I was thinking about setting up a 10 gal saltwater tank with some sand and live rock, letting some algaes and whatnot grow. I've never done salt before, and I was just wondering what people would suggest as far as filtration for a small tank like that. How well the hang-on nano skimmers work? I also would appreciate any suggestions on fish or other creatures. I realize that I wouldn't be able to put much in there. Thanks.
10 Gal Saltwater Ideas?
- Thread starter WombatMan
- Start date
I have not done SW yet but have talked about it with many other fish keepers who have as I am also looking into starting one. They all said the larger sized tanks are better to start with as they are more forgiving to water parameter issues than the smaller ones. My first will probably be a 30 to 40 at least. I have seen lots of hang on the back skimmers running in my LFS and the guys their like the HOB stuff over sumps. Again just what I have seen and not tried. But I have seen both sump and HOB systems working well for people. I am going to do a HOB set up such as an AC110 and a hob skimmer myself for the first time round.
cool, cool. I've heard about going larger with SW too, I just thought it would be neat to do one that small.
quick rundown on salt
-larger tanks are much more stable, more water = less changes in water parameters
-don't skimp on lighting. may be the most important part of your setup
-filtration is handled by live rock, live sand, and usually a sump/wet dry/etc.
my former setup:
20L with ac110 & koralia 2 for water movement. 30 lbs live rock and 20 lbs live sand. PC lighting 65W.
filtration is achieved by nitrogen reducing bacteria in the aquarium which makes water movement very important. the most important thing for a small aquarium is to have sufficient LR and water flow.
-larger tanks are much more stable, more water = less changes in water parameters
-don't skimp on lighting. may be the most important part of your setup
-filtration is handled by live rock, live sand, and usually a sump/wet dry/etc.
my former setup:
20L with ac110 & koralia 2 for water movement. 30 lbs live rock and 20 lbs live sand. PC lighting 65W.
filtration is achieved by nitrogen reducing bacteria in the aquarium which makes water movement very important. the most important thing for a small aquarium is to have sufficient LR and water flow.
If you have enough live rock and sand that is fine filtration then just use a hang on skimmer which should work just fine. Dont slack on maintaining though. make sure you keep the salinity stable etc. . . had a 10 gal set up for a while as well as my 56 and maintained it just fine. With the live rock you are really limited on fish selection though. Maybe a couple gobies and or firefish. A smaller clownfish may also work but that is pushing it.
Its always good to start with the largest tank u can even from the start. Its not like freshwater where u can stick endlers in a 5g and call it a day. Theres very few things u can do with a 10g considering on how u will gt good lighting in a tank so small. With liv rock and sand u will basically be left with like 6 gallons to work with. I started with a 29g for saltwater for a clown fsh...yes i have a 4 year, of couse it was a clown fishn. Ive found there was very few i could even put in that so i cant imagine a 10g.
GO MONSTER!
GO MONSTER!
^^^agreed tho, the bigger you can do the MUCH better off you are. Im just saying its not impossible.
I'm on the same boat as you bro. I'm trying to figure everything out right now. So far, I think I'll be using a skilter for filtration/protein skimmer. And an "in-tank" uv pump system.
i would go bigger. but you can do a wet/dry and protein skimmer. live rock and sand. star off with some damsels to start cycling your water. after that you can get away with putting in a pair of clown fish that is about it.