Need help and ideas

[Brycen97]

Alright long story short I am 15 have about 5 years of my own with saltwater! Paid for my first tank (50 gal.) worked my way up to my 90 gal. and then i had to move and i didnt have money to start it all up again (new water, corals, fish, etc.) since i have to buy it all my self so ive been outta the hobbie for a year and i cant start my 90 back up so im thinking of starting a 10 gal. reef.

since im not a newbie i think i can take care of it with ease but my questions ar will i be fine using a mechanical filter and put some live rock or bio balls in it instaed of carbon filter pads? and then would i need a powerhead or would the current be good enough from the filter? also i think id be fine without a protine skimmer but what do you think? lights is my biggest concern! could i get a small LED strip of lights to go over the top and grow some corals? for fish i am thinking of a clown (Maybe 2) crabs snails maybe a blinnie or some other small fish. please give me your advice on the filter and light and the whole setup! thanks!

 

[dgloba]

My tank didn't work right without the skimmer. Cheap led is not enough even for my softies so i have to upgrade. Good luck.

 

[Brycen97]

Update

Update

okay so here is what im thinking:

-Regular glass 10 gal
-Deep Blue solarmax T5 double strip 24 inch (the one with moon lights)
-AquaClear 30 power filter
-Hydor THEO heater 25w
-Hydor Koralia nano 240
-BioCube protein skimmer

what do you think?

also for farther details im thinking about painting the back black, a good 1/2 to 1 1/2 sand bed, and 5-15 pounds of LR

 

[bertoni]

Moved as requested.

 

[Brycen97]

Thanks bertoni

 

[Curtis72]

For a 10 gallon you dont have to have skimmer, there's a bunch of nanos on here that dont have skimmers. You just have to keep up with water changes. As for the light I dont have much experience with T5's but a two bulb fixture should be good for a 10 gallon.

 

[reefscape15]

The 24" light will overhang the tank by 2" each side. If that's something that you don't mind, then I would go with that light, because the 24watt t5 bulbs are only about 22" in length. The endcaps/tombstones, wiring, and fixture housing make up the rest of the 24". I know that they make 20" fixtures that would fit a 10gallon tank perfectly. If its not too much more money, why not upsize to a 20gallon tank?

As far as the skimmer, it is not needed. You can keep the water perfectly fine with regular water changes. Imo, a small skimmer like the one you have mentioned will not do nearly as much good as consistent water changes.

I would skip the hob filter all together. If you do want to have any filter on the tank, you can pick up a Aquaclear filter, and mod it to use it as a refugium.

Depending on what coral you plan to keep, the single Korallia Nano may or may not be enough water movement, and if you do decide to go with a 20g, it will most likely be lacking even in a softie only tank. I am running a standard 20gallon high aquarium that will be all sps, and my flow comes from 2 Korallia EVO 1050 powerheads. Over 2000gph in a 20g, but you need super high flow for most sps corals.

 

[Brycen97]

Thanks for helping so far everyone! reefscape15 could your post a pic of your tank or PM me some pics? also can you post and share the mod? a link or a pic? was thinking about ditching the layers to the filter and running bio balls, rock, and/or alge. the lights would be fine, and with the power heads i can always pull out one of my old ones like my koralia 1400gph so i should be fine their. as far as the 20 gal. i could do that but thought a 10 compacted reef would be a grate size for my room but could reconsider. do you run a skimmer on your 20?

 

[reefscape15]

Here's a link to a mod for an Aquaclear 70:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=601201&highlight=ac+70+fuge +70+fuge

This is my tank as of a couple weeks ago. Ive moved my powerheads around a bit since:

This is the same tank when it was set up about 4 or 5 years ago. I think it had been running for a year and a half, maybe more. I ran a HOB 2.5g fuge and a prism skimmer off and on.

I think in a 10g, 1400gph from one single powerhead may be too much direct flow for much to survive, and it would most definitely cause a sandstorm if you plan on using sand. If you do go with a 10g, I think another powerhead the same size you are planning would probably work well, but if you plan on all sps, you may want more flow.

Hopefully that answers a few questions. I'm glad I can help because I was in major need of help and always asking for advice when I found this site. I still ask about things quite a bit!

 

[reefscape15]

Missed some I guess, currently I do not have a skimmer. I have a sump built for the tank, but still need to get an overflow and return pump before I can get that running. I built the sump with the idea to have the fuge as large as possible, and there is just enough room to fit a Bubble Magus NAC3.5 skimmer in the first section. The skimmer will come later down the road though.

 

[Brycen97]

Thank you. i think i am going to go with a 20 long. this is what im thinking with this one (lol always upgrading in saltwater)

-20 gallon long
-Deep Blue solarmax T5HO (instead of regular t5 even tho like $30 more worth it in the long run)
-Aqua clear 70 ($5 more then the 30 and more efficient. why not?)
-idk abut the heater yet think about the: Hydor THEO 150w (what do you guys think)
-and tring to decide on the: aquaticLife mini skimmer 115 (might buy it later down the road)

What dose everyone think of this setup? Also i would like to do the DIY rimless mod but idk if its the best idea but love the rimless look. Good or Bad?

 

[Brycen97]

I think im going to start this build after Christmas!

 

[reefscape15]

Definitely do a build thread so you can post updates and ask questions n stuff all in one place. It makes it much easier

 

[Brycen97]

Got my tank going to start my build new thread time