Ten Gallon Nano Reef Questions

[Wiggles92]

I have decided to give saltwater a try after doing research on marine systems in order to get my dad's 55 gallon marine aquarium in balance. My plan is to do a ten gallon nano reef without a filter or protein skimmer; the system would use live sand and live rock for filtration with 10-15% weekly water changes to help remove waste. I also planned on testing the water on a bi-weekly basis after the system was established to ensure that the water quality was reasonable. I would keep the number of inhabitants to a minimum in order to maintain the system. My goal is to have some soft corals, various invertebrates to serve as scavengers, and a few small fish.

Here's what I was thinking for the system:
Aquarium: Standard 10 gallon aquarium (20" x 10" x 12")
Lighting: 2x Coralife 50/50 Mini Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (10 watts/bulb)
Heater: Whisper Submersible Heater (rated for 5-15 gallons)
Filtration: Natural filtration by way of live rock and live sand
Skimmer: None
Powerhead: Azoo Model 600 Powerhead (158 gph)
Live Rock/Sand:

• 10 lbs. cured live rock (haven't decided on locality yet)
• 5 lbs. cured live sand (best of whatever is available locally)

Invertebrates:

• 5x snail (to be added after cycling is complete)
• 2x hermit crab (to be added after cycling is complete)
• 1x cleaner shrimp (to be added after initial introduction of snails and crabs)
• soft coral (to be added last, after aquarium is established)

Fish:

• A few small fish (haven't decided on the fish or how many, these will be added after the cleaner shrimp but before the coral)

Will this work? I got the idea from this website.

Any advice on what fish and coral to add?

 

[sikoko]

i would do a clown goby, and three damsels

 

[sikoko]

get a small filter of some sort just to get you goin

 

[Wiggles92]

i would do a clown goby, and three damsels

Okay, sounds good. Will they be able to survive with just the natural filtration?

get a small filter of some sort just to get you goin

I want to do this without a filter and having a filter to start then removing it will throw the system out of balance. The current plan is to use just the natural filtration supplied by the live rock and live sand along with a 10-15% water change on a weekly basis.

 

[FLESHY]

I might get a couple very small fish...Damsels are hard to recommend in a 10g tank because of aggression issues.

Also watch out talking about multiple fish in a ten, because, although possible, you will get flamed on this website. (Incredibly hypocritical when you look at what some of these so called "Monsterfishkeepers" are keeping their monsters in.)

If you are going to go filter-less, you are going to want to buy at least one koralia nano for some surface disturbance and h2o flow, other than that I think it possible.
Other than that, I would also limit stocking, and stock very slowly. A little trickle HOB would be nice if for nothing else to have a place to stash some purigen.

Purigen would be great in a system like this, and would help avoid some heartaches, and being new to the hobby, I think the HOB with purigen would be a good call.

When the time for softies come, give me a shout. I do a good softie frag pack that works out to about $7 a frag with shipping, and I have helped many people setup their nano 10g reefs in the same manner.

GL

 

[Wiggles92]

I might get a couple very small fish...Damsels are hard to recommend in a 10g tank because of aggression issues.

Also watch out talking about multiple fish in a ten, because, although possible, you will get flamed on this website. (Incredibly hypocritical when you look at what some of these so called "Monsterfishkeepers" are keeping their monsters in.)

If you are going to go filter-less, you are going to want to buy at least one koralia nano for some surface disturbance and h2o flow, other than that I think it possible.
Other than that, I would also limit stocking, and stock very slowly. A little trickle HOB would be nice if for nothing else to have a place to stash some purigen.

Purigen would be great in a system like this, and would help avoid some heartaches, and being new to the hobby, I think the HOB with purigen would be a good call.

When the time for softies come, give me a shout. I do a good softie frag pack that works out to about $7 a frag with shipping, and I have helped many people setup their nano 10g reefs in the same manner.

GL

Alright, sounds good.

I went with "multiple fish" instead of "single fish" or "pair of fish" in order to see if it was possible. I would prefer to do just a single fish or maybe a pair if that will work out better than more than one or two fish.

Which model of the Hydor Koralia Nano should I get? Can I omit the powerhead that I previously listed if I get this powerhead?

I'll look into a small HOB plus the Purigen for chemical filtration purposes. Will the Purigen remove trace elements and other things necessary that the soft corals need to survive?

How slowly should I stock this system once it has been cycled? Is my plan to add the cleaners first then work my way up to soft corals feasible?

I'll be sure to give you a shout when it comes to getting the soft corals!

 

[nonstophoops]

Alright, sounds good.

