rotarymagic Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 A friend called me about a deal on Craigs list. We went to a chick's house who is into Cichlids, had tried her hand at saltwater and didn't like it as much. We got all her livestock. Among other things, I got this big piece of liverock with a rose BTA and Ocellaris hosting for .....$20.00 Acclimating in the Ghetto frag tank now, will put in my 150 after quarantine. It's dark in color mostly Ithink because it's been living for over a year under PC's in a 29, fed shrimp weekly. I get all giddy for some reason whenever I hear stories of preying on people on craigslist... Maybe I'm just sadistic.... Link to comment
The Propagator Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 If any of you ever saw my set ups in person you would be all like " HTF does he get this.. from that ... ?" Link to comment
yardboy Posted October 30, 2008 Author Share Posted October 30, 2008 I get all giddy for some reason whenever I hear stories of preying on people on craigslist... Maybe I'm just sadistic.... Preying? Praying maybe. I've never been one to pay more than the asking price. Her setup was a mess and hadn't been taken care of for quite awhile. She was so eager to get rid of everything that we could have likely gotten her to knock some off the asking price. Now That would have been predatory. Heck I even returned her containers the next day. Bunch of rubbermaid stuff. Oh, and she gave my partner some semi-rare cichlid, which neither of us knew from a Fiji Blue Devil, we took her word for it. C'mon Rotary, you hurt my feelings. I'm trying to avoid the urge to go give her some more money, or maybe some baserock for her cichlid tank. If any of you ever saw my set ups in person you would be all like " HTF does he get this.. from that ... ?" Yeah, a tank is really just something that holds water. after that it's simply taking care of light, water quality and water movement. Link to comment
CONSTANTNE Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 I love it! Really great work using a drum for a frag tank. Link to comment
pismo_reefer Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 i had all of my corals in one of those styrofoam, live rock boxes....it looked like a neato frag tank. this tank reminded me of that... Link to comment
yardboy Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 It's been a long time since the last post to this thread but I had to revive it just to let you know that's it's ended up being the greatest frag system ever. I've heavily modified it since last post, and I'll get to that a bit later, but first, just to show about 4 of the mods at once, here's a shot of a frag of zoanthids I got from Lalani, enjoying life in the Super Ghetto Frag system! Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Here's the setup in the Backyard reef lab you mad scientist! Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I love this YB! Building systems as you do must be very satisfying. Piecing together functional setups utilizing mostly "experienced" items cast away and forgotten, reclaiming them and giving them a new purpose. Thanks for continuing to show us all how to make the most out of what you have. ( or what you can get your hands on ) Link to comment
biophase Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Super Ghetto?? It looks cleaner and smoother than most of the others I've seen. Link to comment
yardboy Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 I decided that the rubbermaid sump was too limiting so redesigned it allow room for rock. For some reason I really don't understand yet, this tank is crazy for corraline, though I dose it no heavier than any of the other systems I have (well, I do dose with calcium gluconate occasionally) and base rock develops into live rock much faster here than anywhere else in my setups. So here is the new sump (running since Christmas). The return pump is a Mag 8 which goes also to a regufium which I am trying to run with just sunlight. t's growing slowly and I'm trying with all my will to not add anything like frags or other macro's to it (just chaetomorpha and mangroves now). Please don't laugh. It's cheap, and it works well. Oh, and the skimmer is a CRC Urchin (sump model) that I kinda converted to a Remora (hob ) Link to comment
yardboy Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 Due to the curved sides of the tank, hang on the side frag racks greatly increase the surface area for growing frags, and don't shade the bottom like in a flat tank. Link to comment
yardboy Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 Okay, Okay, so my topoff system needs some work. I drip kalkwasser continuously (in theory) for topoff but the first time I knock that precariously place limewater container on to something I'm sure I'll set it up better Link to comment
yardboy Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 At least I don't have to clean the sides of the tank! Link to comment
steve0xr Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 looking great, nice frags Link to comment
Azfishguy Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Who need a display tank when you have this???? Its beautiful. When i get my tank all thrown together i might consider a frag tank like this....? Link to comment
jerzsky Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 flippin sweeeeet!! great concept...and oh so well excecution!!! Link to comment
winterparkmg Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 *I've wanted to say this since the first time I saw this thread* Ghetto Fragulous!!! Okay, I'm a dork, I'll go curl up and die now. But really this is such an awesome build. I wish I had cooler dumpsters to dive through here in Oklahoma, but I would probably come out covered in Meth-lab dumpings and cancer... You have a thread that shows how you built your lights? Any diagrams or anything? If so, I can't find it. Linky? ~Wm Link to comment
yardboy Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 I am honored Wm. I like nothing better than to make something out of not much of anything. As for the light, if you can tolerate a story, I'll tell you how I got the light. Used Car lots use metal halides at the front of their lots to show true colors on their cars. One such lot happened to be located just a block off the beach here when Hurricane Ivan struck and wiped out all their light poles. Seeing them on the ground, I circled like a vulture, waiting for the chance. After a few days, I saw them in a dumpster on the lot so went and asked the salesman if I could do some diving, so I came out with two fixtures. A little scraping and bending and spraypainting and it was "good enough for ghetto work". The ballast was a bit trickier. A bare magnetic ballast is the cheapest MH ballast going, so I put it in a metal cracker can (due to heat), holes punched out for cords Not as hard to wire as it looks and installed. Good enough? Link to comment
MitchReef Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 You know, the more of this thread that I see the more amazed I am...I realy want a frag system just like that...I mean seriously....WOW.... I used to consider myself a good DIY'er until I ran into the Yardboy!!!! Link to comment
Avon Barksdale Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Damn!!!!! NICE JOB Link to comment
fayzane Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 This is amazing! You like, MacGyver'd it! Congratulations on the cost-effectiveness and ingenuity Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.