5ft shallow tank design.. need feedback!

[markietan]

so i've decided to decomm my 2ft frag tank and upgrade to a 5ft shallow tank.. here's my design

the room gets the morning sun everyday from 8 to 10am and i reckon that's good for the fuge, which is why i've chosen to have a internal sump running along the back of the tank instead.

also having the return pump and overflow at 2 different ends should promote some form of water flow, as compared to other internal sumps systems that have the return and overflow side by side

equipments i'll be using

1 x AB2000/i (upgradable to 3000, same dimensions)

2 x Aquamedic 5ft 2xT5 HO retrofit (pending collection from fellow reefer)

Deltec MCE300 (pending collection)

Kalk reactor + ATO

Hopar fan

and maybe 1 or 2 wavermakers to push the water along

the tank will basically be a shallow reef tank w/ about half the space dedicated to culturing zoas. still deciding what to do with the other half.. maybe clams and some easy SPS?

fish wise... will probably have a few pairls of nano fishes.. no wrasse or firegobies as i'm very sure they will jump out.

did i miss out anything in the design? any feedback or comments before I give the tank maker the go ahead?

[TayHongSiang]

Will yr cabinet able to withstand the weight? later you have problem opening yr cabinet doors and drawers...

[Vlamingi_cont]

Will yr cabinet able to withstand the weight? later you have problem opening yr cabinet doors and drawers...

Yeh agreed... And oso will there be algae probs?? Near window mah...

[markietan]

Will yr cabinet able to withstand the weight? later you have problem opening yr cabinet doors and drawers...

yah that was the tank maker's concern too.. he told me to go up and jump around and i did that and didn't feel the cabinet warping... i also had a 2ft shallow tank there before and it worked out fine.. since its a shallow tank, the weight spreaded out over 5ft should be okay right?

[markietan]

Yeh agreed... And oso will there be algae probs?? Near window mah...

algae every tank will also have.. but since the internal sump will have a black backing, so it should shield out most sunlight from getting into the main tank? and sunlight can be havest to grow chaeto.

also shallow tank, much easier to clean than 2ft tanks deep. haha

[Gouldian]

algae every tank will also have.. but since the internal sump will have a black backing, so it should shield out most sunlight from getting into the main tank? and sunlight can be havest to grow chaeto.

also shallow tank, much easier to clean than 2ft tanks deep. haha

Looks good to me... looking forward to your updates.

[RockyBoy]

Does the cabinet has center beam to support the weight as well?

[snaper]

The design looks good. Hope to see the more update and the progress of your tank.

[dnsfpl]

return pump and skimmer same compartment = micro bubbles

planning to do reverse lighting?

you might want to plan for ways place your lights for you refugium

and the overflow teeth should be longer, 3/4" is not enough

my 1 cents

cheers

[TayHongSiang]

I like the idea of a shallow tank also....if your sunlight can penetrate into your main tank as well, you can place sps on top..that will be perfect.

Probably yr liverocks have to get artificial types coz they r lighter...in the SR, your cabinet can tahan...but in the LR say, one yr or more...may start to bend and give way...coz usually for cabinets, they use ply wood. i'm just offering my opinion...final decision up to you, since u posted this thread to seek advice.

[peacemaker]

Bro, if this is meant to be a frag tank, and mainly to culture zoas, you can consider keeping a 6-line or yellow wrasse to help weeding out nudis.

[johntanjm]

for your bubble traps, should be the other way round.

[markietan]

Looks good to me... looking forward to your updates.

will definitely start a thread once its up and running =)

[markietan]

Does the cabinet has center beam to support the weight as well?

yes it has a few center beams along the 5ft actually...

center beams = from the cabinet surface to the floor right?

[markietan]

return pump and skimmer same compartment = micro bubbles

planning to do reverse lighting?

you might want to plan for ways place your lights for you refugium

and the overflow teeth should be longer, 3/4" is not enough

my 1 cents

cheers

mm... not really planning to do reverse lighting. lighting period will probably start around 11 to 10pm. so before that the sun rises at 8am which will be shining into the fuge already. is that okay? the chaeto won't die cause too long exposure to light right?

i also though about the overflow teeth part. i wanted it flush with the inner glass and since the inner glass must be lower than the outer glass to prevent flooding, 3/4 is the max i can squeeze in. I was hoping the 6" allocated for the overflow would be enough for a 3000l/h flow. u think it'll work? otherwise will have to extend the teeth to be same height as the outer glass, i.e. 1"

[markietan]

I like the idea of a shallow tank also....if your sunlight can penetrate into your main tank as well, you can place sps on top..that will be perfect.

Probably yr liverocks have to get artificial types coz they r lighter...in the SR, your cabinet can tahan...but in the LR say, one yr or more...may start to bend and give way...coz usually for cabinets, they use ply wood. i'm just offering my opinion...final decision up to you, since u posted this thread to seek advice.

mm.. i'm not intending to put much LR actually. probably just a few to create some flow pattern but since its so shallow, LR will be minimal. as for the cabinet... if the old one doesn't go, the new one cannot come in. so... yeah i'll keep a close eye on that and if it bends, i'll tear it down and build a proper one. thanks!

[markietan]

Bro, if this is meant to be a frag tank, and mainly to culture zoas, you can consider keeping a 6-line or yellow wrasse to help weeding out nudis.

yup that was exactly what i was thinking. both very nice wrasse.... but only problem is they might jump out.

do you know if a 6 line need sandbed? i know a yellow wrasse needs sand bed to sleep in... and i'm undecided if I want to have a sand bed.

[markietan]

for your bubble traps, should be the other way round.

so instead of 3 glass planes on the first partition, it should be the last partition with 3 glass planes?

coming back to the skimmer = micro bubbles problem... maybe i should put the skimmer at the other side of the tank instead...

[Fuzzy]

so instead of 3 glass planes on the first partition, it should be the last partition with 3 glass planes?

coming back to the skimmer = micro bubbles problem... maybe i should put the skimmer at the other side of the tank instead...

Looks good, my concerns aside from fish jumping out, would be the rapid rate of evaporation from this layout, might need an ATO to maintain stable salinity.

Also salt creep from any splashing that might occur might be an issue later.

How are you going to be mounting any supplemental lighting? Pendant? Stands might be a problem unless you custom build them for your lights, because

the available type are likely to be too low, or to block the natural sunlight from entering the tank after they are off.

Aside from that and algae outbreaks, I don't see any potential issues with this design.