60 gallon frag system build

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Frankie

Well-known member
RF Premium Member
Joined
May 9, 2004
Messages
1,639
Location
Charleston,SC
Hello everyone :)
Being a new active mod/member here on this awesome forum I figure it only right for you all to get to know me better.
What better way then to see a build by me. I just happen to be working on one right now that I haven't even mentioned yet to anyone. I was holding off so I could get some headway first but then Scott approached me with this mod thing so the timing could not have been better!
As some of you know, I am a moderator on another awesome forum. RS.
But I have always had ties to RF and have come to rely on it for a lot of the learning I have received over the years.
The coral and fish data bases are second to non imo. And the friends i have here are pretty solid. I have a huge respect for the founders of RF also. Without them, I am told RS would not have even begun.
Scott and I have always kept in touch as friends and when he told me he could use some extra hands to help out I was all for it. What an honor!

A bit of my background in the hobby.
Back in 1979 I won a goldfish at the county fair....... and that is how I ended up here!
No really, that is how it begun but by 1984 I was breeding a lot of freshwater fish and taking the hobby pretty serious at that time 14 years old.
One of my mentors back in 2000 suggested i try saltwater. I rebuilt his LFS and had a pretty solid head already for it so I took home a 75 gallon and began. By 2003 I bought my first PC and found MIRC. (chat rooms) That is where I met Mojo and a few other reef degenerates that really helped me to begin thinking outside the box more. The hobby has always come easy for me and I have had very few losses.
These days I get into probiotics. ZEOvit is my main target these days and I was very successful with it. I have many friends that run zeo around the world and I find it to be fun. It is not for everyone, that I will say. Also you will not see me pushing it on others. If you are interested and are serious about probiotics you can shoot me a pm.
Well, last year the economy for the first time forced me out of the hobby. Being a hardwood flooring company is not easy these days. I saw what was coming and sold off all my live stock before it got worse. Glad i did, because the down time has been worse then expected. I am having a rebound now though, and decided to start smaller and not do a reef this time but what I loved the most. Growing corals :D
This is a 60 gallon frag tank that I built last year and never really had the chance to grow out of it.
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Frank~
 
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I started the stand for it a few weeks ago. I have been taking pictures and will post some later on. It will be a peninsula in my kitchen.
Here is a preview:
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That's all I have for now. This will be taking some time. I am planning on building all new equipment like a skimmer and all as i go.
I look forward to getting to know all of you better through your questions and suggestions. Thanks for visiting my page.
 
Looking good it's always nice tp just watch corals grow ans not worry about the hassle of rocks and sand lol. Can't wait to see more pictures.
 
That is a gorgeous looking setup, I'm deffinately going to watch this build.
I love the look of that peninsula. How are you finishing it out? stained beadboard would look awesome ;)
 
that is one killer looking tank looks like want i was just telling me wife i wanted to do im watching this one for sure
 
Thanks everyone.
I'll be sealing the AC ducting in tonight and skinning it in 1/2" china birch this week. The whole stand inside and out will be hot sprayed with a hopper with wood access trim around the lights. At least that is what I want. My wife on the other hand wants me to do all wood. I'm just tired of wood though. I install & sand wood floors for a living! :)
So I am looking at paint, wood accents and glass tile inlayed on the doors.
 
whats the notebook for?

I keep daily notes and dosing journals when I run an aquarium.
Thanks for all the kind responses.
Yeah, the canopy came out pretty cool. I cannot wait to see it painted and trimmed out.
Here are a few shots of how I did it:

Basically I cut a hole, raised it up 3/4" to give it some depth, and will just rest the pendants on top.
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The entire canopy is fixed. I can raise the lights up if I chose too though.
The reflectors are Lumenbright pendants with shields and venting. Ill be running these on Galaxy 400w ballasts with my favorite bulb, Radium.

The entire framing is glued with PL Premium construction adhesive. Screwed and nailed where needed.
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This is the over flow blind wall where the water is going to appear to fall off the back. The back panel will be getting shielded in black acrylic, with teeth for the overflow attached and removable coming down but not touching the tank.
The overflow box will be covered by the skin, kinda like this, so you will not see it:
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Biscuit is never far away :)

The table is cut for access to the close loop drain in the center of the tank. I still need to drill the returns in the back.
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Agreed, you do very detailed work. Can't wait to see more, and that dog deffinately is photogenic.
 
Great looking build. Are you going to put an electric vent door in the stand so if your tank gets too hot it will provide cold air from your a/c?

Similar to this one. http://www.nordfab.com/index.cfm/do...ge/Nordfab-Products~Diverter-Valves#automatic

Neat idea if I had an AC on it. But this is a chiller and only blows hot air.
I will have flow fans throughout the canopy, pump shelf and stand though. With the chiller pulling the water temp down that will also keep the cabinet space pretty cool. I do not keep refugium or stuff like that so the lighting can be simple led's for vision only.
Thanks for all the kind words.
I have a hard work week ahead of me but will get the skin going near the end of the week and have some more pictures to share.
 
Sorry about that. When I read that you were sealing the AC duct I thought you were talking about the AC from the furnace. We have an island an it has an AC duct in it. I don't know why they did it but they did. Now my feet freeze rather than my beer. :)
 

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