Mini frag tanks - looking for stocking advice.

[Halo_003]

Does anyone have a miniature frag tank? I was thinking of making one to house zoa frags to sell. (Only looking to make enough on it to cover costs of the main tank, $40/month would be plenty.)

 

It wouldn't be a major setup, just a small frag tank to trade with some locals. I figure zoa's would be a cool way to go since they're quite easy to ignore and let them do their thing.

 

Here's what I was considering...

 

10G AGA w/ acrylic divider to have a filter section - have this too.

DIY eggcrate rack - have this

Reef Octopus NS-80 skimmer (in AIO section) - have this

Light - don't care about spectrum or control ability etc, I just want decent growth.

Koralia Nano 425 - have this

Hydor 75W heater - have this

Cheap ATO of some sort - would need to get one, probably just a cheap Hydor Smart Level or similar.

 

Stocking wise I was just thinking a damsel to give it some nutrients but IDK if a fish is really needed. I could do this with a 5G as well, but I have an extra 10G already.

 

Thoughts?

 

Update: I set up with a roughly 24"x15"x7" Rubbermaid tub and a t5ho 4 bulb. Zoomed but I got it for $15. I also picked up a 6-8p frag of some sort of pink zoa.

 

What corals would you guys suggest for best and fastest return? If I can make $50 a month with it that would be sweet.

[jabeuy]

I think you could do it.

 

I have a 7.5g in my office I planned to do a really simple reef in. But it's turning out to be a frag tank for odds and ends that I don't wanna put in my main tank lol. Barebottom, no fish, a few snails, old koralia, a heater and using my old lights.

[glennr1978]

Looks like a solid little plan to me. Good call on zoas too. Zoas are super easy to propagate and are always in demand.

[Halo_003]

You guys think it could pull down $40-50 a month? That would be really handy if so because it would pay for my main tank costs.

 

Initial options would be mind blowing palys, king Midas zoas, afterburner zoas, fire and ice zoas, nuclear space monsters, maybe fruit loops, Rastas, etc. cheap, easy to get mini colonies of, and in demand.

 

Also do you guys think it should have a fish or two? And what about that light? Think it will be okay for this?

[anizato]

I think ... you would need some pretty high-end ..not so slow growing zoas in order to make that much a month. perhaps an expensive anemone and hope for it to split?. I would probably invest in a good light (kessil A150 or single radion or something) and a decent ATO, definitely no sand, and some good rock filtration (maybe a ceramic plate instead of rock, for easier fragging and frag plug management). Hope this helps (:

Also I would consider maybe some shrimp, skunk cleaner and/or peppermints perhaps.

[Halo_003]

I was thinking of getting one of those plates, gluing some plugs to it (with the pointy parts cut off) and then when the zoas encrust on it I can just slice them off easily.

 

I'd like to grow/frag zoas and maybe some macro algaes. I found a 24"x18"x8" rubbermaid that works out to about 8G. I was thinking I might use that, put an 18" Oddysea T5HO (4 bulb) over it, throw some rocks in, cover the bottom in egg crate, and AC30 for filtration, the only thing I would need to pick up would be a cheap ATO. I'm really seriously considering a damsel for it so there's a source for nutrients, but I'm not sure if it's needed honestly.

 

I think if I picked up like 10 different zoa frags and alternated the fragging schedule I could frag one a week, at $20 a frag, which gives 10 weeks for each colony between fraggings. Thoughts?

[RK_tek]

If you have your main tank sumped, you could add the frag tank to the system and eliminate some of the equipment and have more water volume for stability. Feed the zoa tank heavily and with a good light(I don't know specifically which one, but I think the lower K lights are better for growth) then let the main tank get the remnants of leftover food.

 

I ran a small tank "for frags" and keeping stable parameters and water quality was my bigger problem

[Halo_003]

If you have your main tank sumped, you could add the frag tank to the system and eliminate some of the equipment and have more water volume for stability. Feed the zoa tank heavily and with a good light(I don't know specifically which one, but I think the lower K lights are better for growth) then let the main tank get the remnants of leftover food.

 

I ran a small tank "for frags" and keeping stable parameters and water quality was my bigger problem

 

I don't have it sumped. Right now my main tank is an 18G rubbermaid tub lol. The setup I'm doing now will be a closed loop though so no way to attach the frag tank to the main sadly. I want a low water volume in the display though.

