Ten gallon nano reef, W/ pics

[andrewprime1]

Hey guys, I am Andrew, and for the last few months I have worked at my local ISF. I mainly deal with freshwater because I really don't know a lot about salt yet, but I wanted to learn, so I started out a 10 gallon nano reef tank about a month ago. here are some pics.
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i have a small colony of Zoos, and a tiny frag of pulsing Zenia, that I got 2 days ago. As far as test results go, my tank is cycled, and everything is happy.
I have a CUC of 4 hermits and 4 snails.

So what do you guys think? 14 pounds of live rock, 10 pounds Florida crushed coral, and I have some live rock in my hang on back filter, I am trying a mini sump/fuge thing.

^ Tips and Suggestions please, thanks in advance ^

 

[ProHaloSniper]

Tip:

Take your time. A month might not be long enough for fish. Your levels could spike at any time due to the smaller tank size. You have a greater chance of trates/trites/ammo problems on a small tank. Make sure your are filtering very, very well, even before you add fish!

--Jim C.

 

[Shooter7]

Stock lightly - one or, at most, 2 small fish.

Really watch evap and temp.

I have had my 10g for about 3 1/2 years now and by far and away the most important thing I've found with keeping it in good shape is doing weekly water changes of about 3 gals. Mine is suffering right now because I haven't kept up. Been spending more time on my 120g.

 

[andrewprime1]

Yeah, I have been doing water changes every week for two weeks now, and I am going to keep it up. I don't plan on adding any fish for a while and when I do, I would probably only be one tops. I am thinking more corals and a few inverts. Do you think my sump like filter is going to be good enough filtration, and also, do you think adding super hardy softies is ok? I'll get some water params up as soon as I can.

 

[Tremolo]

you may want to consider pulling out the crushed coral and add live sand. Live sand will act as bio filtration. Also make sure you have the proper lighting for the corals you want to keep.

 

[weaselslucks]

i agree with the crushed coral it would be better if you had sand. try http://www.melevsreef.com/index.html

 

[andrewprime1]

Yes I have th proper lighting for soft corals. Wouldn't the live sand get sucked into my Filter's water pump? It isn't a real hang on back sump, its a aqua clear with LR and cheato + a light.

 

[sharko88]

Nice pics. You WILL get addicted to the salt setup and freshwater fish (even discus) will look boring to you.

 

[seapug]

I've had a little 10 gallon like that set up and running for the past year. It's nothing fancy but it's doing great with nothing more than 1 gallon weekly water changes and daily topoffs. If you just let those little tanks run long enough they become very stable and easy to maintain with light stocking.

 

[Shooter7]

When I last re-did my 10g - these tanks are really cool because they're not hard or expensive to redo if you don't like how things are going in them - I decided to try my own homemade closed loop kinda thing for flow to get the powerhead out of there, along with MH lighting. This is how it looked right after I set it up.

 

[andrewprime1]

That setup looks sweet, I wish I had MH

I have a few more questions...
Why does my zoo want SO MUCH water flow, its right under the return for my filter, and my power head is pointed right at it, I don't get it, anywhere else and it wont even open??

What supplements should I add, and why? Right now I am adding bi-weekly doses of Reef Builder. I have heard a lot about Kalk, but dont really know what it is, does it Ca, Mg?

 

[andrewprime1]

also,
I fragged out a zenia from work and brought a frag home. I had it rubber banded to a small piece of LR but its "stem" broke off and I had to put it under the LR with a little bit of it hanging out. Now its all out to one side and looking really good, fully extended, and I want to move the rock to see if its stuck, but if it isn't I dont want to go through the whole process again, its been under the rock for about 4 days.

 

[ljosh]

Kalk does Cal and alk.


You should be testing for calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. Add if needed.

 

[andrewprime1]

So would you say that Kalk is the best one to add? also,

Why does my zoo want SO MUCH water flow, its right under the return for my filter, and my power head is pointed right at it, I don't get it, anywhere else and it wont even open??

 

[Porkreefer]

nice setup. lookin good

 

[Swanwillow]

in a ten gallon, it won't matter if its sand or not, you can't get a bio-filter out of a half inch sandbed.

but, if you DID go with sand, turn off your pumps, and fill the bag (with sand) with water. put the bag (yes, the bag) in the tank, and lay it on the floor of the tank. slowly slide the sand out, it'll reduce the sandstorm-not by much though. Let it settle for a little while before turning back on the filter.