Weetie's 10g Prop Tank

[Weetabix7]

Yep, here it is folks, an honest-to-gosh tank thread from Weetie.

 

Now, I'm gonna warn folks up front that it's a pretty basic and unglamorous system. While I do have a few cool things in it that I'm gonna try to prop, the system itself is small and doesn't have any fancy gizmos. It also tends to evolve fairly slowly.

 

The reason for this is fairly simple, I'm a stay-at-home mom.

This means that 23 1/2 hrs. of my day are spent pulling green beans out of little noses, making sure Jr. hasn't decided to feed Fruit Loops to the bird AGAIN, and explaining the proper method for wiping poop off one's butt to a 4 yr. old. It doesn't leave a lot of spare time for rigging and maintaining a compicated system. I tend to use the KISS method on my tanks, as a general rule.

And since being a stay-at-home mom also isn't a high-paying job, I tend to aquire most of my cool stuff through trades with other members rather than through big spending sprees at online vendors.

 

So without further ado, here's the specs for my kitchen counter prop tank.

-10g AGA tank

-150w MH w/14k Phoenix bulb retro fixture, in a very basic & functional wooden canopy, manufactured by BibleSue's hubby

-75w Stealth heater

-Pico HOB filter with Poly Filter inside

-Azoo powerhead of unknown size, borrowed from BibleSue. I hope to upgrade this soon.

 

This tank sits on my kitchen counter cause the kitchen is where I spend the most time and I'm able to keep a closer eye on things that way.

 

Here's a pic

 

 

I'll try to snap some better ones when I'm able to borrow my sister's camera again.

[crazydante23]

I like simple setups, no fish?

[nUgZ]

You're off to a GREAT start!! I do think you'll want more flow in there soon though. I will also say that I noticed a big improvement in the coloration of my corals once I added sand to the frag tank. Just a thought.

 

P.S. Since there isn't much extra space in these tanks for live rock, I have my AC110 HOB full of rock for filtration. You might want to consider upgrading to a larger HOB for that reason so you don't use up precious real estate in the tank for LR.

[Weetabix7]

I like simple setups, no fish?

 

Nope.

It's kind of a joke in my family that I have all of these aquariums (3 right now) but no fish.

Every time I get any spending money, I always find a coral that I want more than I want a fish!

 

I'm thinking of getting a six-line soon for pest control.

[Weetabix7]

You're off to a GREAT start!! I do think you'll want more flow in there soon though. I will also say that I noticed a big improvement in the coloration of my corals once I added sand to the frag tank. Just a thought.

 

P.S. Since there isn't much extra space in these tanks for live rock, I have my AC110 HOB full of rock for filtration. You might want to consider upgrading to a larger HOB for that reason so you don't use up precious real estate in the tank for LR.

 

Yeah, I'm hoping to get a Koralia or 2 soon. The powerhead that I have in there now actually puts out a decent bit of flow, but it's a "loaner".

I forgot to mention that I actually do have some LR on the bottom level right now for filtration.

 

I do have what I think is a cool project in the works to help in this area though. I'm hoping to hook up another 10g to the right hand side of this tank to use as a display refugium. It's something I've been wanting to try for a while. In addition to the ubiquitous chaeto and LR, I want to have some really cool looking macros and maybe even an interesting inhabitant or 2 that you wouldn't normally see in a reef tank.

[SPerry]

I like it, the show fuge idea sounds cool. A couple of Koralia Nanos would be just right. Paint the light stand and buy wire ties.

[Weetabix7]

I plan on propagating mostly zoas in here to start, but I also have a few sps pieces that I aquired at the W. TN Frag Swap that I'll try propping too, as well as anything else cool I'm able to come across.

 

Here's a few pics of some of the stuff I plan on trying to prop in here:

 

Unknown sps w/tan body and neon green polyps in front (ID anyone?) and

Blue polyp purple Monti Cap behind it

 

Candy Apple Pinks

 

 

Various zoas

 

Bam-Bam's and Smurfberry Pie

 

I've got a couple of new additions that I'm pretty excited about that I'll try to get pics of soon.

[ReeFur]

i have been looking everywhere for a Blue polyp purple Monti Cap.. fragging it yet?

[dtfleming]

Looking good, hopefully Ill be able to get my 10gal frag tank up soon.

[Weetabix7]

i have been looking everywhere for a Blue polyp purple Monti Cap.. fragging it yet?

I'm hoping to be able to in a couple of weeks. Just remind me!

Looking good, hopefully Ill be able to get my 10gal frag tank up soon.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for yours!What kindsa stuff you gonna prop in it?

