lanman March 8, 2007 Share March 8, 2007 I have my frag tank plumbed up, and I cut some egg-crate to fit, and I'm making water as fast as I can (about 10 gallons a day when I push it). So I'm almost ready. Now might be a good time to ask - what goes into a frag tank? Live sand?? Rubble? A bit of live rock? Nothing but egg crate? Suggestions on making shelves? I plan right now just to take the egg crate and rig up some kind of shelving; maybe make it so I can slide it around. I'm adding 30 gallons to a 45-gallon tank, 20 gallon sump (with refugium) - I have a skimmer that's designed for about 50 gallons, but not much load - I'm not a fish person. I have about 60-70 pounds of live rock. Am I going to have to add more rocks somewhere? Or do something to keep my water quality up? Thanks for any suggestions. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman March 9, 2007 Author Share March 9, 2007 Well - I finally got an answer on Reef Central to this question. Gentleman seems to think I don't need to add any more rock or sand - as long as I'm just growing corals and not adding fish, it shouldn't hurt my system's parameters at all. Anyone care to agree or disagree?? bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 how many fish do you have in the tank and what is your filtration consist of. generally speaking corals dont really add to bio load but i dont wanna dispens any advice without additional info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8dogggg March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 bump on this subject because I'd be interested to know as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 it's really up to you. I have a frag tank that i want to look good as well. So it is my frag / show tank. You can see it here. my 33 frag tank I used all live rock from my sump of my main tank, i knew i was setting this up so it was in there for a while. I a large water change on the main tank and filled up the 33 with it. I have frags on the sand bed. There are 3 fish in there and a dozen red scarlet crabs. Again i think it's up to what you want to look at. Eggcrate is ugly, gets all kinds of algea on it, corals grow on it, like zoas, then you have to cut them off, you will need to remove all frags on it to get the egg crate out. PIA, been there done that. I would rather look at a nice tank with frags on the sandbed, but that is me, again it's up to you, what do you want the tank to look like. you can get away with bb with eggcrate and some live rock in the sump. Nothing fancy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman March 9, 2007 Author Share March 9, 2007 it's really up to you. I have a frag tank that i want to look good as well. So it is my frag / show tank. You can see it here. my 33 frag tank I used all live rock from my sump of my main tank, i knew i was setting this up so it was in there for a while. I a large water change on the main tank and filled up the 33 with it. I have frags on the sand bed. There are 3 fish in there and a dozen red scarlet crabs. Again i think it's up to what you want to look at. Eggcrate is ugly, gets all kinds of algea on it, corals grow on it, like zoas, then you have to cut them off, you will need to remove all frags on it to get the egg crate out. PIA, been there done that. I would rather look at a nice tank with frags on the sandbed, but that is me, again it's up to you, what do you want the tank to look like. you can get away with bb with eggcrate and some live rock in the sump. Nothing fancy. Impressive... and thought-provoking. I like it - and my frag tank WILL be where it can be seen, just like my refugium is. I expect to have more frags in there than you do - but I guess I can always add some eggcrate shelves to take up the slack. Many people have them in their display tank - I'm trying to avoid as much of that as possible. But a little extra sand bed, and a few rocks certainly won't hurt anything - and it will look a whole lot nicer. Thanks for the ideas! (Oh - and I am not planning on having many fish, even in the display tank. And maybe just 1-2 small ones in the frag tank). bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzekunoi March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 it's really up to you. I have a frag tank that i want to look good as well. So it is my frag / show tank. You can see it here. my 33 frag tank I used all live rock from my sump of my main tank, i knew i was setting this up so it was in there for a while. I a large water change on the main tank and filled up the 33 with it. I have frags on the sand bed. There are 3 fish in there and a dozen red scarlet crabs. Again i think it's up to what you want to look at. Eggcrate is ugly, gets all kinds of algea on it, corals grow on it, like zoas, then you have to cut them off, you will need to remove all frags on it to get the egg crate out. PIA, been there done that. I would rather look at a nice tank with frags on the sandbed, but that is me, again it's up to you, what do you want the tank to look like. you can get away with bb with eggcrate and some live rock in the sump. Nothing fancy. Bob, it's really good idea. Now I know how my frag tank is going to look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 The frag tank seems to be the way to go, what about making some of that artificial reef rock and putting it in there? That way you can propagate LR too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROLL March 9, 2007 Share March 9, 2007 My frag tank is just LR, eggcrates, good light, and good skimmer. I have a few frag guardians- peppermint shrimp, coral banded shrimp, and 1 damsel. I like it bare bottom so i can't lose the frags if they comes off. Right now, my frag tank has a small leak and have to be fixed but when it's fixed and running- hopefully by May, I'll post a few photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman March 10, 2007 Author Share March 10, 2007 The frag tank seems to be the way to go, what about making some of that artificial reef rock and putting it in there? That way you can propagate LR too? Another good idea. I've considered making some of that stuff. I think I'll start out with some well-cured live rock from BRK (if he still has any - I bought most of it for my main tank). Then I'll try making some of the artificial rock and putting it in there - hopefully to get cured and coralite'd. Another question - I have a 