setup

[tirtguyll]

can someone please run me through the step by step process for setting up a 10 gallon tank for a n. wenneral. just say what you reccomend, and whatnot. thanks in advance.

 

[majestic sea life]

i have a 10gal with a mantis hear is what i have.

1 10gal tank.

1 25watt heater for now.

1 penguin 125 filter.

1 sea clear power head 20, 25, or 30 forgot.

argonight 15lbs bag.

7lbs LR.

and the lights it came with going to upgrade for corals.

and small cleanup crew.


$79.00 it came out to be for me hope this helps.


~Brian

 

[tirtguyll]

is your 10 gallon acrylic? does it need to be?
and does normal play sand work as a substrate/what should i use?

what animals are in your cleanup crew? thanks.

 

[majestic sea life]

a N.wenn cant break glass so a 10gal glass is fine most ppl keep N.wenns in 5.5gal for life or 2.5. playsand is ok but i like argonight better.

~Brian

 

[tirtguyll]

are the smaller (5.5+2.5) aquariums acrylic? i dont want broken glass.

so my shopping list is:
1)wennerae, mantis shrimp.
2)some kind of aquaclear hob filter
3)some kind of substrate. maby argonight
4)submersable heater i'll stick in the filter
5)rock for it to make cavities in.
6)regular plant/aquarium flourescent light (do i even need it?)
7)a 2.5-10 gallon GLASS aquarium
8)is there anything els i need?

 

[majestic sea life]

a penguin filter is good. maybe a penguin 125 is great for a 10gal

argonight its great

10gal is good then u can put corals

any light u want u dont even need it but if u want corals yeah.

live rock

and i think i got it all lol.

~Brian

 

[tirtguyll]

now all i need is where to find it. that would suck if i set it all up, cycled it, and didnt have enough dogh to buy one.

 

[majestic sea life]

i got it all at petmarts petco may have it all it cost less then 100.00 but i got the rock out of my 55 lol.

~Brian

 

[jchough79]

Tirt I also plan on making a manyis tank also and I'm not purchasing live rock all at once. This will be a little bit harder in the beginning but if I watch my water conditions and keep up with the water changes I should not have a problem.

I'm going to buy non live rock and non live sand for a fraction of the price. I will seed the sand from LS out of my current tank and seed the rocks by taking a nice algae covered rock out of my current tank and smashing up and pour it over the dead rock. Overr time it will look just as nice as LR. Now the problem with this is you don't have the biological filter of live rock for quite some time hence staying on top of your water changes. The other problem is the length it will take of the cycle. I can prob. add about 1 to 1 1/2 months cycle time. If you can afford to shell out the $75-$100 for live rock and sand then go for it. Just giving you an idea on saving a bit of money.

 

[tirtguyll]

im talking about the mantis shrimp(n. wennerae)

any suggestiones? would a store like petco/petsmart have em? or a specilized fish store?

 

[jchough79]

I would say no to the chains. Try your local LFS, I also know you can get on the wish list at saltwaterfish.com for one. I would call your LFS in the state and check around I know my LFS can special order me one when I'm done with my cycle.

 

[tirtguyll]

sorry jchough79. i posted and yours appeared before mine. thanks for the suggestiones. i, unfourtonletly dont have anything to seed the rock from and will only have live sand. i will have non-live rock, and live sand.
could i add a fish to speed up cycle time? it will take a while with just, 1 gal of sand w/ a good colony, and the rest dry bagged. right?

 

[jchough79]

I would add hermit crabs to speed it up because you know you will have an algae bloom and blue legs can help a little with cleaning it and they are alot cheaper then fish. The other good thing about the hermits is when the tank cycles and you add your mantis he has a friend . Over time you rock will become live but it will take some time for it to do this. Even if you can get the smallest piece of LR it will help out with your dead rock. Everything will take time but if you let your tank cycle and stay on top of your water changes you should be fine.

 

[tirtguyll]

thanks. are hermit crabs and blue legs the same thing?

 

[jchough79]

There is a few different kinds of hermits red legs blue legs and I'm not sure of the others without looking them up. Blue legs go for the algea if I were you I would add 4-5 of them until the tank cycles, then get 3-4 of the large mexican turbo snails. These guys do wonders with the diatom bloom or at least they did with my tank and they continue to keep it clean. Once you get your mantis expect your blue legs to quickly dissapear but depending on how large your mantis is your snails might hang around for awhile. Look at the Invert section at www.liveaquaria.com under "CRABS" and "SNAILS" to get a better idea of what I'm talking about.