Outdrsyguy's 940 gallon DT Build

[outdrsyguy1]

Okay, I could use some fresh ideas/input on my QT setup. Please see info below and let me know if you have a suggestion.
Bean animal design is in another thread: http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=104244">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=104244</a>
However, i think this stuff belongs here as it's pretty particular to my situation.

QT Design Parameters:
1 coral tank qt (separate from fish qt)
2 or 3 fish tank qt's ? (not sure about quantity yet) Thinking 2 - 20 long's currently
Space available (see pic below) along wall until corner, maybe a little past corner.
65" wide from door to corner(left to right)
25" from wall to door frame (back to front)
104" ceiling height (though I am pondering keeping the last 44" to ceiling for a refugium for DT)

Originally was going to tie all the qt tanks together but with medications for fish not playing with coral's i'm going to separate the coral/fish systems. Fish tanks could be tied together if need be.
Kinda thinking of just using a couple HOB filters and heaters for the simple qt for fish.

I was originally going to use my current 110g tank as the qt but it just doesn't make sense as it's a space hog.

I am thinking that I would like to add about 10 fish a month for the first year or so. Mostly medium or less fish, i won't be buying anything over 6" fish $$$.

For coral, I'd probably have anywhere from 10-20 frags max at a time in qt, most likely 10 or so. I have 3 frag tanks to grow out frags piped into the system so this would be frag qt only.

I currently have a 90g and a 40 breeder on hand, though buying smaller tanks is not a big deal.

So, frag qt tank size? Fish qt tanks size (2 -20 longs fit pretty good end to end @ 30x12x12 each)
I'll post a pic below of the space available and my original design pic idea.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

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Lastly, current 110 (tank is 48" wide)

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[jbdreefs]

MysteryMe has been trying to sell retail tank setups. One of those would make an awesome QT setup! I think he has had them for a while. Maybe he would make you a deal.

Just a thought!

 

[jj ocean]

outdrsyguy1;1077022 wrote: Okay, I could use some fresh ideas/input on my QT setup.

I definitely keep fish & coral QT completely separate.

My personal preference for fish QT is to have one large tank with removable dividers (as long and wide for the space you have) vs. multiple small tanks. Makes maintenance and stability easier. Plus you can accommodate larger fish or fish that need more space (i.e. tangs) if needed - especially with the size tank you have, larger fish are more of an option. The only downside I see in the larger tank config is the cost for salt & meds (preventative & treatment) ... especially if you're only using 1 section. I offset that downside a little by administering my QT meds as a combo of baths (prazi) and full QT dosages (CP). I personally use a 120g (48x24x24) with a divider down the middle. I already had that tank, but if I was to spec a fish QT I'd max out the length & width for the space I had, but only run 16" in height.

For coral QT, I don't have as much of a preference like the fish QT since I only dip with coral rx on arrival and just monitor/observe in QT. I've had a lot of different coral QT configs. What I've settled on is a 30g cube. Mainly because I like the water depth ... arrange the depth placements accordingly to the coral type vs. putting light diffusers over sections of the tank.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

Thanks John that was helpful. Couple follow up questions. How do you handle water quality for the coral qt? Do you set up dosers? Or just do weekly water changes? I have a 55 gallon (48" long) that I could use for fish qt and put in a divider. What kind of divider do you use and how do you make it removable? Do you used a hob filter on each tank?

 

[jj ocean]

Coral QT &#8211; I just do weekly 30% water changes from my DT, so I don&#8217;t have to mess with dosing or anything else. Drain 10g from QT, 10g moved from my DT to QT and 10g NSW refills my DT. HOB filter with just filter floss and heater is it. I don&#8217;t even use seeded sponge or bio material from my DT with coral QT &#8211; with the low waste from corals & water change I&#8217;ve never needed it. I still do have an ammonia badge in there just in case, but never had an issue.

Fish QT &#8211; my tank is acrylic and the acrylic divider is just cut really tight, so it stays put &#8211; just takes a little muscle to get it in & out. If I was to build a new one, I&#8217;d make them into thirds and make the removable sections by gluing acryl rails for the dividers to slip into. If it were glass, I&#8217;d silicon glass rails for the dividers to slot into. You&#8217;d also need to notch the lid on the glass tank to get them to slide in & out. The dividers I&#8217;ve always used have slots for water to pass through. HOB filter with seeded sponge/bio-ball/ceramic bio would be more than enough &#8230; a seeded source of bio is a must though. Heater & ammonia badge runs in there too.

My personal fish QT is a little overkill on the filtration setup. I run a sump with seeded bio balls, ATO (lower maint) & skimmer (added oxygen & organic removal). The bio balls originally seed in an open section of my DT sump &#8230; when needed for QT, I take half and move to fish QT sump. When done, they go in bleach water, rinsed, sun dried & back in DT sump. By only using half, I can immediately run a brand new QT cycle for new fish. This setup allows me to be more comfortable/relaxed running an 8 week QT cycle.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

Thanks John. I'm loaded up with bio stuff now, but how do you make this stuff sink lol? My sump looks like a kiddy play pool!

