Marine Depot Forums / TEAM Marine Depot / Marine Systems and Husbandry – by Anthony Calfo / Plywood frag tank / Latest Posts

RE: Plywood frag tank

coralfan — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:31:27 GMT

any new updates?

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:19:05 GMT

Cool, roger that!!

Thanks,

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:11:18 GMT

I just did it that way to make it easier to remove them without having to take apart the skimmer.

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:46:20 GMT

Ok Boys,

One more question, where do yall reccomend the air line tubing enter the skimmer body thru?

Alti, I see you ran yours thru the top & down the neck of the skimmer, looks like it's working pretty good.

Anthony, Any other ideas/suggestions?

Thanks guys,

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:55:22 GMT

I havnt tried the gate valves on mine, and definately agree they will allow you to fine tune it better. I always seem to mees up the skimmer production when I try adjusting the flow rate and the air intake at the same time. I try to find a flow rate that works well and just adjust the air volume as needed. Im going to have to add a couple more skimmers to this tank and will definately try gate valves on them.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Anthony Calfo — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:56:06 GMT

I strongly disagree... 20 yrs of DYI skimmers and I recommend a gate valve over any other, every time. Its such a small investment for such fine tuned control over the active air-water interface in the skimmer neck. Gotta have a gate valve (and note too how many even commercial folks have conceded to the DYI mods, like ASMs/ER style skimmers, etc)

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:01:54 GMT

Thanks bro,

I will try one f those things out on one of my skimmers as a test, after all I gotta make 6-8 skimmers anyways for the systems

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:57:25 GMT

Theres really no need for a gate valve. I use a pvc expansion repair coupling which allows me to raise and lower the output as much as 4 inches without reducing the flow through the skimmer. You should be able to see one in the pic barely sticking out of the water.If the flow is too fast you can simply add a reducing coupling to the input or output to slow down the siphon.

this is the pvc fitting. You can get it at any home depot or lowes and is fairly inexpensive.

http://www.dripworksusa.com/store/pvcrepair.php#tiptop

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:34:51 GMT

Thanks Ant!!!

Alti,

Have you tried using gate valves on your skimmers for water level control? Mine are copied from Nilsen's design in Anthony's BOCP. Just waiting for my Luft pumps to arive

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 18:06:22 GMT

If you look at far skimmer you will see the supply line that comes over the side of the tank and feeds at the top of the skimmer body. The output is on the bottom of the skimmer. It comes out through the u-shaped pvc coming up and out of the water. This output can be raised or lowered to adjust the water level inside the skimmer. Ive been having a bt of trouble getting my surface skimming attatchment to work. I keep getting too much air in it and I end up losing siphon. Im working on something now that should work.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Anthony Calfo — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:40:40 GMT

the latter would be a poor way to do it. We cannot let even freshly surface overflow water to pool in a sump before pumping for a skimmer (the proteins migrate to the surface of the sump water and many are bypassed from the skimmer. If skimmer water is not gravity fed, then it needs to be caught in a very small/concentrated vessel that holds the pump which feeds the skimmer. It will make a HUGE difference in skimmate production.

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 09:27:52 GMT

Hey Alti,

How are you supplying the water to yer skimmers that are in a sump? By using a feed tube from the culturing vessel to the skimmer body or by having no bottom on the skimmer body & pulling water from the sump thru the bottom of the skimmer? Hope this question makes sense to you, sometimes I even confuse myself

Thanks,

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

Anthony Calfo — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:45:08 GMT

the long necks are crucial for really finessing the quality of skimmate you get. Its a better design most every time... but its an aspect that is abbreviated in commercial designs (and handicaps most skimmers) for shipping and cost issues.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:57:11 GMT

No problem bro,

I love the gravity feed. Im very happy with the flow rate.

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:21:51 GMT

Thanks for the info bro!!

I am on my way to order one of those luft pumps now, the last piece to the ol skimmer puzzle I think they will be in sump as per your suggestion, but I used ones like these in the old days that were stand alone/gravity fed to a sump wt good results as well. Yet that picture of yer bucket of goo can't be denied I was looking at using the luft wich is 7 psi instead of the super luft wich is 4.3 psi or somthing close to that and putting it to an air regulator wich the basic luft does not, but it seems that you are getting plenty of air.

Decisions, decisions,

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:57:31 GMT

Tuna,

I have accumulated a ton of used equipment over the years. I ask everyone for their broken or old equipment just to have the hard to find parts i need. I just stole these cups from some old skimmers.

The skimmer bodies are around 3 feet tall. I prefer longer necks to longer bodies in this design.

Im only comfortable using 2 skimmers per pump. The airstones last alot longer that way. I have to throttle them back a little bit when i change stones, but after a few weeks i have them both on full throttle for a month or so before i need to replace the stones again. Im using 2, 3" stones per skimmer.

