40 breeder kitchen frag refuge

so since i have had a couple of serious problems in a couple of my tanks i have been forced to medicate a number of corals.this has prompted me to setup a much needed QT for corals.and a kinda half way home for my zoas until things blow over.there will be alot of coral bouncing around these here tanks.o first things first.
TANK TIME.
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cleaned this bad boy out and got it ready to go.
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had to rewire a quik disconect to the socket then mount the reflector to a board that i will fix above the tank so that it slides back and forth adn is easily removed.
and then fired it up after i put in some thoroughly cleaned crushed coral and some live rock pieces i pulled from a problem free tank.
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i i also used the product clarity and a hang on the back filter to quickly pull out the water born particles.it works.
As you may have assumed this tank thread is based around one of my 40 gallon breeder kitchen tanks. Although this particular tank has been setup for a few years now, it always seems to have changing guest residents since I designated it as a grow out tank. What kind of grow out tank you ask? The kind that grows out those little tiny coral frags you are not sure where you want them placed in a display long term. I would just call it a frag tank that gets a number of my new arrivals but it just has a better ring to my ears as a coral grow out tank. Besides, the "frag tank" is on the porch.

As you may have also guessed, this aquarium is located in my kitchen, right next to my downstairs bathroom door and across from the kitchen sink. This makes water access easy along with dipping and acclimating processes...Provided I am permitted to commandeer the kitchen table.

The system itself is extremely basic. Originally I was going to have two separate systems one on top of the other, but over time I decided to simply tie the two together with an eternal overflow box and appropriate plumbing. That being said, the bottom tank houses a moded Coralife Skimmer as well as a 500GPH return pump that I dial back with a T and ball valve. The top and bottom tank are both kept circulating with 2 700GPH Koralias each, I used to have a nice MP10 but the wetside failed over time so it was back to the basics. Other than that the main top tank has a small hang on back filter that is simply there for the media I choose to use such as Purigen or activated carbon.

Last, but not least, is the lighting. For the grow out tank I have an Aqua Beauty series LED that has been running for over 5 years and still has Amazing color and keep the corals happy. I have the settings running at %100 blues and %60 whites in case somebody wants to know, I wish I could switch them to just actinics sometimes but without the remote the main interface is too clunky for me to bother. Just one of these units covers the 40 relatively well but I might be pushing it, I have to put lower light corals at the edges. The bottom aquarium is equipped with a 250 watt metal halide Old School mogul base with the bat wing reflector. I used to run 10,000K bulbs but have since switched to the 14,000K look. Both of these lights run from about 7:00AM to 9:00PM or whenever I go upstairs for the night since I am their timer.

The fishy residents are few, a pair of skunk clowfish, a sixline wrasse, and a starry blenny who is a total bastard. In the future I wouldn't mind getting a small tang and another wrasse for the tank but I am waiting for the right ones...That, and I should get that dirty blenny out first.

Coralwise it is a mixed bag for sure, Zoanthids, Montiporas, Lobophyllia, Cyphastreas, Echinoporas, and Acroporas. They all get a turn to simmer and stew in the kitchen tank.

​​​​​​​So lets see whats cooking shall we?

saw it the other day, looked pretty good actually...

man i have been loading this bad boy up with some goodness.actualy most of these are needing some healing but all in good time.
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so its been a lil while and i thought i should post a pic before i shuffle things around again.this tank was supposed to be a half way home for coral but now it seems to be more of a excuse for more coral. [img][/img]
at one point there was alot of this nasty algae on the back wall everywhere and i was about to use a media to absorb extra nutrients but i just got a seahare and that did the trick.
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i may need to borrow that sea hare, lol...

just a shot of some of the temp residents of this frag tank.[img][/img]
these are all pretty much on there way out....to the saw.

but before i saw things up i gotta clean up some clutter.its getting a little crowded even on the bottom.[img][/img]

here is a recent shot far from the tank so you can see the 40 breeder stack.itts coming along rather well.
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That frog spawn looks awesome! And those are some cool zoas too .....Set up looks really nice and the lighting is great.

I need a 40 breeder stack too. You make it look so easy to set up and it doesn't seem to take up much space. Somehow I just don't think my wife will go for it. Maybe if I build a new "wing" onto the house I can finally keep some serious aquatic life. A guy can dream.

Now....didn't you get a 29gal pre-drill recently (with a nice painted back)? Where's that going to go?

As always, I'm so impressed with your coral-keeping endeavors.

well thank you for the kind words.
there is no reason you cant have a 40 breeder stack if you had LEDs lighting both tanks.you could really slim down the system then.dreaming is always good so if you ever need some extra hands doing some of the work let me know.maybe a ways down the road you can have that little office/room that has all the tanks you need.

hmmm i do have a 29 gallon or two and i am in the process of designing,building,and finding the right place for a 29 gallon stack.thats right a 29 gallon stack with that tank plumbed into the system.it will have to be bolted to a wall so i have to really think about where i will put this one.all in good time as i have that patience virtue.