Jumping In

[Slick Fork]

Hi there,

I've decided to take the plunge and try out the salty side of things and have am in the planning/aquisition stage for a 10 gallon Nano tank. The tank that I'm envisioning will have about 15 lbs of Live Rock, about 2" of Pool Filter Sand (I know, not as good as "real" sand but a guy can't beat the price!). I've got a small HOB filter (aquaclear mini or similar) that I'm planning to fill with LR rubble, heater of course, and for lighting I'll be swapping out the bulbs on an el-cheapo incandescent hood for a couple of 20 or 25 watt CF bulbs. I've also got a 24" t-12 fixture hanging around that I could probably jerry rig for use as actinic lighting while the 2 cf's will be daylight bulbs (this way to I can use seperate timers!). I'll also grab a power head but am unsure as to what sort of flow rate I should be looking for in a 10G.

I plan on ordering one of those "custodian packages" from JL aquatics with the crabs/snails etc. to use as my clean-up crew!

I know I should be figuring out what I want to keep and build a system around that, however I'm on a rather small budget and have to make do with what I've got or can acquire relatively cheaply.

Looking at my planned setup, have I missed anything? I know I'll need some incidental stuff like a Hydrometer etc. but I think I have most of the bases covered.

Question 2, with the lights I will have, what are some of the coral's/sponges etc that you guys would recommend keeping? I'm leary of taking the salesman's advice when they say "Oh yeah, these'll do fine under any conditions!!" Oh, and when I go to grab my live rock, what should I be looking for?

Question 3, what sort of fish will do well and be easy to please for a newbie into the salt world (I've been running a very successful planted FW tank but this seems a little more intimidating for some reason!) What sort of fish have you guys enjoyed and which ones would you recommend a guy stays away from!

My plan for starting out is to get the tank up and running for a day or two, grab some uncured/partially live rock (for the cycle). After a couple of weeks I'll order the clean-up crew and then what? Can I start adding corals as soon as I have no nitrates or should I wait? Should the fish go in before the corals or vice versa?

It seems as soon as I get one aspect settled, four or five new questions pop into my head!!

Thanks in advance for the replies!

Cheers

[TheReefGeek]

I would go with aragonite over pool sand. Your tank is so small, the cost should not be inhibitive. If it is, this is not the hobby for you.

If you are using CF lighitng, keeping softies (mushrooms, leathers, colts, xenia, etc) are good starters. If you are really successfull you could try some LPS like fogspawn, candy canes, torch, but those really should have more light.

Easy fish for a small tank are gobies, and clowns. In a 10g don't go with more than a couple. Maybe a pair of clown, and a small clown goby to start.

You have to let your tank cycle, then you can add corals at whatever rate you want. Fish you should add more slowly, one a week maybe.

Dont bother with the JL cleaner crew pack, IMO. You would do better selecting your own. And I would stay away from hermits if I were you, they end up taking down snails, IME. Very fun to watch hermits though, and in a 10g maybe not such a big deal, go with a couple scarlet hermits, they have been the least aggresive for me.

Stay on top of water changes if you arent using a skimmer.

[Flusher]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

The tank that I'm envisioning will have about 15 lbs of Live Rock, about 2" of Pool Filter Sand (I know, not as good as "real" sand but a guy can't beat the price!).

That's a good amount of rock, but I highly recommend investing in aragonite. It supports micro-organisms better and I think it helps buffer the water.

I've got a small HOB filter (aquaclear mini or similar) that I'm planning to fill with LR rubble

I've used those in my nanos. They do the job.

Invest in a decent heater that keeps the water temperature as stable as possible. No sense losing hundreds of dollars of livestock trying to save $20 on a heater.

for lighting I'll be swapping out the bulbs on an el-cheapo incandescent hood for a couple of 20 or 25 watt CF bulbs.

Try the Coralife 50/50 bulbs. Two 10W or 20W bulbs will be good on a 10 gallon tank. I'm pretty sure they screw into incandescent canopies.

I'm on a rather small budget and have to make do with what I've got or can acquire relatively cheaply.

Been there. Once you get more into it, you'll probably start upgrading components.

Looking at my planned setup, have I missed anything? I know I'll need some incidental stuff like a Hydrometer etc. but I think I have most of the bases covered.

Sounds like a good start. I highly recommend a refractometer over a hydrometer, though. You could look into getting a skimmer, too. A HOB skimmer might take away the need for another powerhead to circulate the water.

Question 2, with the lights I will have, what are some of the coral's/sponges etc that you guys would recommend keeping?

With Coralife 50/50s, I have zoas, mushrooms, riccordea, some LPS, button polyps, and anthelia growing nicely.

Question 3, what sort of fish will do well and be easy to please for a newbie into the salt world

I've got two Occelaris Clownfish in my 13 gallon tank. I love 'em.

My plan for starting out is...

Your plan sounds good. I'd wait a month or two before adding corals, but you can add fish as soon as the tank is cycled.