I would recommend you design yours to be placed in sump. I have redone the body and neck designs numerous times since i built them. Since they are in sump i got away with using teflon tape instead of glue. It may leak a bit, but I would not have been very easy to work with them if it all was glued. Each take is different. One design cant be perfect for every tank. Being able to fine tune it to your system is priceless.

Instead of using hard to find and bulky reducing fittings for the supply and drain lines, i cut a hole in the 4" pipe and threaded it to fit a 1" male threaded coupling. Its not 100% watertight, but its insump any way.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:44:02 GMT

Jeff,

Getting my tanks out of my house was the best thing i could have ever done. Now the wife can ever nag again

The overflows were just an idea we came up with in Home Depot. We just tried to figure what would be best while looking at the materials at hand. We used a chop saw to cut out the slits. I like it lets me collect alot of surface water. Most of the detrius settles on the corners away from the overflows in an area that is easy for me to access. I only use the filter pads during the daytime. When i come in the morning i put them on and they are removed every night and cleaned. The sink is only 3 feet away so its very convenient.

Im really not too crazy about the reverse carlsons. They are hard to design,build and find materials for. They also take up growing space. Airpumps are cheap, but sometimes an over abundance of plastic airlines in the work area can be an obstacle. I like the carlsons when you have enough vertical space to use. Gravity is free energy and random flow in conjunction with the return pumps laminar flow creates very impressive water movement. In the newest system with the white tanks i only have to use one pumps to create the same pattern. all of the are connected inline via 2, 2" pipes that run along the bottom. When the surges go off, the water level in the tank rises higher than the tank next in line. This creates pressure which forces the water through the connecting pipes and into the next tank. I have the surges on the farthest systems on faster intervals than the ones closer to the sump so that the water level is always highest at the furthest point. That combined with a 5" grade on the floor from beginning to end gives me an enormous ammount of flow through the tubes along with the strong surges. The only time i see anything settle on the bottom of the tanks is when the surges are misfiring or the outputs are improperly positioned.

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:20:46 GMT

Alti,

I have been making some skimmers for my greenhouse based on the specs in Anthony's books. A few questions for ya -

1 Where did you get your collection cups from?

2 How tall did ya make yer skimmer bodies?

3 How many skimmers are you running with that super luft pump?

4 How many air stones/size per skimmer?

Thanking you in advance,

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

variverrat — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:13:50 GMT

Alti, wanted to thank you for all the great pics, you've inspired me. Was thinking about building a small 7' x 2' x 1' frag trough but now I'm thinking tables for frags, so the wife may not like you much.

Had a question about your overflows, I don't think I've seen that design before. Is that your creation or did you borrow the idea from someone? How loud are they? I noticed you put filter pads on in the latest pictures, is that just to catch more particulate or is it to slow down the flow?

I'm working on surge device designs now, was looking to make a reverse carlson so I could use the airpump for something other than airlifts and a skimmer, but a single pump going to an overhead bucket seems to be much simpler.

Please keep up the pictures, it's great to see the different setups.

Jeff

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 08:57:32 GMT

They hold water so i guess they work fine

I am pretty happy with them. The size is perfect for one MH lamp as long as the reflector is designed for that size. In general im not a fan of square tanks, but with the surge buckets im not having any flow issues. I had trouble in the past with tanks that sit onthe ground since it was impossible to siphon outdetrius on the bottom, but since the legs raise them a few inches, it can be done.

RE: Plywood frag tank

jrodscout — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:47:32 GMT

Alti, I noticed the square white tanks your using.I found the manufacturer and am about to order 22 of those.Can you give me some feedback on how they are working for you?

Jerred

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:02:06 GMT

Cool,

Thanks for the info brother, this might work real good for my setup

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:55:15 GMT

Thanks Guys,

The surges are really simple. The pipes inside the bucket are the same as the outside. They are cut about 1" off the bottom of the bucket. Just cut a hole big enough for a 1 1/2" threaded male coupling to fit through and connect it to a female threaded coupling on the inside. Use short throw street elbows to reduce the distance between the bucket and pipe. Home depot sells gaskets in the faucet and drain section that fits this size pipe. I believe they were bath tub drain gaskets. I use one pump to power each set of 6 on yhe big tank. One is a quiet one 4000 and the other is a little giant 865 gph. On the other system i use one sequence dart to power all 15 of the surges. Its the only pump on that entire system and only uses about 165 watts. The flow is incredible in there even when the surges are not firing. Nothing settles on the bottom.

The higher up you place the buckets the better they work. Gravity is free so you should use it as much as you can.

RE: Plywood frag tank

The Big Tuna — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 08:12:39 GMT

Dude,

That is sooooo wicked sweet bro Could you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post some schematics/internal pictures of yer surge devices? The idea of putting them in 5 gal buckets & using multiple buckets is ingenius. Do you run individual pumps on all of them? I am almost finished wt building out my 16 x 30 foot greenhouse for coral/anemone grow out and I REALLY like the look of those surge devices. Their kinda sexy even

Pretty work,

Joshua

RE: Plywood frag tank

PCIALF — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 04:18:30 GMT

Wow very nice setup

Great work!

