MFish Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 So, my brother comes home today telling me he wants to do something really 'different' for his senior project in two years. LIGHT WENT OFF! Before I graduated I was dead set on a prop system for my own senior project. I planned to have it in my basement alongside of a nice sized [120ish] reef. Now that I have a good skimmer [bought for octo-tank, but buying live food all the time seems like such a waste] The 120reef is a possibility... So I told him that we should do something like that for his, he loved the idea. Needless to say I think I'm going to aid in the creation of a prop system. However, since he needs to do all maintenance, it isn't going to be connected to my future reef. Can you guys give me some ideas as to a good setup for a beginner? [i'll be donating some of my precious coral to this good cause ] I was thinking of buying some acryllic and making a very shallow tank, possibly a 'Zero-Edge' overflow system. This definitely calls for a 400w halide Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 2 plain old rubbermaid tubs 36" acrossed will do it. SLing one 40 watter over each and your set. Just plumb them into the same refugium/wetdry and skimmer. All you have to do is pop a bulk head on either side of each tub. ONe for the supply to the sump and one for the return on each. place rock or rock rubble in the bottom up to the top of the indents and then cut egcrate to fit over top of the indents. VIOLA! A poor mans prop system. Link to comment
MFish Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share Posted December 13, 2006 I think the only problem with that is that those rubbermaid tubs would be relatively diffucult to take pictures to document the growth for the project. For me, it would be perfect, though. What are your thoughts of a 400w on, say, a 29 with multi-leveled eggcrate shelfs? [acros at the top, zoos and shrooms closer to the bottom.] I have a leftover 29 that he could use. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 As long as its a pendant and about 3-4 foot over the waters surface. Those rubbermaid tubs are actualy GREAT for snapping pictures. They are only 2 feet high and the eggcrate keeps the frags just below the water around 6 inches. All you have to do is turn off the flow and snap away. Link to comment
MFish Posted December 14, 2006 Author Share Posted December 14, 2006 3-4 feet above the tank? The 150 on my 11g is like 9 inches off:p Say we go with the 29, or even a 30g [the 36" long kind], just so we don't have to buy anything new except the light. [250w in the case of these tanks then, I guess] I have a skimmer and can diy filtration out of a 20long I have. When can I get some of your PPEs Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Pssss I dont know what John is doing to get the ones I sold him to grow fast but my pprpe's grow like frozen molasis. 400waters would litteraly blerach just about any coral you put under then if you dont hang them high on tanks that shallow. I think a 250 about a foot over top the 29g tank would be perfect though. Probably for the 30 long as well. Link to comment
lgreen Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I use these rubbermaid totes for prop tanks: They are the perfect length, width, and depth (around 42"x22"x8" i think), plus they are made of hard plastic so they are easy to drill. Another plus, they only cost like $15! It would be really easy to build a rack or something to stack several of these totes up into one big prop system. Link to comment
MFish Posted December 16, 2006 Author Share Posted December 16, 2006 Hmm.. I have some of those haha. Maybe I'll use them. One of my coworkers has a 250w ballast from his old fixture, so I'm going to get that off of him. So, the 250w is deiitely in order. I'm leaning toward the 29 at this point, it's higher so I can have more rooms for shelves Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 16, 2006 Share Posted December 16, 2006 But not as deep so the shelves will be shallow. I vote for a 40g breeder. Link to comment
MFish Posted December 16, 2006 Author Share Posted December 16, 2006 I vote for a 40g breeder. Which I just sold about 5 months ago The only thing I really want to buy is the light, I have skimmers and tanks out the wazoo [29's, the 30 long, a few 10s, a weird 25x25x18 tank] Actually, I sold the 40breeder to someone on here. Now that I think about it, I wonder if he ever got that setup. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 You can get another one fairly cheap brand new. Usualy from $50-$65 depending on where ya go and who you know. Link to comment
MFish Posted December 18, 2006 Author Share Posted December 18, 2006 You can get another one fairly cheap brand new.Usualy from $50-$65 depending on where ya go and who you know. I work at one, but our boss tends to screw us over in the discount dept. The guy that builds our custom tanks said he has a 21w/12h/21L tank laying around that he built in his free time. I hope I can get my hands on that! Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Would make a small but sweet frag tank ! Link to comment
MFish Posted December 19, 2006 Author Share Posted December 19, 2006 Would make a small but sweet frag tank ! Yea, plus a lot of the halides I've been looking at cast 2'x2' area so it would be perfect. I'm going to see if he has any more made up and try to get my hands on them Link to comment
C Jerome Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 MFISH Which high school did you attend? I went to FCS, class of '02 Link to comment
MFish Posted December 28, 2006 Author Share Posted December 28, 2006 MFISHWhich high school did you attend? I went to FCS, class of '02 FCS? I was Bensalem HS, '05 Link to comment
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