New to SW: questions about setup

[Lucubration]

Hey, folks!

I'm no stranger to keeping freshwater tanks, but lately I've starting thinking about setting up a nano reef tank. It's been an interesting experience learning some of the new factors in play with marine tanks, and I'm still a ways off from really understanding everything I'll need to know (like "phosphates", etc, etc).

I would appreciate some advice regarding my plans (and the stuff I'm kidding myself into thinking that I understand).

So far:

Tank size: 10 gallon standard glass. It's got some FW stuff in it, but I can free it up to convert it to SW. This will give me a little more elbow room than the nearby 2.5g.

Parameters: I know I can hold this tank steady ~80F with its current location and setup, so that's a start. I understand water parameters with respect to FW tanks, but I still need to figure out the other new parameters and what to shoot for all around with marine tanks. I'm sure I can find some literature on that somewhere.

As far as making saltwater: I do have some Instant Ocean and a refractometer from a planned brackish setup before I went in a different direction with that build. I know that 1.024 would be a fine SG to shoot for, but should I buy RO/DI water to mix up the tank water or can just I Prime my local tap water for it? That would be... much cheaper. I don't have an RO/DI unit yet, either. Maybe next year.

Substrate: I love planted tanks so I'm typically inclined to say "substrate, d'uh". However, after some consideration, I think I'd rather go bare-bottom for a marine tank. Plants don't work the same way in the ocean; here there be "macro-algae". Also, there's not much space in a 10 gallon to begin with and it sounds like live rock provides enough filtration with good water flow.

This will give me some more vertical space to play with. I was thinking about setting lower rocks in the front corners and higher rocks in the rear center of the tank and pushing strong flow crosswise through the tank with a powerhead to make a sort of "trench" environment. I'll have to play around with this to see how the current works; I may have to run a pump/pipe along the back wall to circle the water back around.

Refugium: I've got this 1 gallon Finnex HOB refugium that I can slap on the back of the tank. I was going to throw some Chaetomorpha in there with a smaller light on an opposite photoperiod schedule to help consume nutrients/oxygenate water/balance pH overnight.

Sump: If I can carry the rest of this out successfully, some day I might plan to add a drain to another tank situated below this one, under the table it's sitting on. I think I should be able to add that on afterwards, though, so I'd rather leave it until I can see a need for one. The increased water volume and maybe keeping a non-reef friendly animal might be good benefits. The 10 gallon isn't drilled, but it sounds like I can get an overflow siphon box thingy to drain to it.

Lighting: The good news (I think?) is I have a 16" FugeRay sitting on this 10 gallon tank. From my understanding, I should be able to grow "softies" and "LPS" with it. Sound about right? I'm really hoping I don't have to go out and buy another light/fixture.

Evaporation: So I hear saltwater tanks have an evaporation issue. I was thinking I could combat this by leaving the hood on this tank from its current setup. Following that, I read that having a hood on a saltwater tank (especially?) causes issues with gas exchange and lack of oxygen in the water.

I then turned to my trusty air pump. Of course, then I read some doomsday write-up about airstones in marine aquariums. Le sigh.

Will my reef suffocate with a loose-fitting hood? There is still going to be some air circulation where the refugium hangs, but I know from experience (same unit on a larger tank) that having a hood still helps reduce evaporation.

I know that there's also the issue of salt creep on the hood (heck, I get 'mineral creep' from our local water supply in my FW tanks, anyways). I also read that even the clean hood reduces lighting, and the salt makes it worse. Still, I'd be be fine with wiping it down and accepting a slight hit to any corals until I get an RO/DI unit and auto top-off system some time down the line.

So how about it: can I run with a hood, or do I just accept the inevitable, run with a wide-open top and hope I don't go on vacation and my Astrea don't decide to go on walkabout?

Stocking: I'm hoping I can get some "un-cured" live rock and spend a good deal of time watching my reef slowly develop. There's definitely a few interesting corals I'd like to get eventually to start filling it in, but I wouldn't mind holding off and seeing what develops just from live rock in the meantime. I have no specific species that I want to stock (except maybe Sexy Shrimp, because I already love my FW neos), though I expect that'll come with more exposure to various sea critters.

