How can I start a coral frag tank?

E

er100

New member
I am planning on starting a coral frag tank in a 10 gallon tank. Can I use a tank this size? Would I need to have live rock and live sand or can I leave it completely bare? What do I need to do to maintain a frag tank? Thanks. :strange:
 
IMHO that's too small to be practical. Ideally a frag tank is shallow and wide so you have some room to view them from top and also to work with your hands. Anything can be done for sure, but I'd look into a nice frag tank from JBJ or have one made.
 
sixpackgarage said:
IMHO that's too small to be practical. Ideally a frag tank is shallow and wide so you have some room to view them from top and also to work with your hands. Anything can be done for sure, but I'd look into a nice frag tank from JBJ or have one made.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your opinion, but, do you think you could also give me some advice about starting and maintaining a frag tank?
 
There are a huge amount of resources online as well as books to help answer all of your questions. Putting together and maintaining a frag tank is a lot of work, and part of that work involves doing your own research online because no one is going to have all of the answers you need to have before you buy anything.
 
I started a frag tank about 8 months ago in an old 29 gallon that I found . Two inches of live sand, 25 lbs. of very nice live rock, an old AI Hydra, a Reef Octopus HOB skimmer, and an Aquaclear 50 with the foam insert and a bag of carbon, along with two old Hydor Koralias attached to a cheap wavemaker, and a basic heater and I've been good to go. The light is mounted about 9 inches off the water, and an acrylic magnetic frag rack is about six inches below the water line. I change three gallons twice/week and check dKh every other day.The bottom is about 35%covered with Halimeda which apparently came in on some rock. With proper light, flow and water quality you should be fine. Go with a bigger tank as mentioned above
 
dendrite said:
I started a frag tank about 8 months ago in an old 29 gallon that I found . Two inches of live sand, 25 lbs. of very nice live rock, an old AI Hydra, a Reef Octopus HOB skimmer, and an Aquaclear 50 with the foam insert and a bag of carbon, along with two old Hydor Koralias attached to a cheap wavemaker, and a basic heater and I've been good to go. The light is mounted about 9 inches off the water, and an acrylic magnetic frag rack is about six inches below the water line. I change three gallons twice/week and check dKh every other day.The bottom is about 35%covered with Halimeda which apparently came in on some rock. With proper light, flow and water quality you should be fine. Go with a bigger tank as mentioned above
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. :) I would go with a bigger tank, but I just wanted to use this spare one I have. Besides, I have seen other threads where others have 5 gallon frag tanks. So I guess a 10 gallon wouldn't hurt. :lol2:
 
petco has 1$/gallon sales. Get a shallow 20 or 30 gallon and use the 10 as a sump. I forgot to say that I have 3 pajama cardinals and a starry blenny that do their part in fertilizing the frags, along with about 10 trochus snails and the usual bristleworms. The problem with the 10 gallon is stability. The hobby is expensive enough without losing expensive frags because of a sudden shift in water quality
 
dendrite said:
petco has 1$/gallon sales. Get a shallow 20 or 30 gallon and use the 10 as a sump. I forgot to say that I have 3 pajama cardinals and a starry blenny that do their part in fertilizing the frags, along with about 10 trochus snails and the usual bristleworms. The problem with the 10 gallon is stability. The hobby is expensive enough without losing expensive frags because of a sudden shift in water quality
Click to expand...

I'll consider your option of getting a bigger tank. Still, I just wanted to start a set up with easy corals at first, then upgrade to more advance corals down the line.
 
There is a coral propagation book I recently picked up on AMAZON and it was amazing. Just amazon Coral propagation volume 2 and it should come up, cover is a red and blue chalice. It gets more into opening a store but it covers propagation very well, from everything to fragging, dipping and even setting up a system.
 
RainbowReefer said:
There is a coral propagation book I recently picked up on AMAZON and it was amazing. Just amazon Coral propagation volume 2 and it should come up, cover is a red and blue chalice. It gets more into opening a store but it covers propagation very well, from everything to fragging, dipping and even setting up a system.
Click to expand...

I believe the name is Practical Coral Farming with the red and blue chalice :)
 
ER100; I've done the same thing in the garage, I had a 10 - 15g tank spare, added some water from my DT, some existing cured live rock, left it bare bottom, a small internal skimmer ( although not necessary provided water changes are maintained), heater, 2 T5s that sit on the rim of the tank and a couple of small powerheads, and this is now a grow out tank - works perfectly for me, with Zoas, Acans, Blastos, Monti's, Digitatas all doing well.

Fundamentals on fragging corals are easily available here and on the net.

As with a DT, just watch the water parameters and lighting. Otherwise it's no different IMO to having a Nano tank.

If some corals need more / less light, then move them up / down, simple. :)
 
Would it be best to setup next to or near your DT? Then you could run a feed off the main sump's return pump and gravity drain back into the sump. This way you can avoid buying more equipment.
 
Cperkins8 said:
Would it be best to setup next to or near your DT? Then you could run a feed off the main sump's return pump and gravity drain back into the sump. This way you can avoid buying more equipment.
Click to expand...

Great idea providing your return has the spare capacity, and you have the room.
 
You'll probably run out of space in a 10 gallon tank.

Really want a wide and shallow tank.
 
Cperkins8 said:
Would it be best to setup next to or near your DT? Then you could run a feed off the main sump's return pump and gravity drain back into the sump. This way you can avoid buying more equipment.
Click to expand...

YES! That would be the best option. I always try to feed with gravity coming out of the DT. If you don't have enough flow, you can add a small powerhead. Then you don't have to buy anything but a light and you don't have to worry about maintaining stable parameters
 
Yep, easy to maintain one system over many, trust me we did that and not fun lol. His and hers display tanks off one large sump and just added a 10g frag tank.




 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

EXTREMECORALS
Beginner's Guide to Starting a Coral Frag Tank ~ Extremecorals.com Blog
Replies
0
Views
181
EXTREMECORALS
EXTREMECORALS
Old Newbie
What size? What tank?
Replies
2
Views
250
griss
griss
W
Potential 65G
Replies
17
Views
492
griss
griss
Brian60077
Be patient, wait, and do not rush to add things ???
Replies
11
Views
341
Brian60077
Brian60077
AGWL
Starting over
Replies
6
Views
296
griss
griss
Back
Top