Help me set up a 10 gallon frag tank.

[fab1971]

I have a 29 gallon reef tank set up in my living room but would like to set up a second tank for frags. I'm on a limited budget and need ideas on what I need and how much. Would appreciate any info. Lighting, filtering, etc...

 

[CSJIII]

First of all, what mad you decide on 10 gallons?

 

[fab1971]

I already have a 10 gallon tank in my son's room just taking up space and don't know if I'm going to have to move soon, so want to stay away from anything bigger.

 

[CSJIII]

Will you be linking the 2 of them together? Reason that I ask is that you stated the your budget is low....do you already have a skimmer and such for the 10 gallon?

 

[fab1971]

Will you be linking the 2 of them together? Reason that I ask is that you stated the your budget is low....do you already have a skimmer and such for the 10 gallon?

No skimmer and not linking them together. They're going to be in separate rooms. Can it still be done successfully? If not I'll have to wait until we move and get a bigger tank. I'll probably have to give some of my current corals away to make room in my main tank if that's the case. I have a couple of frags that I bought a few months ago and they're starting to spread like mad.

 

[dantimdad]

I would honestly go on freecycle and see if you could find a 15 or 20 so you could drill it and plumb it into the display. It would be cheaper in the long run.

Yes, you can drill a 10 gallon, but, they are very brittle and not worth the effort if you ask me. Besides, there are a lot of cheap standard 24" lighting options.

Just my two cents.

dantimdad

 

[MAKcorals]

I would wait and go bigger than 10g. You can find some nice stuff bigger used for cheap and if there is one thing that i have learned in this hobby it is that it is easier to wait and get something a little bigger as opposed to then constantly upgrading. If it is just temporary though to hold some corals till you move than i say go for it.

 

[inactive]

10g can be perfect if it's all you need. A hang on back filter modified to old macro algae and a light, plus some powerheads and water changes will be fine.

 

[AlexStinson]

if you are just keeping softies, a system such as a biocube or nanocube could make a reliable frag system. Color isnt best under PC's but it can be done (I have a 14bc I use as a extra frag system)

 

[sprinklerdudes]

I kept a ten gallon nano for about six months with live rock, sand bed, and a $14 hang on back filter from wall mart, I added coral life 50/50 screw in compact florescent from petco @ about $15 each instead of the incandescent bulbs that came with the hood, worked rather well. did not skim, I used a qt mason jar, removed 1 jar of water from ten gal, and flushed it, added 1 jar from my display tank, did see growth and good color on the softies, but not a lot of luck on a sps frag I tried. just not enough light or flow.

 

[fab1971]

thanks for all the advise guys. Sprinkler, I believe I saw your thread about the 10 gallon. I also checked out the link to the 24 inch t5 lighting. Good stuff. This tank is to hold some corals. I'm running out of room in my display tank and need to set something up for temporary corals. Thanks again for all the ideas.

 

[Dasani]

I would say for light, the 20" 150w sunpod hqi or evils par 38 LED lamp with 20k 2 whites, 3 blues with 80 degree optics... filter: aquaclear 70 modded to a fuge, jbj biocube skimmer or a remora... ummmm are you going to just fill it with eggcrate? I would definatly have live sand in the bottom for a lil natural filtration... at least one fish... maybe a picasso clown? Also 2 k nanos or 1 k-1 for flow. GL