Starting a Frag Tank

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brianjfinn

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I'm going to turn a 10g tank I have lying around into an all-in-one frag tank, and need three pieces of acrylic. I haven't done the measurements yet, but I was wondering the best way to go about procuring the acrylic. Can I go to Home Depot/Lowes and have them cut me a few small pieces, or should I try to get it from someone on this site?

Thanks for the help!
 
Lowes has sheets of 0.220 acrylic in the glass section. You can cut it yourself with a table saw and route off the edges with a router. What will the acrylic be used for?
 
serpent;425170 wrote: What will the acrylic be used for?
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He's making an AIO, so I assume the overflow/filtration section with a MJ pump at the bottom, some Purigen or Chemipure, and some filter floss.


Keep in mind, if you don't tie it into the main system, you need to do frequent water changes or may even need to dose to keep the numbers up. I have to drip kalk in my 24g frag tank to keep the alk/ca in check, and dose Mg every other week. This of course depends on what kinds of frags you plan to keep in there. Zoas won't need as much attention as a tank full of SPS frags.
 
au01st;425172 wrote: He's making an AIO, so I assume the overflow/filtration section with a MJ pump at the bottom, some Purigen or Chemipure, and some filter floss.


Keep in mind, if you don't tie it into the main system, you need to do frequent water changes or may even need to dose to keep the numbers up. I have to drip kalk in my 24g frag tank to keep the alk/ca in check, and dose Mg every other week. This of course depends on what kinds of frags you plan to keep in there. Zoas won't need as much attention as a tank full of SPS frags.
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Right on the money. Really, it'll be to hold frags for a very short period of time while I'm trying to sell them. Not really going to be doing much growing in the tank itself, so I'll be doing the water changes and a small amount of dosing. I thought about having a small shelf in my display, but in a 20g long, you run out of space very quickly, and I think it's kind of unsightly.

The problem with cutting it myself is that I don't have easy access to a table saw or router.
 
Oh, well in that case then yes both HD and Lowes will have the acrylic. I do not know if they will cut it or not, but would not hurt to ask. Also someone in your area might have a table saw available to you.

With it being a false wall, then it doesn't need to be perfect (routed edge) as you are going to silicone it in anyways.
 
I worked with acrylic a lot. I wouldn't use less than 3/8 amd the edges shouled been joined (with a planer joiner). I would also apply a bead of silcone along all of the seams in addition to the solvent that you'll use. I built a wet/dry for someone with a 300 gallon tank. I used half inch plexi all of the above an tapped the sides using stainless steel screws. It would have survived armagedon. I woudl find a plexi/acrlic distibutor and just walk in with the dimensions that tou want cut and joined,
 
ive got a 70w hqi sunpod that would work great on a 10g.
 
I've been wanting to do a frag grow out tank, all-in-one, with a 40g breeder. What kind of design are you using in yours? I'm always looking for good ideas and things others have thought about adding that I didn't?
 
Mark, PM sent.

Hackman, I'll try to post some pics. I'm stealing an idea from Nano-Reef.com, but I can't seem to find the thread. Basically, just over half the tank will be used for the display area, while the other half is used as the sump. One piece of acrylic will be used to cut the tank in half and serve as an overflow, while two other pieces of acrylic will be used to complete the overflow. The back of the tank is pretty much a fuge, with other filter media as well. I'll see if I can find the pics, if not, I'll try my hand at Paint.
 
Here's the basic idea. There are a number of ways to do it, though. Hope this makes sense. This was created in Google Sketch Up and pasted into a word doc. The larger part of the tank is used for the display, while the smaller back is used as the fuge. A small pump is used to move the water from the fuge to the display, and can either be plumbed directly through the acrylic wall or sent over the top of the wall using PVC or some other type of tubing.
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>
fieldset>
 
Don't know if you're going for a show quality frag tank, but something I've always thought about was to take a 2.5g tank (I think there are still some for sale from a member here) and put it inside a 10g and sit it on eggcrate so that the top rim of the 2.5 is above the rim of the 10. Then you just take a MJ pump and pump water into the 2.5, and when it overflows, it will overflow back into the 10, no baffles or anything extra needed. You could even make a small acrylic overflow box in the corner to place the pump in so the surface skum is pumped into the fuge.

Anyways, just thinking out loud.
 
au01st;425977 wrote: Don't know if you're going for a show quality frag tank, but something I've always thought about was to take a 2.5g tank (I think there are still some for sale from a member here) and put it inside a 10g and sit it on eggcrate so that the top rim of the 2.5 is above the rim of the 10. Then you just take a MJ pump and pump water into the 2.5, and when it overflows, it will overflow back into the 10, no baffles or anything extra needed. You could even make a small acrylic overflow box in the corner to place the pump in so the surface skum is pumped into the fuge.

Anyways, just thinking out loud.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.... Now you got me to thinking. Something set up like Creations coral tanks. Thanks man. Now I gots to go and make things all complicated...lol.
 
Home depot does sell it, but they won't cut glass or acrylic. Lowes has both and will cut them. I had some acrylic cut by lowes and the cuts are not very accurate. Better off just getting the acrylic wherever you can find it cheap and cutting it yourself.
 
Depending on how thick it is, you could use a straight edge and razor and score it and snap it yourself. Might want to get some extra...
 
From all the posts on here, it sounds like I'd be better off trying to find someone that works with acrylic to cut a few pieces for me from leftover scrap they might have, especially since I don't have easy access to a table saw. Maybe I'll start a thread for that in the WTB section.
 
PM jeff.mcphail and let him know the dimensions you want and I'm sure he can do something for you.
 
Just got the supplies from Home Depot! I'll start putting this thing together this week and will post the process in a build thread. Can't wait to get started!
 
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