Planning a coral propagation system

[sammy33]

I have decided I want to setup a small coral prop system in my basement. My goal is to grow a selection of easy to keep, desirable corals quickly for trades and/or selling.

I have read Calfo's Book of Coral Propagation and have spent an excessive amount of time researching the what, how and why of coral propagation. I recently got a good deal on 3 drilled aquariums, like this one, that I think will make great prop tanks.



These are custom Oceanic tanks that are 24x18x12 and drilled. Now I just need everthing else:

• Stand(s)
• Plumbing
• Sump
• Heater
• Return Pump
• Skimmer
• Lighting (T5's ?)
• Flow pumps
• Utility sink (in basement)
• Dedicated RO/DI
• Monitoring/testing equipment
• Frag plugs
• Frag racks
• and Corals to grow!

I am sure that there will be more stuff that I will need but that is the list for now. I am going to keep this thread going as a diary of sorts to share my journey.

Next thing is a drawing for the layout of the system.

[sammy33]

Here is a quick drawing of the system layout. I decided that it would probably work best to have the tanks about 35" up for the easiest access and viewing. I had originally thought about setting them on a vertical stand but access to the top and bottom tanks would be limited.



The plumbing will be pretty basic considering the tanks are drilled. 1" bulkheads for the drains and a .5" for the returns. I will probably use PVC for the returns and then just vinyl tubing for the drains. This will be set up in my basement so it does not have to look pretty (wife said "go for it").

Ball valves will be on the return lines to control flow. I will probably add a powerhead or two to each tank for additional flow.

The sump will likely have to be a DIY project and will include a drain/skimmer section, a refugium in the middle and then a pump chamber with the auto top off. I have a mag 9 that I can use for the return pump.

The tanks will be bare bottom but I will install a deep sand bed in the refugium for denitrification. I will also keep some chaetomorpha macroalgae for additional nutrient export. I have a small light that I will use for the refugium to keep the macro growing. I will run this light on a reverse timer from the main lights to help control day/night pH changes.

Next I am going to drop by the big orange box hardware store today and see if they have some racks that will work as stands for these tanks?

[sammy33]

So I grabbed a couple of these from HD today. They are steel racks that are 36x18x72 and can separate into two racks that are 36" tall. This will give me a total of four racks - 3 for the prop tanks and an extra for storage.



Each rack will apparently hold 4,000lbs so this should be plenty to hold the few hundred lb load that I will be putting on it. Being 36" x 18" should be perfect for the prop tanks plus some extra working room on each side.

I also picked up a 14 gallon rubbermaid container for a temporary sump until my AGA 20H comes in. It will also come in handy for water changes later.

[sammy33]

Ok...so I got the racks put together and just when I think all is going smoothly Murhpy's Law strikes.

My tanks are actually about 3/4" wider than the racks so the tank frame would be sitting on the steel part of the rack and only supported on the back and front with no support on the sides. The other problem is the MDF wood shelves included with the racks are kinda flimsy being on about 3/8" thick . My solution so far was to cut some pieces of 1/2" plywood to go under the tanks to give better support (you can see the wood base in the pic below). I will also add some foam material under the tanks to help keep them level.

Other problem is one of the tanks has PVC elbows permanently glued to the bulkheads. Is there anyway to remove these without destroying the bulkhead? There doesn't seem to be enough pipe left to use a coupling.


My other question is I wonder if there is a way to install the bulkhead plumbing without using PVC glue? I will probably be moving this setup in the future and would like to not have to redo all of the plumbing. Any ideas would be appreciated?

[sammy33]

After looking at the prices of union valves in the hopes of making the plumbing removable it seems that it would be more cost effective to just replace part of the plubing again when I move the system.

If I make the runs of pipe a few inches longer under the bulkheads I will then be able to cut them and then repair the cut with a coupling after I move the tanks.

I went ahead and ordered some new bulkheads after deciding to chop off the old ones. The gaskets on the old ones looked somewhat worn so it seemed better to go ahead and replace them.

I also finished cleaning out the corner of the basement and set up the "stands". The middle will hold the sump underneath and the other two will serve as extra storage.


Now to do something about the plumbing. Time for another trip to the big orange box hardware store.

[Zoozooman]

I will be watching

[3.99AfterTaxes]

That's pretty wicked. What did you pay for the racks?

[sammy33]

Originally posted by 3.99AfterTaxes
That's pretty wicked. What did you pay for the racks?

