Ideal Depth for Frag Tank

[BigRed]

Frag Tank Questions

Hey guys, I am planning to set up a nice little frag tank to help clear my tank so I can finally see the sandbed again. I have run into several questions while pondering the idea of setting up a designated frag tank. The current sizes that I am planning of building or buying are the following; 30x12x12, 22x17x5, 24x20x8, or 24x15x6. Another reason I am interested in setting this up is so that I can tank it with me to swaps as well.

1.) What would be the ideal depth for a smaller frag tank, lets say anywhere between the size of 12 and 20 gallons? I have several

2.) Does this tank need to be cycled? I will not be adding any substrate clearly. I may add 3-5 pounds of live rock rubble into the rear chamber of my AIO designs I am currently working on.

3.) What type of lighting should I go with? I am comptemplating going with LED's which I have really become obsessed with recently.

Please let me know what you all think. Any and all information/opinions/alternative options will be greatly appreciated and considered! Happy Reefing!

 

[adetamor]

12" deep is what I would recommend. This gives you the ability to have multi level racks to adjust lighting and flow. As far as lighting..whatever you can afford. I suppose its preference. I am setting up a frag tank now and going with T5 over it with LED supplement. Mine is a 32x32x12. If you use all new water in the tank, it will cycle.

 

[BigRed]

True, I understand the rationale of having the tank slightly deeper in regards to placing corals at differnt heights and levels of flow. However, I should have prefaced earlier that I more than likely will only be keeping zoanthids & palythoas along with the random echino or lps and montiporas.

My plans with which ever lighting I decide to go with will be in the 20k spectrum.

Sorry, I should have clarified these earlier. Also when you say it will cycle if I use all new water, what if I "seed" it will 1/3 or 1/2 of the total volume from my display? Like water from a water change for instance?

 

[JuniorMC8704]

i had a 12" for a couple years, and was never happier than when i bumped it up to 16". Makes getting topdown pics a LOT easier.

 

[Elan]

mines 12'' have favias, chalice, zoas, and sps

 

[benny z]

24x24x8 here. t5 + powerbrite blue leds (used only for showoff).

favias, echinos, acans, blastos, cyphastreas, and crams.

 

[BigRed]

24x24x8 here. t5 + powerbrite blue leds (used only for showoff).

favias, echinos, acans, blastos, cyphastreas, and crams.

Are you happy with the depth? Or do you wish it was a lot deeper? I really want to go shallow but I am worried about corals getting fried at the least.

 

[benny z]

for me it seems to be working well. i am just running 4 t5s over it and the bulbs are 24" off the water surface. i actually have 6 t5s over it and use all 6 for pics, but it seemed to be too much for most of the lps and i've dropped down to running just the 4. i've had a couple of maximas in the tank for about a month now just as a trial and they seem to be doing fine.

here are a couple of pics:

 

[brdracing]

Mine is 12inches with 2 175watt MH and 2 VHO and I love mine. My tank is 48x24x12

 

[adetamor]

Also when you say it will cycle if I use all new water, what if I "seed" it will 1/3 or 1/2 of the total volume from my display? Like water from a water change for instance?

This is what I usually do when setting up a new tank. I just do a large water change on my DT and take that water and put it into the new tank. Usually do a 1:1 of new and old water. Some people will advise against this, but I have never had anything happen that would keep me from otherwise doing it. As far as depth goes again, I do mainly zoas and some require great variances in lighting. My magicians and yellow jackets require minimal lighting halfway under shelves where as some of my others like AOGs and CAOs do a lot better under higher light. With the 12" depth, I am able to give about an 8" variance between high and lower light. Its not much, but it makes a difference. Plus if you ever decide to keep SPS in the future, you will be able to grow out some nice sized pieces. Don't worry about frying your corals. If you notice it being to much light, just raise it.

 

[adetamor]

Oops.

 

[benny z]

Did you mean 18"? It looks much deeper than 8".

nah, it's just 8". perspective might be better in this pic:

 

[adetamor]

Yeah, after comparing it to the ball valve next to it, I changed my mind haha.

 

[BigRed]

Looks sweet man, hopefully I will be able to do something similar! I have always really wanted a shallow look down frag tank. Maybe someone familiar with LED's can chime in here and help me out, in regards to light height over a shallower tank.

 

[benny z]

that was what i wanted, too - a look-down frag tank. be sure you make or buy a look-down viewing box. i have been spending a lot of time with my look-down box lately. :D

and i am totally with you on the leds. honestly i believe everyone should have leds to enjoy the full potential of their corals. a must-have in my book! :)

 

[BigRed]

LED's are the future man, once you have used them you really are not going to want to go back... relative low cost for how long they are going to last. I mean a MH 150w retro will run an easy $200 plus $60-80 a year on bulbs plus the electricity costs. I just like to see that we as enthusiasts are going green a bit.

 

[BigRed]

Does anyone know of a good custom acrylic tank builder/company?