Prop. Tank

[chadhender]

I am getting ready to set up a prop. tank and need some advice. I was going to link it to my display but space in that area are limited. I was thinking to get a 50 gallon Rubbermaid Stock Tank the one that is 51x31x12. I am going to put a single 400w halide on top. What type of filtration should I do for a setup like this? I am rally not wanting to mess with LR unless i Have to. Do I need to look into a Calcium Reactor? Any Ideas would be helpful or maybe a link to a site so I can research. I am finding limited material. Thanks

[chadhender]

I want to frag SPS as well as soft corals too.

[dendronepthya]

A prop tank is not a lot different than any other kind of tank. You'll need to provide flow, lighting, filtration, and maintain chemical levels. Because you are hooking it to your existing system, the filtration should be taken care of. As for whether you need a calcium reactor, they make sense if your total gallons is over 120, and you keep lots of stony corals.

[chadhender]

I am not going to be hooking it up to the main tank because I dont have any room for it (I have an In wall tank with min. space) The tank i am looking at it 50 gallon. I am not planning on any fish in the system maybe one damsel or something to poop a little. What would I need like a small sandbed or maybe a canister?

[dendronepthya]

If I were to hook up a separate 50 gallon prop tank, I would basically set it up like any other tank with a skimmer, light, and some pumps for circulation. I would definitely put some liverock in there too. Basically, I would try and make it the sort of tank that the cuttings would thrive in rather than a sterile lab tank. If the 50 gallon tank was plumbed to an existing system, there would be more flexibility in the type of setup you could have because many of those components are already present.

[chadhender]

Yea I guess I would be better off getting an acrylic tank built to the size of my closet. How fast would the water need to travel to the main tank if I was to use a 35 gallon. Could I do like 200-300 gph to the main tank?

[dendronepthya]

I suppose the flow rate would be up to you. I wouldn't want it to be too turbulent though because the speed you send it back up into the tank will be how fast it comes down. That could lead to a lot of microbubbles, etc.