advice on a 10 gallon setup

[G13]

Bare bottom or LS.....? I like the look of LS, since my 45 gallon has 60lbs of it. I'll definetly have about 15-20 lbs of LR so cleaning the bottom glass with a magnet cleaner ain't going to happen. So, would it just be a build up of purple corraline or algae? I guess maintenance would be easier since I'd be able to see the fish waste and be able to syphon it out.

How about filtration on a 10 galon tank? I use a penguin 330 and a aqua C Remora HOB in my 45 gallon.

 

[camz28]

i had ls in my 10 gl and it was goood , filtration i had a red sea skimmer and i did weekly water changes

 

[G13]

I'm still not sure which way to go but this is my plan for the setup so far.................

20 lbs of LS..........CaribSea Aragalive Indopacific Black Sand (mixed with about a cup full of my established LS) I wanted to go black sand but couldn't find any that will help buffer.

15-20 lbs of LR out of my tank

Lighting.....20" 1x96W 50/50 Aqualight Deluxe 4-Tube (Quad) Fixture n/ flip top legs.....Is this enough light for a 10 gallon tank to be able to keep a rbta, small maxima clam that's currently in my 45 gal tank and some sps frags if I decided to give them a try? It comes out to 9.6 watts per gallon but it is pc's.....

As for filtration.... small power filter probably penguin (LR and LS). No skimmer (yet) but since it's a small tank, won't water changes be enough?

 

[sandlot13]

yup! water changes are enough for skimming...... as for the lighting, its the exact same structure that I have on my 10 gal...... seems to provide plenty of light. If your worried about something not getting enough light, start it up high in the tank (I keep my acropora and sps near the top....... been curious to see what a clam would do in my tank)..... definitly go with LS! provides more filtration and harbors good bacteria (and bare bottom just seems too unnatural)

 

[G13]

Well, I made my purchase.....@ big al's, tell me what you think.



ASWO# Product and Unit Price Quantity Price
13883
Coralife 20" 96 Watt Quad Aqualight Compact Square Pin
$111.99

(they price matched hellolights and got it for $87)

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39999
Remove this item Carib Sea Arag-Alive Indo-Pacific Black Reef Sand-20 lb
$28.99
This is an oversized item and will incur $8.01 in shipping charges.

(They price matched premium aquatics at $15.95 but they added like $1.60 for something, don't remember exactly.)

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Coralife Aqualight Adjustable Mounting Legs
$11.99

(Best price I could find and love the idea of flipping up the lights when it's feeding time)

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16237
Remove this item Marineland Penguin 100B Power Filter
$14.99

(Same price as the doctors and I think marineland has one of the best products out there)

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Subtotal: $167.96
Standard Shipping: $11.95
Oversized Shipping: $8.01
Taxes: $0.00

Total: $187.92 (but with the price matching and stuff it came out to $146.03, shipped!)

The only thing I probably should have done was purchase an extra bulb for the fixture (hellolights had it for $19 for an extra bulb). Maybe should have waited for a free shipping sale but I thought what the hell lets get this tank going.

LR and some zoo's/mushrooms (for color, might even try a clam!)will come from my existing tank. All I need now is some inhabitants.......???? any recomendations?

I'd like to add shrimp and since the tank is small........... I was thinking 2-3 sexy shrimp. As for fish it'll probably be no more then 2. Any suggestions?

 

[G13]

What about watermovement for a 10 gallon tank? I have a Maxi-jet 400 that I have laying around right now. Is that enough movement for a 10 gallon tank? Aside from the small powerfilter, or does it depend on the amount of fish I put in their for the oxygen exchange.

If the maxi-jet is enough, what is the best placement? Should I try and angle it to the top or just straight across?

 

[Agu]

I would have gone with the 200 gph model, on my ten gallon an AC 300 gph provides most of the flow. A rio 200 at 138 gph provides extra flow and redundancy in case one of them fails.

I use and like those lights, but I'm not sure it's enough for a clam or light loving SPS.

