Aloha Bryce,
If you want to go all out, here is what I did for my coral farming where I was making $400/month part time:
1. Plumb the Frag tank into a display tank so that water runs from display -> frag tank -> Refugium and back to display. (This leads to more food for the coral. A packed coral frag tank strips nutrients out of the water like crazy.)
2. Place the frag tank as near to a window as possible. Directly in an East/South facing window is ideal. (The amazing power of sunlight on coral health and growth is a well kept secret, plus sunlight is cheaper than electricity.
)
3. Use a good Oolitic and larger particle sand bed (1" Oolitic and 1" CaribSea Reef Grade
4. Set frags on the sand where they can benefit from eating the micro-fauna coming out of the sand.
5. Stir parts of the sand several times weekly to feed the coral
6. Use Macroalgae not only in the Refugium but the frag tank
7. Use herbivores, lots of snails and a few hermits or a Tang if necessary to control algae
8. Use alternating flow in the Frag tank (A Maxijet powerhead can be made to deliver alternating flow which simulates tidal currents.
)
9. Set up a way to deliver Kalkwasser at night
10. Monitor Alk and Ca weekly and add as necessary (Ca Reactor not necessary but helpful if weekly dosing is not your bag)
11. Frag coral like crazy. The faster you frag the faster things multiply because there are more growing surfaces. Here is the best example: A 4"x4" inch sheet of Green Star polyps cut into 16 - 1 inch pieces will grow 4 times as fast because it has 4 times the amount of growing edge.
I've always been accused of going overboard in my posts/expalanations, but what the hec, here are some pics:
75 gal display sitting directly in an east facing window where it received 4 hours of direct sunlight (farmed coral there too
).
40 gal (2'x3') frag tank next to the display with MH 400W 20K lighting (this pic was taken at night so the window isn't visible in background)
18 gal tub filled 1/3 full, Oolitic sand bed, many types of Macroalgae, Mangroves(just pruned in this pic) and the return pump Powerhead sitting in a shallow plastic container to keep sand out. This provides maximum space for the Refugium and it's occupants. The extra hose coming off the return was for a skimmer which was never installed because it was never needed.
Hope this is helpful and not TMI.
Mahalo,
Mark
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