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[outdrsyguy1]

Fish and coral qt ready to go! Fish up top in the 55 gallon and corals below in the 40 breeder. I have another 40b I can swap with this one if I want to do a double fish batch. Just want to keep the fish qt separate tanks to remove possible cross contamination of fish medicines. Probably be a while before corals but I'm probably going to get fish in this while I'm waiting on dt tank completion.
Actually, now that I think about it I need to make a mesh lid for the fish tanks. Was thinking of using egg crate as a separator between fish if needed. Need to make a couple of those too.

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[jrhunter0000]

outdrsyguy1;1079704 wrote: Fish and coral qt ready to go! Fish up top in the 55 gallon and corals below in the 40 breeder. I have another 40b I can swap with this one if I want to do a double fish batch. Just want to keep the fish qt separate tanks to remove possible cross contamination of fish medicines. Probably be a while before corals but I'm probably going to get fish in this while I'm waiting on dt tank completion.
Actually, now that I think about it I need to make a mesh lid for the fish tanks. Was thinking of using egg crate as a separator between fish if needed. Need to make a couple of those too.

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Looks like a mini retail store so far!

 

[outdrsyguy1]

I'll be da#^*d if a lack of a display tank is gonna stop me!!

55 qt up and running with cycled tank water.
Fish arrive tomorrow to start a new life!

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[outdrsyguy1]

Thought I'd update anyone that's interested. I filed a lawsuit against the tank manufacturer a couple weeks ago. Unless they will cough up my deposit (not likely) I'll be driving to Indianapolis for the hearing. It's been a brutally painful year trying to get the tank made.
On a positive note, Jeremy at SEA atlanta is going to come by so we can work out details on an MRC tank. I'm super excited to get moving forward on my dream again soon!
First batch of fish are almost done with QT period. Learned some painful lessons being my first major qt setup. Copper and a couple prazipro treatments and should hopefully have zero worries about disease/parasites.
I'll be putting them in the frag tanks this week and working on getting the next batch of fish soon! I'm thinking of swapping the places of the tanks. I'm not thrilled about water from fish qt possibly falling into coral qt.
Updated fish room pic.

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[skriz]

Awe man, I'm sorry to hear that, Rusty. That's infuriating. I hope you're made whole; or as whole as can be at this point.

 

[picoreefguy]

man that sucks that you have to file a suit just to have them make it right. i hope everything works out in your favor! and yea i agree it would be a good idea to swap qt tanks simply to reduce risk of cross contamination if a leak were to happen or even a drip from your hands as you're working on the fish qt system

 

[seth the wine guy]

I've lurked in from time to time on the thread. I hate to hear you've got the situation you do. One thing I know, MRC won't be the cheapest. But, it's seldom anything great ever is the cheapest! Personally, I wouldn't have anyone else commissioned to do something on this scale. This is big time. I think you're going the right route by having Jeremy and crew do this. They're local. And, quite frankly, one of the best in the country.

I think of it this way- Am I willing to pay 20%, 30%, or even 40% more for a product that's 1000% better. Absol-freaking-lutely! The alternative is... Well, I guess you already know.

Please keep the build thread rolling and look forward to the updated DT!

 

[outdrsyguy1]

Batch 2 of fish now in the qt! bunch of anthias (resplendant, carberry, lyretail) and some blue chromis. Most are eating well except the carberry who developed a skin bacterial infection i'm trying to treat with furan-2. Still alive after day 2 so seems to be helping, crossing my fingers!
On another note, i leave tuesday to drive to freaking indiana for my small claims court case against Marine Design Inc. They claim they don't have the money to refund my deposit i made over a year ago now. Also claim to have a "half built tank" but i don't believe it. The first response was "i'm working on gathering the funding for your deposit" when i sent the lawsuit papers and had them served. after about 3 weeks it's oh, we've got a half built tank. Course they never offered to actually finish the tank rather than being sued, just "sorry, we don't have the money".

Back to happier times, Jeremy with sea atlanta has been great to work with and we should have final drawings any day now! I'm actually starting to get excited again after having a black cloud over my life for the past year.

 

[hzheng33]

What's jeremy doing nowadays?

 

[outdrsyguy1]

Seems to be running his service business and staying busy.

 

[kzoo]

You will not regret working with MRC , Jeremy is a great guy . One day if I can trick the wife into letting me build a tank they will be the guys I go to.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

ZOMG! Tanks done and will be delivered Friday morning!!! I'm going to try to find a bunch of suckers....err kind hearted folks to help carry it inside on Saturday.
I'll probably make a separate post so I can keep things straight.
Finally going to get things moving again!!!

 

[danh]

outdrsyguy1;1060767 wrote: WI'm sure I'll spend 40 hours arranging it and Aquascaping

TRUTH haha.


If you need any help during the week days I'm not far near Town Center at work and have no problem coming to help. Unfortunately though, Saturday is a day to get the kids ready for a new year of school.


I've read so many stories like these over the years. The last new tank I bought my was 480g. 8x4x2 acrylic from Precision Custom, this guy in Ball Ground. Painless. Immediate communication. Flawless tank. It's a shame he's not around any more. I think I paid $2400 with some decent sump work.