Setting up a cheap frag tank.
 

So i need to make room in my nano reef and dont want to part with any of my corals so i need to expand. I dont have alot of room or money to fuel this addiction so i am just gonna do it with whats available.i am starting with a 33 long for the floor plan and shallow depth for light penetration.i have MTS "multiple tank syndrome" so bad that this is getting set up on my head board to my bed.SWEET RIGHT.anyhow i would like to shoot some ideas with you folks.questions and suggestions?

33 long
 

got the 33 long ..48" length,12" width, 12" hight.although i am probably gonna do a deep sand bed for the nitrate reducing qualities so it will be more like a 9"-8" depth.sweet for the coral.I have to get a board in place on top of my head board as the tank has a little overhang.not a big problem.I picked up a piece of wood from a friend.

tank in place
 

got the tank in place and filled. i went with instant ocean as this was the cheapest salt available to me that i have also had positive experience with.i am going to go with a fine aragonite sand bed to benefit from better nitrification do to the fact that i will not have a sump,and to promote buffering and calcium levels.

temporary lights
 

as far as lighting goes for now i have picked up a basic 48" shop light for $8.99 and some 6500 kelvin 48" T8 flourecent tubes for a temp light and it looks real good for the price.at the far end i have an aqua clear filter i will probably use as a refugium as well as added flow.

sand and rock
 

went with the fine aragonite.and about 8 lbs of live rock to help seed the tank.

blue
 

and my spiny blue lobster.

uh oh
 

well it looks like i am taking things a lil to fast..i added a yellow tail damsel 15 hours after setup as well as my spiny reef lobster.its been a week and suddenly an algae explosion.so much though that the water apears to fizz with the oxygen being produced and the fall of the granular substrate after the bubbles rupture.so now i need to reduce nutrients and add a clean up crew..feelings about sally light foots maybe?

a crew
 

so i went with sally light foot crabs and some calcinus elegans hermit crabs allong with two turbo snails for a starter clean up crew.i also put some live sand and rock from another system to help diversify the benificiary inhabitants.or cycle the tank faster.it seems to have worked over night.but to be sure i added phosgaurd to my filter and some macro algaes to the tank.built a frag rack from old egg crate.as you can see it is very close to the lighting as well as flow.

flow
 

so i am adding a power head to one end of the tank to circulate the water twards the aquaclear filter at the oposing end...as well as some more macro algae to help with the nutrient uptake.for some reason i am still having a mild bloom of algae.

starting
 

found a person willing to trade some colonies of pachyclauvularia and xenia elongate for some stock..i hope to frag from this tank to help pay for itself...and these two corals are usualy prolific and in demand so this should be a good start.at least i think so..i wouldnt mind a second opinion.