10G Standalones

Hi,
 
Anyone successfully using standalone 10g tanks for bloodstock? I tried this a couple years ago, and got lucky. I remember doing a lot of algae scraping and 50% water changes. This time I was thinking about incorporating one of these, plus small pump, and putting in chaeto to keep the nitrates down a bit so I can do smaller water changes. I'd probably need sand in there, too, and then I'm running out of space. Is that even worth it?
 
It seems as if it's quite difficult to use a bare bottom tank, no rocks, no sand, and keep nitrates down at the same time.
 
Also doing tons of water changes is daunting and wasteful$$. I was considering taking some live rock and chaeto, and simply feeding a large tub my dirty clownfish water, and then once the nitrates drop, I could use that water for water changes. I don't think is advisable, because water changes are not only for nitrate. Does anyone think this is a good idea, waste of time, etc?
 
I was setting up a plumbed system, and just couldn't stand the waterfall noise, and 10G tanks crack to easy. I think my plumbing was far too big too. I had 3/4" returns with 1.5" drains. Overkill I think, but I wanted to be able to lift out tanks and clean them. I guess I sacrificed sound quality for convenience. What are the ideal sizes for plumbed setups? (I have so much plumbing supplies left over, I don't know what to do with it!)
 
15G would be ideal I think for plumbed system, but those are priced at premium, and a little rare to find used. I do have a 40G breeder that I could partition up, to avoid cracking the thin glass of a 10g. I was finding 20GH and 20L to take up too much space height and lengthwise respectively.
 
I also like the QT component of separate tanks. Less worry of disease.
 
Right now, I have 3 10g tanks going separately. Each has a whisper 45 filter, a sponge filter, and 1 has the Refugium. I have a couple of pairs, but I'm not confident about maintaining the water quality that I think I need to get them to start spawing. Keeping the tank floors clean is proving difficult.
 
Sorry for the rant, but I'm finding that I can go in several different directions here. Back to my original question, and I'll revise it a bit, what are people's bloodstock setups looking like?
 

You can see a lot of different ideas in this forum: http://www.mbisite.org/Forums/tt.aspx?forumid=102

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I think I should have just asked the 1 question. Anyone running 10G broodstock pair tanks without plumbing?

Why do you want to skip plumbing?  I'm not sure that plumbing makes any significant decrease in waterchanges, it just makes those waterchanges easier.  Be careful with things like macroalgae which require light or other devices that use up electricity as you will often spend more in electricity than you will save in salt.  I've also found that using one big pump for a return pump is more energy efficient than using a bunch of small powerheads to move water in individual tanks.  I use Quiet One pumps which have a decent watt to gph ratio and also put a lot of heat into the water which helps reduce the use of heaters which certainly are not energy efficient.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

10G tanks are not good for plumbing, unless you want to buy new tanks constantly when old ones crack. 20 G tanks take up alot of head space.  No risk of disease in single tanks with no central plumbing. Ease of moving - IE hey I want to change my setup, etc - Drain the water, move the tank. Plumbing makes everything very stationary(unless you want want empty spots in your plumbing configuration.  Maybe I need to compromise by getting acrylic tanks - eliminate risk of cracking. I also hate the waterfall noise of plumbing tanks together - typically breeding configurations have a plug and play. If you really hard plumb the tanks, then they become hard to clean, because  you can't remove them.

In 3 years I haven't cracked a 10-gallon tank.  I have about 10 that are drilled.  I did crack one 5-gallon tank that I tried to drill.  They aren't attached to the plumbing though, specifically so they can be removed for cleaning.  Although in the 3 years they've been set up I haven't removed any.  Go figure.  Haha!
 
My new setup I had tanks built 48x18x12" and put 3 dividers in each tank to make four 8 gallon compartments.  Obviously not modular, but I figured since I never removed one in the last 3 years, it is simply easier to have 4 tanks in one.  Each compartment has separate plumbing though, so each one can be contained if medication is needed.
 
I do keep my growout tanks modular though, as I do remove those ones for cleaning.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Where did you get the 48x18x12 and how much? I see someone on ebay selling something similiar.

 
Custom tank builder.  They were not financially economical.  Lol.  I did drill the holes myself and installed the dividers myself otherwise the tanks would have been ridiculously priced.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

I've only cracked one 10G and fixed that with silicone. You just have to be careful. The best option for stand alone broodstock tanks are nano cubes since they are smaller and have their own filtration. Matt Pedersen used those with good results.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

 
I was looking at this - http://www.ebay.com/itm/1...ame=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Did you get a better deal than that? Shipping to me is only about $50.

Is this an advisable setup. I was reading Michael Houng's thread from a couple of years ago, and he had a 29G tank spilit up in 4 compartments (29/4=7.25G) with the dividers containing slots on top and bottom for water flow. As you can probably tell, I'm against having a ton of plumbing. Long story short, I have a fish room full of wasted plumbing. Is this an option, or do I really need to just suck it up, and have a drain and return for each tank or if I split up a tank, for each compartment.
 
http://www.marsh-reef.org...reeding-clownfish.html

Anything wrong with doing this type of division of a tank?
I was thinking of alternating the teeth from chamber to chamber from TOP, then BOTTOM, then top, so water has to travel through each chamber, and not just go across the top, Bottom, middle, etc. Is doing them all along the bottom effectively doing the same thing? I figured I could take my 40G and split into 6 compartments, and have a return on one side, and drain on the other, and I'll put my 40G sump underneath, and be able to have nice neat plumbing.
 

Looks a ton like Mike Hoang's broodstock setups.

That's cause it is! Is he on here? His thread is here; http://www.marsh-reef.org...reeding-clownfish.html
 
I was hoping to talk to him, but I don't want to join a houston reef site.

I found him and sent him a PM.