A Nano 10g Tank Possible In A Dorm Room?

[altinure]

Hello everyone,

I've always loved marine tanks, and I'd really like to start one for my dorm room, as I saw someone else in the building who has one.

My main concern is, would it be stressful for the fish/live rocks to have to transport it home twice a year? Is there any tips on transporting it? I'd assume I'd have to remove at least half the water when doing so I'm actually able to carry it. Can these things survive for a three hour drive without being heated? Are water changes even allowed in marine tanks?

My mother will most likely be able to help me a lot with this. She's a small animal vet, and she worked in a fish store for seven years, so she's fairly knowledgeable. I'd really like to convince her in helping me purchase all the required materials for it, haha.

Thanks. I really hope this would be something I could do. I don't want to wait 2 years + for a marine tank, haha.

 

[Chac]

Hi there

IMO 10g aint great as a starter tank, but have a look at this post : - One Thing I've Never Been Clear On - Filters
Plus questions posted by Ethos- he is currently stting up a 10g (ish)

Your livestock would be ok to transport for 3 hours but I would try to make it as comfortable as possible ie. Livestock bagged & well packed in Polystrene box's so they dont rattle about

Water changes are an important factor in a healthy reef system & need to be done IMO about every 2 - 3 weeks to replace lost trace element & removing a percentage of toxins from the tank

The most important factor IMO is reasearch, a lot of reading is needed before buying anylivestock, knowing the process isnt the same as understanding the process, Have a look at the pinned posts in this section & get a hold of some Marine books & if possible have a look at the tank you say is in the same dorm/building & see if the owner can offer any tips

Also read as many posts on here as poss & ask loads of questions

 

[altinure]

Thanks.

Do you know if I'd have to do anything to transport liverock? Do you need to just keep them moist, or do you need to keep them fully submurged and in warm water?

One thing the girl who has a marine tank doesn't have is live rock. Is that a bad idea? I doubt I would want to have a <i>ton</i> of liverock since I'd be transporting the tank two times a year, but I'm sure I'd have a couple pounds. Is this a bad idea? Should all the tanks be stocked up the top with live rocks?

I plan on doing lots of research. I won't even start buying the stuff until I go home for winter break this year, and then I'd start setting it up in January.

Thanks.

 

[Chac]

Live Rock is generally transported in Polystyrene box's and and individually wrapped in wet papers (tank water soaked), I would defo to keep your LR as wet as possible, as if if it is out of water ofr to long there will be die off & this will cause Ammonia when reintroduced to the tank, if there isnt going to be a lot of LR then I would try to transport it submerged in tank water


IMO I personally wouldnt have a Salt tank without Liverock, it is the easiest & most natural filtration there is (& easiest IMO) way of running a salt tank, It isnt the only way, you can use internal/external Filter with bio filter media, but this needs to be cleaned out at regualr intervals & replaced, also your livestock will need some sort of Rock & you will only need about 5kg of Live Rock so why not use Live Rock

 

[parker313]

It can be done, but to be honest, it is not going to be the best conditions. You would be much better served to wait a few years til you can set up the tank where you can keep it in one spot.

In a 10g, you *need* the full 10-15lbs of liverock for your filtration. The water volume in a 10g is so small that any fluctuation can mean death for everything in your tank b/c it's such a small body of water. The LR is crucial in helping maintain the right balance since it is going to be your main source of biological filtration.

Moving it twice a year for just 3hrs isn't likely to cause major problems, but it's still not a risk I'd really want to take.

There are lots of FW setups that you can do in a 10g that would be much more dorm/moving friendly. I would hold off on the cost/expense of the SW tank til you can provide it with a more stable environment.

 

[altinure]

It can be done, but to be honest, it is not going to be the best conditions. You would be much better served to wait a few years til you can set up the tank where you can keep it in one spot.

In a 10g, you *need* the full 10-15lbs of liverock for your filtration. The water volume in a 10g is so small that any fluctuation can mean death for everything in your tank b/c it's such a small body of water. The LR is crucial in helping maintain the right balance since it is going to be your main source of biological filtration.

Moving it twice a year for just 3hrs isn't likely to cause major problems, but it's still not a risk I'd really want to take.

