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Frag Display Tank v2.0

Sherita

By Sherita
in Do It Yourself

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Sherita Elite Reefer

Sherita

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I've been working on a little project recently. After much thought, I
came to the conclusion that I wanted a bigger, nicer display tank for
the frag swaps. So I set about making it so. Here are the tank specs:
30"w x 24"d x 6"t. Made out of 3/8" clear acrylic and 1/4" black
acrylic, with an AIO design and rimless. I wanted it top down viewable,
with minimal surface water disturbance.

Here's the tank:

NewFragTank.jpg

If you look carefully you will notice two things. First is the return
bar in the back bottom of the tank, this is to facilitate top down
viewing while still allowing for good water movement. I should mention, I
have custom built some racks to fit this tank that will elevate the
corals to just above the level of that return bar, so they won't be
getting blown around. Also please take a look in the back left corner,
at that overflow. I built two drop in gates that fit behind it, so that
as the water level drops in the tank (due to bagging corals), I can
remove the top gate to maintain surface skimming and won't have to worry
about my return pump sucking air.

Here's the tank with the light stand:

NewFragTank2.jpg

I apologize. I couldn't back up far enough to get the entire tank in the
photo. I've got too much crap in my workshop, or too little room. Not
sure which. The tank is lit with a 120w full spectrum dimmable led.

The stand is built from 3/4" tubing, and is designed to come apart for
easy transport. If you look directly on either side of the light, you
will see small chain restraints with pins on the end of them. This
allows the stand to be dismantled into three pieces. Here's a detail
shot:

disconnect.jpg

The overflow and return section in the back of the tank is large enough
for me to hide a heater back there. There is also a fan that will be
suspended above the return area, to provide cooling. Tank temp will be
controlled with a homebrew temp controller made from a computer case
temperature control (digital). Directly before the water gets to the
return pump, there is a built in slot for a carbon insert. The carbon
will remove any toxins released by angry corals, and the floss
surrounding it will trap any debris or detritus. This way the display
water will stay crystal clear. Here's the return pump section:

return.jpg

The carbon slot is to the right in this photo. The custom 90 degree
fitting was made using 3/8" ID acrylic. I inserted a piece of rope into
the tubing before heating and bending it. The rope kept the lumen of the
pipe open during bending, and was easily removed after the piece
cooled.

After I completed the build on the tank, I used my laminate router with a
roundover bit to smooth the corners. The top edge was simply smoothed
off using my palm sander, and I rolled the edges over as well using the
palm sander. I then used wet emery cloth and smoothed all edges off
before flame polishing with the torch for nice clear edges. I did manage
to get some scratches on the display part of the tank, so I used a
micromesh kit (which I already had) to buff them out, followed by
polishing with a buffing compound and buffing wheel on my orbital
sander.

I hope you have enjoyed this little mini tour. This tank replaces my
original display tank that many of you have seen at the swaps. I took
what I learned from the first tank (which I built) and incorporated it
into this tank. Who knows what I might do with the next one that I
build...........

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Sherita Elite Reefer

Sherita

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tried current version of IE and firefox. I just see the name of the file and when I click on it a window opens like the pic is going to pop up but nothing.

Do you have a smartphone? If so, try accessing the thread from there. I have no idea why you can't see them. Weird.

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