Advice on setting up a small prop tank

[maverick451]

I want to setup a small prop tank to house mainly zoas and rics, just simple nothing too fancy.

Plans are

24x15wide x12tall tank
150 watt 10k light or even 6.5K, was thinking about 250 20k but worried about the heat.
Barebottom, with about 7-10kgs of live rock, frags will be on eggcrate.

I have a few questions please!

Is it best to have one or 2 fish in the prop tank for a bit of extra bioload?

I plan to change 30% water changes per week, so will I need a small skimmer?

Do people feed their prop tanks anything?

any other advice apreciated.

 

[maroonytunes]

I would do 150 metal halide because the tank is only 12" tall. I would add a damsel or two for the a month or two, to help cycle the tank. Many people don't run skimmers on their tanks, but imo, I would use one. Many people also do not feed their prop tanks, unless their is fish.

 

[gflat65]

Can you plumb it into the main display? My frag tank pulls a siphon from the overflow on the 125, then drains through a hole in the back of the frag tank into my sump? Just an idea, as it wouldn't require any extra maintenance or cycle time.

 

[maverick451]

No unfortunately I cant connect it to the main tank, it will have to be a seperate system

 

[reefboy]

are you building yourself or buying it, id run a sump with a tade oversized skimmer, sump can be a cheap glass tank like a twenty tall, id etheir do a refuge or just put some live rock there for a little bio help also so it help get your pods going for some natural food for your frags eventualy, the lighting maroonytunes suggested would work great id build your own eggcrat racks in sections so you can remove parts to clean any detritus underneath dont build one large frag rack youll regret it and you can get plugs cheap that fit eggcrate cheap on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/20-WHITE-REEF-P...ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

 

[JnS]

make sure those plugs are cured in water before adding them to your tank or they will spike the PH.....

 

[reefboy]

yea good catch forgot to mention that lol yea always precure even if they say there cured i put in five gallon bucket fill with fresh water let sit for a day test ph if high need to let soak awhile till ph comes down just keep changing water till ph drops

 

[berns]

i just started growing frags and i use cockle shells, they nice oval shape which gives great looking shape to frags, bigger shells for paly size and small for standard matted zoa's, you can buy them off ebay by the 100 for pennies each so cheap, plus theres no weight in them so shipping weight cheaper.
these were 2 polyp starters and now ready to sell/swap at 15-20.

 

[organism]

honestly I get the best growth from my zoos with an XM 15k, I had a 10k and they looked very washed out, and actually grew slower. Also, make sure that the tank has some good flow, if the zoos are "swaying in the breeze" they'll grow about twice as fast

I'd vote that if you're going with zoos and rics only you don't need a skimmer, my huge zoa farm system is about 500+ gallons with no skimmer, only runs carbon and phosban for filtration, had a skimmer before and got much slower growth

also, berns, good stuff on those cockle shells, I'm going to have to check those out!

 

[reefboy]

i would agree if your running carbon an phosban dont use a skimmer but were you running skimmer along with these two medias i could under stand the slow growth running all they would strip most nutrients out and outa cost skimmer a one time fee ware as carbon and phosban your replacing bi weekly or monthly that would add up after awhile.

 

[organism]

well, I went with just a skimmer in my first farm system a long time ago, and everything else grew great except for the zoos and softies, they tend to do better in dirtier water in my opinion, so for me the benefit of getting twice as much growth by using carbon and phosban as opposed to a skimmer was worth the cost, although in a smaller farm system it may not be as cost effective

also, I only run carbon once a month for 3-6 days, and phosban every other week, with 90% (yes, 90%) monthly water changes

 

[reefboy]

well that make sense and your right zoo's and ric do better on high nutrient water, so i gess what were saying is if zoo's and rics do as mentioned above if cost arnt to much, if your doing sps add skimmer or add some fish with skimmer to add that extra nutrient load to get away from the media cost like some chromy's etheir way will work just figure out what works best for you.

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Imo, small tank= Finnex comprehensive system with refugium... 22 gallon for no skimmer option.

Even better imo if you can do the 30 gallon version because then you get the skimmer and refugium and don't have to choose. I like the T5's over MH option as well.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=FI-MTG-2401&Category_Code=Aquariums

:D
Laurie

 

[maverick451]

Thanks for the advice

dedcided to go for 4 xt5's the t5's will be the new Fauna Marin 15k specials which Ive heard great things about.

Im not have a skimmer to start of with, just some live rock, and I will do 50%water changes per week to help control nutrients

Very undecided about whether to incluse a fish or 2 in the system, I dont really want the extra nutrients so ill start without, I plan on dosing amino acids and maybe some phyto.


in the future I plan to do a 2 tier unit and will use the bottom tier to grow some macro and maybe include a very small skimmer

 

[epidemic]

I have a skimmer on my tank so I can feed corals without worring about water quality. I would also be carefull with T-5's over a 12" deep tank. You could fry LPS pretty easily if you not carefull.

 

[maverick451]

I dont think im going to have any lps in there so should be ok, just rics and zoas to start with.