Thinking about a frag tank

[madducks42]

So our 90 gallon reefer is a fairly constant source of joy/frustration and has done an excellent job on making my wallet lighter. I think the next logical step is to add more frustration/joy into my life albeit on a slightly smaller scale. I'm sure the impact on my wallet will be the same. I want a frag tank.

This probably won't happen until next year but I'd like to start planning it out now so I have at least a general idea of how much it will cost, then I'll double that amount to be realistic : )

My initial thoughts are I want something fairly small, probably in the 24x24x6 range. We use LED's on our display tank so I'm leaning towards LED's for this as well to keep lighting consistent between the tanks. I'd love to see pictures of your frag tanks and what you're using. If you can include pros/cons of your setup that'd be useful too. For example, is there anything you'd wish you'd done differently or if you had more money would you change something about your setup?

 

[ritter6788]

I won't run a reef tank again without a dedicated frag tank. I set up a petco $1/gallon 40 breeder, drilled with a glassholes kit, homemade stand and a black box led. Even if you aren't growing out frags in it it's a great place to add new additions before going in your display.

 

[Kyl]

I'm getting one in tandem with my new tank to pull double duty as both a coral / invert QT, along with frag grow out tank; 30" x 22" x 10". The size is slightly weird but it's fitting in my closet, which I've turned into a QT station.

While it will not be plumbed into my system for obvious reasons, it's going to be invaluable for getting those frags out of the display tank. I've had to hold off purchasing anything since my tanks finished fallow earlier this fall, so I can't wait to get this in a couple of weeks and start to build the coral collection.

Spoiler: Frag Tank

frag1 by Kyl Aquaria, on Flickr

I've sort of guessed at how I'm going to light this, might copy my new tank and go with a T5 / LED hybrid, or just a cheap black-box initially.

I don't think you'll regret getting one!

 

[madducks42]

Thanks for the input all! I think I will likely get a frag tank from these guys - https://advancedacrylics.com/collections/frag-tanks-1. They seem to have a variety of styles/sizes and I would like to get something acrylic instead of glass. This is going to be setup in the basement probably on the counter over our washer/dryer which is conveniently right next to our saltwater mixing station, RODI water, and basically all the reefing things. So in theory I should be able to tap into the existing infrastructure.

I'm not really clear on what it means to be "running off of one system" and the pros/cons of doing such. The water from the display tank upstairs will never enter the frag tank and vice versa but they would both be getting their water from the same source. Is this is a bad thing? Do people setup a completely separate RO/DI system just for their frag tank?

Do these all in one systems - https://advancedacrylics.com/collec...eparate-frag-racks-optional-3-sizes-available - work well? Is it practical/functional to not have a sump tank? This would be ideal because it would take up less space but this is an area where my knowledge is pretty lacking since my SO generally handles all the plumbing for our display tank.

 

[KJAG]

Early on in my jump into the hobby I ran a couple All in Ones. Never again. Was a total nightmare and my 225 gallon with a sump is literally less than half the work my 34 Solana All-in-one was to maintain.

 

[madducks42]

Early on in my jump into the hobby I ran a couple All in Ones. Never again. Was a total nightmare and my 225 gallon with a sump is literally less than half the work my 34 Solana All-in-one was to maintain.

Were the all in ones you ran for frags or actual tanks?

 

[Briana Mann]

my boyfriend and i actually talked to one of our local coral fraggers and he said we could go to home depot and get a shallow tub ( storage container) thats pretty cheap and it would work for a beginning frag tank until we move out.

 

[KJAG]

Were the all in ones you ran for frags or actual tanks?

Both. Not that it matters. The same maintenance applies whether the tank holds a display or frags.

When you start crowding the back of an all in one with levels/ chambers for things like sponges, chemipure, skimmers, reactors, etc, it was a massive pain to change everything out routinely/ perform maintenance etc. In my experience.
Not to mention it’s a nightmare fishing any livestock out of the back if(when) they decide to go over the separating wall.

 

[lbacha]

I just set up a shallow 12x24x7" tall frag tank and something to think about with that much surface area and low water volume is evaporation. The issue with the AIO is not much room for the return chamber so if you don't plan on a ATO you will have to watch it like a hawk. I'm running a 10g sump under mine with a 10"x5" return area with about 5" of water and I still needed a ATO to keep up