Ready to buy! Suggestions?

B

Breeing

New member
Hey everyone! New to the hobby and am looking at starting a lower cost reef.

PLEASE tell me if this will work, or if you can suggest something else!

10 gallon aquarium
Current Orbit LED
Hydor Koralia 240 (or 425?)
Aquaticlife mini skimmer OR/ Coralife biocube Skimmer
Fluval C4 HOB

Arag-Alive fiji pink sand (10lbs)
Live rock (Approx 20lbs)
Instant ocean sea salt
RO water

Is this going to work for basic corals, possible anemone, small cleaner crew and a clown?
Also looking to upgrade to a slightly larger tank in the future when i am able to but looking to keep lighting, pump, skimmer the same.Would it be enough for a 20 as well in the future?
 
Last edited:
Is the cost keeping you from getting the 20 now, or is it like a space issue? The tank itself is likely not the spendy part of this plan.

A ten is awfully hard to keep stable, evaporation and element consumption are hardly diluted at all. That's super important for coral, and you're looking at a coral-centric tank since there are few fish that will thrive in a ten. I wouldn't do a clown
 
Currently space is the issue. I was going to buy the JBJ 12 gallon nano cube, however was unable to find replacement bulbs for that aquarium..

What would you suggest in general, really am just looking for any ideas! I'm okay keeping up with maintenance, would just love something small to start!
 
I love the overflow type system rather than sump, HOB or canister but at the moment am unable to afford one of those tanks... As i said above i did find the JBJ 12 gallon on sale but unable to find replacement bulbs in Canada..
 
I'd caution against the anemone and clown, for the reasons stated by CStrickland. (hard to keep stable). There are lots of nano fish that would do just as well in a tank that size. I'm personally a fan of possum wrasses right now.

If you're going to go for corals, I'd go for Reef Crystals (what I use) instead of IO. More elements etc.

The skimmer should work on up to a 29 gallon, but that would be pushing it. Go with the Hydor 240 for now. If you get a 20 long, I'd get another Hydor 240; a 20 high might be okay with just a single Hydor 240, HOB filter and protein skimmer, it all depends on how you move the water in the tank.
 
I am all for going with a larger tank... i will need to find one and try my best to find a place for it though... Eek.
Okay, so lets say i go with 2x 240's, HOB/ or canister, stick with the same Protein skimmer and light but go with the 20 gallon. Would that work better for growing corals and keeping things more stable, would the light still be enough?

Or is anyone aware where i am able to buy lighting for the JBJ cube in Canada?
 
Well, if your flexible...
If I was starting my first tank today I would absolutely go with:

40 breeder tank
Marsaqua 165w full spectrum light
40# of rock
3x sunsun 524 gph powerheads
1-2 inches of dry (well-rinsed) sand
Spectrapure refurbished 90gpd rodi water filter
Io salt

That's a reef tank right there. In the states it would run you roughly $500, and put you waaay ahead of an all-in-one cube. Then when the bank account topped back up I'd add a hob skimmer and an ato. The filtration is mostly the bacteria that lives in your rocks. If your ambitious, drilling the tank for a sump is a huge upgrade and not hard to do at all.
 
I would love to do that but sadly at the moment max i could do would be a 20 gallon, maybe 25. I just have such little space right now...
Just trying to make this work, as i have stated i am happy with the upkeep but i want to insure what i do will be fair for the inhabitants, so i won't do a clown/anemone if i end up going with the 10 gallon, will consider it for the 20.

My main goal are corals! I find the ecosystem very relaxing to watch and extremely fascinating.
 
I think even a 20 is kind of small for an anemone. Bubble Tip Anemones (the very common, very cheap kind that hosts basically everything) do get quite large. If your goal is corals, then why not try one of these:

An acropora tank with clown gobies instead? You can at least trim the acros. From what I understand, acros just like high lighting, low nutrient tanks, which can couple with clown gobies' tininess. You'd have to be very meticulous when it came to dosing things like calcium, but it seems right up your alley! Note: probably very hard, since they're acroporas. You would need some sort of coral food for the acros. Clown gobies would take small amounts of pellets or PE's Calanus copepods.

Something easier would be an LPS tank. Things like Caulastrea, Acanthastrea, Duncanopsammia, maybe a Scolymia or other central coral. Have a colony of sexy shrimp, as well as a possum wrasse to add some motility. Feed frozen Calanus to all in the tank.

Easiest would be something with softies. Mushroom anemones (I'm slightly addicted to grabbing new variety frags when I go to my LFS), Green star polyps or Sansibia, Xenia, and a central Kenya Tree as centerpiece. Perhaps a single dottyback or damselfish to provide movement. Alternatively, a small colony of nano gobies or blennies. Corals won't need feeding, and will subsist off of fish waste. Fish best fed with frozen Calanus, or eventually pellets.

I highly suggest Scott W. Michael's "101 Best: Nano-Reef Species", as it gives a pretty good description of common reef fish. His "101 Best: Marine Invertebrates" is better for giving descriptions of corals and other invertebrates however.
 
Wait...lower cost reef. Nevermind about the acros. You spend like $45/frag (way too much money). Scoly's are too expensive as well, as would a possum wrasse.

