newbie starting a 10g nano reef

[yardboy]

Here's one easy way to suspend liverock, using short pieces of PVC pipe and eggcrate (diffuser for fluorescent lights)

[insaney2001]

Hey,
thanks for the picture. that makes it a whole lot clearer. i shall maybe try to rig something similar up. we'll see. also, whats up with all this i hear about placing a cutting board under the live rock? what does that do. do you just use a regular cutting board? What would be the benefit of using one?
Cheers
Melanie

[yardboy]

A major schism in the schools of reef tank philosophy is between having a sandbed and not having one. As a partial answer to the aesthetics and reflective light advantages of a sand bed, the "bare bottom" school advocates the use of "starboard", a white material used to make cutting boards which is fitted to the bottom of the tank to simulate a sand bed.
Do a search on sandbeds, phosphate, detritus, bacterial turgor, nutrient loading to help you decide which route you'd like to go.
Personally, I have tanks set up each way, and there are advantages and disadvantages to each.

[insaney2001]

Thanks i shall be looking into it. though i think i shall be cycling the tank w a bare bottom and possibly adding sand later. Ohh but i cleaned out my tank and filter and stuff tonight. and my tank is now filled added the salt and all set up now. i am soo excited. gonna be putting the live rock in probably tuesday.gonna try and get some from a couple different places.so i get lots of biodiversity. i shall be taking pictures as i go so should have some soon.cheers

Melanie

[minireefkeeper26]

About the sand. I would definitely add sand. You can buy AragAlive sand that comes pre packed in salt water. It has all the trace minerals that corals need, and it's supposed to last for the life of your tank. It also buffers Ph. I wouldn't buy sand at home depot, if you do though, make sure the sand you get has NO silica. Good luck. I will post some pics of my 10 gallon reef in a few weeks.

[minireefkeeper26]

Forgot about the lighting. I have heard from several people here that you want 4 or so watts per gallon to keep most corals etc. I have 80 watts over my 10 gallon. Get yourself some astrea snails, they are fabulous at removing algae. Also for water movement I love my micro jet pump, its very small but it can pump some water!

[insaney2001]

Hey
thanks for the input. i am definetly planning on adding sand once i get al the live rock in and everything set up how i want it. i still need to add about another 5 lbs of live rock. but i just got a job today(yay mee!!) so i am hoping that adding more rock and other things should go a little quicker now. not too quick of course but a little bit would be nice. Can't wait to be abe to start getting a couple frags and critters in there.
Melanie