10g sps/zoa nano build

[Ethan_W]

currently i have a 29g running. it's absolutely nothing special. just 2 t8 bulbs, crappy filtration, and a not so great skimmer. however i have had a good amount of success with it. currently housing a frogspawn, a mix of zoas, some shrooms, gsp, and other polyps (all low light requiring corals). also 2 true percs being hosted by the frogspawn (they previously were hosted by a condylactis nem), a firefish, scooter blenny, and harlequin shrimp.

i figure it's time to get some new lights, however i want to try something different. so my idea is to do a 10g build with an open aquascaping based on v1...rotate's reef in the sky with primarily sps and nice zoas/palys. maybe some rics too.

so far i have a short list of supplies. i havent had any experience with SPS so im definitely gonna need some help/recommendations in that department.

Tank: Aqueon 10g
Lighting: Odyssea 20" 72W (4x 18W) T5 HO light fixture w/ 4 moonlights
Filtration: AquaFuge HoB 3.6g refugium
Skimmer: ?? need a good recommendation for a 10g
water changes: 1-2 gallons twice weekly

im going to rinse about 10 lbs of the live sand that i currently have in some fresh salt water and reuse it. i dont want a very thick substrate in the display so i might add a little less. also im going to transfer a few pieces of rock from the 29g but i like the open aqua scape look.

as far as fish im only going to keep the clowns. the female is an ORA true perc and the male will host pretty much anything, the female follows soon after and claims it for herself. im debating on keeping the frogspawn they are hosted by. it is fairly large for 3 heads and im worried about space in a 10g. also a small cuc

questions: i want to paint the back blue. what's a good paint to use on glass?

also being new to the SPS game, what am i going to need in terms of dosing and feeding for good growth and color in a nano tank?

any other advice would be appreciated. suggestions, comments, criticism. i need all i can get. im going to start buying pieces of the system in the coming week so i will bust out the camera and post pictures soon. thanks!

 

[mike_cmu04]

When i painted the back of my tank i used spraypaint that was on the outside of the glass. for a nano tank you probably wont have to dose as long as you keep up with water changes. keep us updated with some pics.

 

[ChicagoReefOne]

I'd consider getting a predrilled tank with overflows and whatnot, maybe a BC 14 or something. If you are going with the standard 10G box you'll have a lot of tubes and wires sticking out and running over the top. With the BC you'll be able to hide the heater, the fuge, and the skimmer. You could drill the tank, but that may be a lot of work, when you could just buy a ready-to-go tank. I bet it would be super easy to find a used BC in LA.

I'd also check into building a LED fixture for yourself rather than the Odyssea.

Dunno about a skimmer for that size, but get something that's is rated for a much larger tank if you want happy SPS.

Good Luck!

 

[Ethan_W]

i dont really like the shimmering effect of LEDs which was why i decided to go with a T5 fixture. i figured i could hide the heater in the HoB fuge. the dimensions are 19" L X 4.5" W X 12" H. im planning on a 4-5" fine sand bed with rubble rock and chaeto. i'm not all too worried about the display being slightly cluttered. my current tank is very cluttered. however the large filter intake, heater, and in-tank skimmer are covered in coraline algae so it's not too bad. however this time i would like to keep it a little more minimal

ill try to put up some pictures of the current tank today or tomorrow. just gotta dig the camera out

 

[Ethan_W]

old FTS

some polyps going into the new tank. radioactive green dragon eyes and lunar eclipses. currently the lunar palys are recovering in a friend's tank. they are extremely bright, the picture does no justice. also they were under two t8 bulbs so now they are brighter than ever under my friends lights.

this was an old pick however. the lunars used to grow like weeds and would be around the size of a quarter. a few months ago i changed my aquascape up and got a pygmy angel. the angel did some damage to a number of the zoas i had at the time. and started on the palys right before i got rid of him. ever since then lunar eclipses have been in a downward spiral. and there's only about 5 polyps of the dragon eyes left of the rock.

 

[Ethan_W]

the current clowns in their old green condylactis anemone. (i know it doesnt exactly look like a condy but it was pooping during the pic and its with a camera phone. also i would never put a bubble tip under 2 t8 bulbs). ill get an updated FTS shot next