 

[G13]

I didn't think pc lights would be enough for sps but I thought I heard Clams could live on pc's. I just figured since it would be about 9.6 watts per gallon that maybe I could get away with it.

Anybody have success with this type of lighting (for clams and some sps)?

I have 2 more powerheads that I don't currentlu use.....I'll check them out and find out the gph......

 

[bennerkla]

You might get away from it, but I would stick with other corals.

Good luck, when does the shipment come in?

 

[G13]

Everything was ordered on friday the 26th. I think it'll be shipped out tomorrow because of the holiday. I can hardly wait.....

 

[Agu]

I hate to tell you this. I just got the flip back mounting legs and finally got around to installing them, they're garbage IMO. It was a pain to get them on the 96 watt powerquad. And then they're 2" wide in the tank, you can't have anything within 2" of either end of the tank, like your powerhead or HOB filter. IMO they're too big for a ten gallon tank, they're going back tomorrow.

 

[sandlot13]

i have a green bali slimer that ive been keeping under my powerquad in my ten gallon, and so far so good...... its even shown some growth~! I have kept it near the surface, but its doing great. hope that helps

 

[G13]

@Agu, well that sucks. I was looking forward to installing it thinking it would be a lot easier flipping the top during maintenance and feedings. I planned on purchasing that new item out that uses a magnet to hold the powerhead in place. I hate hanging stuff makes makes the tank look a little bulky.

@sandlot, great to hear that. I won't be spending any $$ on sps, I'm going to wait till someone local has a free frag so I can try it out.

 

[G13]

What type of cleaner crew do I need for this size of a tank? The only thing I'm leaning toward adding are 2 sexy shrimp but I need a clean up crew.

 

[Agu]

You might not mind it but there isn't a spare two inches at the back sides of my tanks for the legs. The clear legs are pretty unobtrusive.

I have one mexican hermit and three or four scarlet hermits in my ten gallon tanks. A lot of people don't like the turbos because they knock things over. However they're long lived, and indiscriminate herbivores. They'll clean up just about anything .

 

[G13]

I was thinking of scarlet hermits (that's the type I keep in my 45 gallon tank) but kind of thought of getting smaller hermits like the blue legs.

I have 2-3 mexican turbos in my 45 and they always knock things over but I've heard good things about trochus snails. Anyone have any experience with them?

 

[G13]

I'm going to have some sexy shrimp pre-ordered from premium aquatics....How many is too many for a 10 gallon tank?.....I would like at least 3 but thinking about adding 5 since they are so tiny. Is that too much?

@Agu, you posted earlier about going with the 200 gph..... You are right, I should have done that. Don't know what I was thinking. Would have helped more with water movement and a lot more filtration.

 

[G13]

Shipment from Al's came in today.... I've been so busy, that I'll probably have it completely set up before the weekends out, hopefully sooner.

I'm very impressed with how black the indigo sand is, didn't look that black on premium aquatics web site. Looked exactly like the Drs., pictures.

 

[G13]

I filled the tank with water and no leaks then I spray painted the back of the tank glossy black. I will post pics as soon as I find out how to change the type of file at photobucket.com (I think that's the site).

 

[G13]

Well, I had too many things to do this weekend and barely had any time to put into this great but expensive hobby.

First thing, I tried out the lights with the legs on and they are very bulky and agree with AGU that they might be a pain. BUT I tried to center the lights exactly over my tank and it gives me about 4" of room to hang something from the top edge of the tank (backside of the legs hang behind the tank). Another thing I dislike about the tank is the screws used to tighten it up against the glass. It's like I said bulky and if I fill the tank to the top part of the plastic screw will be underwater, making it an unnatural decoration...lol.

I currently have 6 gallons of fresh saltwater stirring up inside. Why 6 gallons? It's a long story but I'm going to take out 3 gallons and fill the rest of the tank with water from my existing tank. And use the 3 gallons I took out and use it to help replace the gallons of water I took out of the 45 (water change).

As for the penguin 100b powerfilter, I was able to exchange it at a petstore and purchased the penguin 200 (very happy about that).