The racks were about $60 each and can split into two racks so the three that you see in the picture above were basically $30 each. I have one more that I am just using for storage or I may add a fourth prop tank in the near future.

[sammy33]

So far in this thread I have talked mostly about planning the equipment setup and the technology. Here is some information on the biology side with the corals I am planning on propagating.

Species
Here is my choice for corals for this prop system. These are all basically fast growers, easy to frag and fairly easy to care for. I will try to get stock specimens of the more colorful varieties of greens, blues and reds as they seem to grow just as well as the yellows and browns. Being an indoor prop system choosing low energy corals seems to be the way to go to minimize the power consumption.

Medium Light - Medium-High Flow (Tank 1)

• Colored Zoanthid - Zoanthus sp.
• Ricordea - Ricordea florida
• Green Star Polyps - Pachyclavularia sp.

Medium High Light - High Flow (Tank 2)

• Toadstool Mushroom Leather Coral, Green Polyp - Sarcophyton sp.
• Spaghetti Finger Leather Coral, Neon Green - Sinularia

Medium Light - Medium Flow (Tank 3)

• Super Color Mushrooms – Actinodiscus sp.
• Pom-Pom Pumping - Xenia sp.
• Pulse Coral - Xenia elongate

You will notice from the chart that all of these corals have similar requirements for light, flow, feeding and supplements with minimal variables.

Light
The medium to medium-high light requirements of these corals will place a smaller demand on energy. I would like to explore using T5’s as the lighting for this system as most of these corals do well under fluorescent lighting and do not require intense halide lights. A two light 24� T5 HO system (48w) would likely work for tanks 1 & 3 and a three of four light 24� T5 HO system (72w to 96w) would likely work for tank 2.

Flow
The moderate flow requirements of these species may also present a savings in energy. I have also considered using airlifts (like some of the greenhouse growers) to add the additional flow in tanks 1 and 2. Each tank will have approx 10 times per hour (240 GPH) of flow with tanks 1 & 2 requiring 15-20 times per hour (360 GPH to 480 GPH) flow.

Feeding
Most of these corals feed on a sub-particulate level meaning there food comes from micro plankton and the majority of them feed on there own symbiotic algae – zooxanthellate. The particulate feeders will benefit from larger zooplankton. The feeding of this system will be a bit on the high side to promote accelerated growth.

Supplements
Again these corals carry a common theme when it comes to supplementation with all benefiting from standard trace elements and some with iodine additions. Note that Green Star Polyps - Pachyclavularia sp. might be the exception as I have heard reports of this coral not appreciating the addition of iodine. No excessive calcium, alkalinity or kalkwasser additions will be required with this group of corals.

I would also like to cite a few sorces:
Book of Coral Propagation - Calfo (2003)
Marine Invertebrates - Shimek (2004)

Next I am back to work on the plumbing.

[sammy33]

I picked up the rest of the parts I needed to begin plumbing the system tonight and the bulkheads also came in. All of the return side of the system is ½� PVC with the exception of a short run of ½� ID vinyl tubing from the pump. I still need some sort of barb adapter for this short run.

I turned the tanks around so I could get to the backs to install the bulkheads and measure and cut the pipe. Everything is just a “dry� fit right now so I can turn it back around and glue all the parts. The drains are 1� bulkheads with strainers that connect to 1� ID vinyl tubing that simply runs to the sump. I would like to finish up the plumbing tomorrow and let it cure overnight and get some water in it by Sunday.


I have the Rubbermaid container as a temporary sump because my 20g has not come in yet. As soon as it comes in that will be my next step – building the sump.

[E.Smith]

Looks like you have a sweet set up going on there. I especially like the stands you are using, very practically and easy to reach.
Very Nice

[sammy33]

I completed the plumbing today and got the drains and returns hooked up to my temporary sump. Be sure to have plenty of ventilation and fans when working with PVC glue. I then added tap water so I could do a wet test. Each tanks return line from the pump has a ball valve so I can control the flow. The middle tank gets the most flow so by turning that valve down a bit I can balance the flow fairly well between the three tanks.




First thing I noticed after turning the pump on (and having a brief “it’s alive� Frankenstein moment ) was that the flow is just not enough. My Mag 9.5 seems to be MIA so I am using a Quiet One 3000 (780GPH) and calculated the flow at about 310 GPH after all the head loss from the elbows, valves etc. While this is bit more than the recommended 10 times per hour turnover (24 gallon tanks) and may be ok for tanks 1 & 3 (see my post above about species) it will probably not be enough flow for tank 2.

