10 gallon college build

[t5Nitro]

Thanks to many of you I have been able to make a few purchases and get going on this 10 gallon.

I have chose to keep it simple. I used spare dry rock to construct the aquascape. I will add a shallow sand bed with dry, reef grade sand I have on hand.

Equipment includes:
-Marineland single bright LED (no coral as to keep this simple)
-Theo hydor 50w heater
-Koralia nano 240 power head
-Neptune apex jr

I will be ordering either an AC50 or AC70 tonight. If I choose not to do the fuge mod, the AC50 should work just as well as the AC70 as far as holding a bag of carbon, right? I'd like to save the money difference upgrading to the 70 model and instead buy purigen, carbon or filter bags etc.

I'm debating whether to paint the back glass black. Opinions?

Here is a picture of the tank:

 

[Lionfish666]

Hey the picture doesn't work.
I vote you paint the back of the tank black though, ads contrast and hides plumbing/cords. Krylon fusion does the trick.

 

[t5Nitro]

I edited the link. Does it work now?

I think I'm going to go with the AC50 as I don't need to do the fuge mod, nor does it matter to me much if the heater can fit inside it or not.

 

[Maxi]

Just paint the tank black, you won't regret it. Takes about 10 minutes. Make sure you use newspaper and tape to cover the areas you do not want to paint.

Your rockwork looks awesome, I love it. To keep it simple, just get a hang on back filter, or no filter at all.
Your rock is live, right? If not, seed it with some live rock. Your rock should do all the filtering, just do a 5 or 6 gallon water change every 2 weeks. More if you want. Since there are no corals, you don't really need a lot of filtration.

 

[t5Nitro]

I actually just got done painting it with krylon.

And I sent in my order for an AC50. I plan to run BRS carbon in a media bag inside it.

 

[t5Nitro]

Maxi, the rock is not live. It is spare dry rock I had sitting around. I will probably feed the tank shrimp to start the cycle.

Here it is painted:

 

[Maxi]

There you go, much better.

What are you planning on having in there?

 

[t5Nitro]

I wanted 2 ocellaris clowns. What's your thoughts? Too big of a bioload?

 

[cody6766]

They'll do fine while small, but I think it's a little cramped for the long haul. I would only have clowns in it if you get them, and shop for little ones.