How to set up a frag tank??

[lanman3]

I have a 45-gallon display tank, 20-gallon sump. With a little rock in the sump, I have about 60 pounds of live rock. I have a skimmer that's designed for about 50 gallons. I have only a couple of fish, and don't plan to have many.

I have a 30-gallon tank plumbed up for a frag tank, and I'm making some water.

Now - what goes in the frag tank? Sand? Rock? Rubble? Nothing but egg crate? i.e. - do I need to add more sand bed or rock to handle the extra 30 gallons of water? Dealer's choice??

Thanks for help!

bob

 

[tk1360]

are you planning on plumbing the frag tank into your current set up or will it be stand alone?

Though it does not mention it I would assume that it will be part of the system. This has the benefit of increasing water volume and allowing the newly chopped up corals to have the parameters they enjoyed before they were violated in the name of the hobby.

Ideally the flow will vary depending on the corals being fragged and the eggcrate seems to be the fashionable thing. The corals themselves can be attached to rubble or those plugs you sometimes see used.

I apologize but off the top of my head I can't find a link to a build thread with a frag tank set up to reference but maybe if the search engine at the top isn't overloaded you could search a few examples out through there and get an idea or PM the owner for advice on the specific system that tickles your fancy.

 

[jer77]

[welcome]

So this frag tank will be attached to the main tank? Well the way I set up my frag tank was that I first added sand and LR, but about a month after I decided that this way adding to many nutirents to the sps. So I took out the sand. What do you plan to keep in it? Since I have sps mostly, but still have xenia and some softies too, I have a remote sand bed in the refugium with LR, sponges, and macro. I am curretly phasing out the macro because I'm running the Polyp Lab's reef-resh system. My system is a 40 gal tank with a 40 gallon sump/fuge. I also have 2 skimmers, a CSS65 and an AquaC ev180. A skimmer for only 50 gallons will have a hard time filtering 95 gallons.

About what to put in the tank, I put eggcrate about 3'' above the bottom, supported by pvc. I leave some area bare because I have bigger things that need more height. My tank is 36X26X12high.

 

[jer77]

This links good.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/printthread.php?threadid=588631&perpage=552

 

[lanman3]

Yes, I plan to 'share the sump' with my main tank. My main concern is whether or not the live rock, sand, and skimmer from the main tank, sump, and refugium will be able to handle the extra water - even though there is no extra fish load or anything - just corals. My water parameters are excellent (better than my 24-gallon tank, which is older but has no skimmer), and I'd like to keep them that way

bob

 

[jer77]

Yes I believe it can. What kind of stuff will you be fragging?

 

[lanman3]

I'll have a lot of zoo's in there, and I have a few monti caps that i really like, and want to 'share the wealth', and a really pretty salmon-colored monti digi (that also likes to encrust) - and of course a couple of types of xenia. And my favorite - GSP! I have about 5 varieties - fluorescent green small polyps, BRIGHT fluorescent green with big fat polyps, white center, pink center, etc... I love how a frag of GSP just sits there doing nothing for weeks, and then starts growing so fast you have to almost run to not get covered.

Thanks for the info. I'll just keep any sand or grunge 'decorative' as opposed to worrying about function. I like to frag onto live rock anyhow - so there will be SOME live rock in there. I should have enough water by Saturday! (Cold well water - makes RO/DI water pretty slowly) and next week, there may be some actual sand bottom visible in my main tanks!

Cheers!

bob

 

[Capt_Cully]

what photo period and lights do you guys use?

 

[jer77]

Sand is good for softies too, so I would go that route. Especially for a green starpolyp that will spread all over the place.

 

[JeffersonReef]

what kind of lighting are you going to be using for your frag tank? I cant see why you would need to get another skimmer or anything... your water params should stay about the same... in fact they will likely get better/ more stable with the extra water volume. I would just be concerned about lighting... a typical 'fuge bulb' wont do if you are growing sps frags, etc...