need help with a propagation set up

[MuldoonJT]

Hi all , im new here


I have a reef ect but will not go into that right now. I am interested in a tank designed for sps propagation but i have a few questions. As ive never had a set up for this purpose only a normal reef set up

Does anyone make a shallow propagation tank or do i have to order one from tenecor?

Will sps coral even prosper in a water only system? what and how are the things natually made by the reef reproduced?

my plan was a 24in L x 36in W x 12in D. Has anyone here done this?

i im planning on using a single 400 MH 10.000k two 65watt PC actinics.

i also have a large wet dry a 25 watt UV and a 1/3 hp chiller in the spair parts closet.

i am not aure what i will actually need for a water only system with just the acros for grow out. my intestion was no sand , rock or anything just the corals

[johnrags1234]

I am planning on doing something like this with softies.

I plan on using a 140g tuuf stuff bin. It will be divided- 1/3 colonies, 2/3 frags. The grags will be on eggcrate, with a very deep DSB under the eggcrate. But between the eggcrate and the sand bed, there will be a water column. I plan to pump water from here, then back into the frag level. It will return into 4 bulkheads on SCWD's.

Lighting will be MH's. Thinking about 250w HQI DE'. For the colonies I will be doing 10ks with pc actinics (added growth, still good color) and for the frags a 20k 250w HQI DE set up.

I want to work with softis, because there seems to be larger demand for them compared to SPS. Still doing lots of reserarch, before I start.

J

[MuldoonJT]

hes the head reef service man at a very high end shop in my area

the set up he layed out was interesting to me ,, an empty tank no sand at all with moderate turn over lots of flow from power heads going to a very very large sump which in its own sense would be a working reef , loaded with live rock inverts and macro alge and kelp ect.

hes never propagated but it really interested him and it was his thinking that building it this way would be the best , in theory the inverts should create natural phytoplankton when they breed , the breed of crabs is very prolific. plus all the added benifits of a complete system and the frags just living in that water in there own very clean residew free grow out tank.

looks like its going to come togather eventually , but now i need to pic a new location as the size of the set up just pretty much quadrupled with the addition of the 150 allglass being used at the life center for the grow out

[griss]

JT,

You could use a Rubbermaid Stock Tank designed for watering livestock. These come is 50, 75, 100, 150 and 300 gallon sizes.

As long as your sump has the LR, LS and other filtration this would be fine. You will want to place the frags on live rock rubble. cement plugs or the like.

Griss

[chrisblore]

Good to hear of all the new prop tanks being setup these days! The idea of having a 'rockless tank' with a sump is most probably the easiest nethod for the control of algae etc. and the growout of frags which can be placed on a multi-tiered eggcrate rack or one custom built using acrylic or equivalent material.
The frags will need to be placed on the plugs and can be aclimatised from a lower light level to one more normal for a full colony.
Please bear in mind that glass tanks are generally quite expensive so it may in the longer term be more cost effective to use another type of container such as a Rubbermaid although if this system is a one-off it should not be too much of a problem.
Will this be the main broodstock tank as well or do you plan on using colonies from other systems?

[johnjr]

take a look at these polyethelene tanks. Dimensions are 72x36x12. 130gallons
http://www.aquaticeco.com/aquatic1v1/itempg.icl?secid=0&subsecid=28&catid=1435&orderidentifier=ID1048732081398651776&itmid=3316&dirpage=dir3&iteminfo4=0&eflag=0&curitempos=25&numitems=25

[TIGER SHARK]

So when setting this up with lots of LR and LS in the sump only, do you light the sump to keep everything alive? Im just wondering if you do light the sump, how will this help control algae? Wont it go crazy in there and spread to the grow out tank? Or are you saying that the macro and such will export all the algae friendly nutrients?

[Eric Boerner]

Depends on whether there is light loving things in the rubble filter. This is how I plan on finishing up my prop system.

150 gallon tank 72x24x20. No sand. Small rubble rock the entire length of the tank, up to 3" high. PVC risers create a shelf. On the shelf is eggcrate to place whatever I'm proping on. In mine it'll mostly be zoanthids.

2 stand-pipes drop down to 3 sumps/refugiums.

First refugium is a 35 gallon round polyurethane bucket, 2' in diameter and 2' high. This contains an 6" sand bed, a light layer of small rubble rock, a 8" PVC riser shelf, eggcrate, and another layer of rubble rock. This is sparsly lit with a 35 watt PC. The bottom layer of rubble rock is littered with feather dusters, sponges, and small bi-valves.

This is the first natural filter system. This emulates a cave environment which will promote more filter feeders and sponges to populate it.

Second refugium is another 2'x2'x2' tub. This contains another 6" of sand, and very spars rubble. The entire tub is then filled with Chaetomorph. This acts as both a nutrient magnet, and also as a natural floss filter. The remaining suspended particles in the water are caught here. This refugium is lit with 2 35 watt, 6500 pc bulbs.

Last sump, in yet another 2'x2'x2' tub. This contains the heaters, skimmer, and whatever other equipment that needs to be submerged.

A rated pump of 900 gph then pushes the water back into the main tank.

This is a great natural filtering sytstem that keeps the system pretty clean.

[MuldoonJT]

sorry guys , i was away and or busy for a while ,,, we never set up the prop set up we turned the 110 to all sps , the 90 for the softies and stuff , moved the aneomie and the clowns to the breeder ,,

the play was a lighted sump to the prop tank ,, but working with what we had ,, we did it this way

its not to say somday soon i will not try the dedicated rockless setup ,,, ive aquired a 3rd chiller and many assorted lighting pieces and a rubbermaid stock tank ,, it was at a garden center and pretty beat up ,, they were using it to store pond plants in and it was just too ugly for them so i got it for a song and a dance


someday =)