Rcpilot - 29g Frag Tank

Budgets are made to be blown in this hobby:D And thats a pretty dang good sale too.

Thats the most frags I've ever sold at one time. The guy bought almost everything I had except the india acans and the purple death.

I didn't sell him the Acro or the Enchanita either.

Frag tank looks naked. :mrgreen:

I'm going to build the stand like this. But instead of the shelf 8" off the ground, it will be on the bottom.
EAA Chapter 1000 Standardized Work Table Plans

Probably sheet it on the outside with something, although it's not necessary. I'm making threats to build the table top out of 2x6 instead of 2x4. But I don't have too. I just have the 2x6 lumber here and STILL trying to save money, even though my budget is blown to holy hell.

My friend and I built 2 of these for this shop. We're building a full size airplane on top of those benches. Actually it takes up the whole garage - then then some.
Murphy Aircraft Mfg, Ltd.

We've had all kinds of weight on top of those benches. Had the transmission from my truck on top of one of these benches for a month while I waited on some new output shaft bearings. Transmission with the transfer case weighs about 300lbs. The bench didn't even wiggle when we plopped that transmission on top of it.

I'm confident one of these benches will hold up a 30g fish tank. At 8.35lbs per gallon, this tank should weigh around 250lbs. Let's say it weighs 350lbs - just for a safety factor. That ain't gonna hurt one of these benches.

So anyway........... I'm rambling. Gonna run to the big box and buy some lumber today. I've got a few 2x6 and some 3/4" sheeting, so it shouldn't be to expensive to get the rest of the lumber I need.

dcantucson said:

Yup! It's like that here too. The change of seasons really gets people out shopping for their DIY stuff. "Gotta do it before winter" mentality.

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Even though in Tucson, the best time of year to get stuff done is winter? Or else it's 110 outside every day?

I've been at either Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace or Harbor Freight at least once a day for the past month. On some days, it's been 4 or 5 times in one day. I guess I'm one of those people crowding your parking lot :(

Found a Mag 7 pump.

We got plumbing parts!! :bounce:

Thank you big brown truck & Bulk Reef Supply

Holy Crap! 1.5" plumbing parts are HUGE.

I know this is SOOOOO lame, but I figured I'd better post at least one actual pic in this thread. We're only on page 7...... :oops:

Cool stuff, RC! Following it closely with interest...

Rc. Are you sure you've got enough? Damn.

No. There's even more coming from a different supplier. :ugh: I haven't purchased pipe or glue yet.

Rcpilot said:

No. There's even more coming from a different supplier. :ugh: I haven't purchased pipe or glue yet.

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Nice plane, too! I'd really like my own some day...

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of skimmer are you putting in?

The Aqua Traders HOB refugium has a built in skimmer. I'm simply taking the HOB refugium off the 10g tank and slapping it on the side of the 20L sump under the stand.

So I guess it's an Aqua Traders skimmer. :shock: Probably not the worlds best skimmer, but it works and I'm WAY over budget on this.

I spent about 2hrs last night cutting huge colonies of zoas out of the existing 30g display and mounting them on frags. Frag tank was almost completely empty except for a few reserved pieces that have been promised to Project. I put 20 frags in it last night.

UPS is due here again today. I'm hoping it's the rest of my plumbing and the diamond coated hole saw. Need to get that hole drilled in the 29g tank and then I can actually get started on this project.

The plane in my avitar is a 33% scale of the Pitts S2. 65" wingspan. 50cc engine. 18.5 pounds. It flew okay, but I hated the ground handling characteristics so I sold it a few years ago. It was a nightmare to take off and land - and I've been flying bigger stuff than that for over 5yrs. It was just a muther&*#^%er to take off.

The newest plane is shown below. It's an Extra300L with 90" wingspan. 88" long. 75cc engine turning a 24" prop at about 6600RPM. 18.5 pounds. Handles like a Ferrari on wings. My favorite airplane I've ever built. Lands slow and flies gracefully - until I start slammin' the sticks on the radio. Then it's like trying to tame a Tasmanian Devil -- just the way I like 'em!!

i tried to fly, i didnt do so well.. but it was just one of thoes surgical tubing powered launched gliders with minor dihedrials and only an elevator and rudder control... i wanna say the wings are like 5-6 foot wide...


i tried mounting a little cox motor to it, but by then my grandparents had found out that in order to fly at the local strip, they required that you cary something like 100k insurance policy.. i never flew again...

i still have the glider, but i've never had the heart to take it out and crash it now that i'm an adult...

project5k said:

i tried to fly, i didnt do so well.. but it was just one of thoes surgical tubing powered launched gliders with minor dihedrials and only an elevator and rudder control... i wanna say the wings are like 5-6 foot wide...


i tried mounting a little cox motor to it, but by then my grandparents had found out that in order to fly at the local strip, they required that you cary something like 100k insurance policy.. i never flew again...

i still have the glider, but i've never had the heart to take it out and crash it now that i'm an adult...

