- Joined
- Apr 9, 2024
- Messages
- 572
- Reaction score
- 543
- Location
- Bridgewater
- What state or country do you live in
- New Jersey
Objective
The goal of this frag tank build is to keep the cost and ease of maintenance as low as possible while still growing softies to SPS, including acros. I’ll tabulate the overall cost and any adjustments in case someone wants to repeat the build.
Tank
I bought a 40 gallon Imagitarium Breeder tank (link) during a Black Friday sale at Petco for 50% off, along with the aluminum stand, glass top, and Sicce mechanical Filter. This was roughly $300 to start. The glass top unfortunately broke already during a water change, and I’m replacing with a more robust acrylic top that I got off Etsy.
Lighting
I decided on using a dirt cheap viparspectra light (about $165) that I had laying around and surprisingly puts out up to 200+ par, which can compete with my $1000 XR30 on my DT; albeit, the color spectrum certainly doesn’t look as nice. I may decide to additionally supplement with a light bar at a later time if acros don’t grow well. We’ll see…
Flow
For flow, I purchased a $62 Jebao SOW-8 off Amazon, which should be way more than adequate. I thought about a gyre but the wavemaker is easier to maintain. This is my second Jebao wavemaker, and I really love their pumps for cost/reliability.
Fish/Inverts
For fish, I bought 3 pre-conditioned mollies from TSA at $21 during Black Friday. These guys were added two weeks ago and are doing great so far. I may also add a wrasse at some point for pest control but hope the mollies can keep any algae at bay. I may only feed the mollies once a week since algae should be their primary food source. For inverts, I had a pencil urchin that was behaving badly in my DT. It would eat coral, but it doesn’t like to climb glass walls. I was hoping it could just keep the bottom of the tank clean. We’ll see if this holds true or if I need to return the urchin to my LFS. I likely will add some snails at some point and possibly hermits…we’ll see.
Filtration/Rock
I’m using a Sicce mechanical filter with filter floss and carbon bags. I don’t see a need for a sump, UV, ozone, or a skimmer based on the low bioload. I plan on 10-20% water changes every 1-2 weeks, which should be plenty for keeping the water clean. For rock, I had two Marco Rocks that were previously in a tank for several years and then dark cured along with a large bio brick for 6 months in my DT sump. I don’t see any need for sand and will just keep this bare bottom for ease of maintenance. After the first day on setting up, I added 5 ppm of ammonium chloride that nearly 100% converted to nitrate after 2 days. So looks like the dark cured rock and bio brick works well. I added the fish almost immediately, and they’re doing fine. I’m eager to see how the biome cycles after turning the lights on a few days ago. I also added some caulerpa that I had growing in my DT, and so far it’s doing well. That should help with additional nutrient control. I probably will prune back once per week if the urchin can’t mow it all down.
Heater
I’m using an inkbird with two cheap spare heaters that I had. Temp is currently set to 78C. For my DT, I have Helios and love the redundancy of two titanium heating elements, but the cost wouldn’t work here. Inkbird with glass heating elements should be fine.
Frag Rack
I bought one sheet of egg crate at Home Depot and then purchased some risers on Etsy. I also had a PNW magnetic rack lying around that I can position higher up to the lights for the more demanding corals.
ATO
I bought a $39 Useek ATO from Amazon. I contemplated mechanical gravity fed ATO but didn’t feel like building a shelf above the tank. I may change my mind later but will see how this goes.
Dosing
I have a spare Jebao 4-head dose pump. I may dose AFR, two part, or kalkwasser depending on demand but will likely just use water changes for the time being. So this is a just in case.
Current FTS shot (Jan 2026):
The goal of this frag tank build is to keep the cost and ease of maintenance as low as possible while still growing softies to SPS, including acros. I’ll tabulate the overall cost and any adjustments in case someone wants to repeat the build.
Tank
I bought a 40 gallon Imagitarium Breeder tank (link) during a Black Friday sale at Petco for 50% off, along with the aluminum stand, glass top, and Sicce mechanical Filter. This was roughly $300 to start. The glass top unfortunately broke already during a water change, and I’m replacing with a more robust acrylic top that I got off Etsy.
Lighting
I decided on using a dirt cheap viparspectra light (about $165) that I had laying around and surprisingly puts out up to 200+ par, which can compete with my $1000 XR30 on my DT; albeit, the color spectrum certainly doesn’t look as nice. I may decide to additionally supplement with a light bar at a later time if acros don’t grow well. We’ll see…
Flow
For flow, I purchased a $62 Jebao SOW-8 off Amazon, which should be way more than adequate. I thought about a gyre but the wavemaker is easier to maintain. This is my second Jebao wavemaker, and I really love their pumps for cost/reliability.
Fish/Inverts
For fish, I bought 3 pre-conditioned mollies from TSA at $21 during Black Friday. These guys were added two weeks ago and are doing great so far. I may also add a wrasse at some point for pest control but hope the mollies can keep any algae at bay. I may only feed the mollies once a week since algae should be their primary food source. For inverts, I had a pencil urchin that was behaving badly in my DT. It would eat coral, but it doesn’t like to climb glass walls. I was hoping it could just keep the bottom of the tank clean. We’ll see if this holds true or if I need to return the urchin to my LFS. I likely will add some snails at some point and possibly hermits…we’ll see.
Filtration/Rock
I’m using a Sicce mechanical filter with filter floss and carbon bags. I don’t see a need for a sump, UV, ozone, or a skimmer based on the low bioload. I plan on 10-20% water changes every 1-2 weeks, which should be plenty for keeping the water clean. For rock, I had two Marco Rocks that were previously in a tank for several years and then dark cured along with a large bio brick for 6 months in my DT sump. I don’t see any need for sand and will just keep this bare bottom for ease of maintenance. After the first day on setting up, I added 5 ppm of ammonium chloride that nearly 100% converted to nitrate after 2 days. So looks like the dark cured rock and bio brick works well. I added the fish almost immediately, and they’re doing fine. I’m eager to see how the biome cycles after turning the lights on a few days ago. I also added some caulerpa that I had growing in my DT, and so far it’s doing well. That should help with additional nutrient control. I probably will prune back once per week if the urchin can’t mow it all down.
Heater
I’m using an inkbird with two cheap spare heaters that I had. Temp is currently set to 78C. For my DT, I have Helios and love the redundancy of two titanium heating elements, but the cost wouldn’t work here. Inkbird with glass heating elements should be fine.
Frag Rack
I bought one sheet of egg crate at Home Depot and then purchased some risers on Etsy. I also had a PNW magnetic rack lying around that I can position higher up to the lights for the more demanding corals.
ATO
I bought a $39 Useek ATO from Amazon. I contemplated mechanical gravity fed ATO but didn’t feel like building a shelf above the tank. I may change my mind later but will see how this goes.
Dosing
I have a spare Jebao 4-head dose pump. I may dose AFR, two part, or kalkwasser depending on demand but will likely just use water changes for the time being. So this is a just in case.
Current FTS shot (Jan 2026):
