Ten Gallon Start

[Scott523]

Ok, Changing my ten gallon into saltwater soon

I was think about Getting an AC110 and taking out the media and making it into a refugium

Also i will get a maxi-jet powerhead for more flow

I am also getting my Lr from Doctors Foster and Smith (16 Lbs)

I dont Know what kind of sand i shall get

thinking about putting LPS and Soft Coral in my tank
Any suggestion For lighting??

And also am confused about what i want as far as stocking
Thank you in advance

 

[brian is cool]

have u ever seen an ac110 they r huge and that is a lot of flow for a ten gallon. for lps u will need a lot of light most likely MH

 

[sir_dudeguy]

I thin you're off to a great start. The ac fuge will be great. Anyways it was for my 55. I just got a scoop of live sand from a local reefer and put it in the bottom of the hob filter and put some rubble and some chaeto in there..worked great.

for the sand...do you mean for the main tank? if so, i'd just get a 15 lb bag of aragonite..theyr'e only 15 lbs (at least at my lfs which is way overpriced on everything else) or you could order it for cheaper prolly. But again, just get a scoop of ls from someone local and put it on top of the aragonite. it will turn it all live eventually.

the live rock is a good solid number, so i dont think you'll have any issues with bioload and filtration.

For lighting, you could do just pc's...maybe a 2x65, or if you want you could do a 1x96 (i lke having more than one bulb tho because you can add actinics...i dont like 50/50's personally)

or you could do one of those 70 watt metal halides..i think that doc foster smith has them...if you want you can then add another small pc light to get actinics. That way, if you dont get like a 20k metal halide bulb, you'll still get that nice blue color instead of the yellowish that just plain 10K's give off (some give off pure white...most dont that i see)

for fish...go to liveaquaria.com and look at their nano fish section. i'm sure you've already been there tho since you've been to doc fostersmith which is the same site basically.

but i would suggest some gobies, maybe a clown pair, firefish, small stuff like that.

hth

mike

 

[sir_dudeguy]

i think that the ac alone would be enough flow...(if those are the ones that are rated to like 500 gph? i cant remember)

and you can adjust the flow on those cant you?

but on the lighting...isnt it SPS that has to have MH lighting? not LPS?

 

[mister crabs]

go with the ac 70

 

[binaryterror]

Yeah, the AC 110 will be splashing water everywhere. Too much flow IMO. Along with the powerhead! it would be chaos. An AC 70 should be enough flow, if not, have a PH on hand. But for LPS you don't need MH. All you need is 65w PC's as stated above. I like a more blue look, so if I were you, I would get a 50/50 bulb, and an actinic. It will give a nice, blueish tint. It will make it look really nice.

But I am a fan of T-5's to PC's. They run really cool (temp), and are super bright. If you have the money, I would definalty get this fixture http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12772&N=2004+113175

If you dont have the money for that, then PC's will be perfectly OK for what yor looking to have as far as corals. Here is a good fixture http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12109&N=2004+113345 And it comes with lunar lights, which come in real handy when you want to view your tank at night!

For stocking, corals and fish wise... I think zoanthids look awesome in nano reefs. Just my opinion though. A brain coral or a Plate coral would look nice on the sand bed. All the rest for "on the rocks" corals, I would do things like Frogspawn, Kenya Tree's, things that wave in the current. Those kind of corals make the tank very nice to watch with the waving motion.

Now for fish stocking. I think clowns always look great in nano's, and are great beginners fish. But they are all so common. I would get a Purple Firefish for sure! They are really active, and colorful. Then, maybe you could get some type of Wrasse. A favorite of mine is the 6 Line Wrasse. It stays pretty small, and are very colorful, and active. Plus they will keep your bristle worms under control!

Let us know if you have any more questions Scott!

 

[brian is cool]

do not buy the lights that andrew sowed u they r too long for ur tank and willhang over the sides and look tacky


and befor u put the sand in put the rock in and think about a BB tank because i am might make my 3 gallon BB because it is a lot cleaner and it is a different look for a tank

 

[sir_dudeguy]

I agree with binary on pretty much everything, exept for the sixline...i've got one in my 55, and i wouldnt suggest putting one in a small tank less than 25 or so...he's REALLY active, and he pics pods off the rocks all day, so i'm assuming they need lots of rock to get pods (more rock generally = more pods..but you've got a fuge on the way too) Also, i realize all fish are different, but my sixline doesnt really touch the bristles...i guess he prefers amphipods, cuz i see him pick those off all the time, but never the worms and iv'e got hundreds of those.

the only other thing i would do a little different from him would be the color of light, but thats mostly just preference...if you get a 2 bulb fixture, i would get 1 10K bulb, and 1 actinic...that would give you more PAR rating or whatever its called than the 50/50 w/another actinic would..because from what i hear on here, the actinic is mostly for color preferences...they dont actually really contribute to the growth of the coral...so that one bulb being only half 10K is gonna take away from the usefull light going into the tank probably.

that being said...i'm a big believer of trying to make it as natural as possible...having light cycles is one way to do it. If you've got actinics (which i love) and you can have them come on about a half hour before the daylight does, it probably helps with the night/day affect for the corals.

Lastly, also love the look of wavy corals...they really add a really nice movement to the tank...so i'd say go for some xenia...others will say dont get it cuz it grows too fast..i look at that as only an added bonus...you can cut it back more often to trade for other corals you dont have, which is what i do.

 

[binaryterror]

That's true about the BB. You could even get Starboard for it and that would make it look really nice. But look around at BB and sand tanks. See which you like better and then we can help you from there.

How long is a 10g BTW?

