Now that we've ruled out brine shrimp- What can i do w/ a prepared 10 gallon setup?

icebear · 10-25-2003, 08:27 AM

I mean, its all set....aged water, been cycled, substrate is ready, its got some sandbugs, a little algae... its bigger drawback is that its still got the little 10-15 watt NO tube for light...

i was going to tear it down and put it away, but now that its empty of fish, its begging to be inhabited again.
its not big enough to turn into a sump, at least effortwise for me.

Maybe use it for growing macroalgae?

i'd like to do that, but i don't think the lighting is good enough, and i have no macro left, the fish ate it all....all i have are a few tufts of hair algae left in the main tank... i have no more starts for anything else and the LFS has so many aiptasia i'm afraid to buy anything but a fish from there.

maybe a prop tank for shrooms?(how would i get them to grow faster in there than in my main tank?, some are already trying to split)

maybe a breeding tank for the Strombus snails?

I just want some ideas before i decide to take it apart, if anyone has any....

Reefdude5 · 10-25-2003, 08:50 AM

Do you already have a med tank, how big are the fish you might need to medicate? I wish I had a spare tank to find a use for!

CAT · 10-25-2003, 09:38 AM

If you can plumb it to the main tank, how about seahorses?

salt creepette · 10-25-2003, 09:59 AM

i love strawberry pseudochromis and theyre too mean to put with anything else. it could be a little nano with him in there. I have my 10g with a 10k coralife bulb with my red and green macro I bought from indopac sea farms and its doing great. heck, take it to work and put it on your desk

DONT TEAR IT DOWN! (this coming from a girl who has seven tanks set up in her 1 bdrm apt.)

icebear · 10-25-2003, 11:06 AM

*For a hospital tank:
i always have a 5 gallon bucket handy and an extra tank heater- my plan is to use that bucket for a hosp tank if i should need one. My thinking is that if i see one of my fish are sick, i can siphon 4 gallons or so from the main tank into that bucket and put the sick fish in there, and basically refill the main tank with fresh, salted water, i'd keep some more salted water ready for changing water in the sick bucket as needed....
i was under the impression that it was an ok method for a hosp tank... if i'm wrong, please advise. Since i had that for a plan, i havn't been too concerned about keeping a glass tank just for that purpose, besides i thought hosp tanks are better off without substrate and pods n' stuff.... although i could be wrong. If my bucket idea is not good enough i will consider doing what i need to do to make the 10 a proper hosp tank.

*Seahorses...
Now that would be cool! I'll have to read up on it again and find out why i should plumb it into my main tank and why it can't 'stand alone' (did it have something to do with waste buildup or remote filtering?).... then if i decide on that, i'll need to find a source for horses i can afford and that will get to me alive.
And then there's the feeding.... i have to be able to do that right!

* I was thinking about a single critter dedicated tank... my only prob with that is usually those fish that have to be kept by themselves need a tank larger than 10 gallons fairly quickly. The strawberry pseudochromis is interesting tho!
Wish i could keep a cowfish or sargassum fish in a little tank....but they will get too big.
Or one pretty giant clam, but it just won't work i'm told....

still thinking i guess, i don't have to do this right away.

ruhspolostar · 10-25-2003, 11:25 AM

I'd use it for a hospital tank, its my experience and I've read it in several places that if a fish is kept in a cucket any longer than 24 hours, well lets just say you would get stressed out if kept in your closet for a couple days, and the side of that buckett is not forgiving to a fishes head, I don't know the only thing I use my bucket for is short term transport and freshwater dips and sometimes acclimating inverts like hermits and shrimps but I don't like to even use it for that...

Reefdude5 · 10-25-2003, 11:33 AM

You may want to think about the hospital tank because if you want to quarintine fish or treat them for an extended period of a couple of weeks you'll need a tank. But then again, I'm a big fan of seahorses and really want them. Also the deal about having it connected is because water params can fluxuate quick in a 10g if your not careful. Therefore plumbing it to the main tank would mean less work and less stress in the long run!

But don't plumb it if it's a hospital tank!

ruhspolostar · 10-25-2003, 11:38 AM

No that wouldn't be smart would it...

Reefdude5 · 10-25-2003, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ruhspolostar
No that wouldn't be smart would it...

You never know what some people (not me of course) would do!

Reefdude5 · 10-25-2003, 04:33 PM

And Icebear, keep us updated! I'm interested to know how it turns out! Only if it's seahorses of course!!! And make sure you set the med tank up right if that's what your doing. I started with 3" LS and lots of rock! Boy was that a mistake!

CAT · 10-25-2003, 09:18 PM

Icebear, re: sea horses - the reason I suggested plumbing it into the main tank is that seahorses are useless feeders

digestive system is so small and short that sometimes the food comes out whole. That can mean lots of feeding, therefore poor water quality unless plumbed into a larger system.

On the other hand, a 10 gallon with slow flow is perfect for them since they are too slow catching food to share the tank with anything else.

I've read that there are several sites that sell tank raised 'Mustangs' that eat frozen brine.

Besides they are the coolest little creatures around

This is on my desktop:

Stoney Reef · 10-26-2003, 12:47 AM

Shame on you! Now you have me thinking of sea horses!
I am currently building a small cabinet to set next to my reef tank to hide the ballasts and Reactors, and I can put a nice 20 gallon or 15H tank on top of it and tap right into my sump no problem. Would be perfect for sea horses!

ereefic · 10-26-2003, 12:54 AM

I got a 12 gallon growing macro and making bugs. Nice to throw a scoop of sand in the main tank every now and again.

Reefdude5 · 10-26-2003, 12:55 AM

I like the seahorse idea!

ruhspolostar · 10-26-2003, 01:21 AM

Do you even need sand in a medicine tank, the one I am setting up (20 gal), only has PVC pipe for hiding, nothing else, be to hard to take care of, if it had much more

-(sigh), so much to do, I still haven' set p my refugium either and my tanks goung on 7- months now