what equip should i get for a 10 gal

[flickj79]

I am planning on turning my 10 gallon tank into a reef tank, what do i need to start out with, what type filter, how much live rock, substrate???
any help would be greatly appreciated

[flickj79]

i guess i will just have to rely on the lfs then

[Jeremiah]

What is the goal for the tank? Softie, LPS, SPS? Fish/No Fish? Some info on what you goal is with this tank and what type of budget you are working with may help us give you some suggestions...

Oh yeah... Welcome to TRT...

[flickj79]

to answer that question

yes i want fish in the tank, and the type of coral i want most are the shrooms, so whatever type of lighting i need for that, substrate etc for a tank of that type, sorry i wasn't more specific in the first post, I am pretty good at freshwater tanks but this will be my first saltwater one so help me try and have a possitive experience please lol, and i am going to lfs this thursday to get all of the stuff they say i need, and i have found that sometimes it isn't enough at least around here, as for the budget, whatever it takes to have a beautiful reef tank is what i want ot spend

[OodleyBoodely]

I started with a 10g when I got into reefing! If low light corals like mushrooms are what you are interested in, you could probably get by cheap with the lighting. As an absolute minimum for lighting, I would suggest a double normal output flourescent using good lamps such as URI Aquasuns, Corallife 10000K, or Triton daylights. Better yet, just spring for some power compacts which will allow you to keep a wider variety of corals. Some are very reasonably priced (check out ahsupply.com).


A lot of nano-reefers do not use skimmers, relying on waterchanges and excellant husbandry habits instead. IMO, a 10g is large enough that a skimmer can be a real benefit and it will help absorb some beginner errors while you are learning. Don't waste your money on the cheapo skimmers, they really are not very good and IMO not worth the money. Expect to spend $100 - $150 on a decent skimmer such as a CPR Backpak, AquaC Remora, or Red Sea Prizm (these will also still be good for when you upgrade to a 75g ).

Live rock will make up the bulk of the filtration in the tank so should be chosen carefully. About 1.5lbs per gallon of uncured usually works well and all should all be placed in the tank at the same time and allowed to fully cycle befor adding any kind of livestock. (Keep in mind that so-called cured rock is still likely to cycle even if it comes from the local store. If ordering mail order rock don't bother with cured because it will not be cured by the time you get it). Look for light weight very porous rock-not dense heavy rock. You need as much surface area as possible for filtration. A sandbed has both benefits and pitfalls and you should do a search here for 'DSB', 'Bare bottom', and 'phosphate' and do some reading befor you decide which way to go.

Additional filtration is not needed so long as you do not overstock your tank. Unless you add a sump to your 10g, however, a hangon power filter such as an Aquaclear 200 or 300 can be useful, not as a bio/mech filter (except maybe for carbon now n then), but for adding extra water volume, currant, and a sump space for hiding heaters and other equiptment. They are also useful with some modifications as a refugium to grow small food animals for the main tank and to grow macro algae for nutrient export.

Other vital items needed include, good hydrometer/refractometor, test kits, good salt mix, one or two powerheads for circulation, heater, books, patience. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but someone else will chime in I am sure. BTW, welcome to the board. Hope you like it here! Be sure to ask lots of questions.

[flickj79]

thank you very much

i was looking to spend about 150 to 200 bucks on this project to begin with, I just can't wait to go to the lfs tommorow and get this thing started

one more question
I have an hob filter, should i just use this without the filter pad and carbon?

[Andrew]

Here is a pic of the filtration I used on my 10g.
It is an aquaclear 300 with a pH monitor, cheap skimmer, AQ surface skimmer, tronic 50w heater, and a media bag of carbon which I changed weekly.
The skimmer only pulled out tea colored water, but I figure it was better than nothing. I think I only paid $ 10.00 for it. I did weekly 3g water changes too.
I had a light blue cutting board bottom, that I siphoned off weekly during the water change.
Here is a pic:

[kwjones]

Hmmm....maybe I can talk the wife into relocating the Betta from our 10 gallon tank in the bedroom. A few pieces of LR from my 75...a 6-Line Wrasse, a Royal Gramma and a cleaner shrimp...the wheels are turning.

[flickj79]

man i cannot get my liverock till next week, that sux

[flickj79]

can i use live sand also?

[biomekanic]

There's pro's and con's to that.
There's some denitrification in a shallow sand bed (SSB), but it also acts as a nutrient sink too (the bacteria living there add to the biomass).
Or... I've seen people mix sand with PVC cement and create a realistic looking fake sand. 1/2" of that on the bottom would look nice.
I think a real DSB (deep sand bed) would be insane in a 10g, 5" of sand it to much space taken up for to little return. Instead of a vanilla HOB filter, think about getting a refugium instead. Chaetomorpha is an excellent nutrient exporter. On my 75g, I take about a gallon of it out of my HOB refugium every 2 months. Currently I'm using the excess as a breeding medium for aiptasia (in the early stages of setting up a v berghia nudibranch farm). You can find some good units fairly cheap on ebay. With This Warning! there's one seller who's a ripoff, he threatens people who want to leave him bad feedback. He doesn't sell prebuilt refugiums, but kits you have to put together yourself, kits that are poorly cut and don't have good seams. The guy I bought from is from Canada, he speaks French-Canadian, and his English isn't great, but he makes a **** fine product at a great price. I got a unit equivalent to the largest CPR for 1/2 the price. IIRC, he sells over on nano-reef.com, if you'd like I could try and track him down.

[ckreef]

Slightly modified AC500 (now called the AC110) makes a great refugium with minimal cost involved. Also gives you enough space to put your heater in there.

[flickj79]

what about using another 5 gallon tank as some sort of means of adding more water volume how could i do this, I've already got one DIY project on my hands right now which is build a 200 gal for my 2 oscars and firemouth, but what type of equip would i need to circulate the water from that smaller tank to the 10 gal? I am just gonna say screw it and buy everything


I guess i am looking into more of a challenging tank than my freshwater, it is sort of like an addiction to me now, I can see my whole room being full of fish tanks one day, but i do love the sound that hob filter returns make sorta like sleeping beside of a small waterfall

[flickj79]

one more question, what is a refugium that is the only thing that i have read about that I do not have clue what it is??????????????? sorry i am a newbie right now but i catch on fast and will post the pics of my tank once i get it ready

[reiple]

think of another space or tank besides your current tank but sharing the water and filter of your main tank --- thats a refugium.
makes little sense with a nano.

Andrew --- nice work there! I got an almost useless HOB and small skimmer and with your design I think I can setup a nano with that. great idea!