Xmetal's Coral Bank Build

Bo, my bearded dragon passed away om 10/7/10. She was kept in a 75G tank next to my computer in the computer room. I brought her old tank and stand to the dumpster where it was garbage picked within 30 minutes.

I had been wanting to set up a coral bank tank in case my 75G crashed. I have all the spare parts needed (sump, heater, skimmer, salt, and ro/do) except for lights. I was skimming ebay at work and came across a 24"x20"x8" acrylic frag tank for $180. I made an offer of $95 for it to see what would happen and they accepted the offer. The tank has a center overflow and a black back and bottom.

My plans for the lighting are to use either two or three PAR38 bulbs from rapidLED. The stand will be a simple table since I don't have to worry about animals jumping in to the tank or sump. I may put black starboard down to protect the bottom acrylic since I plan on doing bare bottom, but I am not sure yet. It would cost another $33 plus shipping from CA to WV.

Questions:

If I don't put fish in the tank, do I need to run a skimmer? I plan on letting my coral get all nutrients from the light since this is not a display tank, but more of a coral bank just in case my 75 crashes. This means I will not be feeding the coral often. Maybe mysis once every other week, if that. The sump would have a fuge and as much LR it can hold.

Link to ebay auction page:

24"x20"x8" ACRYLIC FRAG TANK, BLACK BACK/BOTTOM - eBay (item 190401877222 end time Oct-29-10 16:21:51 PDT)

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You might want one because corals do create waste, although quite minimal I would think, but I think feeding days would create quite a bit more.

Sorry on the loss of the dragon.

 

Sorry for your loss

 

I would look for a el cheapo skimmer for the frag tank. For no more waste than it is going to produce I think a cheap one would be fine. sorry for the loss of the dragon.

BTW.....nice frag tank.

 

I was thinking about maybe buying a lower wattage skimmer than my current spare after the cycle to take care of any possible waste and keep extra electricity down.

I want a decent low wattage skimmer. I may try ebay. I really liked the center overflow and black back and bottom. I think it will look nice on a black table.

Thanks guys. She was only 3. I have no clue what happened to her, but there is nothing you can do about it. I only included that detail to explain why I'm doing it now instead of a long time ago.

 

Sorry for your loss.

Nice frag tank & a good deal on it, you got. I would go with a small skimmer for it. Nothing big.

 

from adversity, sometimes comes opportunity IME

Sorry for the loss, but congrats on that smart looking frag tank

if the tank was not in the bedroom, Id be tempted to suggest an air driven skimmer as with the low waste being created in that type of set up, something like a Berlin 90 or an Aquamedic midi flotor would be perfectly adequate IME

Steve

 

I will probably go with one of these:

Reef Octopus NWB-110 4" Internal Protein Skimmers

Bubble-Magus NAC6 Skimmer (Wide Neck,115V) - Protein Skimmers - Nuocean

I personally know 2 people who use the NAC6 and love it. It is very quiet to me and works well. It is also a great price. I will probably go with that one.

 

I feel bad about Bo and buying the tank only 3 days after it happened, but you can't wait on great deals. The frag tank was exactly what I was looking for.

It will not be in my bedroom, but my computer room. I have access to a used Berlin 90, but I don't think I would use it long term due to thew noise. What can I say, I like quiet.I may throw a fish or two in there to create a little action for me to watch while procrastinating.


Total water volume of the system will be 37gallons.

 

I dont think you could go wrong with either one. I believe both would do a good job.