Frag Tank ideas

[ronnie]

Frag Tank build!

Ok - here is the rough plan.

40B or 55G chopped down to 10" high for the tank. - 40B!

36" Aquatinics TX5 T5 light

Flow - ?? couple koralias maybe? - Koralia 3 and modded maxi jet 900, plus return.

Skimmer - none (I hope) - Or an ASM G1-x

Dosing - none (I hope)

Maintenance - I currently change out 1.5 G of water daily on my 120G DT. My plan is to change out the frag tank with this water.

My questions - do I need a skimmer if I'm doing that heavy of water changes? Do you think I will need to dose if I'm replacing that kind of water daily as well?

I can always go to two part if I need to, but my hope is that the water changes are enough.

Thanks,

 

[kungfujoe]

probably not if ur doing 1.5 a day.. it also depends on how heavy ur going to feed

 

[ronnie]

May have a lawnmower blenny - maybe another small algae eater, but it will be a pretty small bioload.

 

[bkoppes]

Look at a 33g long. 48" 12" 12"

Perfect size for frag tank IMO... probably because I have one.

 

[KLR]

I think im going with a 40gal...4 ft long, 13in. wide, 16 in. tall that my lfs has, cant wait to start setting it up!!

 

[clowns101]

I dont think you will need to go with a skimmer,and if you do,Bubble Magnus has a cone skimmer for $80,I mean one wouldnt hurt,but they arent a have to have item for a frag tank.

I dont know if you would need to dose.I would guess it would have to do with how many corals and how long the corals are in tank.The longer they are in,the more CA they will comsume,the shorter amount of time they are,less they will comsume,and I guess it depends on how fast you move them to.

 

[Troylee]

depends what your plans are imho.... i was just doing frequent wc on my frag tank and it wasnt doing well.... i stopped changing the water and started dosing and it's looking better than ever... stability promotes sucsess!!!!!

 

[VanGogh121]

stability promotes sucsess!!!!!

+1000....

 

[ronnie]

My hopes are to maintain stability through water changes. I perform the 1.5g water change daily on my 120, and the frag tank would be set up with that water as well. The water changes wouldn't be new water, but water from the 120, so the stability should be there.

If not, I am ok with not doing them. It will be a good experiment.

Do I need any rock in the frag tank? I've never ran one before, so I don't know what kind of filtration I'd need, if any.

 

[ronnie]

Now I'm hoping the 55g isn't tempered all the way around. I will have to wait and see if it is or not when I get it.

If it is, I will likely go with a 40b and put an external overflow on it - bean style overflow just like my DT.

 

[ronnie]

Made some progress:

 

[firereef]

I had a frag tank about that size and never dosed or skimmed. My frag tank was heavily stocked and I did about 5 gallons every Sunday(water change).

 

[Troylee]

Well I'm trying the no rock route with my current tank... I cycled it with about 15lbs of rock and then added a reactor of zeo stones... Slowly I have been removing the rock and have saw no I'll effects... The bacteria will colonize on the egg crate, walls, etc.... Just give it time.... I got about week left and my frag tank will rockless... I just have a skimmer and dose mb7/vodka with neo zeo stones for filtration....

 

[ronnie]

Got the stand built:

Just need to trim it out and get the door built. Paint it up!

Grabbed a 20H from a friend tonight. Pulled the acrylic baffles out and got it all scraped out and cleaned and ready to go. I'm just going to do a bubble trap in the middle - two sections - skimmer and return

Also picked up a giessman aquablue bulb tonight and swapped out a GE 6500K for it. The light is a nice 15k or so now. Before it was too much yellow. I may end up going with three blue + to give it a little more blue pop. We will wait and see though.

Also bought a maxi jet upgrade kit for a 900 I had laying around. So I will be hitting the 40B with 1600gph from it, 800gph from a Koralia 3, and then the return will be 400-600gph. Right around 3000gph - a little less than a 1/3 of what my 120 is, so it should be just about right.

Got the tank drilled tonight. To build a dam up, I figured I'd use some play doh I just have laying around (ok, it is Ethan's, but I get to play with it too). Worked really well, too. I only used it on one hole, as the tank was sloped to the other end, and it made a natural pool with the bottom rim of the tank.

All plumbing in the tank will be painted black. I've got the back and right side black, as well as the bottom, so with the plumbing black, the frags should really stand out.

 

[inactive]

Why put your old tank water into a different system? That's like peeing in the back of the toilet and expecting clear water to fill the bowl when you flush... jmo

 

[ronnie]

I change out 1.5G of water from my 120 every day. If I use that water to change out 1.5G of water in the 40, then I will essentially maintain the same parameters. That way, if I need to move a frag, I can just toss it in.

My thoughts are that the nutrients may build up faster in the 40, so I will maintain water changes from it with the 120 water, keeping everything clean, and hopefully not have to dose anything as well.

 

[inactive]

It's a nice thought, but in reality that will not be the case.

 

[ronnie]

Which thought? that the 40 will get dirtier or that it won't work?

You have tried this and failed?

I really don't see why it won't work, and will be able to prove it in about a month. If you can show me that it won't work, then I'd be willing to reconsider. But I'd need some numbers to show me that it won't work and I won't succeed.

 

[inactive]

Not everything is numbers.. too many people going by numbers, test kits and more numbers from others... you are doing nothing but putting waste water into a new system... it's like putting trash back into the pantry.

 

[ronnie]

Not quite the concept I have envisioned....

So, what knowledge do you have, that you've not shared yet with me, to say that it will fail?

I'm really curious to know, as this is the first time it has really been questioned, and I've asked several times.

The water in my 120 is very good. I replace 1.5g of it with NEW SW daily. So, by me taking water from the 120 and putting it into the frag tank, I'm actually replenishing it with new water as well. I really fail to see the logic of this not working.

Daily water changes are very beneficial, and to do so on two systems, I don't see any issues.

FWIW, I will be starting the 40b with water from the 120. Not sure if that means I already have trash in my pantry or not.... :D