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:38:00 GMT

Heres a couple mov's of the surge devices and xenia

http://altisreef.com/mov/MOV00652.MPG

http://altisreef.com/mov/MOV00653.MPG

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:10:44 GMT

Heres some pics of the new zoa system. I was hoping to use this for sps corals, but I remember hearing Calfo say that farming sps was nothing more than mental masturbation I finally came to my senses and realized that he is absolutely right.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:06:15 GMT

My partner insisted that a good cleaning area was necessary and he was absolutely right. We made this out of a sink and shower stall thrown im the garbage. We didnt have a drain close by so the water runs into the 100 gal rubbermaid underneath which pumps the water out to a drain about 30 feet away.

Heres a couple pics oy my residents

Gus the grouper

Tessie the eel

Sally the tang

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:00:01 GMT

My old fragging area was too small and in an inconvenient location, so we buily a nice counter at the haed of the tank. I have supply lines and drains that allow me to hook up removeable holding containers. This way i can let the frags sit in the same tank water while waiting to be cut and I can float them in there after cutting while keeping the same tank temp.

Its hard to get the whole tank in one pic. Its just too long.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:55:14 GMT

I was not happy with the overall flow in this tank so i did some experimenting with surge devices. I was so happy with the results that i installed 12 of them.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:53:14 GMT

Oops, forgot about this thread Keeping up with 3000 gallons of growout tanks is keeping me real busy.

The tank has been running for over 6 months now and is just starting to extablish itself. I origionally intended this tank to house mostly xenia, but until the last month or so, every piece I put in there has shriveled up. Ive used it for moslty zoanthids these last few months, but since the xenia is starting to like it in here, the zoa's are going to be moved into their new system.

I didnt take any pics of this tank for a while, but i broke out the digicam today and snapped some new ones.

Heres a couple pics of the protein skimmers, carbon reactor and fuge. The skimmers and reactors are all gravity fed via siphon and one ldft pump powers the airstones on the skimmers. I am very happy with the production and efficiency of these skimmers. I am planning on adding a couple more in the winter.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Anthony Calfo — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:02:25 GMT

yes! inquiring minds want to know

RE: Plywood frag tank

Reefski — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 03:58:40 GMT

it's been a few months now. what happened?

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 05:30:12 GMT

Not really much to update. Ive been having alot of trouble with raising the temp. The room normally stays between 65-70 degrees so i need 8-10, 300 watt heaters to keep it stable. This is wasting a ton of electricity and ive been tripping breakers with all those heaters going on at night. The only other option i have is to seal off the room from the rest of the basement and heat the room itself. Until im 100% sure im going to stay at this location i will not be able to do this. It runs from 72-74 degrees right now and i have a grouper and a few softies in there that are alive, but obviously not happy. Hopefully in the next couple weeks ill be able to figure out what to do, but for now its so frustrating to look at all that water and not be able to do anything with it

RE: Plywood frag tank

95wave — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 05:25:27 GMT

any new updates?

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 08:44:49 GMT

Progress is slow, but it has salt in it and is beginning to cycle.

Experimenting with PVC skimmer.

Works alot better than i expected

Finished making the main overflow

Working on the racks

Wired up A couple lights

RE: Plywood frag tank

Tigger240 — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:30:28 GMT

hey dan - ive seen your link before - good information - im building 3 - 4'x8'x1' prop tanks and using a similar method - ply - glass - epoxy. its more $$ but im in an apartment and cant have a failure or leak hence the overbuilding. ive got the stand made up already but my displays are being revamped and taking all my time. i just got a 2nd 180 and setting it up.

ill post my experiences with how i do my skimmer- will be getting the freebie 12" pvc around thanksgiving. should be less than a month to see that to completion.

RE: Plywood frag tank

Alti — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 18:57:02 GMT

Thanks Tigger. LEt me see if i can raise the funds for that skimmer. If not im goin PVC

RE: Plywood frag tank

forestal — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:46:40 GMT

very nice... I look forward to seeing how this is running...I am thinking of ideas of how to use my basement as well...
hope not too far off topic, but i have built some plywood tanks, did an article and used a small tank for demo for article presaltwater bug ; looks at materials and such...http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_plywood_aquarium2.php
hope is helpful

RE: Plywood frag tank

Tigger240 — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:33:19 GMT

From spazz:

bill bought one of those for a surge tank. ther very flimsey and i wouldnt recomend using them to build a skimmer. i have my tubes made now. there made from flat sheet into 2 half rounds. then welded into a tube. the cones are molded from 1 piece for sheet acrylic. its alot cheaper than buying tube.