Help me build a 10g plz.

billabong08

billabong08

New member
Well I am new to the site and I like it already. Lots of great information!

Well I am wanting to build a 10g marine-aquarium.
I am curious what I would need to start.
I am sure I can buy a 10g tank at my local Walmart.
I really don't want to spend lots of money on it. I just want a little project to mess with.
The less expensive the better.

What would you guys suggestion for:
Lighting?
Filtration?
Substrate amount?
Live rock amount?
Fish?

As of now I would like to someday have softy corals in it.

Thanks to somebody in the "New to the Hobby" area suggested me to post this in the "Nano reefs" area.
I hope I can get some help. I cant wait to set up a tank!
 
a 10g was my first tank, just upgraded to a bigger tank.

10 lbs. of sand and 10-15 lbs. of rock, at least thats what i had in mine. lighting since ur going to have softies, u can have just a single dual-tube CF. i had that on mine for a while untill i wanted to have sps's and lps's. i had a skimmer on mine, not sure if i really needed it tho. but one of those cheap filters from petco would be a good idea.
 
I had another member on here told me that a 20-30g tank would be better and more stable.
Does that sound about right?
 
yes that is right..... but you can also say a 50-60 gallon will be more stable than that... then a 90 -100 will be more stable than that... the bigger the better when it comes to stability... also the bigger the more expenisve everything will be... the more water volume you have the better though... it only takes a little evaporation in a 10 gallon tank to throw salinity off.... I have heard of most people with small tanks like this not using a skimmer.... they say its not needed....
 
You don't really need a skimmer until you get over 50g. And I only say that because changing more than 10g of saltwater each month starts to get expensive. But your stocking level has more to do with skimmer need than the size of the tank. (A single clownfish in a 125g does not warrant a skimmer)

As for the stability; I cannot successfully keep a tank under 30g running for a reasonable period of time. This is based entirely upon the level of neglect that I require a tank be able to withstand. And with out my auto top off I am sure that I would eventually run into problems with my 30g. If you are OCD and are willing to work on the tank every day twice a day you could probably easily keep a tank under 10g no problem. But I find that going bigger means you can neglect your tank a reasonable amount and not worry about killing everything off; and then becoming discouraged.

If all you want in your tank is one fish, some rock, and some algae. You can easily be successful with a damsel and some macro algae in a 10g; with stock lighting. If you want corals I would suggest holding off buying the corals/light until you figure out if you are willing to stick with it.

A 20-30 would be a more prudent; though more expensive, investment.
 
You can get some great DIY info on a 10g nano reef tank at IPSF.com or through their youtube video series. Just search for "nano lagoon" and the video series will pop up. I haven't personally done it but if you follow the DIY instructions you can make an excellent (looking) beginner reef set-up from a stock walmart tank and a couple of PC 20w 120v lights. Good luck with your nano!
 
Lighting? For inexpensive lighting, aquatraders.com has great deals.
Filtration? A decent size HOB filter (for a 30g+ tank) will add flow and some filtration. There are different mods you can do also, like turning it into a mini 'fuge.
Substrate amount? You will probably want 5-10lbs live sand.
Live rock amount? About 10lbs, this will be your best source of filtration.
Fish? Look at the 'nano fish' section on liveaquaria.com for ideas, maybe a firefish and a small sand sifting goby?

Hope that helps, good luck!
 
Well guys what if I just make a "Fish only" tank and just consider like 1 or 2 clown fish/damsels.
Then would I still have a few problems with parameters and such?
Then later maybe consider softie coral's when I have more experience.
 
Yes...you will still have problems.... It can be done but will need to be taken excellent care of... Think about this.... Your 2 fish in a 10 gallon is equivalent to 45 fish in my 90gallon... It would just overload the system... Even with an excellent skimmer.... No it probably can be done... With excellent daily care... But there will still be so much pollution that it will be hard to handle.... Don't get discouraged... Just learn as much as possible before starting and you will be fine....
 
My ten gallon recipe: about 1/2" of sand (coarse), 10lbs liverock, two Koralia 1 powerheads (or one K2), lighting of choice (I like the Current 2x18 watt T5 fixture). No skimmer needed if you do 10% weekly water changes, which you should be doing anyway.

HOB filter is helpful but not required. It's not really even for "filtration" - your liverock provides the filtration. A HOB also gives you a place to put carbon/phosban/whatever, a place to hide a heater, and can include a surface skimming attachment (highly desirable).

Only one fish for the first few months. A clown is unbeatable as they're cute and hard to kill. No more than two fish in a ten gallon, ever.

Don't be afraid to jump right into some soft corals - zoas are a great starter coral for instance. I would add these BEFORE I ever added the first fish, in fact.

Go slow. Go slow. Go slow. Minimum 30 days before adding that first fish.

JMHO, YMMV, etc etc etc.
 
G-money1 said:
Yes...you will still have problems.... It can be done but will need to be taken excellent care of... Think about this.... Your 2 fish in a 10 gallon is equivalent to 45 fish in my 90gallon... It would just overload the system... Even with an excellent skimmer.... No it probably can be done... With excellent daily care... But there will still be so much pollution that it will be hard to handle.... Don't get discouraged... Just learn as much as possible before starting and you will be fine....
Click to expand...

Thank you for your information!
I think I am going to do more research and then I want to tackle the 10 gallon.
I love a challenge!
All it will do is make me want a bigger tank when I have my own place.
 
dixiedog said:
My ten gallon recipe: about 1/2" of sand (coarse), 10lbs liverock, two Koralia 1 powerheads (or one K2), lighting of choice (I like the Current 2x18 watt T5 fixture). No skimmer needed if you do 10% weekly water changes, which you should be doing anyway.

HOB filter is helpful but not required. It's not really even for "filtration" - your liverock provides the filtration. A HOB also gives you a place to put carbon/phosban/whatever, a place to hide a heater, and can include a surface skimming attachment (highly desirable).

Only one fish for the first few months. A clown is unbeatable as they're cute and hard to kill. No more than two fish in a ten gallon, ever.

Don't be afraid to jump right into some soft corals - zoas are a great starter coral for instance. I would add these BEFORE I ever added the first fish, in fact.

Go slow. Go slow. Go slow. Minimum 30 days before adding that first fish.

JMHO, YMMV, etc etc etc.
Click to expand...

AWESOME INFO!
I really appreciate it!
I will forsure keep all this in mind.
 
How does this sound?

10 gallon glass tank
Aqua-Tech 5-15 HOB filter
Odyssea 20" 36W Power Compact Light Fixture
Livesand 10-15lbs
Liverock 10lbs?
Ill think about fish and corals later
 
i would ues a filter rated double the size of ur tank so the 10 to 20 or -the 20 to 40 personally i would get 20 to 40 depending it depends on ur buget up to u
 
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