What's the quickest way to setup a frag grow out tank for SPS? Isolated from main system.

[2Wheelsonly]

I am ordering a waterbox 70.3 to be used as an isolated system from my main display. I want to initially use it to house larger frags of all my SPS as I recover from AEFW. I will use tank water to seed but I don't plan on having any live rock (not sure if this is a good idea). Will the main tank water enough to be able to seed or do I need to wait (weeks? months?) for bacteria to cover the surfaces of the new tank and frag rack?

I've never started a new tank to house corals from an existing one. I plan on cutting up every single colony and saving portions that don't have eggs on them and restarting. My 300G is currently loaded with SPS so this may be a long process and hard for me to stomach going bare again.

Would it be a good idea to put some rocks in my display sump for now and then xfer them to my new sump once the new tank is up and running?

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Evening

Sorry bout the troubles but good on new tank.

Tank water will not seed the new tank. What was your plan for filtration and frag placement? You may just want to start a new cycle independently with one of the various methods and use frag racks.

I’ve never dealt with aefw so need to get some additional help on that.

 

[BamboozleBean]

I set up a 10 gallon frag tank with 1 pound of live rock 3 hermit crabs and Seachem stability and it cycled in 2 weeks.

 

[Kyl]

In my experience, a dedicated frag tank will take just as long as a normal tank to settle out and allow SPS to thrive. You will need at least some type of biomedia, and some nutrient import into the system, be it fish or one of the many "coral programs" out there (reef energy, aminos, etc).

My system didn't really settle down until about the year mark. I'm convinced there's something with a newly manufactured tank, or major component of a tank that just has to "wear off" in time before things take off. That's probably coupled with the biofilter, microfauna and bacteria in the system finally stabilizing as well in that same time period.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

I agree with @Kyl. Your new system will have to cycle and settle down. One thing that I try to do is a bio block in the sump of an established system to help out when I setup a new system. Depending on the bioload that you put in, it is pretty much already cycled for you. I would say that you are going to a year to get to where you want to be.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

I was concerned about that...I see these fish stores and they start up massive SPS displays in weeks. My original tank (300G) took me a little over a year before SPS thrived no matter how fantastic my params/lighting/equipment was. My flow was perfect, lighting was radion/T5 hybrid and my params with the calc reactor were solid as a rock but SPS just would not live and then like magic it all exploded out of nowhere.

I was going to place some rocks in my display and let them sit for 2 months and relocate them into the display under my tiered racks in the frag tank. Going to keep a light load in my frag tank (file fish, maybe a wrasse). I assume my rocks will help seed? I am ok with 1-2 months of cycle but 1 year hurts me.

 

[hotdrop]

you should buy 2 20 or 40 gal tanks and set/cycle them up as qt systems you will need to dip the infected frags, transfer to a clean tank and dip again in 15 days after all the eggs hatch. Then you probably want to dip and transfer and to another clean tank, then do another final just in case dip

 

[Vinman]

Evening

Sorry bout the troubles but good on new tank.

Tank water will not seed the new tank. What was your plan for filtration and frag placement? You may just want to start a new cycle independently with one of the various methods and use frag racks.

I’ve never dealt with aefw so need to get some additional help on that.

Do not use existing tank water. New tank new start pest free