[emothman]

This will be my first try at this so I will probably need lots of help. Here is my plan.

Lighting -
96 watt pc w/ 50/50 bulbs - 89$
Moon Light - 15$

Filtration -
I am planning on going all natural, so I will need lots of circulation. Any ideas on how to configure powerheads to get a good flow?

Rock
I have a dry piece of live rock from my father's failed attempt which I hope to seed. (I have heard this is will take a long time, and it may never be the same as it was, but it is just a nice well shaped piece of rock.) Along with that rock I am hoping to get various types of rock from several sources. Probably 15 lbs total. And then live sand. I haven't heard great things about Crushed Coral? 80$ or so.

That is the begginning. 205$ to start. I am planning on starting in about 2 weeks, so if I have made any grave mistakes, or anyone has any recommedations let me know. I will post pictures as I go.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

A 96 watt pc is 36 inch'song isnt it? How is that going to fit over a 10 gallon tank?If you put old "live rock" in with new live rock it will reseed.Crushed coral isnt a good plan,all the nasty stuff will filter thru it and settle to the bottom of the tank use live sand very fine like sugar.And see if you can find a hang on back skimmer(I am sure someone can make a good recomendation).And read,read,read, and ask lots of questions.

[msbdiving]

I believe the 96w also comes in a quad tube.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Ahhhhhhh that would explain it.Duh lol

[rlcline76]

Sand is easier to have as substrate, take it from me, my husband did the crushed coral for his tank and I will be cussing everyday this summer while he is deployed. Holds way too much waste and nasty stuff you do not want accumulating in your tank.

What livestock are you looking at?

[emothman]

Will do sand then! Yeah, the 96 is a quad. I spent two hours in the lfs today looking and talking. I am very excited.

I am still thinking about live stock, and have a while before I need to do much. I would be happy with all coral/inverts and no fish, but the average joes just don't appreciate anenomes like they should. I had hoped to try to have a pair of clowns with a host, but the fish store guy says that is too much fish in a 10 gallon. What do you guys think? Only gobies he said. Maybe one clown... In front he had a 16 gallon with a blue tang in it though (small tang).

Circulation. Again the pet store guy said he thought the smallest powerhead was too much for a 10 gallon... do most people just have their filtration system without anything else in nanos?

I will study more about a skimmer. Would a bit of carbon and phosphate remover work?

[emothman]

I was also wondering about a quarantine. Do you have to have it set up like a display tank or can you forgo the expensive lighting and stuff?

[Six-line Wrasse]

1. Two clownfish in a 10 gal. is a bit much. I agree with your LFS.

2. Keeping an anemone may be possible under your 96W but you would need to monitor it very carefully. I would look into bubble tip anemones as they seem to require the least about of lighting. Also, be prepared to regularly feed your anemone bits of krill and mysis shrimp. This can dirty your tank water which could have a negative impact on the rest of your tank, so regular maintenance is required.

3. If you plan to QT corals, then you'll need comparable lighting. If you're planning on just QT'ing fish and invertebrates, well, then you should put some light over it. One fluorescent bulb is fine over a QT tank. You just want to give your QT occupants a day and night cycle.

[emothman]

??? 96W is like 9.6W/gal. That isn't sufficient for an anenome? I thought that was a ton of light for such a small aquarium. Would you recommend MH on a 10? I haven't bought the light yet. I want to be able to keep basically anything I want. Thank you for the help. I have zero experience.

Fish - what is the rule on fish? I have read in several places 1" per 2gal, is that wrong? or is there another reason why two clowns are a bad idea?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I would say one of the limitting factors on the number of fish you can keep is.How well does your equipment keep the water within safe parameters and the level of aggresssion caused by creatures living in close quarters.If you follow the 1 inch per gallon rule you could put 10 1 inch fish in your tank and it would be crowded before they grow at all.So its all back to compatability and equipment.Oh and dont forget a little common sense.So,how many do you want to keep?

[emothman]

I really enjoyed breeding some betas reciently, and was hoping to breed a pair of perc clowns, but if that is too much, it is too much. Read somewhere that protein skimmers give you a larger bio capacity.

Also, does the number of corals, crabs, snails, shrimp, starfish... need to be considered too? Do they play in to the total bio capacity? What are recommendations for the amount of cleaners? My wife wants a fire shrimp, is that ok? questions, questions, questions...

Can you keep a sea horse in a reef tank?

[rlcline76]

Originally Posted by emothman

Will do sand then! Yeah, the 96 is a quad. I spent two hours in the lfs today looking and talking. I am very excited.

