Cali Kid Corals

My Ocean in a Glass Box

I recently plumbed a 5G frag into my DT... On paper, it seemed like a good idea to draw from the return chamber with plumbing mimicking the DT plumbing (both tried it as a standalone separate pump and splitting from a single return pump). But with dose lines feeding into to the sump upstream into the first chamber, it creates too much water instability with alk and Ca+ for such a small volume of water.

I think my setup would be perfect if I didn't dose.

So, planning on running two pumps. One feeding the frag from the first chamber but dosing into the middle or return chamber downstream.
 
I recently plumbed a 5G frag into my DT... On paper, it seemed like a good idea to draw from the return chamber with plumbing mimicking the DT plumbing (both tried it as a standalone separate pump and splitting from a single return pump). But with dose lines feeding into to the sump upstream into the first chamber, it creates too much water instability with alk and Ca+ for such a small volume of water.

I think my setup would be perfect if I didn't dose.

So, planning on running two pumps. One feeding the frag from the first chamber but dosing into the middle or return chamber downstream.

But wouldn't a flood occur if one of the pumps fail?
Interesting, might be a better idea to keep them as 2 separate tanks since I want to keep my anemones in here only.
 
But wouldn't a flood occur if one of the pumps fail?
Interesting, might be a better idea to keep them as 2 separate tanks since I want to keep my anemones in here only.
really no risk of a flood due to pump failure as the water volume is fixed, assuming you have the flows balanced out. I made sure the water volume in the sump is at the max level I am comfortable with, and then dial in the flow from there to balance the two systems... This way, you never have more water than the system can accommodate.

I did have a flood a few time from not putting in an emergency overflow line thinking the minimal flow in a small volume would let me get away without one but I found that depending on water level in the sump, the return rates would fluctuates based on whether i had full siphon or not...
 
But wouldn't a flood occur if one of the pumps fail?
Interesting, might be a better idea to keep them as 2 separate tanks since I want to keep my anemones in here only.
if you're only keeping nems than splitting from the same return is fine... no major impact from localized, temporary alk and Ca swings... I was keeping it SPS only... and the ones in my 5G really suffered during the two alk and ca issues I had.

Been contemplating turning the 5G into a display fuge or DSB \ garden eel or predatory fish setup and keeping all my frags back in the DT
 
I kept 2 plumbed into my main sump by using 2 different pumps, and did shutoff flood to sump to make sure they don’t overflow, the idea is use dc pumps to pump just right amount of water, higher flow you set, needs more water.


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Wow that's awesome! lol. Are you using your main return pump for all 3 tanks?
Main return flows to the first frag tank. When I added the second I used another return pump. Display is a floor above sump so didn’t want to take away more flow from display. Going to switch so the frag tanks are both off the second return pump at somebody point to get as much flow into display as I can.
 
I have an IM30 & IM40 plumbed to a 20gallon long sump. They are both using a single Vectra M2 and each have a true union ball valve on them to control flow. The IM40 is wide open, but the IM30 is stopped down a little because the pipe run is a shorter. When running two or more display tanks on a single pump, I’d recommend not running anything else off the manifold except the display tanks. A slowly clogging media reactor can really jacked up your flow and will need to constantly adjust the full siphon drain gate valve.
 
Making progress on the new project. Due to the heat I’ve decided to move my IM Lagoon 25EXT from the garage into the house and plumb it to my 525XL. Got everything in place, now just waiting on plumbing parts. Anyone else have a frag tank plumbed to their main display tank?


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And you are going to ruin that nice tool chest.


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Decided to use an all in one IM 25 Lagoon instead since I wanted a dedicated tank for my CSB and shrooms. I must say the 5 drawers and metal construction comes in handy for storing stuff and sticking magnets to.

Also picked up a tiny 1.5” juvenile Regal Angel to try to wean it on TDO pellets for my bro’s tank in the future.

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definitely a first for me.. using a tool box for a fish tank stand.

It’s the new thing people are doing for small all in one tanks. Innovative Marine APS stand at $350 is way too expensive. IKEA Sektion stand buildout is $160. Harbor Freight tool chest is $200, but you get the added benefit of 5 drawers for storage!

Here’s someone else doing it too.
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It’s the new thing people are doing for small all in one tanks. Innovative Marine APS stand at $350 is way too expensive. IKEA Sektion stand buildout is $160. Harbor Freight tool chest is $200, but you get the added benefit of 5 drawers for storage!
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The T-slot aluminum is also a good option. The stand I made for the 24x24x12 frag tank I had was $130 and I assembled the whole thing with just a hex set
 
@max_nano Do you know of a local shop that sells T-slot?
I used the local 8020 supplier Teco Technology to design and order a stand for a 90 cube, then for the smaller tank I ordered through t-nutz with a scaled down version of the 90 cube stand. I’m not sure if there is a local place with it in stock
 
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