10 gallon Nano-reef

[steelhealr]

Sean...whoa....I agree with Parker 313. Go to nano-reef.com before you start out. There is a lot of info to gather up. EG.....there are mention of filters above. Most nano-reefers DON"T USE THEM. They use live rock and massive water movement ( go look up FOWLR in the abbreviation section). Anemones? No way....they can kill your tank if they die. They are extremely sensitive. There are a lot of anemone horror stories there. Reading there first may save you a LOT OF MONEY. Just trying to help....I have a 24G Nano Cube still in the box for a few weeks now just reading up on this (on the other hand, Parker313 dove right in...she has an lfs guru that knows this stuff, I don't). Good luck. SH

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Steelhealr, I know about the filter opinions, and I dont think I will use one, just because of advice from here and Nano-reef. I only said anemones were another thing that could go in a reef tank, I dont think I made a mention of putting one in mine...did I? Thanks everyone whos replied, I feel pretty confident I can do this!
Sean

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Well, this weekend, I bought some Instant Ocean sea salt, some crushed aragonite (30 lbs when I only needed 15, but hey, it never hurts to have some spare stuff on hand), and a powerhead rated for 25 gallon. I will try to order some of the other stuff online, because it was pretty expensive for all this (about $90 ).
Sean

 

[Sean_Buckley]

OK, some new questions. Does my tank need a cleanup crew, algae pack, or sand sifters? Do I need any shrimp, snails or crabs to keep everything clean?
Sean

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Hello? Anyone?
Sean

 

[sammydee]

Yeah you'll need a cleanup crew but you'd better wait til its all cycled and everything.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

I know, it will be a few months. I don't have a decent lighting system yet, don't have a submersible heater or hydrometer either. But, just for future reference, what do you suggest I get?
Sean

 

[sammydee]

Don't know anything about clean up crew at all really. For lighting, it depends utterly on the amount of money you have to spend. Tell me how much money you have to spend on ujust lighting and I'll give you some options.

For a heater, visi-therm are good, and cheap.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Does live rock need much light? Could the organisms and bacteria in it survive under a double incandescent light, and no fish, for a while, about a month?
Sean

 

[parker313]

For the live rock, if you don't have something for it to "process", as in fish waste, the beneficial bacteria will start to die off.

If you have a large enough quantity of LR (1 pound per gallon), your tank will be instantly cycled.

I would not use incandescents if at all possible.

Cleanup crew - in my 10g, I have 6 hermits and 8 snails.

I wouldn't get the LR until you're ready to get started.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

I was only going to use the incandescents temporarily, until I can get a flourescent fixture and some bulbs. So, I should wait until I have a flourescent fixture before I put any live rock or anything in?
Sean

 

[parker313]

Yes, I would. Wait until you're all ready to go with everything before adding the live rock b/c you don't want the bacteria to start to die off from lack of "junk" to process.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

OK, thanks! Hey Parker, do you have a cleanup crew in your tank? Any sandsifters or anything, and how deep is your sandbed? I've been reading your log, but I don't think I saw anything about sand bed depth. If you have a cleanup crew or sandsifters, what do you have?
Sean

 

[parker313]

Cleanup crew - in my 10g, I have 6 hermits and 8 snails.

My sand bed isn't very deep. I just got one 5lb bag of sand and that's it. It's maybe an inch deep. My nassarius snails can bury themselves completely, as can the ceriths.

I lost track of how many hermits I have ) I had 6 (3 red and 3 blue leg) but when I came home from vacation one time, some of them were missing. So, I got 3 replacement blue legs so I *think* I have 6 hermits.

Snails:
1 Astrea
1 Margarita
3 Cerith
3 Nassarius

The cerith and nassarius aren't really algae eaters (the nassarius especially), but spend a good deal of time buried in the sand and keeping it sifted and clean. I *may* add one more astrea or margarita, but I may not.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Thanks! Whats your total watts for the 10-gallon? Or, if its in your log, you can just say so, and I'll search for it.
Sean