Note: If you're willing to wait, get frags of corals. Some of the corals listed above will be much cheaper as frags, and will grow relatively fast. Fish prices, I'm going off of LiveAquaria's website. Additionally, some stores are VERY nice, and have $5 frags. Always check here when you're at the store. You can find some amazing coral frags here.
ok, new setup ideas:

SPS: Fanworms (not usually that expensive), and Seriatopora, Montipora, and Porites frags. Keep the clown gobies in this setup, since they're still pretty cheap.

LPS: Caulastrea, and Duncans are pretty cheap. Acanthastrea frags are cheap when they're on sale. 3 sexy shrimp, and a firefish.

Softies: Luckily, these are all very, very cheap. Look for those $5 frags I told you about. Xenia, mushroom anemones, GSP are all staples of those frag racks. Keep with a pair of neon gobies.
 
Thank you!!! Your last option sounds exactly what i had in mind, mushrooms, star polyps, etc, exactly what i had in mind, i'm not looking for anything fancy, just the simple basic corals. :)

Haha i wish it were that cheap, where i live a coral frag is $30-50. Which is one more reason i'm thinking a smaller tank. I can't afford more than 20lbs live rock (this will already run me around $150-200. Each fish is around $50, etc.

I am ordering all my equipment online so i am getting good prices there however living creatures i must order through the LPS and yea. Pricey.
 
Pricing aside for critters though.

Equipment wise, 10 gallon. Would what i listed work to grow mushroom, Xenia, etc?

I'm thinking of just going with a cleanup crew in the 10 gallon and a shrimp= no fish.

Would that be impossible to do it this way, or extremely hard to keep up with? 10 gallon with what i listed above just corals and inverts?
 
Honestly? You're probably going a little overboard with the lighting. From what I heard (not experience), mushrooms and other softies will do just fine under a two lamp T5 or T8 fixture (one cool white bulb, one actinic blue bulb). Same goes with current. You're trying to go for "gently waving in the water", not "omghelpmei'monarollercoasterofwaterplshalp". But the corals will do just fine with what you're giving them. Try to get the water to move in a whirlpool like motion (i.e. place the filter on the back left, the protein skimmer on the back right with output facing towards the left, and the pump on the front left facing to the right) to get the most water movement possible.

I don't know if you've got Petco where you live, but they're a good place to get fish relatively cheap if your LFS is charging that much. Frankly, I'm not even sure how to feed corals without fish poo. All the corals are primarily photosynthetic, but they do need to get nitrogen and sulfur from somewhere for their cell structures. Maybe kind of odd, but you could probably ditch the protein skimmer and grab some macroalgae. Macroalgae will sporulate (i.e release algal cells), that copepods or mysis will consume, that the corals will then proceed to eat. The shrimp (I'm assuming a camel, peppermint, cleaner, or fire) will subsist off of a few flakes a day (like...2 the size of your fingernail), and the leftover nutrients will be absorbed by the macroalgae.
 
Okay! Just found a place i am able to buy replacement JBJ lighting! Back to the 12 gallon jbj i go! :)

Keeping to the ideas above for stocking, just with this aquarium and lighting?
 
Yeah, Canada prices are cray. Like they don't even ship dry rock to you guys.
There are a few Canadians around, but I don't think they have a club. If I were you I'd be all over googling for local reefer clubs, check Facebook too, and even posting a thread in general discussion along the lines of "I'm Canadian! Halp!" Also, Craigslist or the equivalent.
It's specific, some local advice can save you a lot of loonies ;)
 
Sadly i have a single petstore in the territory i live and am over 3 days drive away from the next city with a petstore. There are only half dozen people in the whole city which dabble in saltwater, LSP is special order only for Saltwater as well. So used or grabbing from others in the town is out of the option as well. Haha i'm determined to make this work but its not going to be easy- i'm used to that living here though.

Good to know about the lighting, that was my main concern. But going over board for lighting will end me with a massive algae bloom i assume... The JBJ CFL may work better than the LED?
 
Rock/Sand

Rock/Sand

Ok, buy dead sand, or a mix of dead and live sand. If it's just Arag-Alive, just buy regular calcium carbonate sand. Arag-Alive just contains the bacteria used for cycling, which your live rock will have anyways.

For rock, you only need to buy like 5 lbs of live rock. Then buy 10-15 pounds of "dead" rock (rock that's not in the water). Much, much cheaper this way, and you get all the value of 20 lbs of live rock without all the cost. 5 lbs of rock should get you the following if it's good: starter bacteria, a small copepod population, maybe a mysis or amphipod population, and rarely a good coral. Check the pest sticky in this forum in case you get a "cute" anemone or something.
 
Aand since you don't get dead rock nevermind. Going overboard on lighting will only result in a large algae bloom if you have too many nutrients...which you won't have if you keep up with weekly water changes and the minimal feedings your tank will need.

I missed the part about Canada. The US has a lot of stuff available, and since most of the members I see are from the US I just assumed...sorry! As CS said, try the internet? Surely there's an online store that sells things much cheaper.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Old account (probably 15ish years)...can't recall email. Finally getting into it. I would love to hear suggestions. 240g tank...fx6 filters...
Replies
15
Views
2K
Breadman03
Breadman03
P
Debating a return to the salty side of things
Replies
15
Views
1K
PhishMonger84
P
L
Tank reset after 3 years off
Replies
4
Views
791
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
9
Help needed with equipment choice, getting back in to hobby
Replies
16
Views
2K
92reefer
9
B
New Build
Replies
0
Views
570
BSeis2
B
Back
Top