Help setting up frag only tank

[91Atrac]

So me and my friend are tired of dealing with local dying coral and terrible Canadian frag services so we plan on building our own.

We have my 45g, his 35g, a 20g and a 55g sump.

We need some help on how to set this up properly. I have a 150watt mh to use. I was thinking of keeping pistol shrimp and 3-4" deep sand beds in each frag tank. A cleaner shrimp or 2 in each as well.


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[91Atrac]

Nobody can help or elaborate on this?


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[91Atrac]

Didn't expect much help... Most of my threads get very little feedback


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[hk855]

Well what are you trying to keep frags of, sps? Typically frag tanks are bare bones just egg crate or acrylic as a shelf, a light, appropriate flow and hob filtration or a full sump filtration. That said you can set it up how you want but the definition of a frag tank is minimal aquascaping. I don't recall seeing sand in many frag tanks but i don't see why it can't be done and would make it more interesting but is creates the issue of sand storms. Most I've seen are just set up with the typical filtration, light and flow for the water volume, just only one or two fish and no live rock in the tank only the sump. Many are also just plumbed in to a larger tank and have minimal impact on the filtration because it's just frags.

[zakstrong]

For most frag tanks are an accessory to their main tank, few people run a propagation system. as hk855 said often frag tanks are bare just eggcrate racks and a light and high flow. that allows the best flow for the corals and does not allow crap to build up.

I would use the 55 as a sump. for your skimmer heaters etc, and another for live rock. You will need essentially a full aquarium to filter, support everything. then have two seperate frag tanks. one being deep enough to support lower light corals.. shrooms zoos, basically softies. another being shallow ideally a 40 breeder or something of similar dimensions for your higher light corals sps, lps etc.

you could set up frag tank with live rock in it but you need to make sure it is placed not to look the best. it needs to be placed to allow for maximum flow. So then you would need a sump and two tanks setup with different light amounts and liverock scattered throughout.

kind of a scattered answer.

http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/imagehosting/5074bed22bf8f112.jpg

[Mandrake]

I dont think you need a sandbed , I agree that most peoples frag tanks are somehow plumbed to a display tank so you dont have to set up seperate filtration just something for water movement and lighting.

[91Atrac]

Interesting. Wouldn't Lps be happier in mild flow then heavier. Idea was to do little of all in one for frags but thinking over it that just can't be due to the demands of each being very different. Would I benefit from keeping a cleaner shrimp in the frag tank? Something to pick and clean around anything. Or even a peppermint.


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[91Atrac]

Also wouldn't aragamax select work for a base. I just don't think bare bottom would be satisfying even as just a frag tank


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[hk855]

A peppermint would be a better shrimp than a cleaner probably. It will keep aptasia and such at bay an a still clean as much other stuff as a cleaner would. And a few hermits for algae. If you put your one light on your biggest footprint tank at one end maybe tilting a bit towards the other and power heads at same side then you would get high flow and light at one side and low flow and light at another would give you a gradient for different corals. The sand is unnecessary but if you want I don't see why you couldn't, it'll accumulate crud but given your not going to be feeding fish not a big issue. You need a basic filtration setup on it for sure and some kind of biological filtration, could be sand live rock or a fluidized bed reactor but like said above this is usually in the sump. In the end it's your tank and you can take it wherever you want it to go.

[zakstrong]

yea the sandbed isnt necessary but like said above you can do whatever you want its your tank. i would decide a single type of coral you want to start with. maybe something easier.
then basically set up a standard reef tank that is ideal for that type of coral.. sps, lps, softies etc. sps.. then high flow high light high calcium. once that is running and successful add another tank that is curtailed for another type of corals. expand it slowly. if may be difficult of you try to meet all the needs of all corals at once. like we do in display tanks. you end up having to have powerheads pointed a certain way so a part of the tank doesnt get as much flow and having to keep all your sps at the top etc.

[91Atrac]

Well we have some secret plans that might follow through. With another guy but we are fairly certain he's trying to screw us over for reason being we had plans to start something...we didn't know this but at the same time as him. I feel me and my current partner in crime " reef keeping" are going to be more successful then him tho.


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[Mcluett]

Where are you located? You could probably just a shallow tank made for a fairly reasonable price and just use the 55 as your sump.

[91Atrac]

Located in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada. We actually decided on going with my 110g which has a corner drilled overflow already. If I was to use my 150watt sunlight supply mh would it work to grow sps if they were just under the mh and t5ho's the rest of the tank? We may be using an mp40 for the frag tank also instead on regular constant current powerheads


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