My SPS propagation setup, in progress

JB NY

Active member
After months, literally, of planning and design. I will finally be setting up a propagation tank for growing out SPS frags. I thought it would be fun to start growing out some nice sized frags for trades. Mostly the frags are for local trading and money from the LFS. I wanted to do it as easily as possible with as little equipment being added to the systems as possible. So this will be hooked into my main reef in between the tank and sump. The design is based on raceways used in raising fish in commercial fisheries. I originally got the idea from a part of Anthony Calfo's book on coral propagation, then modified it to fit my needs.

Water will go down the main tank overflows into a refugium then into the raceway. From the raceway to the sump then pumped back to the main tank. There should be very strong flow thoughout the raceway, no dead spots. The channels are 5" across and I expect to see about 800-1000 GPH going through it. I'm planning on using one XM 20000K 250W MH lamp over it. The raceway is only 7" deep, but the whole size is 32"L x 32"W, so I should be able to get very strong light, even from the XM lamp ;), and very strong flow.

Anyway the raceway is still being built, Brent over at Barr Aquatic Systems has been great. Hopefully I will have it in another few weeks.

But here are some shots of it, in a semi-completed state.


Click for larger image
 
Defintiely is!! Wow!! I think I'm gonna steal it now!! LoL... But seriously, if I dont sell this dual 400 watt ballast that I have, I will be setting up a prop tank down in my basement! WooHoo!



DvS
 
Also, if I could make a suggestion.. If you wouldnt mind that is.. You could put these up, about half way, on each side of the race ways, going horizontal, and there you have a little shelf, if you wanna plop some egg crate on them, to raise things up.. It will give you two height options!

91601p.jpg
 
DvSkIn said:
Also, if I could make a suggestion.. If you wouldnt mind that is.. You could put these up, about half way, on each side of the race ways, going horizontal, and there you have a little shelf, if you wanna plop some egg crate on them, to raise things up.. It will give you two height options!

I originally was going to have the raceway built with two acrylic strips on the bottom sides against the walls. That way I could put eggcrate down. It was too much of a pain to add to the project so I'm going to do something similar to what you suggested. probably just make a long piece of eggcrate that goes the length of the channel then glue a little piece of eggcrate to the bottom to support it 1/2" above the bottom.
 
Looks nice Joe.
Are you worried at all about the flow being unilateral, or will you be rotating things occasionally?
I like the idea of egg-crate. Eliminates the problem of the frags all being blown down to one end of the raceway!

Let me know when you're shipping some, I'd love to get in line for a box ;)

- Mac
 
sounds awesome! one question: why are you putting a 20k xm over it? I'd imagine you'd want an iwasaki or at least a nice 10k bulb for propagating.
 
IMO, the limiting growth factor might be the low PAR of the radium/XM type blue bulbs. By having the XM20K (cause I already own one) over such shallow water. I'm hoping the PAR levels will be high enough to get good growth and good coloration.
 
yeah, 7 inches is pretty shallow. good luck with that! once you get it up and running, shoot some pics, and send me all your frags!
 
ReeferMac said:
Looks nice Joe.
Are you worried at all about the flow being unilateral, or will you be rotating things occasionally?
I like the idea of egg-crate. Eliminates the problem of the frags all being blown down to one end of the raceway!

Let me know when you're shipping some, I'd love to get in line for a box ;)

- Mac

I am a little concerned. But that what the frags are for, to experiment. But I will probably end up rotating them once in a while. I'll see how it goes.

Yeah the egg crate should help with keeping the frags down.

So hopefully I'll be in a better position to trade frags with people, I hate shipping frags out, so I would never do it professionally for money. But the occasional trades to get nice pieces would be cool.

Mainly I wanted to do it because I thought the raceway idea was way cool!
 
wow, very cool, can't wait to see it all up and running, this may be my big chance to get a frag of your pink mille!!! :D
 
JB NY said:
Mainly I wanted to do it because I thought the raceway idea was way cool!

LOL! Then you'd like my sump! 4 feet one way, 4 feet back. Nary a problem w/ micro-bubbles ;)

I'll keep an eye out for when you get a few props, my frags will hopefully be grown out by then.

- Mac
 
koz....Joe brought some of those beautiful pink mille frags to our last meeting for our auction, they went ------->fast !!!

Joe..... it looks and sounds like a great idea.

Good Luck with it
Mike
 
JB NY,
I saw this thread and thought I would give you a heads up. I use a similar system to propagate SPS. I have three 4ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢x 2ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ x 7ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ prop tanks. I run three 250 watt 20k XMs over each tank. You will get great coloration and tremendous growth. There is one major problem with the depth of the system. HEAT! Since the water depth is so shallow, the 250 XM is going to heat up the water faster then you think. I see that the prop system will be connected to your main system. Do you run a chiller? Make sure to add a circulation fan between your 250 XM and the new prop system to help remove the heat given off from the light. Even though I run three 250 watt XMs over each tank, one will surely heat up the water too. Good luck!
Phishy
Here is one of the three systems. All three run side by side on a comon sump. I am currently putting blinders in between each tank and running different K bulbs on each system to do a comparison study. I am testing 20k XMs, 65K, and 10k CoralVue.
Picture29.jpg
 
How far do you have the MH from the surface? This will be in the basement. Right now the basement is between 61F and 65F. so my chiller doesn't even come on during the day and my heaters kick in about 1/2 hour after lights out and are on and off until noon the next day. I was thinking of running the prop tank on a reverse lighting schedule to help the heaters at night.
 
Thanks invincible569. I am very excited to compare coloration and growth rates of the different K bulbs. I am using the same types of SPS under each of the three tanks. My goal is eventually to optimize coloration and growth by knowing which K
bulbs promote the best qualities of each type of SPS I propagate. Very exciting! I will then grow only the types of SPS that have the best qualities under their respected lighting.
Phishy
 
Very nice Joe. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Would you mind detailing the water flow coming into the raceway then back out? Also, you have that much flow going through your refugium? Seems high.

You will love having a frag tank. Best decision I have made and actually enjoy it more then the display tank. May sound crazy, but there is no "pressure" with a frag tank to make it look good or balanced, etc. It is a reef tank in a pure form to watch things grow.

Paul
 
Back
Top