Help with Coral Farming DIY

[jrossjr79]

Ok, first off let me say I am brand new to the hobby. I still do not have my own tank. Which I hope to change soon. I have always loved looking at salt water tanks, the fish, the coral, everything. Love the way it looks even more underwater. (Yes I scuba too).

First thing I want to do though is a big DIY project. I want to start a coral farm in my back yard. I know the size of the tank I want to build. Plywood. It would roughly be a 6'x10' and being 3' deep. Will have a foldable canopy of blue tinted acrylic glass.

Oh almost forgot what would be the best set of corals to farm in these conditions.

[allan]

Welcome to Maast dude.

Man that sounds like a fun project. Temperature may be an issue but I imagine with that volume you could cool with fans and a water fall or fountain... Not sure how much temperature control you would have.

Coral farm implies a business of sorts. Is that your intent?

Would really enjoy seeing this build.

[jc]

I'm not sure why the tank needs to be 3' deep. Most of the pictures i've seen of these projects use shallow tanks.

[Big_Pun]

just wondering why you want a propagation system instead of display system if you haven't done salt water?

[jrossjr79]

Welcome to Maast dude.

Man that sounds like a fun project. Temperature may be an issue but I imagine with that volume you could cool with fans and a water fall or fountain... Not sure how much temperature control you would have.

Actually I think I got some of that covered, as far as cooling, was plan on using an idea I saw in some other forums. Having return pipes 3' below ground probable for a distance of 15' with some curves, or just 11'. I read this is a good efficient way to keep the temperatures down on a hot day. And may even help keep a little warm for our winters, not 100% on that though. However I am curious to see what others think to see if that would keep it cool enough, if not, then what else I can do to keep the wattage down low as possible.

Coral farm implies a business of sorts. Is that your intent?

It is the majority of my intent, but first starting out would be more of a hobby till I would have a good supply of frags of different assortments to work with.

I'm not sure why the tank needs to be 3' deep. Most of the pictures i've seen of these projects use shallow tanks.

I may be changing that to 1.5' to 2'. Not 100 % sure as of yet. I was thinking 3' originally to help keep the water cooler, since it would take more heat at longer times with more water.

[jrossjr79]

just wondering why you want a propagation system instead of display system if you haven't done salt water?

Three reasons, one to make a little extra cash, which I know would not be right then and there, 2nd keeps me busy, 3rd, which is probable the most important, at this time, my house is just to small for a display tank. I am hoping I can get a bigger house in 2 - 3 years that would have efficient room for a display tank. LOL, I dont even have room for those Nano tanks. But I figure I can get my feet wet (litterally it would seem) in the hobby, make some extra cash, and learn things. I learn better by doing.

[buck27]

What would worry me most would not be the summer heat as much as the winter cold. Your talking about heating 1350 gallons of water. That's gonna take some serious heaters even with the 3' deep return lines. If there is one thing I know about its cold weather. I'm from Iowa. Normal winter there can be 28 below zero lol no joke. Would be interesting to see how it turns out. You have a time frame in mind for this project?

[jrossjr79]

You have a time frame in mind for this project?

At this time I dont have a time frame in mind, I want to gather as much information as possible before I even start with the building process. The cold winter that is here worries me as well, since this tank would be outside. But I know there has to be a way to get around that. I personally jsut dont know what as of yet.

The main thing I want to set out to do right now, is finding out exactly what I need. I know I need to keep the tank cool during the summer months which I think I have covered. Keep it warm during the winter, which I am still looking for options. However I do not know if I need a skimmer, do I need some sort of agitator to create small ripples or waves for the corals, or if I need a sump tank as well. Also worried about massive growth of algae.

[buck27]

In my opinion the sunlight will be your biggest problem with algae but that may be able to be corrected with a shade cover that could be placed over the tank in the afternoons. As for the agitator I personally would build a dump style wave system for flow. Filtration is going to be your best friend however. For a system that large I would bulds a 275 gallon sump/fuge with a deep sand bed and a good uv sterilizer and a skimmer. I would then add about 4 or 5 yellow tangs to the tank for algae control and some snails. That's just me. I would also look into heating for ponds to see if there is a large enough heater out there or even cattle tank heaters that farmers use for winter time that could be converted with titanium coils.

[allan]

I'm thinking the main body where the farming happens, flowing into a portion that serves as a sump (algae and mangroves), spilling into a a return area where the water is pumped back to the other side. There have it waterfall over rocks for filtration/aeration into the main part again. That tail piece that goes into the return tank could double as a huge algae scrubber for added export.

Water changes, although may not be needed, should encourage you to plumb the system into the city system unless you like dead grass. Might want to check and see how much salt water is safe to dump without environmental concerns.

I'm thinking your ROI would be negligible to nonexistent.

As far as heating and cooling you may be better off building a greenhouse with AC. Then you can build the propagation tanks at a comfortable height. Ambient temp would regulate water temp. Still have the availability of solar energy for growth.

And the fact that mama won't have to deal with seeing what you're doing to her house you can safely build some elaborate scrubbers to keep your water pristine and maximize your water levels individually and at a low cost. Ie, tupleware containers for growth, shallow for sp requiring high heat and deep ones for those requiring the depth.

You won't have the expense of glass tanks.

You could build this close to the house and at a later date when you get your stones back you can pipe in a water supply to a display tank, run the return back outside and that would give you a 55gallon DT with a 1000 gallon fuge.

Most of us would salivate at that