I perused my LFS and was unpleasantly disappointed: buncha really dead "live rock". After some searching, it seems like only a few places have really fresh "un-cured" live rock. A site I liked the look of was premiumaquatics.com. From their description, it sounds like I could get some rocks with all sorts of really nasty hitch-hikers on board (which is, perhaps unwisely, what I'm looking for). Does anyone have experience with them or recommendations of other sources of really fresh live rock?


Well... that's about it. Does it sound like I'm on the right track with this? Again, I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on where I'm trying to take this project.

Edit: Yeah, this totally should have gone into the "New To Hobby" forum. I was originally just going to ask about the hood issue. Oops.

 

[athompson]

You are on the right track i do not know anything about that lighting system so i cant advise on that.

As far as using tap water, i say noooooo. Its not like in fw where we want those other minerals in the tap water. You want to start with 0 tds water. U can buy it in a kiosk at the walmart for like 15 cents a gallon. With a 10 gallon, 1-2 gallon water changes a week is all u will need. I bought the 5 gallon water jugs and a 3 gallon water jug at the kiosk when i bought my water while waiting for my ro di unit. Now thats what i store my water from my unit. Its convenient.

U can use a hood if u so desire although i suggest against it. Just keep a close eye on salinity and ph.

 

[thegrun]

I would recommend you start by reading the stickies at the top of this forum, particularly the "how to set up a salt water tank". A 10 gallon tank is a difficult size to start with. The small amount of water volume allows little room for error. I would think of starting with a 40 -60 gallon tank if possible. You will get better answers if you limit each thread to one or two questions, just start multiple threads if you have several questions.

 

[Centralcampus]

I think you have enough experience with tanks in general to succeed with a small tank. The biggest thing you will need to understand, is that small tanks can be more difficult that larger tanks for someone starting. Remember that every small change you make in the tank is a massive change with that little of water volume.

I wish I knew more about the light that you have so I could help.

 

[Lucubration]

Okay, I'll see what my local Walmart has for reverse osmosis water. Didn't know it was a big market like that. At those kind of rates, it sounds like it shouldn't be a huge expense with a smaller tank (part of the attraction to the size).

I know a smaller tank can be more challenging, but... 15 lbs vs 100 lbs live rock alone is a huge price consideration, much less everything else that goes into a larger system. If I can get my foot in the door and understand what I'm doing with this tank (part of why I just want to grow out live rock and hitchhikers for a while), a step up to a bigger tank should be easy at that point and I'll have a better understand of what I should invest in.

I have read a ton of guides and stickies at this point, and no doubt I'm going to read more. I've started to form my own opinions and pre-conceptions about what should or shouldn't work based on them and some extrapolation. What I'm asking for here isn't a link to a sticky but to hear opinions about specifically what I've decided to do.

For example, the sticky opens with "get aragonite substrate, 1 lb per gallon" and I'm going bare-bottom, so I need to make sure I have an understanding about the implications of doing that and whether it will work okay (easier to clean detritus, allows higher flow, more vertical real-estate, avoid critters that burrow, but will bare rock damage the glass bottom? etc).

Thanks for the replies

 

[thegrun]

As long as you place the rock gently it will not damage the bottom glass. Rock in bare bottom tanks does shift easier since there is no sand pressing against the sides of the rock, so be sure your rockwork is stable. With only a small tank you aren't going to have a tall pile of rocks, but just be aware that it will want to slide and shift. I like to place egg crate down before adding rock in tanks with sand for added stability, but since you are going bare bottom, just be careful.

 

[Tikidude]

I believe this is the stats for your lighting system. I am also VERY new so I can't give any advise, but perhaps seeing this info, someone else may.

Finnex Unibody Ultra Slim High LED +Moonlights
4 Blue LEDs/56 White LEDs
6 total Watts
7000k + Moonlights
Dimensions: 16" Long x 3" Wide x 1" High

 

[barriosman]

+1 on starting with a larger tank. I started my 55 gallon about 18 months ago and it has been a trial and error the entire time. Being my first saltwater tank, I have battled (and continue to battle) nitrates and algae. I am winning, but I don't even want to think about the learning curve on a smaller tank. I would have given up by now, for sure.