HTH
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SIDE EFFECTS OF WELLBUTRIN

[mark]

Might find it a little more difficult starting the hobby with a small tank but good luck with the nano. Go slow.

[Flusher]

Here's an old picture of my 13 gallon nano. I "Photoshopped" two images together. The left side is lit by household mini-CF bulbs (the spiral type). The right side is either entirely or just partly lit by the Coralife 50/50s. (I took the picture a long time ago - I can't remember the bulb configuration. I do know that there were three bulbs, though.)



You can see quite a colour difference. The 50/50s are worth the money. I now have four of them lighting up my 13 gallon tank, and two on my 6 gallon tank (all are the 20W bulbs). I love these bulbs.
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Huge Tits live

[Slick Fork]

Thanks for all the replies so far and keep 'em coming!

I checked out some Aragonite Sand and the price wasn't as bad as I thought I should be (I think the small 15lb bag should be lots but I can play that by ear) and since everybody seems to have a pretty strong opinion on the benefits I'll go that route.

I'm playing around with some ideas on a simple DIY skimmer made from parts I already have lying around. Once I have something I'll post it for everybody to OOH and AAAAH over! So that will bring my total filtration to 1 aquaclear Mini HOB filled with LR rubble, 1 DIY Skimmer, and a 150 GPH powerhead. I think this should be lots, how about you guys?

I'm picking up the tank tommorow and then I'm gone for vacation for a couple of weeks so I don't think I'll have any real progress until I get back. I played around with the idea of setting it up with the liverock in there and just letting it sit and cycle until I get back, but without any top off device to maintain the proper salinity I think I'll just wait. Don't want to go and blow 120 on LR just to have it killed because I wasn't around to keep things topped off!

Flusher: You mentioned getting a refractometer over a hydrometer, I'm not entirely sure what the difference is, do they not both measure gravity and salinity? Or am I thinking of something else!

As far as the path to upgrading components, this is tank will be a bit of an experiment in convincing my wife that a large salt water tank would be a good thing! Part of the reason I'm trying to keep a lot of the hardware costs down are once I can upgrade to a bigger tank and transfer my livestock over, the 10 gallon is going to turn into a Q tank or maybe even a sump/regugium for my 33 gallon!

Cheers

[Flusher]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

Flusher: You mentioned getting a refractometer over a hydrometer, I'm not entirely sure what the difference is, do they not both measure gravity and salinity? Or am I thinking of something else!

They both do the same thing, just in different ways. Refractometers are far more reliable. There are a few types of hydrometers, but they just don't compare in reliability.

this is tank will be a bit of an experiment in convincing my wife that a large salt water tank would be a good thing!

Ah, I see. Ha ha. Let her pick out the fish, then.

Here's a decent list of fish that'll fit in a small tank:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...fm?pCatId=2124

Avoid the Court Jester and Hector's Gobies, though. They feed a lot like Mandarin Gobies, and aren't that easy to take care of...

Firefish are cool. I'd get one if I had room. I'm happy with my two Occelaris clowns, though.
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LovelyWendie99

[Slick Fork]

Just thought I'd give an update,

Got my lighting figured out the other day. I opted for a DIY style lighting system and got it done fairly cheaply. I had a 24" 20w 18000K fixture sitting around from when I upgraded my freshwater to t-5 lighting so I decided to try and make use of that.

I ran out to the hardware store and bought a chunk of 1x8 lumber, a galvanized steel stove-pipe, found an 18" fluorescent fixture on sale for $10 and bought some phillips 27watt compact fluorescent screw in bulbs (6500K colour) Total bucks spent at the hardware store.....$45 Then off to petsmart where I grabbed a new t-8 actinic bulb for the 18" lamp, came home and put it all together.

Here's what it looks like (quick sketch, not to scale)



The ducting I cut in half and screwed on to the bottom of the 1x8, It was already sort of parabolic so all I had to do was bend it to the 10" wide I need for the tank, the 2 fluorescent fixtures I ripped apart and mounted the ballasts and starters to the top of the new hood to get them out of the way and away from the heat. This thing is frickin bright, I filled the tank with water and set this thing on top and am very very pleased with the results. I hope to be able to have most coral's now as I have 89 watts going into this little 10 gallon setup (and that's not considering the "actual light" being produced by those power compact screw-in bulbs). Total cost for the fixture $58

I'm gone for holidays tommorow so this is as far as I'll get before July probably (lots of time to think up a DIY skimmer!)

Cheers

[Flusher]

Nice DIY lights. Can you post some picts of it? I'd love to see how well that lights up your tank.
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IOLITE VAPORIZER MOISTURE CONDENSER

[prosnow]

go for the refractormeter they are way more acurate, which is very important especially in a nano,

oh, personally i dont think that will be enough flow, i have 2 canister filters rated @ 300 gph in my 18 gal, and theres noooo way thats even enough flow, looking for a sieo 620 to drop in there as well,