Wanting to start a tank

[NateT]

I have a 10 gallon aquarium left over from one of my geckos that out grew it and was thinking about starting a aquarium with it. I have a friend that volunteers at a tropical fish store and has a lot of experience with this stuff and if I had his help do you think that I could make a 10 gallon work as my first tank? I do not really have room for much else. Also If I was to do this what kind of filters skimmers ect. would you recommend for this size of tank?

[bertoni]

A 10g tank can make a nice system, although smaller tanks seem more prone to mistakes. Also, make sure the tank is designed to hold water. I think there are lizard and terrarium tanks that are ere not usable for an aquarium.

I'd just use live rock and water changes for water quality on that size tank.

[NateT]

Ok so what would I have to put in a ten gallon. I know I would need a heater and if I do not have coral I would not need any special lighting so what would I really need other than live rock sand and of course fish and invertebrates and stuff?

[bertoni]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848

That thread should help a lot.

[slider162]

From my experience, tank size is 1/10th of your battle. Lights, fish, coral, equipment will be the overwhelming figure on your wallet. What is your budget? You might be better off getting a used 20G or 30G off of ebay, craigs, or the used forum list. I'm just trying to say that I spent $250 on a used 75G aquarium and stand and that was the least I have spent on anything else. My skimmer was $300. So take aquarium size with a grain of salt.

[drummereef]

I would start here -

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1031074

[slider162]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9527162#post9527162 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848

That thread should help a lot.

What he said:thumbsup:

[Shagsbeard]

Your 10 gal is going to be considered "Nano" here. It's really a lot smaller than most of us think of "tank", and is going to be much harder to maintain than a tank with larger volume. But if you're dead set on trying, here's a breif list of things you might want to consider getting:

Sand (aragonite, not crushed coral... as fine a grain as you can find)

Live rock, about 10-15 lbs

RO/DI water and salt.

That's it for what goes in the tank, and you should leave it at that for a while.

You'll also need:

Lighting (be prepared for sticker shock here... you could easily drop $200 on lights). Get good lighting so you can keep interesting corals and what not... lighting is one of the major limitters in SW tanks.
Heating (cheap... but get a good one)
Circulation (a powerhead... not a bubble bar)
Skimmer... I have no idea what skimmer I'd use on a 10 gal, but you should get one... ask in the nano forums.

That should do you for equipment.

Now... test kits

Don't buy the crappy strip tests. Get Salifert tests for Ammonia, pH, Nitrite and Nitrate. Also get a refractometer rather than a plastic hydrometer. Keep close eye on these tests for the first few months, then drop back to a more weekly testing plan. Once your water tests 0 on Ammonia and Nitrite you should consider adding some detrivores like hermits and/or snails to keep your tank clean.

I'd bet you could get out under $750 if you buy this stuff from a store, and about half that if you shop for used stuff.