Frag Tank Setup

[FarmerTy]

So, I've never run my frag tank independently. It has always temporarily been hooked up directly to my DT. I have separated the tank and it is now completely independent... heck... it's in another room.

Here's the setup, I have a 12-gallon frag tank, with about 40lbs of live rock in the sump. The sump holds about another 10 gallons for roughly 20 gallons TWV.

I will be setting up an ATO but was wondering two things:

1) Should I run a skimmer? No fish, just inverts to keep things algae free. I'm worried about too low nutrients. I have an SCA skimmer rated for 65-gallons.

2) How should I dose? Kalk? 2-part? CaRX?

I actually have a full spare CaRX setup so I thought about using that but it seems like overkill. May just use kalk since I just recorded a .5 dKh drop in 24 hrs. That is with the lights off the whole time so it's probably going to be just a bit higher when I actually run the lights tomorrow.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[FarmerTy]

I should say that this is going to primarily hold SPS.

 

[naptalene]

I've got similar questions....
Is a skimmer necessary? I was thinking of putting one in as it will oxygenate the water, but I'm in two minds.
Maybe run it at lights out only to stabilize the ph a touch?

Are you putting fish in?
I was thinking of a six line to begin with for possible pest control.

I was going to run a doser, and possibly a Tunze ca reactor if the propagation thing works out and I get really good growth.

Are you worried about TOO clean a system?

 

[FarmerTy]

I've got similar questions....
Is a skimmer necessary? I was thinking of putting one in as it will oxygenate the water, but I'm in two minds.
Maybe run it at lights out only to stabilize the ph a touch?

Are you putting fish in?
I was thinking of a six line to begin with for possible pest control.

I was going to run a doser, and possibly a Tunze ca reactor if the propagation thing works out and I get really good growth.

Are you worried about TOO clean a system?

Hey naptalene, when I first asked this question, I didn't get much feedback as you can see. Hopefully my trials will help guide your choices a bit from what I've experienced so far.

While I think extra oxygenation never hurts with the skimmer, my particular setup does not have one, nor do I think it's really needed as my nutrients stay pretty low in the very sterile environment. I just have a ton of live rock in my sump for filtering capabilities. I run GFO in a reactor but only to scrub what's leaching from the dry rock I used. Once its mostly leached out, I don't believe I will need the GFO anymore.

For nitrates, I like to keep them around 5-10 ppm for best coloration with SPS. The frag tank maintains that naturally with the CUC in there, which consists of turbo snails and a couple really small blue tuxedo urchins.

I am actually looking to put maybe a 6-line wrasse or another fish that will keep the frags clean and keep the pod population somewhat reasonable in there. That may help keep the bioload a little higher so it doesn't have too low of nutrients.

Here's my frag tank:

My biggest issues starting the tank out was the stability of alk in such a small volume with alk hungry corals. I was hoping kalk in the ATO was going to take care of my alk/Ca needs from the onset but that was not the case early on. Having so many SPS in only a 20-gallon volume had my alk dipping 2.8 dKh/day. I didn't have a doser pump at that time and relied heavily on hand dosing to keep it withon reasonable levels. Let's just say I lost a lot of frags in the beginning because it's almost impossible to hand dose that much of a need and expect to keep it stable in such a small volume. Now that I have a doser setup, it's been a lot more steady and happy.

The other issue I had was the growth of algae. It started sprouting everywhere, typical of a new system setup. That's where the snails and urchins came in. They knocked it out quickly and manage the algae well now that I don't ever see it anymore.

Not sure what size you're aiming with for the frag tank but I'm only working with 20 gallons. If I had any bit of advice, I'd say this:

1) if you can have more volume, do it.
2) use cycled rock and run some lanthanum chloride for a couple weeks to strip any phosphates that is bound in the rock
3) run 2-part or a CaRX from the beginning, if you're going mostly SPS in the tank, you'll quickly outgrow kalk so you might as well skip that step
4) get a good CUC and place your frags well so even when they bump into frags, they won't knock pieces into each other that can sting each other

Hopefully that will help get you started. Feel free to ask any other questions if you have any and good luck!

-Ty

 

[naptalene]

Thanks man :)

My display is only 20g so I feel your pain on the alk swings.

