Need Prop Tank Advice

[fishguy_8]

My dad came home today w/ the possibility of getting a FREE 150+g tank (roughly) didn't know much about it but its a possibility. Last night I was showing him Dr Mac's site and my pops started thinking about starting a prop tank. If any of you have prop tanks let me know what youre doing. I know a shallow tank would be better but he wants to go big or go home ;) he said he wants me to come up w/ a whole lay out plan so i want to see what you've been doing and how long , lighting etc. All help will be much obliged. Its not going to strictly be prop we'd stock it w/ fish and what not but he wants to be able to make some money off this tank if possible. Thanks for the help.
Jon

[popcorn]

Hey Jon,

I think that prop tanks vary greatly depending on what you are growing, and where they are situated. Heck if someone is going to give you a 150, TAKE IT, and worry about the details later!

Just be warned, my "prop" tank is not what I'd consider a traditional one. But what the heck...

Regarding this little 29 "prop" tank, it is my baby banggai growout tank. It is also in our dining room, so it has to look more reef-ish. (ie. not a bunch pf pvc trays) The dining room is close to the fridge, which makes feedings easier. So what I ended up doing was throwing on a set of 2x55w PCs (they were just collecting dust), a DSB, a CPR bakpak, 2 minijet 606s, and about 30 lbs of LR. Since I'm not propping SPS or any really, really high light-lovers, the pcs are fine. We had all the equipment lying around, so it wasn't a big deal to set it up. It's been running for about 5 months.

Currently this 29 has daddy banggai, 16 2-month old babies, and tons of frags. (mostly softies, shrooms, polyps and leathers.) The DSB is as live as I've ever seen, which is a darn good thing since I have to feed the babies liberally. There's also a tiny cleaner shrimp - just in case - but no predators to speak of. Tons of bristle and spaghetti worms, pods, ministars, you name it. Oh, and some varieties of slower-growing caulerpa to help soak up some nutrients.

And yes, I actually do make money off the setup. Not much, but it slowly adds up. Helps with the big-tank splurges, mostly. The key is finding an LFS that will buy your goods at a decent price.

My thoughts would be to grow and frag whatever you're most familiar with. Do realize that if you're going to be selling to a local LFS, they probably won't appreciate an exquisite acro as much as you do. (Unless you have found a great shop to sell to, of course) Xenia goes a long way. You can create yellow polyp and anthelia "farms." The thing is, most all new reefers will go for these, so you can just keep churning them out.

That's my small-scale endeavour, FWIW. For contrast, look at Scubadude's "prop" setup. It's a wee-bit more involved than mine. ;;

Enough ranting. Good luck!
Danielle

[scubadude]

Originally posted by popcorn
For contrast, look at Scubadude's "prop" setup. It's a wee-bit more involved than mine. ;;

Danielle

LOL Danielle I would love to see some pics of your baby banggai's

Hi Jon,

Danielle has given you some good sound advice!! Dont just get into propping for the money though....you will more than likely lose! The pure love of the hobby has to be there too. My question is this is a prop tank for the 20g tank that you own? If so I would take the 150 and convert it into a full blown reef tank and make the 20g your prop tank....Unless im on the wrong idea here and you want to use the 150 to grow out mother colonies? which it really wouldnt be a prop tank it would be a grow out colony tank.....Can you be a bit more specific on exactly what you want to do. IMO you really want to dedicate a prop tank to just that proping....I have about 12 frags (as well as my mother colonies) in my main tank right now and will tell you that it just becomes a mess....also you might want to consider making it specific to species or atleast sub-species....For instance if you are fond of SPS then dont put in softies in there or you may have chemical warfare imbalances. If you want something thats easy and makes money I would suggest sticking with softies, but there again its what your market absorbs, as well as what you are most familiar with. HTH

[fishguy_8]

Sorry I was a bit vague. Myself I'm just in it for the fun....but then there is my pops he's in it for the fun too but in order for it to get clearence w/ the boss (my mom ;) ) he has to be able to say well we might make a little money off this. I like sps but they are pretty rich for my blood ;) I saw an excellent tricolor acro the other day .......then i saw the price had to pass on that one and get the frogspawn instead. Its going to be a grow out tank. My 20g is gone i'm in a 40g set up now. I wanted a 55 or better but the parents low balled me and said if its coming in my doors were getting what we want what can you do? I thought softies would be a good idea to grow out and fragment too because there is always a market for the less expensive end of this hobby for people like me ;) I'm looking at like shrooms, xenia, bubbles, brains, hammers, frogspawns zooanthids etc. I'd also like to try my hand at breeding either clowns, cardinals or something of this nature. Let me know what else you'd need to know. By the way scubadude i checked out your "greenhouse" and........WOW. When you do something you dont hold back do you!? Very impressive. I haven't seen that much pvc since i quit plumbing w/ my neighbor ;)
Jon