Optimum depth for frag tank

xroads · #1 12/05/2007, 01:26 PM

I was thinking about making a table top frag tank. I was thinking about 8", what do you guys think.

JaredWaites · #2 12/05/2007, 02:16 PM

A little shallow IMO,

Ideally it could be 12"-16".

Its really all about preference. I think many deep water species might have a hard time being fragged in a shallow tank because of the high light penetration. Especially if your planning on using MH.

Its not that they wouldn't stay a live, I just think that they would have a hard time thriving in a situation such as that and the purpose of a frag tank is for them to thrive to be constantly able to reproduce more.

AndyH5512 · #3 12/05/2007, 07:23 PM

I just got a 72"Lx 17"Hx 30"W frag tank built. It is big, but it also somewhat resembles an aquarium (due to the 17" height). I think it will offer the best of both worlds.

I have seen frag tanks that are 8". I think a safe minmum is 12".

samtheman · #4 12/09/2007, 11:03 AM

If the corals are submerged the tank is deep enough. The rest is light control.

reef / aholic · #5 12/10/2007, 12:37 AM

12" to 16"

JaredWaites · #6 12/10/2007, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by samtheman
If the corals are submerged the tank is deep enough. The rest is light control.

How do you propose light control at 4 or 5 inches?

The water will be boiling if your using halides, you would have to use a shade cloth...which defeats the purpose of using halides to a certain extent.

Go with 12"-16", you won't be sorry plus you have room for growth.

dachsieholic · #7 12/11/2007, 10:07 AM

I am setting up a frag system that I purchased from a guy in Houston. It has two 8" tanks. The top one has MH lighting. He had great growth from the system...I'll let you know how it does.

samtheman · #8 12/11/2007, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JaredWaites
How do you propose light control at 4 or 5 inches?

The water will be boiling if your using halides, you would have to use a shade cloth...which defeats the purpose of using halides to a certain extent.

Go with 12"-16", you won't be sorry plus you have room for growth.

Why would the water be boiling? My system has 12" trays of acrylic. Airlifts bring up water from a sump for temp. control and turnover. The trays are shallow to maximize light. You simply must match your lights to the depth and the biotype. You can grow mushrooms under NO lighting in shallow water.
If you do choose to use HM, mount them for optimum spread and cover more area. With shallow tanks the loss of intensity is not a problem. But shallow tanks require less light and save energy. Make use of them.

LockeOak · #9 12/11/2007, 12:11 PM

I would go deep enough for two shelves. High light frags on the top shelf, low light frags (zoanthids etc.) on the bottom shelf, partially shaded by the depth and the frags above.

rottbo · #10 12/11/2007, 03:46 PM

I think that 24 is nice but thats what I run so I just have my racks up higher I just like the flow under the racks I guess

JaredWaites · #11 12/11/2007, 09:03 PM

I see what your saying samtheman, but heat wise I don't see it being a great thing as 6-8" of water heats up in a tank faster than 12" of water in a tank at the same distance halide height away.

I agree with you LockeOak, two shelves would be a great addition as you specified you can grow higher light requiring species on the upper shelf.

ViPeR_930 · #12 12/12/2007, 11:19 AM

I don't understand how the depth of the tank makes a difference with the temperature. The volume can, but not the depth.
FWIW, my current frag tank is 10" deep and my new one will be 6" deep. IF I had a tall frag tank, say 18" deep, I'd be using egg crate to raise the frags up 12" anyways.
With a shallower tank you can use less powerfull lights or just raise the light up to cover a wider area while still maintaining the same intensity as with a deeper tank.

samtheman · #13 12/12/2007, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JaredWaites
I see what your saying samtheman, but heat wise I don't see it being a great thing as 6-8" of water heats up in a tank faster than 12" of water in a tank at the same distance halide height away.

I agree with you LockeOak, two shelves would be a great addition as you specified you can grow higher light requiring species on the upper shelf.

My sump is 650 gallons. Having two shelves might be convient, but if you want to grow coral, you should concentrate on one type and make conditions suitable for it. Trying to grow different types with different lighting requirements, and chemical warfare, will not produce otimum growth. Are you making a display tank or trying to grow coral?

KCZoanthid · #14 12/24/2007, 08:24 PM

A LFS here has frag tanks about 12" deep under MH lights. But, the lights are 36" above the tanks so that people can view frags from the top.

I'm using a 130w PC over a 20g high tank. 65w Actinic and 65w 10K. I run the light 12hrs on--12hrs off. The tank is 16" deep. I use eggcrate racks that are stuck to the sides of the tank. Wider racks at the bottom with mushrooms and zoas. Skinny racks at the top with SPS and LPS. No chemical warefare here, because I don't keep softies.

It's purely a "meat and potatoes" system. I don't care what it looks like -- as long as my frags grow.

Serioussnaps · #15 12/26/2007, 02:04 PM

How tall do you want your corals to be? What corals will you propogate? what lights will you use?

samtheman · #16 12/26/2007, 08:38 PM

SPS and LPS use chemical warfare and even within the same species. If you want to maximize growth, minimize mixing species and even then they will fight if they aren't clones.

KCZoanthid · #17 12/26/2007, 09:09 PM

I guess I'm lucky, because I haven't seen any adverse effects from placing SPS and LPS in the same frag tank. I keep them separated on different racks.

I don't enjoy the look of softies, so I don't have to worry about them. I've read quite a few articles that claim leathers and SPS will just about kill each other. The "nuclear bomb" of chemical warfare. I suppose you could run a lot of carbon and replace it often if you wanted to do both in the same tank.

samtheman · #18 12/26/2007, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KCZoanthid
I guess I'm lucky, because I haven't seen any adverse effects from placing SPS and LPS in the same frag tank. I keep them separated on different racks.

I don't enjoy the look of softies, so I don't have to worry about them. I've read quite a few articles that claim leathers and SPS will just about kill each other. The "nuclear bomb" of chemical warfare. I suppose you could run a lot of carbon and replace it often if you wanted to do both in the same tank.

Yes, with good husbandary, you can overcome some of the effects, but keeping them alive isn't the same as healthy growth.

andrewkw · #19 12/27/2007, 12:21 AM

My frag tank is only 8" high, this is the perfect depth for me since its primarily acans, other lps and zome zoas. I don't have to stick my whole arm in to target feed. I just get one hand a little wet and even that I could probably avoid if I really wanted to. The deeper you go the harder it will be to feed. Food effects growth much more then light for the corals I am growing.

imo it's just counter productive to grow sps and lps together, they can live together fine I have some sps in my frag tank however I'm not expecting to see any crazy growth from them.

I light my tank with T5's so heat from light is not an issue.

rottbo · #20 12/27/2007, 10:32 AM

I think that a little deeper is nicer so you have the flexability to change the height of the racks.. In my 24" tank I have almost all my racks right at the surface but I have one rack that is almost 18" down since 1 of the birdsnest is seeming to want to grow straight up