I'm pondering breaking down my display and fragging all the colonies and only running a frag tank for sps, and then turning my current tank into a softy display for my kids - in their words they like "flappy corals"

Current tank is at this point under diy led.

I'm thinking of a shallow 4ft but not convinced about lighting. T5 is looking like the winner as coverage with LED is gonna be quite pricey.

 

[naptalene]

What would you think in terms of a good minimum size?

 

[FarmerTy]

What would you think in terms of a good minimum size?

I would say at least 40 gallons but that's just my opinion for the frag tank.

Honestly, I can say that my little SPS frag tank requires 3x the work than my 215-gallon display. It was way more than I bargained for and if it wasn't a necessity for me to run to keep all those frags out of my display and use as a coral QT tank, I would honestly shut it down. To hear you contemplate volunteering to run one just to grow SPS has got me exhausted just thinking about it. Lol. I say unless you think you're going to make a killing in your area selling SPS, then I'd just rebalance out your display, sell off some SPS, add some wavy things, and call it a day.

The hobby got less fun for me when I had to maintain two tanks for sure, but I'm pretty lazy. [emoji4]

 

[naptalene]

I'm in that sort of boat...don't want two high maintenance things.

If I do the frag idea it will be as a business side project to see the viability to supplement income when I retire ( still about 20 years away but what the heck lol) . So I would not have another tank that takes a lot of time.

Thanks for the input.

 

[FarmerTy]

I'm in that sort of boat...don't want two high maintenance things.

If I do the frag idea it will be as a business side project to see the viability to supplement income when I retire ( still about 20 years away but what the heck lol) . So I would not have another tank that takes a lot of time.

Thanks for the input.

No problem. I make enough side money on the frags to support my hobby and for a bunch of other non-essential spending items so it's nice to get the benefits from it. It just really turned part of my hobby into a job now and honestly, took some of the fun from it.

 

[Bryn]

So where are you guys nearly a year and a half later? @FarmerTy @naptalene

 

[FarmerTy]

So where are you guys nearly a year and a half later? @FarmerTy @naptalene

9 month old, new house, new car, new tank, and new frag tank.[emoji23]

 

[Bryn]

Congrats on everything, especially the 9 month old. So when you get a chance would love to hear more about your NEW frag tank, all the details when time allows of course.

 

[FarmerTy]

Congrats on everything, especially the 9 month old. So when you get a chance would love to hear more about your NEW frag tank, all the details when time allows of course.

Thank you. We're pretty excited about the little guy too. It was just funny when you asked and I thought about all that has transpired this last 1.5 years.

I'll definitely add some details when I get a chance.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Thank you. We're pretty excited about the little guy too. It was just funny when you asked and I thought about all that has transpired this last 1.5 years.

I'll definitely add some details when I get a chance.

We're still waiting on those details... ;)

 

[FarmerTy]

We're still waiting on those details... ;)

Oh no! Sorry!

Not sure if there are much details to give honestly. Its directly plumbed to my display tank and display sump via a manifold. Only real difference would be I'm using the old tank lighting of Ocean Revive fixtures over the frag tank and have my ATI fixture over the display.

 

[Shine5555]

9 month old, new house, new car, new tank, and new frag tank.[emoji23]

I would like to know about those amazing bubble tip anemone. Do you sell any of those, they look amazing

 

[FarmerTy]

I would like to know about those amazing bubble tip anemone. Do you sell any of those, they look amazing

Thanks. Those are mostly Colorado Sunburst anemones and a couple inferno anemones. I'm setting up a propagation corner in my frag tank soon so I can start growing them out more and also give them a little more space than that pour small basket.

I'm not currently selling any so I can have them for my propagation plans.

 

[mattgsa]

Question, have you noticed a difference in growth in your frag tank vs your main tank with all the Angles nipping? Once again you have an amazing tank.

 

[FarmerTy]

Question, have you noticed a difference in growth in your frag tank vs your main tank with all the Angles nipping? Once again you have an amazing tank.

Things definitely grow faster in my display tank.

 

[mattgsa]

That's really cool. i just put an Angle in my tank, and I'm not going to lie, I miss the polyp extension.