Do I need LR for a 20L frag tank?

Hey Everyone,

I am taking down my 30g standard in order to make room for a 20 gallon long frag tank.

My question is do I need LR in the frag tank? I will not be setting up a sump and I had planned for it to be bare bottom. I was not planning to keep any fish, just a CUC.

Any help would be appreciated- I'm trying to start setting it up this morning ;D

 

In my opinion it depends on what you are doing with the frag tank.
Is it for qt for Corals or is it for grow out?
If its for grow out ..... I think you should have some rock in the tank. Without it your going to be more susceptible to swings in your perameters.
If its for qt.....I would have no rocks but I would use water from your display to do frequent water changes.

 

Swings in parameters due to lack of LR? How does LR affect your ca/alk/mag?

The best thing you can use on a frag tank only, would be a skimmer. Keep up on WC to help replenish essential elements. Good flow and lighting and your good to go. IMO LR is not needed

 

Yeah not those but ammonia nitrite and nitrate. But since he is not putting fish in I guess that shouldn't be an issue.
I just have had better success when I use some lr in a system. Even if its just a couple pcs.

 

I appreciate the replies. I am actually almost done with the egg crate structure. I now have carpal tunnel syndrome after cutting so many pieces of egg crate, but it should be worth it.

One thing I was questioning was whether I should add a small species of wrasse once it is set up to help keep pests at bay. Obviously, I would then need some LR- thoughts?

 

We keep a melunaris wrasse and a tang in each frag tank..they are bigger though...4' x 4'.

 

I'd keep a six line in there. I would use rock rubble instead of those ugly frag plugs. I would add a smaller sump(5-10g) housing some extra LR.

 

Yea, the tang police would hunt me down if I put one in my 20 long lol. I was thinking more of a six line wrasse with a bunch of snails.

 

corals/fish/cuc/LR/sump all sounds more like a reef tank to me instead of a frag tank

 

Well the purpose is to grow the frags, which will be completely separate from the LR. Additionally, it is basically an egg crate tank, the LR is just there for filtering purposes, not to place frags on.

As you can see in the picture, the frags go on the right on the "shelves" and the LR goes on the left along with the heater, filter, etc. The only reason all of that stuff is on the left is because I don't want a sump, otherwise it would all be hidden and it would just be an eggcrate tank with frags and a "pest task force" aka six line wrasse.