Starting Up A Ten Gal

[...lost]

hey everyone im very new to this and im just looking for some direction with starting a ten gal. just wanted to get some opinons on equitment and what not. what has worked best for you? my goal is just a few fish and some like rock. like rock grows things out of it right, like mushrooms and other weird things? im also debating getting a 20 high tank too, but have an empty ten so thats what it is for right now! big thankyou in advanced to anyone who can help me out and gimme some pointers.
EDIT: i do have a 29 FW tank live plants and all that so im not completly ...lost haha

 

[Mr Miagi]

Live rock will be the source of your filtration. Id go 6+ kgs, but I guess that could be considered light (having brain fade, dam imperial/metric! ).

You'll want a heater, powerhead equivalent to 20x tank turnover per hour, Aragonite/crushed coral for substrate (size depending on your personal preference), test kits, RO water, salt water of course ( ), and lighting.

If your just interested in LPS/softies, id recommend you buy a small compact fluorescent fixture, either multiple T8 or T5 globes, T5 is probably going to give you your best stocking options later when your tank is ready for coral.

As for whats on LR, you only have toi read a few threads that occur hear often that you'll never know what your gonna get. Lucky dip I guess. Ive got Limpets, Bivalves, Sponges, Worms, Coralline, Macro, Polyps, etc etc. the list goes on. If yo get top quality LR you might get some morphs, but probably only if your lucky!

The additional facts written in the "stickies" at the top of the nano forum should help you, as your 10g will be considered Nano!

 

[blabadie]

Hey,

I am doing the same thing you are right now. What kind of equipment do you already have?

Here are some things that I have found that work well:

The first thing you should do is get on some sites like about.com (type in Saltwater Aquarium in the search bar at about.com) and look at their 10 easy steps. It gives you some great starting points.

I would make sure your tank is cleaned out (use some vinegar) and then start finding a place to put it, set it up, and put your substrate down. Fill it up half way and let it run a day (great way to check for problems and not have a whole ten gallon gush onto your floor). Add your live rock and, mix your salt into the water. At around day 15, you can add a clean-up crew. Maybe a damsel to get the tank ready faster.


hopefully that will give you a good start.

- b/lab -

 

[Mr Miagi]

Add your live rock and, mix your salt into the water.

Just clarification, make sure your water is already up to specs (ie. temp and salinity) before adding LR. Newly mixed salt water can be corrosive and dangerous. Before doing water changes with synthetic salts, its best to leave the water in a food safe container for a few days, heated and mixed with an air stone. Same goes for adding stock. Even LR. You dont want to be adding it to newly mixed saltwater if you can help it.

 

[afmo]

I too just recently started a 10 gallon, so i'll go ahead and give you what i've got, and its working great and you can go from there.

1 90 GPH powerhead
1 100 GPH HOB filter with media removed (if you have a HOB filter, definately remove the filter media, i spent days wondering where my high nitrates were coming from, basically the only thing holding up my cycle, the nitrates never would come down. I removed the filter media, and water has been stable ever since.)
i personally used Live Sand, but its not necessary
approx 12 pounds of LR
75W heater with adjustable temp (be wary on adjustable temp thermometers. I found out the hard way that due to the amount of flow in your tank, they can register false readings and leave the heater on too long. one morning i woke up and my tank which was set for 79F was at 86F ! )
after that i went and got a digital thermometer that beeps when you get to a certain temperature, very helpful
18" coralife 50/50 flourescent light bulb 15W (going to replace this, but it works fine for now)

like rock grows things out of it right, like mushrooms and other weird things?

The best i've ever gotten out of a piece of LR is lots of pretty corraline and a starfish. As far as mushrooms and the like, the ones you are thinking of are probably soft corals, which even though you said you want a FOWLR, once you get hooked, you'll want to go reef!

My best piece of advice though (and its posted everywhere) is dont rush your tank. I'm lucky i have a knowledgable staff at my LFS (Local fish store). after my 2nd week, i was wanting to add all sorts of things to my tank, and come to find out, it hadnt completely cycled yet, my lfs was able to keep me from disaster (and a pocket book hit!). Definately spend some time getting to know the employees at your LFS (preferrably one that deals only in fish, not a petco etc) and let them know what you are doing, they can really be your local "guide" and help you out if you communicate exactly what you want to do.

