newbie starting a 10g nano reef

[insaney2001]

Hey guys,
I am in the process of starting my very first reef tank. I am also new to this group. Right now i am in the process of repairing a crack in my tank before setting it up. so going to silicon the bugger to death today and hopefully add water and LR over the weekend and next week. I am Planning on having an Aquaclear for filtering and water movement with the liverock doing most of the filtration. still working on what kinda lighting i will use and hoping to have around 10-15 lbs of liverock with alt of mushrooms and soft corals that can take the learning curve boobos etc.. though hopefully with my aquaculture degree that learning curve won't be as steep. also hoping to have a smal fishie in there looking into a watchman gobie or something similar. umm outa curiousity how big of a tank do you need to keep a clam??? unfortunately i seem to have just missed out on the nano reef building cntest but hopefully i shall keep you guys posted on my efforts on here regardless. cheers
Melanie

[gwen_o_lyn]

Welcome to TRT!!!
what is aquaclear?

[yardboy]

I've seen clams in a nano, we'll likely put one in ours for the buildoff, but you must have intense light for one, minimum PC's, or metal halides, though there seems to be a lot of concern for overheating a tank with a metal halide light on it.

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT!It's going to be hard to start in this hobbie with a small tank!The bigger the easyier!

[insaney2001]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the welcome. heheh as for this being a smal system to start with i know i would love to have a bigger tank but hey i am ambitiouse:P and i am hoping that my background in aquaculture will help buffer the learning curve a little. my theory is that if i can care fr a farm raising thousands of pounds of tilapia on a daily basis then i should be able to take care of one reef tank ifi keep on top of it. that and the fact that i am also poor at the moment s mst of my start up equipment is stuff i already have from breeding fresh water fish. will probably have to upgrade my lighting system though but i figure i will work on that for x mas.
as for the aquaclear its the hang on the back power filter i am using. nothing fancy but it will circulate the water and provide more space for those little nitrifying buggies we love so much. that and provide a pace to put my activated carbon or ther chemical filtration if i need it.
good to know bout the clams too thanks i think i shall wait till i have upgraded my lighting and have had my tank a while before trying a clam. providing i still have the ability to add one without maxing out my bioload.
cheers guys
Melanie

[yardboy]

The only thing we'll be hard on you for is pictures.

[mg]

I have one suggestion before you get started. Since it is a 10 gallon tank, you may want to consider just replacing it instead of repairing the crack. 10 gallon tanks are only about $10 around here.

Good luck setting it up

[insaney2001]

Yea i would if i had more extra cash floating around but its nothing seriouse just fixed it up with a little silicon today so its all good now.sides i think if i had to get another tank i would like to go bigger so i think ne i get the hang of this i might be upgrading cause i would love a mandarine once i have enough experience to care for ne. gonna fill my tank with water sunday and on tuesday i am planning on going to get my live rock. which i am really excited about. and its not a problem to mix different types for more biodiversity right guys?? and can i just put the live rock on the bare bottom to cycle and add the sand later?
Melanie

[insaney2001]

As for the pictures... i have a digital camera which i definetly plan on playing around with so hopefully i will be able to give you guys some picture updates that should at least look half decent. :P
melanie

[yardboy]

No worries about mixing liverock, nearly everyone does it. If you suspend the liverock off the bottom and cycle it for a while, lots of funk will fall off the rock and you can vacuum it out and not have to worry so much about algae.

[insaney2001]

Hey,
thanks for the tip. and how on earth would one go about suspending the live rock in the tank??? i was planning on leaving the bottom clear so i could suction out any gunk but i never thought abut acctually suspending it so i coud get under too. hmmm i will have to ponder that.
Melanie

[VWD]

Welcome to TRT!

You can really seesome cool ideas on the Nano Buildoff forum .

[adamd]

Where are you in ONT? I'm in montrreal, I have an light and top for a 10 gal, but you'd have to use 2x screw in power compact mini's(20 bucks each at big als) they're 20watt 50/50s and you could get away with softies and shrooms and stuff... You can have it, and if you give me your cracked tank, I'll give you my uncracked 10gal tank, I only need it to mix water so if it doesn't leak we got a deal.


Let me know.

[adamd]

I would go sand bed, I think you can get some cheap at home depot. It will turn to live sand after a while with the live rock seeding it. Also look into buying live rock and base rock. Base rock isn't live but it's like 2 bucks a pound and will eventually become seeded by the live rock along with the sand.

[insaney2001]

Hey,
I have a hood that i was planning on using that type of lighting with. I am in ottawa. so i don't really have a way to get to montreal right now to trade u anyways . though thank you for the offer. i have repaired the crack though and i think it should be ok. i'm gonna test it out tomorrow make sure its leak free. if it isn't i do have a 5.5 gallon sitting around that i could also use sans crack i am just hoping to use this one cause its my newest nicest looking tank. :S i just cracked my shin on the darned thing when i was moving back home after college. hense the crack.
Melanie