But about the six line. I know they are pretty skittish, but I never realized they needed a 25g minimum. But with the lighting, sir's set-up might be better because I never thought of PAR. With his lighting scheme, you will be able to have more corals because of the higher PAR that a 10k bulb will give off.

 

[brian is cool]

my 10g sump is 20" i think- i no for a fact that they r less than 24" though

o and xenia r rally cool but eventually they will spead all over ur tank and that can be a pain to get rid of

 

[binaryterror]

Oh, well if it's 20" then you could just a get 70w Viper K2 light. They are MH, and are awesome! They clip onto whatever you want them to hold onto, and with the MH, you will be able to keep clams, SPS, etc. here is a link

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_lighting_metal_halide_jbj_k2_viper_hqi_clamp.asp

They are really cheap for a MH, and you will have so much more light, and a MUCH wider coral range. I would really look into this if you want some of the nicer corals.

 

[brian is cool]

^^^^ya i love that light- i am seriousoly thinking about getting if for my 3g. plus u can make the light go high enough so that it wont heat ur water or hight enough so u can put a fan between it

 

[sir_dudeguy]

o and xenia r rally cool but eventually they will spead all over ur tank and that can be a pain to get rid of

i really dont see why people complain about that so much...all you gotta do is frag off a large piece and trade it to someone, or if they wont trade, just give it to them, or you can take it to the lfs.

I do that once every 2 weeks and its growing very fast. So i just dont see why thats such a big deal to people, but thats just my opinion.

And binary, i dont know for fact that sixlines shouldnt be in less than 25...thats just the least i would put one in. Mine was skittish at first, but now swims w/my clowns lol, but he's just really active (actually i think its a she...but ya)

if you can pull that 70w mh that i suggested earlier and so did others just now, then go for that. It will allow for pretty much anything

 

[GobyJohnKenobi]

I have the 20" Current Orbit on my 15 High - 80 watts of PCs.
There is also a version with a 96 watt Quad that is well liked.
I chose the dual bulb so I could have dusk/dawn with only the actinics. To me, it was worth the loss of 16 watts of light, and the quad bulbs kind of concerned me with possibly being a bit more fragile- just my personal concern there.
Also, the 20" does have 2 lunar lights, but all of the descriptions that I saw only listed 1 lunar light. It was a nice surprise.

The light runs very cool; and I can hear the sound of the air being pulled thru it, but not the fans themselves. If it bothers you, it would be fairly easy to fit a fan dust filter over the air intake to silence the noise. I don't mind it.

I'm glad I spent the extra money and got the Orbit rather than the Satellite. My shrooms, zoos, buttons and trumpets are growing and splitting just fine under it. It doesn't seem to matter where I place them in the tank- high or low.

BTW- the light survived having water splashing down on it when the apartment above me flooded without a hitch... after drip drying over night, of course. lol

 

[Scott523]

yes my 10 Gallon is 20 inches

I really like the MH from Marine Depot, I think that will be the one I get

What is a BB tank??? Never heard of that before

Also as for stocking I was think a pair of clown and a purple firefish

Does this sound alright?

 

[binaryterror]

BB is bare bottom. It is when you have no sand. You just have glass or starboard (cutting board) on the bottom instead. But the stocking will nice. Good color, etc.

As far as the light, as long as you have the money, definatly get it. You can have clams, and SPS that way. But make sure it is high enough that it wont cook your tank!

And Brian, I am going tog et that Viper K2 for my 8" cube whenever that is... but I am going to replace thr bulb with a 20k rather than the stock 14k.

Good luck!

 

[Scott523]

Ok so i will get the MH
but i think I am going to do sand not bare-bottom

Would you suggest getting y fish from Aquatic tech or liveaquaria

And should i get the Ac 110 or the Ac 70

Thank you

 

[binaryterror]

You should definalty get the AC 70. Even the 70 is big for a 10g. But will work. And I would get the fish you can from Aquatic Tech so you can see them. Plus you wont have to pay for shipping.

But you need to make sure to cycles, and all that to your tank. I have a whole bunch of books if you want to borrow them. Or better, borrow Nathens Marine Aquarist book my Bob M. Fenner.

Let us know!

 

[brian is cool]

ya u wont be putting fish in there for around a month that new water has to cycle
the AC70 sould be good but if it is too much flow u can always turn it down
and scott i am going to finish my tank first so look at mine and see if u like BB better thank sand
and deff. but from aqua tech first because u will buy cheap fish first and it will be just overall best way to go

 

[sir_dudeguy]

ya u wont be putting fish in there for around a month that new water has to cycle

not nessesarilly...you say you're getting 16 lbs of live rock, correct? is that gonna be cured live rock? if its cured rock, you probably wont see any cycle (if you do it would just be a minior spike) in which case when everything is 0 you can slowly start adding. By all means do NOT put anything in till its completely cycled...but i dont think it would take a month for a tank to cycle specially if you get cured rock...more like 2 weeks maybe imo.

and also...i may be wrong, but its not actually the water thats cycling is it? Its the bacteria thats on the rock and live sand (if you have ls) that "cycles". The bacteria isnt actually in the water i dont believe, but just breaks down the stuff in the water (amonia into nitrites, and nitrites to nitrates).
So by getting uncured rock, you're basically getting "un-cycled" rock...and cured rock would be "cycled"

I personally would use sand, especially if this is going to be a display type tank that you wanna show off...i just dont like the look of plain bare bottom tanks. To me, the sand gives a much more natural look to the tank. And if you go bare bottom, you seem to notice crud layin on the ground more than if theres sand there. But on the other side, theres a couple problems that can come from sand, but imo they're not enough to make me wanna change to BB