30G CBB home + Frag Tank

[jhale]

I'm in the process of setting up a 30 gallon tank hooked into my display.
I never thought I'd do it but the blind CBB I've been keeping in a 8 gallon cube needs a home with better water quality. So given the chance of having a legitimate excuse to set up another tank it will double as a frag tank as well. This way the CBB can feel like he's earning his keep And I won't feel bad having to put him down. So It's a win win situation all around.

The Tank

This is the 30 gallon tank I got from Herman. I want it to fit into the decor so I have painted the frame white with paint made by Krylon for plastic. I tried scratching it off and found it to be pretty durable. We'll see over time how it stands up.



Lighting

Herman also gave me a Current MH light fixture 2x 14K 150DE bulbs and a bunch of LEDS that don't work. I also painted the fixture white, it was black. I used heat resistant paint also made by krylon for painting radiators. I had to take apart the light to do this, but it needed a good cleaning anyway so it was time well spent.



Plumbing

I'm still not sure how I will tie it into the system. I was toying with the idea of using a siphon to bring water into the frag tank from the display, then have it drain into the displays sump. I like this idea because it will avoid adding another pump to the system. Circulation will be provided by powerheads in the tank, I'm not sure which ones yet. If needed in the winter I will also add a heater to help.

To Sand or Not to Sand ?

I'm also deciding on the substrate. I'm thinking of having a 2-3" sand bed. It will help keep the nitrates down, and look a bit more natural.
I'm concerned about added nitrates to the system due to the mussels I am now feeding the CBB. He gets one a day. There will be about 20 pounds of live rock in the tank. I'm planning on gluing any frag plugs to the rock so I can avoid the sterile look of eggcrate racks.

Tankmates
Still to be decided. I'm thinking maybe some pipefish:Hydrogen:
I'll be thinking about this one. I'm not going to be adding
much to the tank as far as fish go.

next up drilling the tank with Jim, and then painting the back of the tank.

:fish:

 

[masterswimmer]

I'll be following. Nice start so far Jon. I like the color coordinating

How many more holes are you drilling in there? Three isn't enough

R

 

[jhale]

Drilling the Tank

If you need holes made in a glass tank then Jim at House of Fish is the go to guy. He has a method he has perfected and got through the three holes pretty quickly.

the photos tell the story.

 

[jhale]

 

[masterswimmer]

tsk tsk tsk, giving away trade secrets now :biggrin:

Looks good

 

[jhale]

schedule 80 bulkheads, accept no substitute!

 

[jhale]

I'll be following. Nice start so far Jon. I like the color coordinating

How many more holes are you drilling in there? Three isn't enough

R

Russ, one hole in and two holes out. I was going to make a fourth hole, but Jim looked like he had done enough drilling.

Remember my rules of redundancy. If there was just one drain hole and the strainer got clogged where would the water go?

No secrets given away :bunny:, but I would recommend people not to try to drill their own tanks. The bits are expensive and it's easy to crack the tank. it takes practice, so I will leave it up to Jim

 

[jhale]

Painting the Back

I thought I'd dress up the tank a bit and paint the back. I wanted a watery blue look so I went to the store and picked out a light blue and a darker blue.
As you will see in the pics I painted the bottom with the darker color and the top the light. I then blended them using a wave pattern with the brush.

It's important to check the inside and see what's happening. It looks very different from what you are seeing on the back while painting.
I put on a lot of paint today and it still needs one more coat to fill in some streaking. I'll let it dry overnight then finish it tomorrow.

I also cleaned the back well with alcohol to make sure the paint had a clean surface to stick to.

 

[jhale]

The inside of the tank after the first coat and blending.



the light streaked spots are where the paint is thin. after the second coat that should not show up.

 

[masterswimmer]

Interesting Jon. I'm getting sea sick looking at the waves though

R

 

[noodleman]

i like the paint job

 

[jhale]

Russ I'll give you some [SIZE=-1]dramamine[/SIZE] when you come over.

One thing I'm concerned about is having the tank uncovered.
I'm afraid of people cooking near it, the location is close to the kitchen.
And also during parties. I think I will have to make a cover I can use
for those occasions. Alcohol and :fish: do not mix well in large quantities.

 

[Bob 1000]

I too, thought of incorperating a smaller tank to my main tank for the purpose of saving the pj card babies.. But he spit then out to early right into the dussimer tangs mouths...So that's the end of that story.. I know they'll breed again so I'll watch your thread to see how your's goes 1st... In my idea I thought everything would go well as long as the height of the smaller tank was the same height as the main...Water balance, in case of electric outtage,bla, bla, bla... Good luck...

 

[jhale]

Bob, the tank it's going to sit next to is 20" high, and the sump is below it.
I was thinking of having a input line siphoning from the taller display into one of the three bulkheads in the frag tank. Then using the other two bulkheads for drain lines going into the sump of the display. It would be like a remote sandbed. The downside would be in a power failure the siphon would have to be started again.

 

[Bob 1000]

But what about the water levels not being equal?? Won't the higher water level tank automatically drain into the lower one??

 

[jhale]

Yes, but that's what I want. The main tank will drain into the frag tank, and then the water will flow back into the sump of the display. that's instead of having a pump moving water from the displays sump into the frag tank.
There will be a siphon break drilled into the line from the display to the frag tank to stop the siphon if the main pump stops.

 

[Bob 1000]

Oh, okay that sounds really nice.. Would love to see once it's up and running...Keep the pics coming buddy...

 

[jejton]

Excuse the ignorance but whats a CBB ?

 

[chazertis]

copperband butterfly

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/fish/27857-blind-cbb.html

 

[KathyC]

Looks great Jon, I like the idea and as you said it's a win-win! The 30g size will be so much better for him and the additional light just might help make him be able to see shadows and do a little more swimming around!:goldfish2