New frag tank

So the last few months, in my few minutes of spare time here and there, I've been working on re-vamping my basement sump & frag tank.  This weekend, everything gets swapped out and re-plumbed.  I had a few minutes to finish the frag tank tonight and I'm pretty happy with it.  40 breeder tank, 1" return and overflow (thank you Don!!)  and 3/4" drain in the bottom for draining/cleaning.  I based it off of JB's frag tank design with acrylic on the sides holding up multiple layers of black egg crate.  The bottom is 5 panels that I can move to the top level for easy access to the frags and multiple levels to put the frags wherever is most appropriate for their lighting needs.  Here's the finished product.

Anyway, this should be hooked up with frags in it for the June 11th tank tour.
--AJ

 

Thanks guys!
As for what the egg crate is sitting on, it's 3/8" clear acrylic attached with clear silicon.   I went with a thicker acrylic so that the egg crate had a more substantial surface to sit on.  The strips are about 1" each.  I can't take credit for the idea...I got it from JB. 
--AJ

 

I know what you mean Andy. My current frag tank is a 30-something gallon bowfront tank with egg crate across the bottom. It's functional, but not ideal to work on due to brace across the top. Sometimes you have to implement something that's just functional before you get to something more like what you really want.

--AJ

 

I've read on a few forums that some people say silicone and acrylic don't bond well, and it gives out over time. I guess I'll have to wait and see what my experience is like. Sounds like JBs has held up well.

This makes me think about a design improvement. One thing that could be done to the rail is to drill a 1/4" hole using a countersink bit every 6" or so. You'll end up with a hole that has a cone shape on one side. On this size tank, that would be probably 5 holes. When you install the rails, the silicone will push through those holes. Make sure that the countersink area is full of silicone, so you may have to add a bit (you can trim off the excess later) This makes a secondary form of attachment. In order for the rail to drop, it would have to rip off the silicone "plugs" that were formed during the install and by having the one side in the cone shape, you wouldn't have to worry about the silicone pulling out of the hole. I would imagine that you would notice the acrylic separating from the silicone and fix it before the silicone ripped apart and dropped your corals. Maybe I'll have to do that on Frag Tank Version 2 when I end up changing things up. No matter how you set something up, as Andy mentioned, you'll always think of ways that you could improve it.

--AJ