Do you have a successful reef tank set up? What kind of corals do you have in it? How long has it been set up? What kind of equipment do you have on your system?
I have:
-10 gallon nano in my office, been up for 2 years. 25-30lbs live rock, 20 lbs live sand. 1 penguin 550 ph, 1 maxi jet mini powerhead. HOB filter filled with LR rubble. Current 80w PC fixture. Visi-therm stealth heater. Tank has:
1 two head hammer
1 single head frogspawn
12-15 assorted zoanthid/paly colonies
large pearl bubble coral
favia brain colony
pink lobophyllia brain
2 large colonies green star polyps
2 head blue candy cane
1 colony daisy polyps
7 assorted ricordea polyps
small colony clove polyps
10-15 assorted frags of the above sprinkled throughout the tank
-20 gallon nano in my home, been up for 8 months, before that was a 15 gallon nano that got upgraded that was up for 8-9 months. 60+ lbs live rock, 40 lbs. Live sand. 3 maxi jet PHs, Aqualight pro lighting fixture - 1 150w HQI MH, 2
65w actinics. Visi-therm stealth heater. Fluval 205 canister filter filled with LR rubble, SeaClone 100 protein skimmer
Tank has:
6 head Duncanopsammia
4 head frogspawn (office nano is frag)
4 head blue candy cane (office nano is frag)
4 head branching hammer (office nano is frag)
1 medium pink stylophora
1 large colony green center blastomussa
1 medium pagoda cup
1 green bali slimer acro
1 small pink birds nest
1 small cadmium pocillopora
medium yellow porites colony
1 medium hydnophora
6-10 small colonies assorted mushrooms
2 pink ricordea polyps
2 green ricordea polyps
1 orange monti cap
1 small superman encrusting monti
around 10-15 zoo colonies assorted
1 medium green star polyps colony
colony of yellow polyps
2 head rose candy cane
1 medium yellow/red gorgonian
and two large tanks (180 FOWLR and 210 Reef) that I have been maintaining for residential customers for about 3 months (180) and 7 months (210)
I'm not new to reefing, fragging or SW but I've also not been in the hobby for 10+ years, either. I do feel that I have enough of a knack for SW reef to benefit for my arrangement with the owner though.
I think you are going to find that for optimal growth in your corals a canister filter and CC substrate are not the way to go. If you are going to take a year before going "public" then you are going to need excellent filtration on your frag system. I have been growing frags for about a year and a half now. Believe me when I tell you there is a lot more to it then a tank with water and a canister filter. You need flow, lighting, filtration more then likely you will need to dose CA and Mg.
And again, when we move into the retail space at the first of the year a more complete system will be completely designed from the ground up with 4x4x1 coral tanks and sumps and pro grade filtration etc. the current tanks that I am about to set up will then be the holding / QT area for new arrivals. I AM NOT TRYING TO MAKE A BUSINESS WITH THESE TANKS I AM SETTING UP RIGHT NOW - I just need a place to house my growing frag collection (and a few livestock acquisitions I haven't been able to resist) so I can get them out of my home and office tanks for a few months while maintaining the ability to integrate these tanks into the later setup as QT tanks for new arrivals.
My advice is to a) Drill the tanks and plumb them together and have a large common sump packed with LR and a fuge full of macro or b) use overflows and plumb the tanks together and have a large common sump packed with LR and a fuge full of macro. Have you considered going bare bottom with the frag system? You aren't going to get buffering from the CC and without a sandy bottom you can easily siphon any gunk off the bottom.
I would actually prefer bare bottom if the substrate is not going to buffer the PH. I suppose a fuge is a good idea even at first. If plumbing is really the answer, for obvious reasons I would prefer to use overflows.
Thanks for all your help, folks. I appreciate it.