Frag/grow out tank ideas

[keithw283]

I am thinking about setting up a frag/grow out tank and was hoping to get some tips/ideas from you guys on how to set it up. My 55 is my first tank I'm having success with growing corals and I'll be setting up my 180 in the coming months too so I would like to get something set up to put my frags in to grow out. Would a 20 long with HoB filtration and sufficient lighting/flow work well or would I be better off with a complete system? I see many people have a bare tank with just their frag racks on the bottom of the tank and some use rocks and sand. They would If I wanted to grow out an encrusting coral I would need some kind of rock or something like that in there, right?

 

[T-J]

Tie it in to your existing system. That way you're not trying to keep two systems stable, especially a smaller one that is going to bounce around more.
As far as encrusting corals, most frags are simply attached to a frag plug. You can also get frag tiles, which are larger and don't have the plug on the underside.

 

[keithw283]

Tie it in to your existing system. That way you're not trying to keep two systems stable, especially a smaller one that is going to bounce around more.
As far as encrusting corals, most frags are simply attached to a frag plug. You can also get frag tiles, which are larger and don't have the plug on the underside.

Yeah I was thinking about the tiles. I can't tie it into my system though as one is in my bedroom another is in the living room and this one will either be in the basement or the other side of the living room. So there will be 3 tanks

 

[X-37B]

This is my 45 frag system, 36x24x12, with 40 breeder sump. IMO if you are going to run a 180 system I would put together the largest frag system you can.
I have a fully grown in 120 and this frag system works well along with a nano cube.
I have live rock in the tank as well as in the fuge/sump and its very stable and easy to maintain.
I dose ESV 2 part and EZ trace in the morning and have been doing so for over 2 years with this system.
I just added 2 more racks and the 16HD's.
I just took this pic.

 

[keithw283]

This is my 45 frag system, 36x24x12, with 40 breeder sump. IMO if you are going to run a 180 system I would put together the largest frag system you can.
I have a fully grown in 120 and this frag system works well along with a nano cube.
I have live rock in the tank as well as in the fuge/sump and its very stable and easy to maintain.
I dose ESV 2 part and EZ trace in the morning and have been doing so for over 2 years with this system.
I just added 2 more racks and the 16HD's.
I just took this pic.

I was thinking about getting a 24x24x8 just because I already have an extra xr30 so that would be perfect for that but I can always go a bit bigger and just get another light

 

[X-37B]

I was thinking about getting a 24x24x8 just because I already have an extra xr30 so that would be perfect for that but I can always go a bit bigger and just get another light

I would not get a frag/growout system thats less than 12" deep.
8" is ok or frags but 12" or higher is better for a growout system.

 

[keithw283]

I would not get a frag/growout system thats less than 12" deep.
8" is ok or frags but 12" or higher is better for a growout system.

what tank do you have? I like the dimensions but can't find anything similiar size

 

[X-37B]

what tank do you have? I like the dimensions but can't find anything similiar size

Aquarium Masters in Chino California.

 

[keithw283]

Aquarium Masters in Chino California.

is yours custom made? I'm on their site and I'm not seeing any tanks with those dimensions. The 45 I'm seeing is 48x18x12. the 36x24 footprint is perfect so i'm going to keep looking