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Yeah, insurance is insane out there....I'm glad I don't need insurance. The deck landings we'll be doing tomorrow are on a ship with only a 80 x 80' deck...


So, kind of naive, but what exactly is a frag tank for? I mean, usually when I want to give something away, I just cut a piece off, bag it, and bring it in...

A frag tank is to grow the little pieces out so they will be large enough to sell. Kind of like a coral "farm". So, for example, you'd cut 10 zoanthids off of a mother colony, mount them individually to frag plugs, put the 10 frag plugs in your frag tank, and grow them out until they have multiplied to 5 on each plug, and sell each frag for 5 times what you would have two months before, when you first fragged the mother colony.

you mean that i could lagitemately and regularly make a little money at this if i get good? i mean at least enough for fish food?

Rcpilot said:

The Aqua Traders HOB refugium has a built in skimmer. I'm simply taking the HOB refugium off the 10g tank and slapping it on the side of the 20L sump under the stand.

So I guess it's an Aqua Traders skimmer. :shock: Probably not the worlds best skimmer, but it works and I'm WAY over budget on this.

I spent about 2hrs last night cutting huge colonies of zoas out of the existing 30g display and mounting them on frags. Frag tank was almost completely empty except for a few reserved pieces that have been promised to Project. I put 20 frags in it last night.

UPS is due here again today. I'm hoping it's the rest of my plumbing and the diamond coated hole saw. Need to get that hole drilled in the 29g tank and then I can actually get started on this project.

The plane in my avitar is a 33% scale of the Pitts S2. 65" wingspan. 50cc engine. 18.5 pounds. It flew okay, but I hated the ground handling characteristics so I sold it a few years ago. It was a nightmare to take off and land - and I've been flying bigger stuff than that for over 5yrs. It was just a muther&*#^%er to take off.

The newest plane is shown below. It's an Extra300L with 90" wingspan. 88" long. 75cc engine turning a 24" prop at about 6600RPM. 18.5 pounds. Handles like a Ferrari on wings. My favorite airplane I've ever built. Lands slow and flies gracefully - until I start slammin' the sticks on the radio. Then it's like trying to tame a Tasmanian Devil -- just the way I like 'em!!

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Can't wait to see continued progress. I used to fly a lot of helis back when I was in college and had first graduated. mostly 30 and 60 raptors, started getting into the 3D electric's and kinda fell out of it. I tried doing winged stuff, but I had even more problems than the helis. The wind out here is usually 25-30 on light days and I'm too lazy to wake up early to hit it before it gets bad.

At my old job I had an entire gymnasium where I could have flown small electrics but never took advantage of it. Still regret that a lot.

project5k said:

you mean that i could lagitemately and regularly make a little money at this if i get good? i mean at least enough for fish food?

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It's doubtful project5k, it's doubtful. :mrgreen:
You would only want to keep all your profits, instead of selling them.

This is probably THE only hobby where plumbing is fun:D

I'm almost ready to begin. I have the stand built. Got the plumbing parts last week. Waiting on the diamond hole saw from Hong Kong. Must be on the slow boat, because it's been 10 days since I ordered it. Really hoping it gets here before the end of the week so I can build this thing over the weekend.

I'm still sourcing parts. I don't like getting into a project like this without having everything on hand when I start. I've got 95% of it, but can't do a thing without that drill bit. My plan of waiting to order all this crap until AFTER I had the drill bit -- well, that plan went out the window. I guess if I shatter the 29g tank, I'll have to go find another tank. I've spent too much money and time to back out now.

I'll have to run down the street to the big box hardware store and get some PVC glue and a few lengths of PVC pipe in 3/4" and 1.5" Got a Mag 7 pretty cheap. It was a little dirty, but I dropped it in the kitchen sink with about a quart of vinegar. Cleaned it right up. Seams quiet enough for a 700GPH pump. Got a 175w MH ballast and mogul. Need to order a bulb and come up with a reflector. I got a few bits of aluminum. I'll have to cut it up with some sheet metal snips and get out the pop rivet gun. The 65w PC ballasts are in the mail somewhere. Need to get some end caps and reflectors. I have a square pin 65w actinic bulb. Need another one. I wish you could get 65w square pin PC bulbs in 460nm or 20k. All I can find is actinic.

I'm sure I'll need other parts as I begin the build. Thankfully Home Depot is only 4 blocks away and Lowes is about 1 mile way.