Propagation 101??

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone...Lord Nikon here...Here is my ?...i plan on starting a ten gallon frag tank in the future..(zoos of course, they seem to be easiest to raise) but i wanna know what equipment i need and some tips on how to get going...Ie live sand or bare bottom, etc...i wanna raise corals and i guess sell them locally, for cheap....since there is no place here in carson city that sells them...I eventually will go bigger tanks but i need to start small and easy...this way if i f*&k up it wont be as expensive...so KIS for me since i wont be using a large tank(at first)...

thanx everyone in advance
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[wasp]

Well, 10 gallon is pretty small to be raising frags for sale, but it could be done. Agreed, zoo's are the easiest.
As you are only going 10 gallon, I guess budget is a criterion, however there is a few things you need to invest in to reap dividends later. To raise any type of frags, you need to aim at zero nitrates, so a 4 inch deep sand bed preferably with a plenum will be a big asset to your tank. Live sand will get it going faster, but it is expensive, and even "dead" sand will do the job, just take a little longer to get started. My personal preference is to use 1 ml. aragonite, very good for the tank in several different ways. To deal with ammonia and nitrite, your tank is not really big enough for a decent amount of liverock, you really need to go with an external filter with bacteria growing media. Don't worry about nitrate production, the sand bed will handle it once established. Light - depends on what you are growing, but in a tank your size, flouros will grow a large amount of species.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanx for the advise wasp...Id go larger, but like i said, 55gal is a large amount of money to lose in corals if i screw up big time...Its more or less to fine tune my skills...i also figure i can grow a fair amount of polyps in a ten...I just wanna test myself



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[liquid]

I did something similar w/ a sterlite plastic tub. Hit http://www.liquidreef.com/ and click on the Prop Tub link. Instead of using airlifts you could just use a MaxiJet 600 powerhead and then do regular waterchanges.

Shane

 

[o2manyfish]

The bigger you go the better stability you will have. Do you have an existing reef system so that you can put your frag tank in line with it - then all you need to worry about is lighting.

Dave B

 

[middletonmark]

Personally I really like my 40 breeder prop setup. Larger [allows easier more stable water conditions/salinity] ... a nice size for lighting too.

I made it a little more complex [drilled tank, added refugium] ... but most of this I had sitting around home anyway.

 

[liquid]

middletonmark:

Any pics of your setup?

Shane

 

[middletonmark]

Here it is with a simple sump setup [rubbermaid `keg tub'].
http://www.reeffreaks.com/photopost/sho ... 500&page=2

My more recent photos are at home, not at work
I'll get one up for you soon, though ...

I do have a fair amount of rock in there, only the one eggcrate tray for official propagation [maybe not in the pic?] ... the xenia, polyps, anthelia are just arranged with rubble around them to `naturally spread'. More of a `display propagation setup'.