Little Help - First Reef

[SirusX1721]

Hey everyone and thank you for reading. I've been in SW for a while but always FOWLR, and I wish to attempt my first reef. I'd like to stay small since it's my first attempt at this. That way I don't lose out too much if I fail : ( (I have faith I won't though, esp with some good advice).

I was thinking to start with a 5.5 or 10gal.

I'm a noob when it come to corals and this is a major part on where I'll need some help.

What types of corals to start with & lighting suitable for such corals. As for a filter I was going to throw an old Fluval 302 (Yes old but works great, lol). If need be I can upgrade.

As for now any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Misled]

Just my opinion, but why not go up to a 20 gal? You can get it with the same footprint and it has twice the water volume.

You will need a few pounds of rock, some live sand and some power heads for flow in the tank.

I would think in the beginning you could use the fluval but personally I think you need either a refuge or a skimmer for long term success.

As for corals, most leathers, mushrooms and zoas should be fine.

 

[cloakerpoked]

I'd go with whatever corals you see this tank eventually getting because space will be at a premium (esp. with the 5 or 10 gallon). The Fluval might be good as a circulation pump, and good for carbon, but you're going to want a skimmer...my suggestion would just be something small and simple like an Aqua-Remora C.

Lighting will be where you probably get a number of suggestions based on the size of your tank. T-5 lighting on a small tank would probably be best, but a good one would be pretty expensive. A 70w MH light would be fine, but would create a lot of heat. A power compact light would be the least intense, but also produce less heat than a MH and less expense than a T-5 setup.

 

[SirusX1721]

well I'm using those because I have them laying around. Was going to use a 29gal but I want to make a sump out of it. If I use the 10 I may make a refuge from the 5.5gal.

I was reading about a skimmer in the small tank and was leaning twds just keeping up on my water changes lol. which is not a problem.

whats a good wpg for a 10?

 

[SirusX1721]

I'm going for about 15lbs of LR and 10lbs of LS. I was leaning towards a 20" Coralife AquaLight - 96 watt 4-tube 50/50 (50% 10000K Daylight & 50% True Actinic 03 Blue) Compact Fluorescent Lamps.

 

[zzpw3x]

I have a 10g w/70W MH and 2 Maxi jet 400s. After 4 years, I upgraded with an auto top-off. I change 10-20% every 1-2 weeks. My water is clear and my corals are healthy. I have had everything from softies to SPS with success. My original lighting was a 96W PC powerquad, which also worked fine but not so good for SPS corals.

Skimmers are substitutes for water changes. In a large tank, 10-20% water changes every 1-2 weeks is impractical. In a small tank, water changes are a fine.

I have no refugium, no skimmer, nothing fancy. It doesn't look ghetto at all -. Its been set up for about 5 years - maybe longer (I've lost track of when I started).

I also have a 29G, w/ 250W MH, and 2 bigger maxi jets and a hang on back filter that is used as a refugium. I'm not sure the refugium does much, but now that it's there, I use it to hold me heater.

One thing to mention on the 10G, is that the oxygen levels get low at night, and fish tend to die off. I noticed the fish would clearly struggle every night. I put an air pump in the tank at night which helped, but the salt creep was terrible. Eventually I gave up on fish in that tank. They are really easy to catch with your hands when they are almost dead from lack of oxygen. I grabbed it and quickly dropped it in the 29G and it's been fine since.

Don't let us talk you into spending too much money. Simplicity works.

Good live rock, heater, sand (not too much in a small tank), powerheads, and your done.

Get good light from the start. IMO, you will never say, "darn, I have too much light....". Also get a good clean up crew to keep everything as clean a possible.

Dale

 

[SirusX1721]

I have most of what I need laying around but a light. If you think I'll be better off with a 70w MH than the 96w Compact I'd much rather only spend once!

The main reason I was kind of leaning twds adding the 5.5 as a Refugium was a little extra water volume and to hide the heater as well. Plus more LR the better : )

I'm not a huge fan of DSB so I definitely won't go over 10lbs of LS

 

[SirusX1721]

Also what GPH are you powerheads rated at? I was looking to get a KORALIA NANO seeing the smallest I have laying around is 600gph.

Heater will be a 50watt Visi-Therm

 

[zzpw3x]

My ten gallon has two maxi jet 400s. I don't know what they are rated at.

The 96W power quad does not seem to be used much anymore. There maybe a T5 equivalent around. I don't know - I haven't had the need to start searching.

 

[SirusX1721]

Is you 70w MH the clip on style? I was looking into that. Wasn't a bad price really.

If i'm not mistaken the 400 only pumps out 100-110gph. At least I have a ball park figure on my flow rate.

Thank you all for the fast replies : )

 

[cloakerpoked]

With 2 powerheads and a MH light, what is your temperature like in that tank? That'd be the biggest thing I'd be worried about. Remember that your Fluval is probably rated around 300 gph or maybe a little more than that (been a while since I've had one) so that can replace one of those powerheads. A Koralia Nano would be nice, they're good pumps. I don't think you want a Koralia 3 in there

 

[zzpw3x]

The tank is in a cabinet in the kitchen. I put a small 3" fan at the top of the cabinet to pull out the hot air. Temps routinely hit 86F in the summer months on a hot day if the A/C isn't on.

I know some will choke to hear that, but nothing dies (or seems stressed), so I don't worry about it.

I will usually invert the light cycle, so that the lights come around 7PM and turn off at 7AM. That helps alot and prevents the temps for getting higher. 86F doesn't worry me, but I don't like to push it.

Dale

 

[SirusX1721]

Haha yea a 3 would be too much. I'm going to order a nano and search locally for the light before I order.

 

[Mitsuko]

I know this goes against the "rules" of saltwater BUT in the past 5 years I've kept two of these. The first was taken down because of moving and the second is currently thriving. You can go to walmart and buy a minibow for under $40. Two versions; a 2.5g and a 5g. Both come with a screw type bulb. Coralife makes a screw type minicompact (10 watts) that fits perfect. As long as you arent planning on SPS this is sufficient for zoos and other easy beginner corals. Buy a nano heater and use the tetra filter that came with the minibow as a powerhead. You can buy everything including a small fish, live rock, and live sand for under $100. Despite what people may tell you its quite simple to take care of. I dont even have to do water changes that often. (I have however added many upgrades laying around including a EcoSystem 40 I had from a previous tank. I utilized a SCWD with the return as well. Nova Extreme makes a 2X20 watt T5 that fits perfectly with the 5g which I plan on purchasing soon to try out a few SPS in such a little tank. )

 

[TomNeely]

I would go for a 20 gallon and then by a 24" T5 fixture. I set up a 20 SPS and zoa reef before I moved to the 75 and it was easy to care for.

 

[SirusX1721]

I have a 20L I might have to reseal I haven't checked it in a while. I was leaning twds a 10gal because it would be on my Desk. I have until Friday to decide then I want to start the project.

I was leaning twds a 55gal with a 29gal sump but I'm not sure If I want to make that kind of jump yet being a first stab at a reef. Plus it'll run me a lot more. I'd like to keep the budget somewhat low because my it's being split on setting up breeding Piranhas again this.