30-long, very similar to the one shown in the picture above. Will a 96-watt PC light be good enough for most things? It's only about 12" from the light to the sand bed. And I just happen to have a Coralife PC fixture the right size. That will give me time to figure out what kind of a T5 setup I want on it. I really like the T5's - even though I love the 'shimmering' effect from the MH on the 24-gallon tank upstairs. I hope to set this all up on Sunday. I'll have enough water by then. You don't want to know where I'm going with this... picking up 58-gallon RR tank tomorrow to replace the 45... MIGHT get a 40-gallon sump that he has... that will give me a 20-gallon separate refugium, and a 30-gallon frag tank. Total system of 150 gallons... Major water changes! But then I'll have one of everything bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman March 12, 2007 Author Share March 12, 2007 I got all my water made, and hooked up the frag tank today. And this is what I ended up with (no sand and rocks yet - because BRK was closed today). And this is what the whole system looks like now. 45 + 30 + 20 (call it 15 - the sump isn't full) = 90 gallons. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bemmer March 12, 2007 Share March 12, 2007 Nice overall setup, Bob. My coral prop tank is in my fish room so it is not pretty like Bob "Rocko" but it is functional. I have a BB with the egg crate, a metal halide pendent and a Seio pump, along with the return into the tank. It seems to be working. I recently added some snails to keep the walls and such clean. BTW, on a seperate note, I posted in my system tank thread an update on the lighting over my refugium. I really like the light system I bought at Hellolights.com. My cheato has more than doubled in about 10 days. I am actually pulling the stuff out of the tank. I highly recommend them. I saw immediate results with these lights. I figure if the cheato is growing like that, then it is pulling the bad stuff/nutrients out of the main tank. Just an FYI. Rebecca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets March 12, 2007 Share March 12, 2007 I wanted mine to be a show/frag tank as well. Here is a partial pic. I will get a full tank shot soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bemmer March 12, 2007 Share March 12, 2007 Wow, talk about setting the bar high for the poor guy. Hey Chris, I saw your frag tank pics in your thread. You really cleaned up that tank since I saw it a few weeks ago. It looks so prestine. Beautiful zoas. Mine are doing great too. Thanks for the frags. (Sorry Bob...now back to Your frag tank) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets March 12, 2007 Share March 12, 2007 Wow, talk about setting the bar high for the poor guy. Hey Chris, I saw your frag tank pics in your thread. You really cleaned up that tank since I saw it a few weeks ago. It looks so prestine. Beautiful zoas. Mine are doing great too. Thanks for the frags. (Sorry Bob...now back to Your frag tank) LOL!!! Thanks Rebecca. Glad the frags are doing good. This is actually the new frag tank. I got rid of the old one. I have this one connected to the same system as the 75g SPS tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman March 12, 2007 Author Share March 12, 2007 Nice overall setup, Bob. My coral prop tank is in my fish room so it is not pretty like Bob "Rocko" but it is functional. I have a BB with the egg crate, a metal halide pendent and a Seio pump, along with the return into the tank. It seems to be working. I recently added some snails to keep the walls and such clean. BTW, on a seperate note, I posted in my system tank thread an update on the lighting over my refugium. I really like the light system I bought at Hellolights.com. My cheato has more than doubled in about 10 days. I am actually pulling the stuff out of the tank. I highly recommend them. I saw immediate results with these lights. I figure if the cheato is growing like that, then it is pulling the bad stuff/nutrients out of the main tank. Just an FYI. Rebecca I went to get a temporary fixture for my refugium at Home Depot - and when I went to stick a ?T8? daylight bulb in it, I found it was T5. So I ordered a pair of 6500K 13W bulbs from somewhere online, went and got another fixture from Home Depot, and wired them up and attached them to a board. They seem like nice light. How long do you leave your refugium lights on each day? Mine are on 12 hours - can't tell yet if I've become a net importer or exporter of chaeto - only loaded it up under the new lights a couple of days ago. Got a mangrove today If I can't keep up with your growth, I'll try some Scott's turfbuilder! Recommendations for lights for the frag tank? I currently have a 96W white-only PC fixture over it. I do have a white/actinic bulb available. And if it seems there is general agreement that it's not enough light - I'll get another fixture. I had the 96W coralife fixture - it came with the 45-gallon tank. The GSP's that I stuck in there (HAD to get them out of the main tanks, they were trying to climb onto everything around) seem happy with it. I got some arag-alive today. Maybe a few rocks tomorrow (MS) or Thursday (BRK). Something different than the Fiji rock that I've been using; just to be different bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buucca March 13, 2007 Share March 13, 2007 Bob, Don't like the look of that shelf on your 30g :( I suggest a couple 2x4 braces from bottom of shelf to the floor. Thats alot of weight sitting on that thin shelf and I hate to see your day get ruined when it collapses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman March 13, 2007 Author Share March 13, 2007 Bob, Don't like the look of that shelf on your 30g :( I suggest a couple 2x4 braces from bottom of shelf to the floor. Thats alot of weight sitting on that thin shelf and I hate to see your day get ruined when it collapses. Actually - hard to tell it from the picture, but the shelf is sitting directly on the concrete foundation of the house. And all but 2" of the tank fit onto the shelf, so I think it's probably balanced well enough. I reckon an earthquake could slide it off of there, but we don't have a lot of those out here. I'll keep an eye on it, though - and if it moves at all from vibration, I'll shore it up. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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