[nikcool]

Hello,

My name is Niki. I have wanted to start a reef aquarium for about six years. My original plan was a 40 gallon bowfront, but that's way too expensive for me. I've been reading about Nano aquariums, and this seems doable.

A few days ago, I got an all glass salt water aquarium kit for my birthday. I'm anxious to get started, because I really want to see what kind of things come out of the live rock I plan to get.

I have a few questions before I start.

1) Protein Skimmer

I've read several sources that have differing opinions. Some say not to use a protein skimmer on a nano because it can take away nutrients, and some say to use one. I really wouldn't be able to afford anything expensive right away, so...

Do I absolutely need one? I plan on doing lots of maintenance.
Are they required while cycling with live rock? I can't find a definite answer on that.

2) Power heads

Do I need two, or one? I read somewhere that it's good to have one on each end of the tank.
Do you recommend a particular power head for a 10 gallon?

3) Filter

I plan on using natural filtration (Live Rock, Live Sand). My kit came with a Whisper filter... can I use it for extra water flow as suggested on one website? If I can't, what should I use it for?

4)Lighting

My hood came with a 15w light. I don't think it's enough, so could I buy a better bulb? I don't know how to convert kelvins to watts, so I don't know how to pick one that has enough wattage for my tank. The hood is a 20 inch hood, with space for one fluorescent tube. I read somewhere that I need at least two lights for a reef, so if I need to get a new hood, I'm considering going FOWLR.

5) Sand first, or live rock first when initially setting up? I see different answers everywhere.

6) Is distilled water O.K.? R/O is a little pricey for me, and I haven't seen any machines that offer it in local grocery stores.

I think that's all for now. Thanks in advance!

[e_baer]

first off, welcome to RB!

1. If you plan on doing a lot of maintinence, you dont NEED a protein skimmer, as long as you dont havea large bioload in your tank. As long as you do the weekly waterchange, you should be fine.

2. I would use a powerhead. perhaps a pwerhead that does about 150-200gph.

3. with the wisper filter, I would take everything out of it and put some cheatomorpha in it and a little light above it. that is only in my opinion though,

4. If you are able to get another light that is the same, get that. then you will have 30 watts, and that should be planty for many corals.

5. Put LR in first, then the sand. If you plan on having natural filtration like you had said, plan on about 4-6 inches of Live sand, and 10-20 lbs of LR.

6. Distilled water is fine.

[msbdiving]

This is a disclaimer of my opinion only.
1) A protein skimmer is not a must have. That being said though, I run one and wouldn't want to do corals without it. You can find fairly cheap nano skimmers on ebay for $20-30. I cycled mine first then put the skimmer on and it seemed fine.

2) I would go with two power heads. You want to turnover the water in the tank 10X minimum. Having two powerheads decreases the chances of having dead spots. You can get Rio's pretty cheap.

3) You should be ok with the whisper. I think it allows a carbon bag to be placed in the filter medium. If so, make sure you change it every few months or it won't suck up toxins any more. Check what powerhead is being used on the filter then you can use one other powerhead for flow.

4) For a ten gallon, I would use power compacts. General rule is 4-5watts per gallon for LPS. Watts is the power of the light, kelvin is the color temperature. 10K is more in tune with daylight whereas 20k is more on the blueish side. The power compact would be the way to go in the case you want fowlr.

5) Rock first, then sand. Reasoning behind this is if you have sand burrowing fish or other animals and you put the sand in first, the will be crushed if the rock shifts.

6) Go RO if there is any way possible. You should be ok with DI though. Your system is small enough that you can get water at the lfs without it costing you enough to get an RO system of your own.

Hope this helps you out some. Good luck, happy reefing.