One thing i'm noticing that i have to deal with regularly with my 10 gallon is water fluctuations. a tank so small loses a lot of water, especially with lighting and if you are running a heater in the house.

Hope that helps! just what i've gathered from my short time with my 10 gal. Its really not as daunting as i thought it would be. It just requires dilligence, patience, and a little time! good luck!

 

[...lost]

Hey,

I am doing the same thing you are right now. What kind of equipment do you already have?

Here are some things that I have found that work well:

The first thing you should do is get on some sites like about.com (type in Saltwater Aquarium in the search bar at about.com) and look at their 10 easy steps. It gives you some great starting points.

I would make sure your tank is cleaned out (use some vinegar) and then start finding a place to put it, set it up, and put your substrate down. Fill it up half way and let it run a day (great way to check for problems and not have a whole ten gallon gush onto your floor). Add your live rock and, mix your salt into the water. At around day 15, you can add a clean-up crew. Maybe a damsel to get the tank ready faster.


hopefully that will give you a good start.

- b/lab -

thanks for thse steps! and as far as equitment goes i dont have anyyet... what kind of filter are you using for your set up?
and thanks to mr. miagi i thought i read that in the faq or one of the stickies, was a little confused with above post but you cleared it up!

 

[...lost]

I too just recently started a 10 gallon, so i'll go ahead and give you what i've got, and its working great and you can go from there.

1 90 GPH powerhead
1 100 GPH HOB filter with media removed (if you have a HOB filter, definately remove the filter media, i spent days wondering where my high nitrates were coming from, basically the only thing holding up my cycle, the nitrates never would come down. I removed the filter media, and water has been stable ever since.)
i personally used Live Sand, but its not necessary
approx 12 pounds of LR
75W heater with adjustable temp (be wary on adjustable temp thermometers. I found out the hard way that due to the amount of flow in your tank, they can register false readings and leave the heater on too long. one morning i woke up and my tank which was set for 79F was at 86F ! )
after that i went and got a digital thermometer that beeps when you get to a certain temperature, very helpful
18" coralife 50/50 flourescent light bulb 15W (going to replace this, but it works fine for now)

like rock grows things out of it right, like mushrooms and other weird things?

The best i've ever gotten out of a piece of LR is lots of pretty corraline and a starfish. As far as mushrooms and the like, the ones you are thinking of are probably soft corals, which even though you said you want a FOWLR, once you get hooked, you'll want to go reef!

My best piece of advice though (and its posted everywhere) is dont rush your tank. I'm lucky i have a knowledgable staff at my LFS (Local fish store). after my 2nd week, i was wanting to add all sorts of things to my tank, and come to find out, it hadnt completely cycled yet, my lfs was able to keep me from disaster (and a pocket book hit!). Definately spend some time getting to know the employees at your LFS (preferrably one that deals only in fish, not a petco etc) and let them know what you are doing, they can really be your local "guide" and help you out if you communicate exactly what you want to do.

One thing i'm noticing that i have to deal with regularly with my 10 gallon is water fluctuations. a tank so small loses a lot of water, especially with lighting and if you are running a heater in the house.

Hope that helps! just what i've gathered from my short time with my 10 gal. Its really not as daunting as i thought it would be. It just requires dilligence, patience, and a little time! good luck!

wow thank you so much you gave me allot of info i was looking for opinons on from what other people are using. today i was prolly going to pick up the live sand . and you cleared the power head up for me cause someone told me to use 120GPH and that seemed like a little much! and as for taking the media out of your filter, what did u replace it with if anything? would you happen to have some pictures? and my girlfriend works a rms aquaculter, she doesnt know a whole lot about SW yet. shes only worked there a few months and the guy the was a SW guru just left for another job so im starting to talk to a few other of her co workers! thanks again for all the great help everyone! and i was thinking about getting a fluva filter but dont know if they make HOB style filters yet, ive only seen canister but have heard great things! can anyone comfirm this!

 

[steelhealr]

Almost all your answers are right here, would ya believe it?

 

[...lost]

Almost all your answers are right here, would ya believe it?

thank you, and i read all that before i posted. pretty much i am still unclear about things, im also looking for more opionated answers on what is working well for others!

