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#1
10/12/2006, 03:50 PM
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Prop tank tips Please
Hey all,
I am planning on setting up a frag tank in the near future. I was woundering if anyone could give me tips on the setup of one, like, -Minimum Lighting required to grow mainly softies( zoas and palys ) -Flow needed -filteration -substrate? -Clean up crew -maintenance Please feel free to add any other comments or tips. Thanks, BigRay |
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#2
10/12/2006, 09:07 PM
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Prop tanks are no different than regular tanks other than they are "propogation tanks". Unless your prop tank is going to feed off of your regular tank then you need everything that any tank would need. My prop tank is a chamber within my fuge, and therefore has minimum requirements other than light and flow since it is fed from my main return. I have a 20 gallon fuge split to 12 gallon sump and 8 gallon prop tank. I light both with dual 65watt PC 50/50s. This adds up to only 6-7 watts per gallon whereas my main tank is closer to 10 watts per gallon. I have an MJ900 in this small prop tank. Flow is more important than light!!!!!!! I get great growth from this set-up. I grow SPS and LPS with no issues. My prop tank has no substrate and 4 snails for clean-up. (this keeps things much cleaner). I hop this helps
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#3
10/12/2006, 09:13 PM
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-Lighting PC or VHO
-lots of flow, enough to shimer polyps but not too much -I use a skimmer, live rock, carbon in a nylon sock, in my sump and thats it -no need subtrate, since you are not going for looks subtrate gets in the way, I have separate kitchen cointainers with rubble for frags that need it. - hermit crabs running over your frags is a disaster so are snails. I set up a deep container with crabs and just dip frags that need cleaning in it for few days that way they stay in one spot, dont forget to feed em once in a while. I got snails and they eat all diatoms off my eggcrate but knock off a lot of frags, I am gonna yank them out of there.
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The more I know, the more it makes me realize what I dont know... |
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#4
10/12/2006, 09:26 PM
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The snails do knock over my frags every now and again. It is worth it to me to have a cleaner prop tank that I can see through. They dont get everything though, I still have to use magnets.
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#6
10/13/2006, 05:51 AM
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Ref to flow, it depends on your species, and how they feed, those species taking food from the water column need more flow, those like mushrooms that dont feed from the column not only need less but dont stand heavy flow at all well,
stony corals need the most flow, and also strongest lights, zoas are closer to mushrms in needs , palys differ a lot among themselves, but you can meet the needs of all of them with VHOs or comparable. Leathers dont like continuous strong current, but I run a big power head for about 15 mins twice a day and they seem to perk up from that, it helps for them to clean themselves. More and they get limp and are slow to recover. I do have hang on back filters on those tanks for a continual water movement. If you dont use a substrate you will need to check ph much more often as it will tend to acidify. You'll probably wind up adding calcium . Even with substrate its best to check the ph at least weekly. I use substrate as it helps frags to anchor themselves before gluing on mounts. Eugene nice setup, I like it. Thats probably going to be my sumps for a growout system. Far cheaper then tanks.
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jake |
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