Starting to plan for 20L frag tank

meleerock

Member
I searched and didnt see a lot of posts on the subject. I was thinking going bare bottom. lol. I want to use pvc and egg crate for the shelves and thought i could put it a long the bottom as well. What is the most effecient way to place the shelves so you can hold the most coral? For lighting I want to go with a 150w MH 14k or 10k with supplemental ligthing fixture, any suggestions? Still debating on brands. How much live rock would I need to add to this tank? Im thinking 20lbs or so. I want to confine the LR to one small side of the tank, possibly with egg crate as well. Should I do something like a power filter or small skimmer ( dont know if a skimmer good idea) for added filtration? Sorry for a ton of questions... I really did try to keep this short....
 

pondy

Member
I dont know about going with a bare bottom tank, but I have seen many set ups where they have rubble on the bottom of the tank so that softies and encrustin sps can spread and create new frags. then with the upper shelves pvc and egg crate is used. I think that you have the basic ideas. If you are not going to plumb the tank and have a sump, I might go with a skilter. A power filter and skimmer all in one. I have a brother in law that has one and he absolutly loves it. You have to do a little mod but that is only puttin an air stone in the skimmer part so that there are more bubbles created there for makeing the skimmer more effecient. Just my 2 cents.
 

meleerock

Member
Sounds good, thanks for the input. After doing a bit more research I am going to go with a 10K watt bulb for the best growth. I didnt want to do sand because its a shallow tank and I wanted good flow and didnt want sand blowing all around. If I purchase around 20 lbs or so of LR rubble and layer the bottom will this be sufficient for a natural filter. The skilter seems like a good idea, I will look into it. Anyone else have other suggestions? I want to get most of the stuff in the next week and start to set up for cycle in 2 weeks or so. Thanks again!
 

flricordia

Active Member
Originally Posted by MeleeRock
I searched and didnt see a lot of posts on the subject. I was thinking going bare bottom. lol. I want to use pvc and egg crate for the shelves and thought i could put it a long the bottom as well. What is the most effecient way to place the shelves so you can hold the most coral? For lighting I want to go with a 150w MH 14k or 10k with supplemental ligthing fixture, any suggestions? Still debating on brands. How much live rock would I need to add to this tank? Im thinking 20lbs or so. I want to confine the LR to one small side of the tank, possibly with egg crate as well. Should I do something like a power filter or small skimmer ( dont know if a skimmer good idea) for added filtration? Sorry for a ton of questions... I really did try to keep this short....

My first tank back in the early 90s was a 20 long bare-bottom reef. It was awesome. THat was when Florida LR was available with all the Christmas tree worms in it.
I had a length of pvc alomg the bottom back with small holes drilled in it and attatched to a power head. It kept detritus blowed to the front where I syphoned it off every morning along with a quart of water and replenished it. That tanks stayed super clean and one morning I watched the Christmas tree worms (about 70 of them) spawn. There were some poppoing out tiny brown balls that broke apart into miniscule one and other worms were letting off a milky white into the water.
Wish I had had a video at the time.
Bare-bottoms are awesome!
 

meleerock

Member
thanks for the post. The idea of the pvc with wholes is a great idea. The costant water changes seem like it would keep the tank clean as well as replenish minerals and all that. Would you be able to explain a little more on the pvc idea? pump size, how you put it together. Thank you again.
 

flricordia

Active Member
Originally Posted by MeleeRock
thanks for the post. The idea of the pvc with wholes is a great idea. The costant water changes seem like it would keep the tank clean as well as replenish minerals and all that. Would you be able to explain a little more on the pvc idea? pump size, how you put it together. Thank you again.
It was along time ago but I would probably have taken a length of 1/2 pvc just about the length of the tank, placed a 90 on the end and attatched a Maxijet 900-1200 to it. I believe it is the thick wall pvc that the Maxijet attatchment on the output nozzel that the deflector attatches to fits tight into maybe with a little shaving here and there. Then drill small 1/16"-1/4" holes along the pvc about 1" apart and in a straight row and a few off-set at the ends and back of the pvc to keep detritus from collecting there. Pretty simple really.
 

meleerock

Member

Here is a rough layout of what I want the tank to look like. The bottom is filled with LR rubble. The middle egg crate shelf will be attached to a mag float to easily remove it if needed. Does anyone else think the pvc pipe is a good idea on the bottom? I also want to add some type of filter. Any other recommendations?
 

zeroc

Member
if you're going to just have coral (no fish) then a skilter would probably fit your needs since there wouldn't be much to skim.
 

meleerock

Member
Zero - I love the trigger in your avatar. I have heard some stuff on the skilter, Im going to look into them a little bit more. I do plan to have a big clean up crew, mainly consisting of snails. I have 3 fish in my 14 gallon BioCube, if in an emergancy I would transfer 1 fish tops into the frag tank and take the others to a LFS to hold onto them for me. I think the 20lbs or so of LR rubble can support it.
flric - I have another question for you if you dont mind. Was that the only powehead you had in the tank? Since it is a frag tank I want pretty decent flow and have 2 powerheads. I am just afraid the second one would just blow the detrious everywhere. Another idea that I had was 2 rotating powerheads on either side of the tank. With the aid of the skilter a lot of the detrious would be cought and trapped.
Sorry if I am making this too complicated.... but you seem to know your stuff around here.
 

meleerock

Member
I think I am going to go with a skilter 250. Im not opposed to mechanical filtration and will clean it regularly. I thought the tank was 24" but it is 30" so I guess its gunna cost more for a light now...
Here is a layout without the pvc pump in the bottom..lol
 

meleerock

Member
just a little bump for anyone who has some advice.
Im not sure if I am set on the skilter. I have heard mixed views on them. Another option I was thinking of is a red sea berlin classic hang on skimmer. Its a bit more expensive but would think it would be more efficient. I have heard that if you have a few smaller fish in a frag tank it is almost benifitial to the corals... Anyone here this before?
Lets see some pics of your frag tanks, specs would be awesome.
Thanks everyone
 

meleerock

Member
not a whole lot actually. I need a few weeks to get a little more money and take the dive, although probably rather slowly. Thank you for your link by the way. Your setup looks great and the input back into the frag tank is genious. This is my set-up list as of now, i will add a skimmer in a month or 2 out of the cycle. Weekly 10% water changes, tell me what you think.
20L tank (30x12x12)
150w 14k MH 30" Current USA Sunpod
2 - Maxi jet 900s (230x2=460) 23 times turnover rate
15 lbs live sand
20 lbs live rock rubble
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
i have this thread subscribed so i will be following as long as it takes, thanx for the comment on the return line.
 

meleerock

Member
I dont think I am gunna do the sump/fuge just yet. I wanna get the hang of running the tank first. Plus my house is up for sale so any time we might have to move, I dont want to start anything too complicated. If it works out im gunna upgrade to a 40L tank and use the 20L as the sump/fuge.
 

meleerock

Member
thanks for the link. I like the look of your tank, the plumbing looks great. If it was my house I would have a massive setup. Im 19 though and still with the parents, gotta respect what they say. Thanks again for the link, Im definitly running one when I get outa here.. lol
 
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