What to do?

I am thinking of using a nice size diaphragm pump and some airlifts to get the extra flow. I am also thinking that I will hook this extra pump up to a battery back up system as part of my fail-safe. Airlifts seem to be the way that the greenhouse growers get the required levels of flow in the bigger systems…efficient and effective. Any ideas on airlifts would be appreciated?

The temporary sump is a Rubbermaid 14G container. I never seem to have enough of these around so I picked up this one to use as a testing sump. I have used these containers for quarantine, curing live rock, water changes, etc. I am sure it will come in handy later.


Next step is to build the real sump.

[tripstank]

Why not MH over T-5s? Electricty costs? Plus, do you think that will be enough?

[jer77]

Looks good sammy. I am also very interested in finding out more about airlifts for more flow. I'm not quite sure how they work.

[tripstank]

Sammy, you could also run your retun lines in this order for more even control of flow rates to each tank. Pump > supply line> Ball valve > 4 port manifold >smaller supply line > smaller Ball valve for each tank> line to bulkead fitting.

Then on the fourth port on the manifold.

Manifold > line >ball valve > line back to sump.

This will allow you to dump and excess preasure and will help in skimming, its kinda, not really a closed loop.

[sammy33]

tripstank -
I would like to give the T5's a shot in hopes of saving on the power bill. If you look at my post above about the corals I am planning on growing in this system none really require excessive amounts of light considering they are all soft corals. I would think that the four tube 96w T5 lighting for the middle tank and the 48w two tube for the outer tanks will be plenty of light. If it turns out that it is not enough I can always add some lights.

I had thought about adding a manifold and a larger pump to push more water through the tanks. The Quiet One 3000 pump I am using now is smaller than I had planned but is working out nicely so far as it only draws 40 watts compared to 93 watts for the Mag 9.5. Another energy savings.

jer77 -
The airlifts seem to be super efficient as far as water movement. A medium sized 16 watt air pump can push something like 2700 liters/per minute (air flow) or about 700 GPH in water flow. This is much more efficient than using power heads or water pumps. The trick is to design the air lifts to maximize the flow. I am going to research it a bit more and will keep updating here as I learn. I am also thinking of using an air-driven skimmer? More energy savings.

[nitratesucks]

Nice thread ill be tagging along? Im looking at building a prop system myself. Thanks for the pics

[sharkdude]

Excellent job and documentation.

sorry I did not find this thread until now, as I could have given advice thus far.

be wary of the MDF shelves. they will soak up any spills and swell up, and eventually fail. I would reinforce your shelving units with 3/4 in plywood screwed to metal unit, and cross braced underneath.

I would have placed the tanks closer together to consolidate and share lighting, rather than plan to light separetely. staggering of bulbs could have produced desired different lighting levels across tanks. a light rail would have been cool.

redunant pumps, ie two or more pumps in sump to achieve more flow if desired.

one long sump, ie a used 100 gal tank, would have worked.

airlifts in each tank would allow you to isolate a tank from the whole system in the event of pest control, chemical warfare, etc

humidty control in your basement?
auto top off? open top tanks evaporate a lot.

check out my external durso drain and mini-internal overflow box (better tank water surface skimming).

[sammy33]

Zoozooman and nitratesucks -
Glad you came along for the ride.

sharkdude-
Many thanks for the compliment and the suggestions. I have actually added plywood directly under the tanks and had considered replacing the MDF entirely. I will most likely be moving this system in about 6-8 months and plan on adding a few tanks that will be closer together and have more of a shared lighting system. I had actually thought of using a single light on one of those light movers. Is that what you mean a light rail?

I actually have a second pump (Mag 9.5) but it seem to be MIA at the moment. I had not thought of using two for redundancy.

I have a 20g that I had planned on using as a sump but a larger sump would indeed be nicer. A 55g may work nicely (extra system volume) and would probably fit. I may rethink my sump plans.

I have an ATO unit that I will use for top off. The basement is ventilated but I will have to see if that becomes a bigger issue. I could install some more vents if necessary.

The surface skimming is something else I overlooked. I have several extra sheets of acrylic that could become overflow boxes with a couple hours work.

I like your setup. Is that a battery operated air pump in that top pic? Thanks again for the great suggestions.