[ReeFur]

cool..how bout an inch or smaller i dont mind...how much do you think it would be?

[BibleSue]

cool..how bout an inch or smaller i dont mind...how much do you think it would be?

About $5000! Mine, of course will be cheaper!

[ReeFur]

reasonable price

[dtfleming]

Going to prop everything.

[Weetabix7]

reasonable price

 

You gotta watch out for that BibleSue chick, her brain's a little loopy from spending too much time on Quarter Horses.

 

 

As for price, I honestly don't know what these go for, but I tend to be very fairly priced. I'll do some checking around on that.

I'm also totally open to trades too, if you have anything you might be interested in trading.

[ReeFur]

lol..umm i dont have much to trade right now..what in particular were you looking for..and lmk when you come to a price

[Weetabix7]

lol..umm i dont have much to trade right now..what in particular were you looking for..and lmk when you come to a price

 

Higher end zoas, yumas, whatever.

 

I'll let you know on pricing.

[dshnarw]

Beauty of a prop tank ya got there. Reminds me of the one I had running over the summer.

 

[Weetabix7]

Beauty of a prop tank ya got there. Reminds me of the one I had running over the summer.

 

 

Wow, thanks, coming from you that actually means quite a bit!!!

I need to get some ideas and suggestions from you on the display refugium that I'm planning to hook up to this.

More on that later, folks.

 

I'm also in need of a 70w MH light, fixture or retro, and a 2 bulb PC or T5 retro, preferably 20". If anyone has something fitting this description, shoot me a PM! And please keep in mind, my pockets aren't very deep, but I do have some nifty coralz to trade, including plenty of stuff not yet pictured here!

[c est ma]

Looks great! And you have some very sweet corals there...Hmmmm...

 

Chiming in mainly to tag along!

 

--Diane

[nanu-nanu]

let me get a frag of that tupperware mother colony i see in there

[Joe b]

Go Weeti, Go weeti! Great job. Hope I can get one up by next summer! Keep it up! Joe

[Weetabix7]

let me get a frag of that tupperware mother colony i see in there

 

Dude, don't even talk like that!

Do you KNOW what I had to go through to get that super limited edition mother colony? It gives me the heebie jeebies right now just thinking about it! Genuinely translucent corals are so hard to come by...

 

Hey Diane, nice to have you along for the ride! Maybe you can be my fount of wisdom when I finally get my display refugium set up!

 

And speaking of that, here's my idea.

For a while now, I've been toying with the idea of setting up a refugium that would be way more than the typical sump/HOB with a wad of chaeto and some detritus gathering LR rubble. I want to set something up that would be really cool to look at, with a bunch of interesting and unique macroalgae's, a pleasing aquascape, and some interesting critters that you might not normally find in a reef tank. I've even thought of putting a small angler in there, but that would be way down the road.

I've come up with what I think would be an interesting way to hook it up to my prop tank, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to explain it in a way that you will be able to visualize. I'm gonna try tho, so hang in there with me.

 

I currently have my 10g prop on the kitchen counter in front of my kitchen window. I'm not positive, but I suspect that the sunlight may be causing some problems, so I need to move the tank out of the light.

I want to move it farther down the counter away from the window and hook it up to the refugium in an area where two sides of the kitchen counter meet in a corner. I want to get a 20L for the refugium (30 x 12 x 12), and put it up against one wall of the corner. Then I want to take the 10g prop (20 x 10 x 12) and put it with it's back up against the other wall in the corner so that it is at a 90 degree angle to the refugium and butting right up against it. I will use a U-tube to connect the two, as well as some other plumbing to make a loop of continuous flow between them. The 10g will obscure the end 10" of the refugium because of the way they'll butt up against each other, and I'll use the obscured area of the refugium for plumbing, heater, and all the other untidy stuff. I think it'll look really cool once I get it all set up.

 

My biggest obstacle right now is coming up with the appropriate lighting for the prop tank. Because I will be moving the tank to an area underneath the kitchen cupboards, I won't have the necessary height to use the fixture that you see in the pic in the first post. I could of course lower the 150w retro, but I'm afraid that it would be too much light too close to the corals and would cause problems. Basically, I need a 70w MH light, and I just don't have the $$$ to get one right now. Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone want to trade a 70w MH for some tasty coral frags?

 

As always, input is welcome.

[ReeFur]

make your own 70w pendant

[SPerry]

Due to my fear of flooding from U tubes I would suggest drilling 10 gal, sit it on a platform so it is 4in above the sump. That way you could have the return pump (MJ-1200 or so) in the sump.