I went with "multiple fish" instead of "single fish" or "pair of fish" in order to see if it was possible. I would prefer to do just a single fish or maybe a pair if that will work out better than more than one or two fish.

Which model of the Hydor Koralia Nano should I get? Can I omit the powerhead that I previously listed if I get this powerhead?

I'll look into a small HOB plus the Purigen for chemical filtration purposes. Will the Purigen remove trace elements and other things necessary that the soft corals need to survive?

How slowly should I stock this system once it has been cycled? Is my plan to add the cleaners first then work my way up to soft corals feasible?

I'll be sure to give you a shout when it comes to getting the soft corals!

Your intended setup looks pretty good, just a couple things I would suggest.

I also would not put more than two fish in a tank that small. I agree that damsels would be tough. The clown goby would be a good choice or something similar that doesn't get very big at all.

You could use the powerhead you suggested, but Koralia's are a much better powerhead. They disturb the water in a much wider area than powerheads with the small nozzle for flow. I would suggest getting two Koralia Nano 240's if you are going to forgo the filtration. You may want to even with the filtration because they will create much more random water flow than one powerhead creating linear flow.

I do also think that a small hang on filter would be helpful, though not necessary. With tanks this small it is a little harder to keep the water quality stable without some filtration.

The Purigen is said to minimally impact trace elements. That is coming directly from their site, so any corals you put in the tank should be just fine. The weekly water changes will also replenish anything that would be lost from eating and the filtration.

My recommendation on stocking once cycled would be to add the cleaner crew, then wait 2 weeks. Then add a fish and wait a month to add the other(if you choose to do two fish). The corals won't be as big of a deal as far as spreading out stocking them, though I would wait until at least one fish is in the tank. People may recommend far less time between stocking, but I like to be safe and keep my tanks stable between additions.

 

[Wiggles92]

Your intended setup looks pretty good, just a couple things I would suggest.

I also would not put more than two fish in a tank that small. I agree that damsels would be tough. The clown goby would be a good choice or something similar that doesn't get very big at all.

You could use the powerhead you suggested, but Koralia's are a much better powerhead. They disturb the water in a much wider area than powerheads with the small nozzle for flow. I would suggest getting two Koralia Nano 240's if you are going to forgo the filtration. You may want to even with the filtration because they will create much more random water flow than one powerhead creating linear flow.

I do also think that a small hang on filter would be helpful, though not necessary. With tanks this small it is a little harder to keep the water quality stable without some filtration.

The Purigen is said to minimally impact trace elements. That is coming directly from their site, so any corals you put in the tank should be just fine. The weekly water changes will also replenish anything that would be lost from eating and the filtration.

My recommendation on stocking once cycled would be to add the cleaner crew, then wait 2 weeks. Then add a fish and wait a month to add the other(if you choose to do two fish). The corals won't be as big of a deal as far as spreading out stocking them, though I would wait until at least one fish is in the tank. People may recommend far less time between stocking, but I like to be safe and keep my tanks stable between additions.

I'm going to try to keep the fish stock to a bare minimum; I figure that I'll check out LiveAquaria.com to see what they have in their Nano Fish section and go from there.

I think I'm going to get one of the Koralia Nano 240's and test it out during cycling and then decide from there whether I need another or not.

It looks like I'm going to have to look into a small HOB to hold the Purigen, but that will pretty much be it for extra filtration besides what occurs biologically.

From what I gather, it should take around two or three months to go from initial setup to adding soft corals, right?

 

[nonstophoops]

I'm going to try to keep the fish stock to a bare minimum; I figure that I'll check out LiveAquaria.com to see what they have in their Nano Fish section and go from there.

I think I'm going to get one of the Koralia Nano 240's and test it out during cycling and then decide from there whether I need another or not.

It looks like I'm going to have to look into a small HOB to hold the Purigen, but that will pretty much be it for extra filtration besides what occurs biologically.

From what I gather, it should take around two or three months to go from initial setup to adding soft corals, right?

Sounds like a good plan. Yes, something around that time frame. Possibly shorter if your tank cycles fast. Still, I would be cautious in going too fast.

 

[calpoly12]

I think I'm going to get one of the Koralia Nano 240's and test it out during cycling and then decide from there whether I need another or not.

From what I gather, it should take around two or three months to go from initial setup to adding soft corals, right?

Just added a Koralia 240 to my 8g biocube. Works great. I would doubt that you would need more than one for a ten gallon. As for the corals, it really depends on your tanks cycle. Some go fast others take a bit longer.Whatever you do, don't rush it. Your inhabitants will thank you. Also x2 on what Fleshy said about the damsels. Seen them be very territorial.