[sammy33]

My AGA 20H finally came in so I could start building my sump for the prop system. Since this is a fairly small system I decided to use only a 20g aquarium and section it with baffles to create areas for the drains/skimmer, refugium and pump return.


I also picked up a 24x48 sheet of ¼� acrylic and some aquarium sealant. I got the table saw dusted off and went to work cutting the baffles.


After about 30 minutes I had the baffles ready to go. Cutting the width of the baffles was a bit tricky. I wanted the width to be as snug as possible so there would not be large gaps that would need to be filled with silicone. I ended up cutting a piece a bit larger and then used the blade on the table saw to “shave� off the edge until it fit snug. Once I had the correct width I used the guide on my saw and locked it in. It was then fairly easy to cut the rest of the pieces.

I took some time to clean the inside of the tank to make it easier for the silicone to stick. I also marked the outside of the tank with guidelines so I would know where to place the acrylic.


Next step was to start “gluing� the baffles in with the silicone. I basically ran a thick bead of silicone, slid the baffle in from one side of the bead, added more silicone to both sides and then smoothed it over with my finger. I used a couple of soda bottles to hold the piece in place while the silicone skinned over (thanks to RRodrigues for this cool trick).


For the center piece on the bubble trap I used several pieces of wood molding to hold the piece in place while the silicone dried.


Finally (5 hours later) the last piece is in place. Yippee…I have a real sump!


I will let the silicone cure for about two days and then hook it up to the prop system.
(My sincere thanks to melev for sharing his sump designs on both his website and here on RC. I would also like to thank everyone who posted a picture of their sump in the equipment gallery. )

Next step is to decide on and install the heater, return pump, and protein skimmer.

[sammy33]

The new sump is working well for the prop system. I found my Mag 9.5 pump (950 GPH) and hooked it up to the system and was a bit disappointed with the performance. It was just way too much flow so I downsized it to a Mag 7 (700 GPH) which seems to be more manageable but is still on the high side. The problem is that it is difficult to balance the flow to the tanks without really cranking down on the ball valves and also the high GPH seems to generate micro bubbles. I will likely go down one more notch to a Mag 5 (500 GPH) and then have some additional flow in the tanks (airlifts?).


Refugium
I had some leftover aragonite sand that I added to the refugium. This gave me a nice deep sand bed as a refugium base. I also have some cheato macro algae and live rock rubble that I can add to the refugium. The light is an 18 watt PC with a 7100K lamp. The 13� width fits the tank nicely.

It took me a couple of days to get the system filled up with saltwater. My 100GPD RO/DI seems to be running a bit slower these days and likely needs a new membrane since it is about 4 years old. I have been getting a reading of 6-7 ppm on my TDS meter even after changing out my DI resins. I am going to change the sediment filter & carbon blocks and if this does not do the trick then I am going to get a new membrane.

Skimmer?
I am still “on the fence� when it comes to a protein skimmer. After reading some others experiences with soft coral propagation I am considering running the system without a skimmer and using the refugium and carbon for my primary nutrient export and filtration. I expect to get slightly faster growth by keeping some of the nutrients in the system that may get depleted by a skimmer. Check out Farmertodd and his thoughts on skimmers -
http://reefs.org/library/farmertodd/

[SaveOurReefs]

looking good...

[sammy33]

I went ahead and added an overflow box to each tank. I had enough acrylic left over from the sump project to build small 4�x4� overflows for the three tanks. This has allowed me to increase the water level in each tank and adds about 6 gallons of volume to the system. It also dramatically improves the surface skimming and keeps the surface scum to a minimum. Thanks to sharkdude for the suggestion.


It took all week to install the overflows as I have already filled up the system with saltwater. The process was: drain the tank to a Rubbermaid container (love these things), wipe the glass clean and dry, apply silicone to the acrylic edges, attach to the tank with clamps, let cure for 48 hours, remove the clamps, refill the tank and then repeat.

I have some loc-line parts that should arrive some time next week to modify the return on each tank for some improved flow. The flow in each tank is actually quite nice with just the single Mag5 running the whole system. The Y adapters and nozzles may drop the flow a bit after I add them but then it might be just right…we shall see?

[sharkdude]

cool! looks like it works well for you.

yeah, I added mine pre-fill so not quite as much trouble as you went through.

so where's the pics of the live stuff already!?

check out the various threads here:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewforu...bd3f5c3d83a863

your documentation and approach to your project reminds me of several of the threads I read over there.

[highquality]

lookin good there!