I am still thinking about live stock, and have a while before I need to do much. I would be happy with all coral/inverts and no fish, but the average joes just don't appreciate anenomes like they should. I had hoped to try to have a pair of clowns with a host, but the fish store guy says that is too much fish in a 10 gallon. What do you guys think? Only gobies he said. Maybe one clown... In front he had a 16 gallon with a blue tang in it though (small tang).

Circulation. Again the pet store guy said he thought the smallest powerhead was too much for a 10 gallon... do most people just have their filtration system without anything else in nanos?

I will study more about a skimmer. Would a bit of carbon and phosphate remover work?

Don't rule out gobies, they are pretty cool and they generally stay small. I have heard of someone running one of those 1 gallon tanks. So you know he only has one goby and a bunch of crap hanging off the back of his wee little tank!

I have a 10 gallon for QT and I have a powerhead. I use basic filtration with carbon and I just added a little phosguard because one of my tanks is getting too much indirect light and needs a little extra control.

[rlcline76]

Originally Posted by emothman

I really enjoyed breeding some betas reciently, and was hoping to breed a pair of perc clowns, but if that is too much, it is too much. Read somewhere that protein skimmers give you a larger bio capacity.

Also, does the number of corals, crabs, snails, shrimp, starfish... need to be considered too? Do they play in to the total bio capacity? What are recommendations for the amount of cleaners? My wife wants a fire shrimp, is that ok? questions, questions, questions...

Can you keep a sea horse in a reef tank?

I would hold off on a seahorse. I think they are super cool, but they do better living alone without competition for food. They are slow eaters and I hear that they eat a lot.

As far as cleaner crews. I think it is 1 hermit per gallon, or am I wrong. I survive on about 5, plus various snails for whatever is ailing me. I have one brittlestar for one of our 20 gallons. You will find that most stars grow and only a couple are suitable for your tank.

You could probably do well with one shrimp.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Anything alive and eating in your tank is part of the bioload.It seems to me that your current plans have already exceded your tank capacity lol. (I am not making fun of you).I see you moving to a larger tank in two months. And to tell you the truth I think should go bigger now,say something about 30 gallons.Sure its more expensive but there are several good reasons for it. One is water stability,the more water you have the more stable it will be and the easier it will be to keep your captive critters alive.esthetically a 30 gallon will be 5 times as interesting as a 10. I understand that there is a certain amount of immediacy in getting a 10 gallon tank but if its not going to make you happy take a little time to learn whats going on and save up some cash to go bigger.Keep on doing what you are doing right now......ask questions learn ... read.

[Six-line Wrasse]

30 Gal. Long tanks are nice. They're like 36" and you can put some nice lighting over them. Also, it gives you more room to add coral and aquascape. I love my 10 gal. but it also is home to my single goby 'cause he's not the healthiest fish in the world.

Skimmers do increase your likelihood of keeping more fish in a smaller tank, however, it will not remove stress from overcrowding and such. Two clownfish in a 10 gallon just won't have enough room to move about unless they're hosting.

As for the rule of thumb with Wattage to gal. this is a huge misconception. Don't follow this myth.

You could put a 70W MH with supplemental actinics over a 10 Gal. You would have to do the DIY work yourself, but it would be nice. Over a 30 Gal. you could do one 150 and one 70 or two 70's. Both would work.

There are tons of lights out there you can choose from. If you plan to ever keep an anemone I would go with either T5 or MH lighting, and on smaller tanks I would save some cash, if you can, and do DIY lighting.

[emothman]

I have a freshwater 30 long in my front room, and in time will convert it to a saltwater, but can't right now. (Not just because I love the fish in it!) It is good to hear all of this advice. I would make a big mess of it without this help. For now I am going to stick to the 10 even if it just gets converted into a quarantine later.

Originally Posted by NATIVEVAMAN

It seems to me that your current plans have already exceded your tank capacity lol. (I am not making fun of you).I see you moving to a larger tank in two months.

These are more of long time hopes for the tank. I am going to take it slow, and add little by little. It will fill up quick even going slow, but that is okay. If I put something in small that later needs more room then I will have a good excuse to go bigger later! Anyway, I won't be adding a fish for at least two months. So right now I am just asking questions.

[emothman]

I put water in my tank today!!!! I made a blog to show the progress. I posted some pictures on it. Let me know what you guys think.

My 10 Gallon Nano

[emothman]

How deep of a sand bed should I have?

[rlcline76]

Mine is at three inches.

[emothman]

Here is an interesting read I found on sand depth.

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: An Experimental Comparison of Sandbed and Plenum-Based Systems. Part 1: Controlled lab dosing experiments