What is the best Frag setup?

[jake]

I want to set up a frag tank and I have been giving some thought into building a shallow wide tank much like a table. Will this work for a wide variety of corals or will I need several tanks with different conditions? You see I got the idea for a table like tank from a store I frequent back home. The tank they have is quite large lets say 15 in deep, 3ft wide, and 10ft long. I won't ever need something of this size but whoa wouldn't it be nice. I am thinking of a smaller system with the same concept. Any ideas or advice?

[FragOutpost]

If you plan on only using the tank for aquaculturing frags then a shallow tank with a large footprint is best. Are you planning on building the tank yourself out of acrylic? What kind of corals do you plan on aquaculturing? You shouldn't have any problems keeping a wide variety of corals in this tank. What kind of lighting are you planning on using, 250 or 400 watt metal halides, T5HO, natural sunlight? Have you considered using raceways if you are going to custom build a tank? Another popular choice for a quick and easy and relatively cheap alternative is to use a rubbermaid stock tank - http://www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp...oductID=14 91
They come in 50, 100, 150, and 300 gallon sizes.

[jake]

Yes I plan on building it myself. I think I will use a thin sheet of acrylic glued to plywood as the base and thicker acrylic as the sides. I will section it off into three sections. This will act as braces for the sides as well. The stand will be built using 4x4s and 2x4s. That way I can create a space for lighting and a sump underneath the tank itself. I may add shelves for storage and such. As for the lights I planned on using compacts and two 400 watt metal halides. maybe three 250 watt. Are T5HO the same as compact lights? The sump will be made out of an extra 55 gal I got for dirt cheap. I made a sump for my two 55 gal tanks and it worked great. What are raceways? As for the corals. I am very new to saltwater so I plan to take it slow. I will start with mushrooms, ricordea, and xenias. Then I want to move forward. That is why I want a tank that can support many types of corals. I have a feeling this will be a single large investment and then I will have to wait before adding on to the system. I am also looking into a ro/di unit for the system. All this is in the planning stages. I have to wait until I am out of the Army and we have settled into our own house. So I have lots of time to pick your brains and learn. Thanks for the reply. Oh by the way I was reading about someone having trouble getting the flow rate right on their sump. I picked up a float switch for a sump at home depo for pretty cheap. Your pump plugs into same plug that the float uses and it will switch your pump on and off depending on the water level. You will need a one way valve so the water won't backflow through the pump.This to can be found in the plumbing section or the outdoor lawn sprinkler section. I can not always get online from Iraq so maybe you can pass this tidbit on for me. Thanks again.

[FragOutpost]

Here is a link showing photos of using raceways - http://www.cnidarianreef.com/mequip.cfm

Personally I would skip the power compacts and use T5HO's. The T5's are much more energy efficient and a lot brighter. What do you plan on using the T5's for, actinic supplementation?

I would not glue the acrylic to the plywood. It will be plenty strong enough just resting on the plywood. I have seen a frag tank 8'x4'x16" made out of nothing but 1/4" acrylic but personally I would have opted for 3/8" just to be safe.

A float switch can be used in creating an auto-top off system but I'm not sure how it would regulate the flow in the sump. When you mentioned that you read where someone was having problems with the flow rate in the sump was it because the sump held too small of a volume of water or that the return pump was able to pump water back into the tank faster than the overflows could return it to the sump? Using a 55 gallon sump and rating your overflow to at least 1.5 time the output of your pump should solve these problems. Do you have a link to what you were reading before? Maybe I am missing something. A float switch and a checkvalve should not be needed on the return pump.