Building frag tank

[AllStupidQuestions]

Hoping the is in the right category.

I'm not new the the fish world but I am new to building saltwater tanks from scratch.

I'm looking to building a 10 gallon frag tank to start growing some corals for my new 250 gallon tank. So they are bigger then small frags before going into the tank.

Right now I have the tank, filter, heater and wave maker. I was told by a fish store that I will also need a skimmer and a ATO.

This tank will be brand new so I need some help on getting it to cycle and everything. I don't want to take anything from my current tank as its infestedwith dinos and a bunch of crap.

The store I was taking to mentioned FritzTurbo Start 900 and marine pure gems for quick start and a base layer on the tank as there will be no sand.

Any help would be great!!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! An ATO would be good to have, since water evaporates overtime. Skimmer would be a good idea to get as well.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Will you be running any live rock in the system?

I ran my frag system with a long cycled fluval fx4 for 6 months and was dealing with all sorts of nasties.

The Day I hooked it into a system with LR, that all evaporated.

Something to think about.

 

[AllStupidQuestions]

Will you be running any live rock in the system?

I ran my frag system with a long cycled fluval fx4 for 6 months and was dealing with all sorts of nasties.

The Day I hooked it into a system with LR, that all evaporated.

Something to think about.

I dont have any LR I only have DR. I guess I could use some DR in the tank

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I dont have any LR I only have DR. I guess I could use some DR in the tank

You can, yes. It will take a while for it to settle in and will likely have a nasty ugly phase.

What sort of frags are you planning on bringing in to grow out?

Although I have no direct experience with it, those who start systems with dead rock and bottled bacteria often report it taking a year for the system to mature enough to hold and grow some of the tougher or more sensitive corals like SPS.

 

[AllStupidQuestions]

You can, yes. It will take a while for it to settle in and will likely have a nasty ugly phase.

What sort of frags are you planning on bringing in to grow out?

Although I have no direct experience with it, those who start systems with dead rock and bottled bacteria often report it taking a year for the system to mature enough to hold and grow some of the tougher or more sensitive corals like SPS.

I can probably get my hands on a small amount of LR depending on how much it is. Would that be a better option?

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I can probably get my hands on a small amount of LR depending on how much it is. Would that be a better option?

In my opinion, yes. 10g isn't a big tank so you don't need big rock. Even a few pounds of real live rock rubble would be helpful. What sort of filtration are you planning?

If a canister, you may be able to fill some media trays with it to keep your floor space open.

 

[DanyL]

+1 on LR, Otherwise you won’t be able to set it up soon enough to grow anything in it before the main system will be ready to accept corals.

And I wouldn’t bother putting a skimmer in it, 10G is a small system which also means you won’t be able to put big enough fish to produce excess nutrients to pull out, but instead would most likely need to dose them in to maintain a healthy system. On the rare possibility that you will be fighting high nutrients - a water change would be enough.

As for the ATO - Highly recommenced, I would get a cheap, bottle based gravity ATO.

Good luck!