Building a 24x18x6 frag tank

[Hunna]

Hey there! I’ve decided to build a frag tank myself instead of wait around and hope I can find a good price on one. I feel fairly confident in building out the tank aspect. I ordered 1/2” sheets of 24x18 (black), 2 clear sheets of 18x6, and 2 clear sheets of 24x6 off estreetplastics. I’m needing to cut down the 18x6 to 17x6. I asked them if they could do it for me, but if they can’t what’s my best option to cut the extra inch off each piece?

Past that, does anyone have any experience building an AIO compartment? I also feel like I’ll be able to figure this part out, but it wouldn’t hurt to have someone to run my ideas over with. I’m mainly wondering how easy/difficult it will be to cut out the hole for the return, and what tool would be needed for that? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[scuba steve]

Best bet for cutting the sheets down to size would be a table saw.
Cutting the return holes is easy with a drill and hole saw.
I've got both at my shop off Mansell Rd if you'd like to stop by with your acrylic

 

[Hunna]

Best bet for cutting the sheets down to size would be a table saw.
Cutting the return holes is easy with a drill and hole saw.
I've got both at my shop off Mansell Rd if you'd like to stop by with your acrylic

I manage the Play it Again Sports on Mansell Rd, so that works out perfectly! The main pieces shipped out today and they did not cut the 18x6 pieces, so this is a huge help!

 

[Hunna]

2 small leaks I need to fix, then I think it’s water tight. Built the frag rack earlier this morning. All that’s left is cutting out intake slots on the AIO compartment and then gluing it in place!

 

[Hunna]

She’s just about there! Filled halfway with old tank water, mixing the rest currently. Added some rock and sponge from my other tanks and will be adding more once it’s full, to help skip the cycle process. ATO hooked up, return figured out, AIO compartment glued in with baffle cut out. AI 16 set on the exact same schedule as the one on my Waterbox that’s next to it, just lower %s for everything since there’s less water to go through. Hoping to have it fully up and running by the end of tomorrow!

 

[msporleder]

I like this stuff (expanded pvc foam board) for AIO walls and things: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NP2LD4Z/

It's cheaper than acrylic, you can cut it with a knife, it doesn't deform/absorb water, and you can use regular pvc cement to glue it.

 

[shrike]

I have masses of PVC board and it's main issue is it easily dents.

I do have plenty of experience building all sorts of things with acrylic, though I'm very far behind on commissions. I can still answer any questions though

 

[Jikkermanccini]

I'm curious what kind of savings you've seen over buying one pre-made? I've been wanting to do this same thing, but decent acrylic is so expensive that I'm not sure it would save enough to be worth it. Though the custom dimensions may be worth it in and of itself.

 

[Hunna]

That was for the acrylic. Admittedly, I could have had a frag tray 3D printed from a guy that has done all of my prints for cheaper than what I spent on the egg crate and pvc. I like that I built everything myself though so I’ll take the loss there. I didn’t have the glue for the acrylic, so that was $22. Materials for just the build (not including tools/materials I got that I needed anyway) of the frag tank and AIO compartment were easily under $200.

Luckily a member offered to help with cutting the acrylic down to size, which would have otherwise been pretty difficult for me to do myself. I also picked up an AI 16 Prime for $100, an SPS frag, and promise of more frags once I got this up and running. The entire build including ATO, plumbing (I ended up using an old nano return pump I had), acrylic, and light was under $300.

I enjoyed the challenge of it, and am proud I built it with very minimal help. It’s also convenient to build a size for what you want. I will say that if I could go back I’d go with 8”-10” for height, just to have a little more to work with. Overall I’m quite happy with it though. You can see a video of the entire set up and a test GSP rock on my IG page @hunnas_stunnas

 

[Jikkermanccini]

View attachment 82043
View attachment 82045
That was for the acrylic. Admittedly, I could have had a frag tray 3D printed from a guy that has done all of my prints for cheaper than what I spent on the egg crate and pvc. I like that I built everything myself though so I’ll take the loss there. I didn’t have the glue for the acrylic, so that was $22. Materials for just the build (not including tools/materials I got that I needed anyway) of the frag tank and AIO compartment were easily under $200.

Luckily a member offered to help with cutting the acrylic down to size, which would have otherwise been pretty difficult for me to do myself. I also picked up an AI 16 Prime for $100, an SPS frag, and promise of more frags once I got this up and running. The entire build including ATO, plumbing (I ended up using an old nano return pump I had), acrylic, and light was under $300.

I enjoyed the challenge of it, and am proud I built it with very minimal help. It’s also convenient to build a size for what you want. I will say that if I could go back I’d go with 8”-10” for height, just to have a little more to work with. Overall I’m quite happy with it though. You can see a video of the entire set up and a test GSP rock on my IG page @hunnas_stunnas

That's not bad at all! I can tell you did a phenomenal job with the assembly. I think I'll start stocking up for a build of my own soon.

 

[Givmeanf]

I like that you made the AIO compartments large enough for an adult hand to fit in the compartments.

 

[Fishy_Mcfish]

Nice looking tank

 

[shrike]

Why 1/2"? From my experience it's much harder to work with and with the height of your tank I'm confident you'd be fine with quarter inch. Just trying to see if there's something I'm missing here

 

[shanepike]

Still have this tank? Anything you would have done differently? I can't find exactly what I'm looking for in a frag tank, so doing something like this is a very interesting option.

 

[shrike]

Still have this tank? Anything you would have done differently? I can't find exactly what I'm looking for in a frag tank, so doing something like this is a very interesting option.

I've messed around with a lot of different options for frag tanks and from what I've learned you want a big footprint and a minimum height of 10 inches depending on whether you're plumbing it into an existing system or not. I've run 5-24g AIO frag setups and the biggest issue I've come across is getting proper flow without directly blasting your coral with water. You pretty much have to go bare bottom on smaller tanks which does make then easier to clean, but I always leave some space for live rock. Carbon and biomedia in some form are a must and I usually keep snails and utility fish (lawnmower blenny, coris wrasses, damsels) to produce waste. Ideally I'd say a good frag tank should measure 12-16 inches in height and the longer the better. Anything like 32x18x12 or 24x24x10, whatever fits your space. With good lighting I found my coral easily outgrowing their space in my 24x24x8 and with all the water in motion an ATO or daily maintenance becomes necessary. On smaller tanks you can run a skimmer, but I normally only use it to keep oxygen in the water.

As for acrylic tank fabrication, it can be a pain if you dont have the right tools or equipment but that's a write up for another post

I've found that eurobracing just for practical reasons is helpful as it gives you a small surface to sit down tools and equipment when you're maintaining your tank even if it's not a structural, and can prevent some jumpers from getting out.

After a lot of trial and error I've stuck with egg crate for holding my frags simply because it allows for better water flow, is generally cheaper, and some of the higher end frag racks especially ones with silicone locks in the holes tend to attract bubble algae and create more dead spots