Hzuiel
New member
Hi everyone
I have two 10 gallon tanks that are right now being used as Platy fry tanks. I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank and my 12 year old bought me a Platy. It was of course prego. In about four more weeks one of the tanks will be empty. I would love to start a small reef tank in it. I have been reading a lot and now am more confused then when I started LOL!! If I use the ten gallon do I just add the wave maker, salt, sand and a skimmer?? One book said I should have a 10gallon sub for a 10 gallon tank too. Then I would also need to change the light because it can't sit ontop of the tank. Oh and will i need a different kind of bulb too for the coral it just has the one it came with. The last thing I'm really confused about is do I need a fan too. If so is it for the water or something else??? Sorry I know newbie questions :spin2:
My Last question for tonight is....... would it make a huge difference if I go up to a twenty gallon in what I would need to get besides what a freashwater tank needs????
THANK YOU so much in advance :mixed:
The large vs small debate boils down to how precise you can be. Most beginners fail at small tanks because they don't do enough research, and aren't precise enough, and slight changes in a smaller system can have big consequences. I wanted to start a 3 gallon. I went to buy a few pounds of live rock from a local guy and he practically begged me to get at least a 10 gallon. I got that, soon realized how limited i was, and got a 20 gallon, and used a 10 gallon for the sump. I still feel pretty choked with that system, because there are so many things you can't do with it.
You need different lighting for coral because they get energy from the light. Most coral has to greater and lesser degrees, symbiotic algae living with in it's body that produces energy via photosynthesis and shares it with the coral. Then the coral itself also feeds on nutrients in the water column, like tiny crustaceans, plankton, and organic debris.
If you want coral, you have to get proper lighting, which is expensive. If you do fish only you only need what light you need to bring out the color of the fish and let them know when it's day and night.
You mix the salt separately because freshly mixed salt water is caustic. Give it 24 hours before adding it to the aquarium.
There are very few wavemakers appropriate for a 10 gallon, that is one of the problems with smaller tanks, you can't create the turbulent water that a lot of coral like with a massive wavemaker that turns over 1000gph+. It will make a 10 gallon tank into a toilet bowl. A hang on filter generally provides an erratic enough current to make coral happy in that small of a tank.
You can use a lot of freshwater items in salt water, just make sure the packaging says "works in marine of freshwater." You can use a hang on filter and re-purpose it to what you need. For instance you can silicone in a few piece of plexiglass to divide up the inside, and pack some algae in there, then fix a tiny bulb in there to help the algae grow, and then have a spot to stuff a bag of filter media if for instance you need to run something like activated carbon. A compartment that grows algae to help filter the water and provide a safe place for organisms to grow is called a refugium. Many people design their sumps to include a refugium, or they have a separate tank that is a refugium that also circulates through the sump.
The problem with having a sump for a 10 gallon, i found, is that the glass is so thin and fragile on a 10 gallon tank, it's difficult to drill, and the pressure put on the tank having any sort of plumbing hanging off of that hole can crack it. It's amazing how much thicker the glass is just going from a 10 gallon to a 20. The only other way to have a sump without drilling the glass is to use a siphon overflow. I haven't used one so i can't tell you if they work well. I've heard some people recommend them and some people bash them.
You don't HAVE to have sand unless you intend to have organisms that like to burrow in sand. If you're doing fish only, and none of them burrow, you don't need sand. Sand does provide a place for some things to grow that will feed the tank, but it apparently can also be a source of nitrates later down the road as it becomes more laden with waste material.
I hope i answered some of your questions, just keep reading, it starts to make sense after a while.
