Frag Tank--FINALLY!!!

Rcpilot

Rcpilot

Reef enthusiast
After last weekend (sold $150 worth of frags for the first time) my wife finally saw how lucrative this hobby can be.

I had my evil 6-line in a 5.5g tank all alone with one SPS frag. I was using a HOB refuguim and a cheapo PC light with 3 bulbs x 13w for a total of 39w.

Tonight I went out and bought a 10g tank and 7lbs of live rock rubble at the LFS. I transfered all the sand and live rock to the new 10g tank. Slapped the light on top and started it running.

I might get a small cycle out of it. Not sure. The 5g tank had about 3/4" of sand on the bottom. I added 10lbs of dry aragonite sand to the 10g and dumped the sand from the 5g tank on top. Transfered about 8lbs of live rock from the 5g. The refugium has a nice 6" DSB already established and a hunk of cheato. The mini canister is crankin' with carbon right now. I think it will be okay.

I'm going to order some more of those neat mag-racks online and start growing zoas.

Pics coming up...... :mrgreen:
 
IMG_1007.JPG


IMG_1006.JPG
 
That tank is stacked! how is that skimmer(can;t be too good considering you have a small bioload.
 
The skimmer does a fine job. It doesn't skim out a whole lot--because there is no bioload. But it works. Between the skimmer, the 6" DSB and the hunk of cheato--this tank is as stable as anything I've ever seen. 0 nitrates. 0 phosphates. Good ph, alk, mag, iodine, calcium.

Keep in mind, I just switched from a 5g tank to 10g. The only bioload will be Striper, the evil 6-line. There's a couple snails and a 1" emerald crab in there too.

I'm just running the mini canister right now because I'm expecting a small cycle. I'll take the canister off in a week or two. Then it will just run on the refugium.

That tank is stacked!
Click to expand...
Pardon me. I'm an old man compared to you Hibye. Does "stacked" mean it's cool? Or does it mean it looks like crap? :shock:
 
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The initial 8lbs of rock that was in the 5g tank was to help with filtration. It seamed natural to transfer it to the 10g tank.

The rock rubble I bought today will be for my frags. I've never liked plugs. I have been researching this off and on for about a year. Nobody has any objection to frags on rock rubble. I like the idea of being able to drop a frag in my tank and it already looks like it belongs in the tank. Frag plugs look ugly IMO. So, I plan to grow out my frags on rocks.

I guess it can double as a QT. I don't plan to add anymore to the 30g DT. It's full. Thats what led to the frag sale last weekend. I simply had to thin it out a bit.

Why the sand? I dunno. I like the way it looks. Just because it's a frag tank--it doesn't have to be bare bottom. IMO it's okay if it has a little sand. There's a nassarius snail in there somewhere. He needs a little sand to burrow in.

I have contacted the guy at Mag Racks and asked him to build some racks.
 
The evil 6-line? What did he do? Mine is a pig :(

That is awesome! I have a friend that is thinking about starting a frag tank someday.
 
Looks like your on your way to having a full fleged coral farm.
But why paid for mag racks when you can build em yourself?Just some old mag floats,egg crete and glue.
 
OurFishies said:
The evil 6-line? What did he do? Mine is a pig :(

That is awesome! I have a friend that is thinking about starting a frag tank someday.
Click to expand...


He was fine for 6 months. Then he suddenly turned into Charlie Manson and tried to kill everything in the tank. He almost murdalized my poor clown fish.

I caught him and put him in the 5g tank by himself. He's not worthy of the 10g tank I bought last night, but I can't sell him and don't have the heart to flush him. He's a butt head.

Maybe he will keep my frags clean of bristleworms and other pests? A guy can dream.........
 
Stacked means like awesome/best/overkill.

The m16 was stacked with its 5-9x50 scope,bipod,laser,flashlight,silencer,and foam foregrip.
 
Well, Thank you Hibye. :mrgreen:

A week later.....
IMG_1008.JPG


I know, the rocks are covered in turf algae. I got 2 small emeralds in there. They should gobble that up in a couple months. Then I'll put some of those rocks back in the DT.

I run the tank low because of the HOB refugium. The water in the refugium is higher than in the tank. I need some room for a power outage. In the event of a power outage and puimp shut-down, the refugium will siphon backwards into the tank until the water level in both is equal.

Edit:
Look close under the purple rock on the left. You can see Striper--the evil 6-line.
 
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Rcpilot said:
I run the tank low because of the HOB refugium. The water in the refugium is higher than in the tank. I need some room for a power outage. In the event of a power outage and puimp shut-down, the refugium will siphon backwards into the tank until the water level in both is equal.
Click to expand...
i think he knows that hibye:mrgreen:
 

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