Frag Tank Question

sterling18 · 05/21/2006, 09:36 PM

I've got a 20g long with 2 39W T5HO - (might goto a 150W MH 67K).

I'm looking to frag out stuff from my main tank. Mostly soft coral i.e. xenia and zoo's.

Do I need a skimmer?

I have 20lbs of live rock, no sand, and plan on doing water changes.

sammy33 · 05/22/2006, 05:09 PM

Are you planning on adding a refugium or other means of nutrient export?

I have considered running my prop system (for softies) without a skimmer but I have a refugium in the system for some nutrient export and will also have activated carbon in the filter.

I expect to get slightly faster growth by keeping some of the nutrients in the system that may get depleted by a skimmer. Check out Farmertodd and his thoughts on skimmers -
http://reefs.org/library/farmertodd/

With most soft corals you have a bit of wiggle room as they do not require the high flow, nutrient free style environment that most SPS corals prefer.

sterling18 · 05/22/2006, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sammy33
Are you planning on adding a refugium or other means of nutrient export?

I have considered running my prop system (for softies) without a skimmer but I have a refugium in the system for some nutrient export and will also have activated carbon in the filter.

I expect to get slightly faster growth by keeping some of the nutrients in the system that may get depleted by a skimmer. Check out Farmertodd and his thoughts on skimmers -
http://reefs.org/library/farmertodd/

With most soft corals you have a bit of wiggle room as they do not require the high flow, nutrient free style environment that most SPS corals prefer.

I plan on having chaeto under the eggcrates.

05/21/2006, 09:36 PM	#1
sterling18 WMAS and HVReef Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UT Posts: 519	Frag Tank Question I've got a 20g long with 2 39W T5HO - (might goto a 150W MH 67K). I'm looking to frag out stuff from my main tank. Mostly soft coral i.e. xenia and zoo's. Do I need a skimmer? I have 20lbs of live rock, no sand, and plan on doing water changes.

05/22/2006, 05:09 PM	#2
sammy33 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 346	Are you planning on adding a refugium or other means of nutrient export? I have considered running my prop system (for softies) without a skimmer but I have a refugium in the system for some nutrient export and will also have activated carbon in the filter. I expect to get slightly faster growth by keeping some of the nutrients in the system that may get depleted by a skimmer. Check out Farmertodd and his thoughts on skimmers - http://reefs.org/library/farmertodd/ With most soft corals you have a bit of wiggle room as they do not require the high flow, nutrient free style environment that most SPS corals prefer. __________________ Sam Current Tank Info: 125g Reef (TEK/IceCap T5 & TLP LEDs, Tunze 6055/Controller, Reef Octopus NWB200, ReefDoser Quad)