10 gallon tips

[Riona]

*nods* I'll definately be adding things slowly. I figure after I get the tank set up, and after the LR has cured I can add the cleaners a few at at a time, then once I get those in, and the tank's parameters are stable that I can add one of the fish, wait until the tank's been stable for a couple of weeks, add some of the coral wait a couple of weeks after the tank is used to those, add the other fish, once more wait, then start adding other little pieces of corals in.

Another light question, I really don't want to get one of the quads since it would take up the entire top of my tank, but the single strip is a bit low end. If I got a 24" fixture(they have optional mounting legs to fit smaller tanks) I could bump the wattage up to either 36 or 65 watts. Blue Zoo says that the mounting legs will allow the fixture to fit over a smaller tank. Or would I just be wasting money on getting the longer lights since there would be light going off from the side of the tank?

And my rock pictures: I couldn't get any good ones of the caves under the rock, but I have a devent one of the one on the side at least. I also tried to get some pictures of what was on the rock to begin with, the one of the little bivalves didn't come out, the ones of the corals did okay. What sort do you suppose they were? LPS or SPS? The polyp size on the smaller one is only a couple of millimeters. You can see a bit of the size difference in one of the pictures(sorry about the paper on that one. I couldn't get it all off when I started the tank, and have just ignored it afterwards, it's on the back, so it isn't really ever seen.)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/Gilraen_Took/baserock1.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/Gilraen_Took/baserock2.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/Gilraen_Took/baserock3.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/Gilraen_Took/baserock4.jpg

 

[GotSalt?]

well it is dead so it is nothing now but im not sure what it was....but i would get the quad...you could hace LPS and a small range of SPS and any softie that you want.....why do you not want it to take up the whole top of the tank....with mine on top of my 10 i would say i have about 3-4 inches on the top of the tank that i can move it....so it rewally doesnt take up that much room..you could get a 24in fixture but it would look silly with the over hang i think...whin you post from photobucket use the link on the bottom it says img next to it.

 

[Hekim]

The AC30 makes a nice fuge, just check here or on Nano-reef.com, there are lots of DIY strings explaining how its done.

If you like the aquascaping of the base rock you have you can just get a few pounds of rubble or nano sizr pieces from someplace like http://www.premiumaquatics.com. They sell by the pound and generally have good rock at a reasonable price. Use this to jump start the coraline. Remember that the corals you buy will probably come mounted on LR.

Have you considered a watchman goby / pistol shrimp pair, interesting relationship and nano friendly too.

Just go slow with the stocking and keep up with the water changes and you should do well....best of luck.

 

[Riona]

It's up ^_^

I got about 2 lbs of LR(nice stuff, 3 pieces are covered in coraline, one piece is dark, has a bit of coraline and a couple of tiny little feather dusters. Have green, purple and burgandy coraline. And though it is odd I could SWEAR that some stuff on my base rock is alive>_> That can't be though, right? It was sitting completely dry in the back room of a lfs for at least a few weeks before I got it, yet it has some nice purple spots on it. I'll try to snatch my boyfriend's camera for a bit to take some pictures of it all.

I also got a 65 watt retro. I met another member a couple of days ago and he sold me the kit(and made a stand for it ) for $30. It looks great. The fixture really brightens up my tank and room for that matter.

 

[Riona]

Okay, I tested the parameters yesterday(been set up for about 48 hours at that time)

NO phosphates(good water )
SpG was 1.025
ph was 7.9
ammonia was about 1 ppm
nitrIte was less than .5 ppm
nitrAte was a little over 5 ppm
the alkalinity was 11
and the calcium was 420 ppm.

doing well so far, right? I've also got at least 6 living feather dusters, they're usually out while the lights are on and look cool. 2 are bright red, one is like a mini hawiaiin one, and the others are white.

Also, just out of curiosity. I know I'll have my zoos, and shrooms. I'm also getting a clump of star polyps. Would a fox and/or candy cane be too big for the tank eventually? I like both, but want to make sure I wouldn't be getting something that would outgrow the tank quickly either.

 

[GotSalt?]

i like the candy canes...when they start getting to big frag them and trade them...tank seems to be doing good

 

[CPT. MURPHY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8430256#post8430256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EXPEDITION
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

Ditto

 

[Riona]

Just an update: the ammonia is almost gone from the tank. And I'm getting brown algae over most of my rock>_> I wasn't too worryed about it, but it is now covering some of my coralline... Should I be trying to get rid of it or just leaving it alone?

 

[GotSalt?]

what kind of water did you use......try runnin your lights only 6-10 hrs a day during cycle....less then that works too

 

[Riona]

Used wal mart spring water. The only problem with running the lights less is that I don't have a timer, so on weekends when I work all day I either have them on or off the entire day. Maybe next weekend(and until I get anything that needs light) I'll try one day on one day off.