Here is what I have done, not sure if it is ideal but 8 weeks in to this things are still going in the right direction. {Before you run out and buy this stuff, let some of the more knowledgeable people educate both of us about how I could have done better}
- 10 gallon tank (had this)
- AC 110 modded to be a fuge see nano-reef.com
- 18 watt lights for the fuge
- 96 watt coralife lights
- 2 MaxiJet 600 powerheads with Hydor FLOs
- one bag of the Arag-Alive sand
- about 13 lbs. of live rock
- 2 50 watt stealth heaters in the AC110 since our house is a little chilly this time of year.
- auto topoff from autotopoff.com
- aqualifter pump attached to topoff
- marine test kit, I chose seachem to start with
- thermometer
- Instant Ocean Salt
- Refractometer (Not necessary, but a good idea)
I use "Purified Water" from the store and Instant Ocean salt. So far things have been really stable. With a tank this small, it is easier to budget in buying water over an RO/DI unit. I wouldn't use tap water.
You'll also need a test kit and thermometer. I had the tank, and my guess is that I have spent $250 - $350 to get here. I think some of this investment can be rolled over to the 80 gallon tank that I am planning for my next upgrade. If not, at least the experince will.
Notice no skimmer ... but to pull out the nasties you have to be committed to weekly water changes. I'm only doing a gallon a week and so far it is a pretty trivial task. I was evaporating about 1/4" per day (~1 gallon/week) and was doing daily top offs until the auto topoff was installed. I have heard mixed reviews for the nano sized skimmers so I decided to wait until more entered the market.
Hope this helps. I did make one mistake I should warn you about. If you put this much light on a tank this shallow, you should get some plastic grid and window screen and create 3 - 4 layers so you can ease things (including the coraline on your rock) into this much light. I bleached my coarline, it sucked. 3 weeks later my rocks still look somewhat snow capped, but some coraline is growing back.
I don't know how much info you want, but I set this tank up and waited at least a month for the cycle to complete before adding some blue legged hermit crabs, and then a couple weeks later I added a frogspawn coral. So far I have been lucky, but the frogspawn was not the best choice for a first coral.
I have really enjoyed the amount of life in this tank, and it is small enough you notice all of the little creatures that show up. There are all sorts of things in there that I can not identify, but all the big stuff is still alive so I am ok with all of the worms and bugs and snail things ... it is neat how often you find something new. I had freashwater before this and those tanks are dead compared to the abundance of life in my little 10 gallon reef.
