new to nano questions

[tgoeujon]

i just decided to start up a 10 gallon tank which will be mostly sps. its been running for about a week with no spikes of any kind ( amonia, nitrite, nitrate).
I should mention that im using all pre-existing equiptment. Live sand and rock from my 55 gallon reef, i even transfered water from that tank to this one. seemed like a good idea but i dont really know. im wondering, if i have no fluctuations on my parameters how long should i wait to add some frags. some of them will be coming from my 55 and im not sure how to introduce them to more lighting. the 55 has pc as well as a t5 strip light but the 10 has a 150 MH pendant. also im running a k-2 and powersweep 212, will that be enough flow? i know lots of dumb questions, looking forward to some insight.

Thanks
Trevor

[lorenz0]

Well i am a bit new to this but from my experience with SPS in my 10gal yes you should have enough flow. right now i am running 2 nano K's and a AC50 with good results. only thing that bothers me is your lighting. you may want to consider a chiller depending on how hot the tank gets.

wait a month just to be safe

[ElGuappo]

i just bought a powersweep for the nano contest and its a 214. it may too much flow. i think the 212 would be about perfect. i tested the 214 in the 10g i will be tearing down to set the contest tank up. i have a torch in there and it was far too much flow. i currently run a koriala nano on this tank and its pretty money. big torch so i cant have too much flow.

[04scoobysti]

If you transferred everything over from your 55 (rock, water, sand) and that tank was already established, then you can add whatever you would like as soon as you like. You just might want to play with the orientation of your flow and make sure you temp is stable.

[tgoeujon]

well 1 week in and everythings fine. so far ive got temp. fluctuation 28-33, i dont think thats to bad ( could be wrong though). having trouble with flow though, cant get it to leave my sand on the bottom , i only put in enough to cover the bottom but it got blown into little piles. so far ive got a couple frags that werent doing well in my other tank. all are doing great with the added light though. (hydno, monti cap, a. millepora and a candy cane) kinda wondering though if it would be a possibility of having 2 shorter lighting periods in a day, just so i could get a bit more contol of the temp. swings.

[JDigital]

30-33 is getting pretty warm for a tank that small... and a 5 degree temp swing is definitely something you want to get under control, especially if trying to keep SPS... Maybe try adding a fan to the equation, get a 6-9" fan behind the tank blowing directly onto the glass.

[Snaz]

150w MH is a lot of light for that size tank. That said if you can get the temp swings under control and you "light aclimate" any new corals you should have a nice little tank for SPS.

If you go with a fan over the water surface for temperature solution you will be topping off once or maybe twice a day so an ATO is probably a must. As said above, nano-reef.com is a great resource for 30 gallons and under.

[tgoeujon]

ok so i raised the light 3 inches and the temperature now stays between 28 and 30. hoping this is good enough if not let me know. Next issue, would the koralia 3 be enough on its own for a 10 gallon? i hate the powersweep and would like to remove it but dont want to ruin anything. Thanks all opinions appreciated

[ElGuappo]

my 10g that i just took down had a torch and mushrooms all with only a nano koralia. all did exceptionaly well. oh and a rio nano skimmer. and 2 true perks.

[tgoeujon]

do you think it would be enough for sps corals though? also i have a black limpet and was wondering if they are known to eat corals? hes been in qt tank for about a year. just because i could never see him in my 55. just curious because hes really neat looking and at least id be able to find him in a 10 gallon. if need be i can try to post a pic but im mostly computer illiterate and my wifes not home lol.

Thanks;
Trevor

[ElGuappo]

no i dont think a nano would be enough for sps. i dont keep sps but a 2 sounds about right to me. getting pretty big for a 10g. cant help you on the limpet tho.

[tgoeujon]

so a k3 should do it then ?

[ElGuappo]

ya i suppose i just wonder if theres such a thing as too much flow. i have a 2 in a 4ft 45 and it screams pretty good. i dont think sand would be an option.

[tgoeujon]

the sand thing definately is a problem, im trying to slowly siphon it out but in a 10 gallon i cant take much at a time. thanks for the suggestions so far. im sure theres gonna be more questions to come. still im curious about the limpet though?

[tgoeujon]

i found the limpet. its called a duck bill limpet or elephant slug. if anyone knows if its reef safe let me know

[tgoeujon]

i decided that i needed something to keep my limited sand bed clean so i oicked up a orange dashed goby, which is working very well. now im kinda thinking i should run a skimmer and was curious if the rio nano would be a decent 10 gallon skimmer. opinions please

[Snaz]

i decided that i needed something to keep my limited sand bed clean so i oicked up a orange dashed goby, which is working very well. now im kinda thinking i should run a skimmer and was curious if the rio nano would be a decent 10 gallon skimmer. opinions please

With weekly 10% water changes on 10 gallons, skimming is probably not necessary in my opinion but others might disagree.

[ElGuappo]

curious if the rio nano would be a decent 10 gallon skimmer. opinions please

im using one on a ten with the aqua clear surface skimmer attachment. its needed some fine tunning but is working great now.

[tgoeujon]

el guappo would you please post a pic of your 10 gallon. just trying to get a rough idea of how big the skimmer would look on the tank.