Cali Kid Corals

Inexpensive Small Frag Tank

Jeff Rehling

Jeff Rehling

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Have any of you used a plastic Costco tub for your frag tank? I have on and was considering using it. Otherwise, what are some inexpensive solutions to set up a small 20-30 gallon frag tank?

Thanks for all the help!
 
Petco $1/gallon sale. Just ask if anyone has any tanks laying around, lots of people have junky/beat up tanks they might be willing to give away.
 
Talking about Petco sales and tanks lying around, I have a 20g long that I purchased thinking of making it into a sump. This never happened and I just ended up buying a sump, so I have a brand new 20g long just sitting around if you want it let me know.
 
i found a 20l on CL for $25. Picking that up. I would think i could get away without a skimmer and just do larger water changes each week? I would like to have 2 clowns in the frag tank. the MD video says sand and live rock are not required? What are your expert thoughts on setting this up. I am planning on getting a cobalt heater, 2 hydor powerheads, and a light. I saw on youtube many are running bio wheel filters with carbon in them. I would prefer not to spend a fortune on this setup.
 
My frag tank, a 20 gallon, (mostly just zoas) just has a light, heater, and powerhead. No mechanical filtration, I just have a ball of chaeto and a bit of live rock. I water change every month ish
 
i haven't been able to get chaeto to grow in my fuge...every month? wow. at all the LFS' they have livestock in the tank as well as the frags. I figured there was some benefit. I love clowns anyway! Do you dose at all?
 
Ideal frag tank.
First depends if you're just going to let light grow them, or if you're going to feed them.
Second if you're going to do fish, do something useful like a 6-line that picks at possible bugs trying to kill your corals!
Third, no rock, no sand, just allow flow to go, a sponge filter is probably fine, sponge should be in your tank for a while to colonize with some bacteria, some sort of frag rack to keep them elevated off the bottom, then have your powerheads low blowing under the frag rack to kick up any detritus (coral food!) and it doesn't directly blow on the corals...but flow is still going in there. Skimmer is nice but it really is optional unless you feed your corals heavily. Usually the filter you can find at some garage sale of someone getting rid of a tank or something, I usually keep a couple of them handy for "just in case" type situations, nothing new though.
 
YOu can go very cheap and it works if you're diligent, want to spend more time on it, and your husbandry is spot on. However, the one thing about a small frag tank is -- well -- it's small. That means if something goes wrong , it goes wrong fast and you lose a lot of coral. For a small tank that allows you a little room for error it's better to have one with a sump large enough to run a reactor or two, hold a decent amount of bio-material and have a well defined plan for nutrient removal. It's still cheap enough to grab a small drilled tank that's used on CL and a used sump. Or at the very least (and I've run these very successfully) a used all-in-one.
 
connecting to the main system is the easiest way to make it work without much equipment (extra pump to move water to it, and maybe a powerhead). Do be careful though that it is a frag tank for growing out frags, not a quarantine tank for new frags when set up like this.
 
Jeff Rehling said:
Have any of you used a plastic Costco tub for your frag tank? I have on and was considering using it. Otherwise, what are some inexpensive solutions to set up a small 20-30 gallon frag tank?

Thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...

I used one as a "holding tank" it did pretty well but is not as sturdy as the Rubbermaid stock tanks.
I have a 24" dual T5 fixture if you want it; is short for a 20L but it could be hung with a little DIY; I know is there somewhere.
 
xcaret said:
I used one as a "holding tank" it did pretty well but is not as sturdy as the Rubbermaid stock tanks.
I have a 24" dual T5 fixture if you want it; is short for a 20L but it could be hung with a little DIY; I know is there somewhere.
Click to expand...
you are my source! sure I'll take it. I need two powerheads at 435 GPH as well if anyone has them around
 
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