 

I was thinking that 12000k bulbs would be good, I have a bunch of them. I was planning to change about 2 gallons a week.

[Halo_003]

So I set it up today using the following:

Approx 24"x15"x6" rubbermaid tub, approx 6G of water in it.

15W (3x CW, 2x RB) ebay PAR LED - will see if this grows or not.

Hydor 75W heater

AC30

Rio+ 180 for flow

Eggcrate covering the entire bottom about 1" off the bottom, so about 5" of water between the rack and the air.

 

Will add a couple small rocks I think and see how it goes.

[najluni15]

I had a similar setup but in a 20l but just a simple hob filter, small heater, ebay par38 bulbs, and a koralia powerhead. Threw a wrasse in it to eat any potential pests and free plenty of coral. I had corals from my 120 that I would frag and then grow out in the 20l then refrag and ended up pulling around $100-$200 per month for a while. Then I decided to tear down my tanks while I was in law school (worst decision ever on both accounts). The money paid for this rediculously expensive hobby

[Halo_003]

I had a similar setup but in a 20l but just a simple hob filter, small heater, ebay par38 bulbs, and a koralia powerhead. Threw a wrasse in it to eat any potential pests and free plenty of coral. I had corals from my 120 that I would frag and then grow out in the 20l then refrag and ended up pulling around $100-$200 per month for a while. Then I decided to tear down my tanks while I was in law school (worst decision ever on both accounts). The money paid for this rediculously expensive hobby

 

 

Sweet! lol $100+ a month would be insanely cool. But $20/month would easily cover my tank for now. $50-80 a month would be ideal because it would pay for upgrades and corals.

[najluni15]

What I ended up doing was using the money to buy colonies from people tearing down tanks, put some of it in my DT then fragging the rest as well.

[Halo_003]

What I ended up doing was using the money to buy colonies from people tearing down tanks, put some of it in my DT then fragging the rest as well.

That seems like a great idea lol. (For real, not sarcasm)

[najluni15]

It's amazing how quick coral can grow in the right condition.

[APLATN13]

How do u like the Reef Octopus NS-80 skimmer? Cheap for what it is.

[Halo_003]

How do u like the Reef Octopus NS-80 skimmer? Cheap for what it is.

It works reasonably well but takes a bit of fine tuning, and it does make a lot of bubbles. So it wouldn't be great in the display but in a sump or frag tank works quite nicely, it is very quiet.

 

Edit: I finished setting up and am running now with an unknown zoa frag, a 3p Oregon Ducks frag, a frag of red titan macro, and a small frag of green birdnest.

 

If all goes well I will toss in all the extra pieces of birdnest I have, which is a lot. I dropped a GBN colony a few weeks ago.

 

But I have about 15 frags of it now lol. Will grow all of these out for about 4 weeks then start selling them at $10 a pop.

[Andrew_Reef90g]

Following along because I'm attempting to pull $100-200 a month with a frag tank I set up on a budget. My setup is-

30g Long frag tank drilled (found on craigslist for 30$)

10g sump

Chaeto in sump

Cheap 36" ebay LED that use to be on my 90g (115w)

Heater that came with the tank

Rocks that came with the tank

Cheap spray painted stand

[sillycupid]

Here is a picture to my dirty AF pico frag tank. I will share with you my embarrassing and completely unacceptable husbandry.

 

In a perfect world: I would follow the advice of the PICO GOD brandon429. If you don't know who he is, read this thread.

 

However, I am not perfect. I am a part time student part time pharm tech part time aquaculturist. I change my water once a month. Every other day I filter scoop in a good helping of home grown copepods (T. californicus and Tisbe). I get my frags super cheap ($2.5 a clump) from my local fish store because he sells huge zoa colonies to local rich reefers, and I get the little tid bits that fall off.

 

With my disgusting husbandry, you can definitely do a zoa frag tank. Even under my DISGUSTING habits, my zoas stay alive and multiply. Recently, one head actually had three little babies! Beautiful little purple bump babies.

 

What I struggle with right now (other than basic water changes) is keeping the salinity stable. In a pico, you must always stay on top of your water line. With such a small volume, the salinity swings.