TX’s Reef’s zoo med 50 gal lowboy
- Build Thread
- Thread starter TX_REEF
- Start date
-
- Tags
- build diy low boy shallow build
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
Update time!
My lyretail anthias unfortunately did not survive my 2 week vacation because she would only eat frozen food which my auto feeder obviously cannot provide
Maroon clowns are super happy. I hope my BTA in my display splits soon so I can give them one. The candy cane frag I got on discount at LFS is getting FAT! I’m also temporarily housing a GSP frag from display in the frag tank because it has a feather duster in it - I had to treat the display with prazipro, which I understand kills worms.
My lyretail anthias unfortunately did not survive my 2 week vacation because she would only eat frozen food which my auto feeder obviously cannot provide
Maroon clowns are super happy. I hope my BTA in my display splits soon so I can give them one. The candy cane frag I got on discount at LFS is getting FAT! I’m also temporarily housing a GSP frag from display in the frag tank because it has a feather duster in it - I had to treat the display with prazipro, which I understand kills worms.
OP
OP
My last surving damsel seems to have fallen in love with the fat candy cane frag. The other 3 died quite randomly at different times. Wonder if they were bullied to death?
Last edited:
OP
OP
Added a very pretty rainbow BTA, a piece of broken birdsnest, and a freebie frag (no idea what it is, do you know?) to the frag system today, courtesy of the Dallas Fort Worth Marine Aquarium Society (DFWMAS) March frag swap!
OP
OP
I was definitely not expecting the sheer volume of SPS frags that local reefer @bobnicaragua was kind enough to share with me today - many hours of fragging/glueing ahead of me this weekend!
OP
OP
I’ll have to review the photos I took of them with labeled bags and do an inventory some time this weekend
OP
OP
Cleaned up the tank and re-organized the frag racks. I turned the spectrum back to favor blue/purple because the full daylight spectrum was making the hair algae explode. Lots of work done with the razor blade and tooth brush… also half the caulerpa in the fuge went sexual and died, so I turned the fuge light to 24/7.
OP
OP
Here's some quick fuge footage. The porcelain crabs that came in as hitchikers on my TBS liverock are getting quite large! My pithos crab loves to hang on the mangrove trunk. I hand feed him sometimes.
Lgara1303
Active Member
Just reviewing your build again and I just wanna confirm did you use pressure-treated lumber or not and if not, do you just not find it necessary or you didn’t want to spend the extra money on it to decide if I want to do pressure-treated or notTank build tab updated 11/28/2023!
I debated putting this in the frag tank section but I don’t know if I can resist the temptation of building it out into a lagoon or something.
Current situation:
-Saw a lowboy on a custom steel stand at LFS. I love shallow tanks, had to have it.
-bought the tank, $160. SCORE!
-the stand was $600- #%?* THAT!
-went down YouTube rabbit hole of DIY stand building. Built wooden stand out of framing 2x4 lumber. Think it turned out nice so far. Planning to spray paint black.
-bought 40 breeder for sump. Side note: petco price was $120 in store, $60 if you order online for pickup. Ordered it online while looking at the $120 price tag and walked out with it for $60
-I’ll keep a tab of $ spent in the spirit of at least semi-DIY.
To do:
-drill tank for drains and returns
-spray paint bottom of tank black
-carry everything upstairs (or figure out a new spot - I'm getting cold feet on having this ~90 gallon system upstairs...
-decide what lights and pumps I want. Will probably get another kessil AP9x because I love the one on my display. Leaning towards maxspect gyres for flow, they seem really efficient for shallow tanks
HELP ME:
-CHECK MY WISH LIST AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!
-WHAT SHOULD I ACTUALLY DO WITH THIS TANK?
CURRENT TAB:
OP
OP
To be honest, I’m not sure if it was pressure treated or not. I used standard 2x4, and if you use a frame build the same or similar to mine it will be more than strong enough to hold any tank that can fit on it. So, it shouldn’t matter whether it is or isn’t.
Lgara1303
Active Member
Yeah, I’m actually planning to basically build the same stand. You are in a lot of my build is gonna come with the inspiration from yours to be honest, but I’m not really concerned about the strength of the stand as I am water getting on it.
OP
OP
Just give it a coat of paint and you should be alright either way!
Lgara1303
Active Member
Very nice man I’ve been asking to see an updated picture of it.Here’s some recent footage of the system! Today was cleaning day and some of my acro frags are starting to encrust!
I personally love the low boy tanks been looking at all the builds and they all look so nice.
I plan to start my build thread soon as I’m going to get my lumber this week and I got my sump protein, skimmer, and return pump and most of my plumbing connections this weekend. Not necessarily in a rush, but at the same time trying to get the system built as my frag tank that I have now is going to ****, and I have started distributing the Frags to my display in my dad‘s display so I don’t lose anymore I lost a good 3-4 inch frogspawn believe it’s due to the temperature from the tank being smaller as my bigger tanks don’t reach a temperature throughout the day that tank is seeing 84° then probably going back down to 80 ish at night just stressful as I want to be consistent.
I see you were doing bare bottom on that tank and I also plan to do that. Have you ever thought about a clam and do you know if you can just add them straight bare bottom as I have one in my frag tank and now and that’s really the only thing I’m worried about moving. Also how are you liking bare bottom?
Lgara1303
Active Member
Hey Tx, Hope all is well we have spoke on my forum before and just have another question for you. I see you're using the kessil AP light and this is the only thing I am stuck on is lighting I would like something that lights the tank good with one light or two if I had to. I see that you're only running one of those lights and just wondering how you like it and if it covers the one tank well? are you able to keep higher lighting LPS and possibly SPS just wondering what your experiance has been. Someone in my local reefing group just posting one in great shape with a box and mount for 350OBO so I may jump all over it.
OP
OP
for this size tank, it covers the whole thing entirely with plenty of power. I am able to grow SPS, LPS, soft corals and bubbletip anemones without issue in this tank, dimensions 48x24x12 inches. For a deeper tank, shadowing can be an issue. On my display, I also have the Kessil AP9x but with an added Orphek bar for additional coverage.
$350 is a great price, I'd definitely go for that.
Similar threads
