Dreams of Starting 10 g. Micro reef.

Tongue33

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 11, 2006
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www.davescichlids.com
Ok,

I just finished looking at Saul's Microreef..... And I have been wanting to go marine "Salt" from day one. I love my monsters and don't fathom going into anything hard core.

I am also unwilling to drop two 55's to start... Especially since i am under the understanding that a 55 is a really small tank to begin with and less water equals more care...

Though I am right now wanting to keep it SMALL and simple... From Saul's picture and post I am convinced that I have been filled a little bit of BULL...

So..

I have two ten gallons sitting... If I absolutely had to I could make one into a sump.. Remember I want to keep it simple...

So for this can i use a aquaclear mini, and a lee's mini air skimmer? Like the set up I seen "Saul's"

I would want a couple nice pieces of rock..

A nice mushroom.... And something else to fill the tank but not over crowd...

Also I would want a fish or two. I know this is going to be part of the flame me part :) But oh well..

So
10g.

Aqua clear mini filter ?

Lee's mini skimmer?

Live sand how much?

Rock? 10lb? or less?

Fish... Can I have a clown or two and which sp.??

Oh and what else will i need to get this moving? And when do I add what.

Please remember I have read for a while on salt tanks but not much has sunk in , as I really haven't pictured owning one due to cost.. And My budget may not allow even this project after you give me your answers. Plus even though i have read a little I am a complete NOOB when it comes to this area!!!!

Oh and lighting would be the same as Saul's pretty much..I forgot which they were but there were three and they added up to 4.5 watts per g.

Also remember I am a MonsterFishKeeper, and my monsters are my priority, though I can take care of them in my sleep and they are in my living room so they get allot of my attention :)

Please be nice as I really do not want to deal with the CHILDREN on the site and will ask if I am offended, to have the offending posts removed.

Thanks guys !!!
 

hayden

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 24, 2007
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i would say about 12 pounds of rock its a lot less than you think because the weigh it when its still wet. you want around 12-13 pounds of live sand too. the ac will be fine i would get one rated to 30 gallons to keep up the water movement. i think 10 gallons is a little small for any kind of clown but the tank raised are smaller i can remember which speices tho.
 

Twitterbait

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 27, 2007
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Um... Here...
www.xtremeaquatix.com
nope, you are really making it too hard. I have a SPS 10g nano and all i have is an aqua c remora, heater (in the skimmer), 150w MH pendant, and a small seio for water movement.

the corals are growing like weeds. of course i went bare bottom which totally helped.

here is a crappy pic before maintenance.

Aug07%20009.jpg
 

Rakie

Candiru
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2007
650
2
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So Cal
12-15lbs LR
10-12lbs LS
AC filter (Get a big one, use it as a fuge)
1-2 Powerheads.

Or, setup two powerheads pointing towards eachother in a spraybar, great flow. use the AC as a small fuge (Put macro algae in it) with some LR rubble and sand, and one of those tiny clip on lights (They work fine for this)

And i would suggest using the 10g as a sump if only to hold water, the more water volume you have, the easier it is to care for.

And also, a 10g isn't a (Micro reef) its just a nano reef. I've maintained much smaller, and quite a few people keep as small as .75 gallon, and .50 gallon reefs. As i have.

My largest Nano reef was 10 gallons, second largest was 2.5 gallon.


You can easily fit a Clown in there, some types of blenny / goby... The common choice is a Pistol shrimp / yellow watchman goby, they live together in the sand (If you have enough sand for them to dig = 20 lbs or so)


"A mushroom and some other stuff that wont look crowded"

You would be surprised how much you can put in a 10 gallon tank and it looks empty still.

I had over $1000 in livestock on my 10g reef before my mother nuked it by spilling some cleaning solution in it while i was at class.


if you have any questions feel free to PM me, i've been into nano reefs for some time.
 

Tongue33

Feeder Fish
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Feb 11, 2006
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Thanks ! And I am seeing how easy 1000.00 can still NOT fill a 10 g tank!! .. I am still reading and speaking with others. I will hopefully get set up shortly :)
 

Rakie

Candiru
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2007
650
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So Cal
Tongue33;1127733; said:
Thanks ! And I am seeing how easy 1000.00 can still NOT fill a 10 g tank!! .. I am still reading and speaking with others. I will hopefully get set up shortly :)
im very fortunate to live in southern California. The home of all reef collectors.

Only second to Japan. We can get anything, and for a pretty good price as well.
 

Tongue33

Feeder Fish
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Feb 11, 2006
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www.davescichlids.com
WOW Does it!!! K this will be my first salt tank and I am receiving very negative response from local keepers that are almost .... Mad at me for attempting something as small as a 10 g.

Our SW here are of the more Nose up crowd in my opinion.. Though I do speek with a few that are AWESOME period.

Still I have built my canopy to hold my lights.

I bought Slat for 50 g. oceanic.

I bought a new Hydrometer, as my old one I thought was broken when i tried doing a Brackish with regular aquarium salt :shakehead :shakehead :shakehead I thought it was broken then so now even though i know that I was wrong that it probably works... I bought a new one anyway.

I bought the lights I am going to use I'll list them when i get home :)

Well I am on hold at the moment but don't want the ney sayres around the local forum to deter me.. I like salt .. but I LOVE FRESH!! And I really don't want anything big right now..

Thanks for the pics I am stoked !!!
 

yoimb0b

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 18, 2006
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???
10 gallon is just find, im in the midst of my 12 gallon nano reef, and believe me, you can spend a great deal of money and get some nice results with just a 10 gallon tank.
Id almost recomend to go with a 10 gallon at first. Get the hang of corals and how to properly keep them, then go bigger later. Even a 10 gallon reef tank can easily cost you upwards of $600, sometimes $200-300 for the light alone, nevermind corals, mushrooms, live rock, any fish and invertibrates you might want.

Stick with a 10 gallon till you get the hang of it, then move on to a larger tank, and do some SPS and other fun stuff.

Best thing is, with a 10 gallon tank, as long as you have a pump or too for flow, and a decent amount of live rock, you wont need a sump, or a skimmer, or a refugium. You can just add a small aquaclear with some carbon and some pads to filter debris and thats it.

And personally, you can never have to much live rock. For example, i have 22 pounds of picanny live rock in my 12 gallon nano. almost 2 pounds a gallon, but it works wonders for filtration.
 

Rakie

Candiru
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2007
650
2
48
So Cal
A refugium is always good, no matter what size tank... it depends on what you're going for. I've seen full blow 6 gallon SPS reefs with 250w MH's... Some people just prefer smaller display area's. For me, Nano reef's are where its at, anything larger then a 40g breeder just is too big for me, you miss all the great little details. For me, a 29g is almost perfect.

Its really nice to use another 10g or 20g as a fuge, a nice 5" dsb in there with Cheato or w/e macro algae you prefer goes a long way, and it can be lit by a simple 13-18w PC light.
 
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