 

[afmo]

wow thank you so much you gave me allot of info i was looking for opinons on from what other people are using. today i was prolly going to pick up the live sand . and you cleared the power head up for me cause someone told me to use 120GPH and that seemed like a little much! and as for taking the media out of your filter, what did u replace it with if anything? would you happen to have some pictures? and my girlfriend works a rms aquaculter, she doesnt know a whole lot about SW yet. shes only worked there a few months and the guy the was a SW guru just left for another job so im starting to talk to a few other of her co workers! thanks again for all the great help everyone! good.gif and i was thinking about getting a fluva filter but dont know if they make HOB style filters yet, ive only seen canister but have heard great things! can anyone comfirm this!

When i took out the filter media of the HOB filter, i put a little bit of Live rock rubble (my LFS gave it to me for free) in the bottom just for some added filtration. I mainly keept it for added water flow. as for 120 GPH power head, 20x your gallons is about right. as long as its not blowing the sand up in your tank etc. i'll post some pics for you when i get home, heading to my dads house for super bowl

 

[...lost]

wow thank you so much you gave me allot of info i was looking for opinons on from what other people are using. today i was prolly going to pick up the live sand . and you cleared the power head up for me cause someone told me to use 120GPH and that seemed like a little much! and as for taking the media out of your filter, what did u replace it with if anything? would you happen to have some pictures? and my girlfriend works a rms aquaculter, she doesnt know a whole lot about SW yet. shes only worked there a few months and the guy the was a SW guru just left for another job so im starting to talk to a few other of her co workers! thanks again for all the great help everyone! good.gif and i was thinking about getting a fluva filter but dont know if they make HOB style filters yet, ive only seen canister but have heard great things! can anyone comfirm this!

When i took out the filter media of the HOB filter, i put a little bit of Live rock rubble (my LFS gave it to me for free) in the bottom just for some added filtration. I mainly keept it for added water flow. as for 120 GPH power head, 20x your gallons is about right. as long as its not blowing the sand up in your tank etc. i'll post some pics for you when i get home, heading to my dads house for super bowl

cool! thanks allot man!!!

 

[blabadie]

thanks for thse steps! and as far as equitment goes i dont have anyyet... what kind of filter are you using for your set up?
and thanks to mr. miagi i thought i read that in the faq or one of the stickies, was a little confused with above post but you cleared it up!
[/quote]

I am just using a regular hang-on-back filter with a chunk of live rock as the filter media. That should keep the nitrates down. Do you have any pics?

- b/lab -

 

[afmo]

would you happen to have some pictures?

PSH! do i have pictures?!?! all you can handle :b

Here is a full tank shot.

Thats my ocellaris clown (Maui) and my new group of striped mushrooms.

Here is my heater (75w adjustable temp) and the powerhead (Rio 90GPH)

and my beautiful clown

and here is the HOB filter that cycles 100 GPH, bringing me to 190 GPH of flow. I've got the powerhead set up to blow through the HOB flow so i get a nice downward and sideways flow through the tank.

and as i mentioned prior, i was gonna replace the lighting, and i came into a little extra money, so i bought a 40w 20" CF fixture.

well, hope that helps, i'll try and answer anything else ya might have, even though there are many here who are much more knowledgeable than I!!

 

[Mr Miagi]

Sweet. I actualy really like the plain, simple aquascape of these smaller tanks. Great arch. Nice shrooms too. I cant resist, I bought some again today, LOL. My tanks are 90% Shroom now.

If you'd like, you could eliminate those bubbles with no negative effect, they aren't serving a huge purpose, and they are just causing that salt creep.

 

[...lost]

would you happen to have some pictures?

PSH! do i have pictures?!?! all you can handle :b

Here is a full tank shot.

Thats my ocellaris clown (Maui) and my new group of striped mushrooms.

Here is my heater (75w adjustable temp) and the powerhead (Rio 90GPH)

and my beautiful clown

and here is the HOB filter that cycles 100 GPH, bringing me to 190 GPH of flow. I've got the powerhead set up to blow through the HOB flow so i get a nice downward and sideways flow through the tank.

and as i mentioned prior, i was gonna replace the lighting, and i came into a little extra money, so i bought a 40w 20" CF fixture.

well, hope that helps, i'll try and answer anything else ya might have, even though there are many here who are much more knowledgeable than I!!

thank you again so much! you gave me a much better idea on how i should set things up!! i really appreciate the pictures too! btw your tank looks amazing!!!! keep up the great work!!!!