't quite enough for that much floorspace.



Also I would skip the sandbed, not needed or wanted for a frag tank. Line the whole thing with eggrate and put one of those pumps underneat to kick up the detrius and not let it settle.

I would run the skimmer 24/7 btw... There is a lot of talk about lps, zoas and some other corals liking the water dirty. IME, it's going to stay plenty "dirty" for them even with the skimmer. None of my zoas like "dirty" water. Neither do my lps or any other coral I have for that matter :lol:

Also, might want to work out something to run carbon with. I like to run carbon for a couple days after I have cut alot of zoas up. Helps get the chems they produce out of the water. I just run this for a couple days after fragging events....


My favorite part, and probably yours.... When it coes to stocking the tank, make sure to only get the really nice zoas that you think you can sell/trade. I see a lot of people that setup frag tanks and then prop all kinds of common zoas.

Also, you might want to think about diversifying what you prop. I started out with just zoas and quickly realized that a bigger variety would be better. Now I prop zoas, lps, gsp, xenia and some rics as well...

Most importantly, HAVE FUN and take lots of pics... You might want to post in the propagation area if you haven't done so. There are quite a few people that have prop tanks that can also give you some feedback.

 

[Azurel]

Get sounding set up I can't wait to see it started.....

 

[raskal311]

Yeah the sand thing is still up in the air and yes for start it will be mainly zoo but I do plan on a few other things later on. I have had great success with proping sps but sales hasn't been great and I ended up giving away a lot of stuff to friends. Most of the people who comes over are always more interrested in softies. I do have a 50lb bag of carbon ready so I will be running carbon for a few days after fragging. As far as lighting I don't mind keeping my options open but since its just zoos and its only a 12" tall tank I think I can get good coverage if I raise the lights a bit more then normal. But reefcollection just sent me an email with pictures of their new store. It looks like they have the same setup with the same lighting in their store so I'll be droping by after work to see what kind of coverage they have.

 

[twon8]

i would go with a 250w bulb, with only a foot deep tank i think the 400 might be overkill for zoas.

 

[jeffrey_ropp]

Nice raskal!

You should post a link to this in the SCAL forum too.

What city are you in anyway? (Pasadena here).

 

[raskal311]

No, santa ana.

If I can find a 250 watt I may still go with that. I'm try not to spend too much on buying new stuff. I'm trying to get what I need from trade right now. I pretty much have all I need only the reflector and bulb left on the list but I already have a pending trade for that.

 

[Reef Junkie]

That is going to be so darn cool!
I love shallow tanks. If you can, use 4x4 pressure treated wood for the base.
I'm dying to see how this look after it's up!

 

[Pazazz]

Sweet tank!!!!

 

[raskal311]

got the sand built after work today !!!! Took me 3 hours by myself, not to mention I didn't eat lunch so I was hungry the entire time

After getting the tank on the stand I notice that this thing is HUGE!!! 16sf !!!!

Well tomorrow my plans are to get the tank cleaned and re-sealed. That is if I could find someone to help me move this thing off of the stand. I also hope to get the stand painted white. By the end of the week I hope to get my garage cleaned out and have the tank moved in place so I can started putting everything together.

 

[raskal311]

Check out the frag plugs I cut from dead tonga rock. For under $5 worth of rock I got about 50+ plugs. I like these a lot better then the plug I got at Frag Farmers. It weight a lot more so it doesn't get blowen around or flip over.

 

[sunfishh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7240962#post7240962 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pazazz
Sweet tank!!!!

I agree with Pazazz. Of course I think everyone with their avatar is cool

 

[ficklefins]

Man you move fast! I'm in on this one, good luck Raskal.

How are you going to setup your eggcrate? I've heard that you may get a slight cycle from adding new eggcrate so keep that in mind.

What about a step pyramid shape similar to the one below. Except I think it would be better if it had a flat top and fewer steps.

 

[raskal311]

I'm only planning on 10" to total water and a small sand bed so at most I can have two steps. But that is something I'm keeping in mind. I may also just do an egg crates boarder for frags and a lower area in the middle for the larger mother colonies.


Ok I just decided the first thing I'm going to do today is drill the tank for an over flow. I'll also be bracing the glass with another layer of glass since the bottom isn't that thick. I want to drill the tank first because if it breaks I wouldn't have waited all that time cleaning and re-sealing the tank.

 

[dfiddy]

nice find with the tank! great looking stand.. lookin' forward to see it progress! :thumbsup:

 

[raskal311]

Some updates and some bad news


Anyway I went to a local glass store to pick up some 3/8 glass to brace the bottom of the tank after I drill it. When I told the guy I was going to drill it he ended up give me two pieces for the price of one incase I screw up. $10 not bad

success!!!!!


Here comes the bad news

After I applied the silicon I put the bulk heads in to tighten the two pieces, the bottom of the tank cracked. My theory of what happed is that the silicon was very solid/thick and took a lot to tighten the bulkheads. More then what the bottom panel of the tank can handle.

Well this isnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t the end of the project, I do have a few 2x2x1 tanks I can just put together on the same stand I built. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m also considering building a new 4x4x1 out of 3/8 acrylic or glass. Acrylic should run me about $160 for cast; Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll have to go back to that glass shop tomorrow to see what glass would cost me.

 

[jeffrey_ropp]

#@%$&!!!!!

Sorry Raskal....FWIW....I was extremely impressed with the stand.