Frag tanks tell me about yours with pix.

[BrianB]

I wanna start a frag tank, I have 3 unused tanks. a 55, 29 and a 30. which one would you use? For light I am gonna go halide I think since I have seen some good deals. I only wanna go softies. Zoa's and recordia. Now I could go for a 400 watt and place it high enough to light the 29 and the 30 both possibly if I put the tanks side by side, the total length would be 56 inches. These will not be display tanks and will be in the garage. I don't have a skimmer do all of you run them on frag tanks? How about sumps. I have got bitten by the bug and thier is no turning back. I am on the dark side now.

[Rick]

400w is overkill for a softy tank. I would go with T5 or PC for a softy frag tank. Shallow tanks (12" or so deep)with a decent footprint tend to work a bit better. Most have a sump of some kind with a bunch of live rock however I've also seen some that don't. Without one it will require more water changes and it will be harder to keep the water stable (Which is really important with a frag tank).

[CA2OR]

Re: Frag tanks tell me about yours with pix.

 

I know I am on my own here when I say this but IMO T5's and PC's have no place in any tank for me.....unless it is a FW tank or used for sump light. You will NEVER be able to convince me otherwise.

 

No disrespect to T5 guys.

 

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[Michael7979]

You could put the 29 and 30 back-to-back and use the 400w to light both of them. They would only be about 24-26" wide and then you could use the lower light ends for lower light corals.

[Michael7979]

PS- 400w is overkill if you are only going to do zoas, rics, and other softies.

[jackaninny]

T5 bulbs have roughly twice the PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) efficiency as Halide bulbs. Halide run very hot and will almost always require a chiller or room AC to keep your temps normal. Halide also uses more power and bulbs need to be replaced about twice as frequently at greater expense. On the con-side of T5 they do not produce the massive amount of light that halide does so they do not penetrate as deep and might be less effective in deeper tanks or in tanks where your SPS is NOT near the top of the tank. Then there is the 'shimmer' effect that halide has over T5 but that's probably more a matter of taste.

 

In your case, a frag tank (which is generally more shallow), I think T5 is going to be a much better fit unless you get a smoking deal on a 250W and cooling won't be an issue for you.

[ReeFit]

400 watt is way to much. i run two 175 watt halides over my 4' wide frag tank and thats more than enough, but mine are only 12" deep. i also run 6 T5's on the other frag setup the same size and i get nice results with softies on it as well. I just like the look of halides better. Heat has not been an issue with my tanks in the garage, especially if they are open top. I always run a sump for additional water buffering. bigger volume makes for more nutrients for the corals and less dosing. a sump will also allow you to do a top off in the sump for evaporation instead of in the tanks them selves. adding trace elements and additives in a sump is better for mixing instead of dosing the main tanks. Also if your going to run a heater, do it in the sump. i like the top off system because you can dose ph, alk and calc slowly which helps keep swings in the tank to a minimum.

 

Good luck.

[kilmca]

400w is overkill for softies. no need to go over 250w MH or T5's would work. below is a pic of my frag/refugium setup. frag tank is above and softie/refugium is below. both are connected to the display tank and everything is covered by the same skimmer. this pick is old but i currently have (2) 250w MH over the frag tank and 300w of VHO's over the softie/refugium tank. this pick was taken when i had 400w MH over the frag and T5's over the softie/refugium tank.

 

I don't think a skimmer is required for your frag setup. especially if you don't have any fish. maybe make a small section where you could keep some marco algae and keep an eye on your levels.

 

[ReeFit]

If you can run a skimmer, you should. if you grow any corals that like to eat food, you will still want to skim the proteins out. Anything that helps to keep nutrient levels down to prevent nuisance algae down is a plus in my book. I also love to keep wrasses in my frag tanks for pest control, so if your deciding not to run a skimmer just because you don't have too, i'd run one if its not a big deal.