There are lots of FW setups that you can do in a 10g that would be much more dorm/moving friendly. I would hold off on the cost/expense of the SW tank til you can provide it with a more stable environment.

Yeah, I know, but freshwater fish I just find really boring.

I talked to my parents about this. They said that over winter break they'd help me get everything I need for one. My mom told me I'd most likely get really stressed out trying to set up a 10g since they require so much work, but she told me if I couldn't get the tank to cycle or whatever, that she'd be willing to keep it at home. She said she has actually been wanting to get a salt water tank. I guess my parents recently were looking at getting a 100g tank like we used to have 15 years ago, but they determined it was too expensive for us right now.

I guess I'll get 10lbs of live rock, since it sounds like it's recommended. Maybe I'll buy something like a styrofome minnow bucket (if you know what I'm talking about) to transport the liverock in. Would something like this be good for that? The main thing I'm concerned about transfering it in the tank is that the glass would break or something.

I have another question. Since I'm in a dorm room, I can't really buy an RO filter for the faucet. Are there relatively cheap ones that I can get that will actually distill the water in the tank, or am I going to need to buy 10 gallons of distilled water at the grocery store? Haha.

Thanks a bunch guys. I know I have a lot of research to do, haha.

 

[parker313]

Your best bet for water for a 10g, especially in your situation would be to just get it pre-mixed from the lfs. I can get RO water for $.50 a gallon or pre-mixed SW for $1.00. Once a week, I get one gallon of FW and 2 gallons of SW. The FW is for top offs and the SW is for the water changes. It's MUCH more cost effective for me than getting a whole RO unit. If my tank were any bigger, I'd get all RO and just mix my own SW or even my own RO unit, but for now this is working out great.

 

[Opcn]

does your uni have a chem department? You can get Distilled water from them in all probability. I have a ten gallon SW tank in my dorm, and there is one accross campus (nanocube 12DX)

 

[altinure]

Yeah, I'm actually a chemistry major, haha. It did cross my mind to just take water from the faucets considering there are probably like 400 RO faucets in the chem building, but I'd feel bad doing that. I'd also feel wierd asking one of my professors for permission, haha.

 

[steelhealr]

Hi...I agree. The chem department or even the bio department may be more than willing to cough up a meager 1 gallon of distilled or RO water. My only advice is...unless you know how they are making it, you may want to take a sample of the water to your local lfs and have it fully tested. Of concern...copper from copper pipes and phosphates.

Many students keep small marines/nano's in their dorm room. If you could find someone to care for it over a break....an RA or MA who is staying thru, that would be OK. Keeping it simple might have to be a sacrifice, ie, minimize your investment in corals to save on losses. If you lowered the water level and kept your car warm for the trip, it could work, but..it would NOT be easy.

You could consider a pico reef which would be easier to transport if you secured the LR on setup, but, if you think keeping a nano up and running without problems is tough, a pico will REALLY bring a tear to your eye. SH

 

[altinure]

Yeah, I'm actually an RA as well, but I live three hours from campus. I may just stay on campus though, once I get it.

I've decided I'm just going to get two or three large pieces of live rock, and when I take the aquarium apart to take it home, I'll just siphon the water into a minnow bucket, and put them in there and take them home in that.

As for the RO water, everytime I go grocery shopping, I'll probably just buy a few gallons of RO water for water changes and top offs. It's only 50 cents per gallon, so not really a big deal with a 10 gallon.

 

[steelhealr]

Sounds like you are coming up with a plan. You could go FOWLR, fish only with live rock for now. That way if you HAD to transport, you wouldn't have to tear apart a beautifully aquascaped reef design. If it's a go, time to start researching your equipment. Good luck. SH

 

[Scott MacAdam]

This is scary..... I'm trying to do the same thing, only I'm an RA as well, and I live about 2.5 hours away from home... if you get a solid set-up for that 10gallon, tell me because I'm also setting up a 10gallon in my dorm. I'd be curious where and how you set up the live rock and how you stock it

 

[Truck]

This is scary..... I'm trying to do the same thing, only I'm an RA as well, and I live about 2.5 hours away from home... if you get a solid set-up for that 10gallon, tell me because I'm also setting up a 10gallon in my dorm. I'd be curious where and how you set up the live rock and how you stock it

topic 3.5 years old mate

 

[scott133]