Ideas for the Zoo Med Low Boy frag tank

Sobo's Reef · Aug 6, 2019

Hey everyone. Thinking of setting up a Low Boy frag tank and wanted to see what everyone else was running equipment wise. Did you drill it or not drill it? Would love to see pics of everyone’s setup!!

Coastie Reefer · Aug 6, 2019

Definitely suggest drilling it. I have a eshopps overflow box on mine and it's tied into the sump on my main tank.

For flow I'd recommend gyre style pumps for their wide powerful flow pattern. I have a single Maxspect 250 running at 50% and pushes plenty of water.

All in all it really depends on your ultimate goal in setting up the tank.

This is an old pic the only one I could find at work.

Sobo's Reef · Aug 6, 2019

I heard the glass on these tanks are pretty thin so that’s why I was contemplating drilling it. That and I never actually drilled a tank so there’s always that anxiety too lol

What light are you using?

Coastie Reefer · Aug 6, 2019

Sobo's Reef said:
I heard the glass on these tanks are pretty thin so that’s why I was contemplating drilling it. That and I never actually drilled a tank so there’s always that anxiety too lol

What light are you using?

The glass is pretty thin, and that has pros and cons. No panels are tempered so you can literally drill it anywhere or any way you want. I used an overflow box, but some drill through the bottom and use a simple bulkhead and pvc pipe setup.

Drilling isn't bad at all, just let the bit do the work. Don't put any pressure on the drill and let the weight of the drill and gravity work for you. There's tons of videos on drilling just watch a couple.

Kyl · Aug 6, 2019

Glass thickness isn't the issue with the lowboys, leaks from poor silicone jobs is the main problem if you're going to have one. Ideally buy one locally and inspect it before you take it out the door. Some tanks have seams that don't go fully to the top of the glass, or look like it's been assembled by a 5 year old with poor silicone application.

andrewkw · Aug 6, 2019

Even though it's thin I found it easy to drill. They are very poorly put together as far as appearance, but seems to hold water fine. It's a cheap tank but as far as price and quality control. If it had nice silicone they would probably charge extra.

I set mine up peninsula style and painted the bottom white. You can check it out here :

Build Thread - New 50g lowboy frag tank build

Another build thread! For the past few years I have been growing extra corals in a 55g that was previously a hospital tank. The absolute worst sized tank ever constructed. I had a 48x18x8 frag tank. Since I got rid of that tank I have missed it greatly. Last week while on a trip to Detroit I...

www.reef2reef.com

Coastie Reefer · Aug 6, 2019

Kyl said:
Glass thickness isn't the issue with the lowboys, leaks from poor silicone jobs is the main problem if you're going to have one. Ideally buy one locally and inspect it before you take it out the door. Some tanks have seams that don't go fully to the top of the glass, or look like it's been assembled by a 5 year old with poor silicone application.

I've heard that's been an issue for a few, but I didn't have that problem. Even if you have to dab on a little silicone yourself it's not a major issue. For the price of the lowboy though, I wouldn't expect top notch craftsmanship.

Sobo's Reef · Aug 7, 2019

Do you guys run dosers on your tanks? Or just keep up with water changes?

Coastie Reefer · Aug 7, 2019

Sobo's Reef said:
Do you guys run dosers on your tanks? Or just keep up with water changes?

I used to dose manually, but that got old after several months. I have a coral box WiFi doser now. It’s kinda meh on the WiFi but it gets the job done. It’ll be upgraded to a GHL at some point.

GlassMunky · Aug 7, 2019

Coastie Reefer said:
I've heard that's been an issue for a few, but I didn't have that problem. Even if you have to dab on a little silicone yourself it's not a major issue. For the price of the lowboy though, I wouldn't expect top notch craftsmanship.

not a silicone issue but a couple local guys here in the philly area had the bottom glass completely fail and drain the whole tank of water. one of them was even a store owner......

Sobo's Reef · Aug 7, 2019

Since I’ve never drilled a tank before I might think about making it an AIO tank. Only problem is the dimensions. Hmmm

NTKOReefer · Aug 7, 2019

I drilled my lowboy 6 months ago. First for me. Two return holes and to for a modular marine overflow. Take it easy. After the first hole your a pro and will never hesitate again.

NTKOReefer · Aug 7, 2019

Peace River · Aug 7, 2019

Sobo's Reef said:
Since I’ve never drilled a tank before I might think about making it an AIO tank. Only problem is the dimensions. Hmmm

One option would be to buy a 10g (or get one used) and use it as a practice tank to drill holes. After you have drilled several holes in the 10g then you should be more than ready to drill the lowboy. The main thing is to take it sloooow and keep the hole saw level. Drilling glass is not like wood - it is more like grinding a hole in the glass than cutting with the hole saw. Once you get the feel of it then it is very doable and within most people's ability.

Sobo's Reef · Aug 8, 2019

I think I’m gonna go pick it up next week since the girlfriend said it was fine, even tho she was drunk I’m taking it as a yes hahaha... I don’t know if I wanna go crazy with this tank tho filtration wise. I already have just about a $5,000 DT with equipment and everything so I don’t wanna start going all out on this one too lol

Peace River · Aug 8, 2019

Sobo's Reef said:
I think I’m gonna go pick it up next week since the girlfriend said it was fine, even tho she was drunk I’m taking it as a yes hahaha... I don’t know if I wanna go crazy with this tank tho filtration wise. I already have just about a $5,000 DT with equipment and everything so I don’t wanna start going all out on this one too lol

Everyone has a different idea of what "crazy" is for a tank, but I would encourage you to make sure that the frag tank has adequate lighting, filtration, and flow for the types of corals that you keep and would like to keep in your DT so whether you are bringing in a frag or fragging the corals from your DT then you have have a place to keep them healthy whether you a transitioning the corals in or out. Good luck!

Sobo's Reef · Aug 8, 2019

Peace River said:
Everyone has a different idea of what "crazy" is for a tank, but I would encourage you to make sure that the frag tank has adequate lighting, filtration, and flow for the types of corals that you keep and would like to keep in your DT so whether you are bringing in a frag or fragging the corals from your DT then you have have a place to keep them healthy whether you a transitioning the corals in or out. Good luck!

Thank you! Yeah I’m still tossing up some ideas so we’ll see. I was planning on maybe having the same lighting for this tank as I do my main tank so there’s no change when going between tanks

Peace River · Aug 8, 2019

Sobo's Reef said:
Thank you! Yeah I’m still tossing up some ideas so we’ll see. I was planning on maybe having the same lighting for this tank as I do my main tank so there’s no change when going between tanks

That makes sense with the lighting. Another thing to think about is that for a low profile frag tank many times a gyre pump is a good choice for circulation.