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What do I need for a Frag Tank? (1 Viewer)

Kyle T.

Kyle T.

Big Footed Ginger!
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I will be setting up a frag tank in the next few months hopefully(want it done sooner :gay1:) and would like to get an idea as to what equipment I should be looking for. The frag tank itself will be a custom 36"x18"x12" or a 40 breeder. I want to have a sump to hide the equipment that I will have like a heater, skimmer(not sure if I need it), etc. To start off I will be keeping LPS for the most part and may do some sofies if I find some good looking zoas. There will be a CUC(no hermits, just various snails) and a couple of fish. I know the fish should be helpful so I was thinking along the lines of a yellow or green coris and a blenny of some sort. Open to suggestions on that! Only problem with the coris wrasse is that they need sand. Would the 36" dual 96 watt PC light fixture work for my frag tank until I get SPS? Ideas and what you use on your frag tank would be great!
 
BlueRegal said:
I will be setting up a frag tank in the next few months hopefully(want it done sooner :gay1:) and would like to get an idea as to what equipment I should be looking for. The frag tank itself will be a custom 36"x18"x12" or a 40 breeder. I want to have a sump to hide the equipment that I will have like a heater, skimmer(not sure if I need it), etc. To start off I will be keeping LPS for the most part and may do some sofies if I find some good looking zoas. There will be a CUC(no hermits, just various snails) and a couple of fish. I know the fish should be helpful so I was thinking along the lines of a yellow or green coris and a blenny of some sort. Open to suggestions on that! Only problem with the coris wrasse is that they need sand. Would the 36" dual 96 watt PC light fixture work for my frag tank until I get SPS? Ideas and what you use on your frag tank would be great!
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You can set aside a pale with sand in it inside the frag tank for the wrasse to hide/sleep in at night. I've seen it done that way in other tanks.
 
PM'd you moniporalava.

I think I will do the little tub of sand in the frag tank. So, would the PC fixture that I have work for LPS corals? I need to switch out one of the daylights for a more blue colored one, but would like to use it if I can instead of buying a new fixture.
 
I would say no on the pc they are way too expensive in the long run. I would rather not spend 120 on bulbs every six months
 
kieffer_5 said:
I would say no on the pc they are way too expensive in the long run. I would rather not spend 120 on bulbs every six months
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I got these bulbs from OD for $40 each awhile back(probably 6 months or so), prices must have gone up? I am looking into T5 fixtures right now, but would like to wait on them as long as I can to get everything else going.
 
Not really sure. I have never been a fan of PC though.... maybe David Grigor and his extensive light knowledge can chime in :) :gay1:
 
BlueRegal said:
I got these bulbs from OD for $40 each awhile back(probably 6 months or so), prices must have gone up? I am looking into T5 fixtures right now, but would like to wait on them as long as I can to get everything else going.
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Others might have other opinions but if you skip on the lights you might get disappointed after a while not getting the results you are looking for.
You don't need a super high end fixture for LPS but a fixture like the Tek ones who are reasonable in price would be a good choice. Being able to select a variety of bulbs you will see better growth and colors.
Of course you could even build your own fixture with T5's if you want to save some money
 
I will look into building my own T5 fixture. My DT has a DIY 4 bulb VHO arrangement, which I will upgrade to LEDs because I have heard they aren't strong enough for the photosynthetics I will be putting in. A DIY LED fixture may also be in my cards for the frag tank. Will give me an idea on how to do them for the DT.
 
I am thinking about that for sure. Just pricing out a retro off of BRS for a similar set up.
 
Forgot about flow. How many gph should I have for a return pump? How many and what gph power heads should I get for the frag tank? I decided to go with my 40 breeder that is laying around. The sump will have the dimensions of 34"x16"x16". I am deciding on where the baffles will be but should give you an idea of what the total volume would be if full. Thanks for the help!
 
Well the return just needs to get the water back into the display. You don't need your sump turning into the Kalahari, so just keep that in mind. Your power heads are what actually should be giving your corals the main amount of flow.
 
Should I aim for a 5-10x turnover rate for the sump with a fuge, skimmer, and return section? Would 2x 1050 gph koralias work or too much flow for LPS, SPS, and some zoas? Thanks for the help again!
 
The most important part of a frag tank is having healthy and growing colonies, not frags in your main display to propagate. If it were me, I would invest the money used for the frag tank back into my display tank. But that's just me, I don't have any colonies over 6x6".
 
That is a lot of reading on a few of those posts! I decided on a T5 retro for sure, either make one myself or get the one in a link above if it is available when I have the money for it.
 
Discovery Aquatics has two, both used. Although they are in good shape. I think one is like 3x3x and the other is 4x18" I think.

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