New 10gal Proj

[Jerzboi]

Hey Guys
I am new to the site and new to saltwater, but i have been doing my research
and my roomate has been helping me out.
I got a sweet deal at Petsmart and grabbed a koraline 1 powerhead, hob filter, 10gal with glass lid, live sand, and salt bucket for $80ish

I took water out of my roomates 46gal that has been established for over a year now and got 5lbs of live rock fo $4 a pounds (fiji) with about a 1/2 pound of rubble in my filter.

The water was recently tested and the only thing is my pH is at 8.0 so i need to raise it up a little more

Today I grabbed my first SW inverts 1 blue/green and 1 scarlet red hermit
that are picking around at the 2 very small peices of established live rock.

I asked the LFS for some very small rubble for my filter an they gave me atleast a pound for free!! And these were not tiny peices lol

Here are some pics of where I stand Enjoy!

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Very nice. I'm actually in the process of setting up a 15 gallon in my dorm right now. I'm really liking that little crab too :-)

[Jerzboi]

Very nice. I'm actually in the process of setting up a 15 gallon in my dorm right now. I'm really liking that little crab too :-)


Thanks Dante!
So far it is going great, still trying to decide on what to put in it
2 more days my live rock should be ready to be added. It does not smell and is cleaned up really good. I just want to wait a little longer to be sure.

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

What are you planning on doing with it? Are you gonna focus more on inverts or fish? I'm interested to see what you're gonna do with 10 gallons :-) IMO working with small volumes requires more creativity when you're cramped on space.

[Jerzboi]

yeah no kidding lol
I'd like to get two fish one itty bitty like a goby and one smaller fish that will swim more
Invert wise maybe one small shrimp and some of those small white star fish ( I'm still learning all the names, cleaner star maybe)
Also adding a couple corals (green mushroom head an small peice od starburst)

[Financial Panth]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+2124

[Jerzboi]

tanks Financial Panth,
I look at that constantly, but most of the fish aren found by me
and shipping is so expensive

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Well what kind of active fish are you thinking of, and what's available at your LFS?

[billabong08]

Your tank looks good! Keep us updated man!

[Jerzboi]

Thanks a lot billabong, soon as the live rock is in I'll shot some more pics

[Jerzboi]

Well what kind of active fish are you thinking of, and what's available at your LFS?

:uzi:...had to use it, looked ballin haha

my lfs has mainly fish that belong in 20gal or bigger for the most part

Clowns (maroon, black, yellow, tomato)
Chromis (blue/green)
Tangs (yellow, blue, hippo)
Blennys (lawn mower, bi-color)
Damsels (blue)
Dartfish (purple, fire fish)
Goby (yellow watchmen, yellow clown, black clown, jester at times)
Basslet (Chalk bass)
Cardinal fish, Eels, Royal Gramma, Squirrelfish, angels, dragonets...

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

I think you could get away with a pair of jesters, or a chalk basslet might work. It helps that they're all relatively small. Any small goby would work though, at least in terms of shrimp gobies.

[Jerzboi]

i kinda figured the gobies would be alright seein they are so small,
I'd love a chalk bass, but I want to do it right. They seem like the need decent amount of room to swim around. I'd like a fish that will swim around the tank and not sit there.
I understand most gobies chillax which is cool, but i want some movement you know

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Yup, I completely understand. How about some small cardinals if they come in? They won't be moving around too much but they'll usually be out in the open.

[Jerzboi]

Don they get pretty big, body wise like tall and bulky for a 10gal?
I didn think bout them a lot, they are like the tetras of the salt water world lol

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Bangaii and pajamas will get to a decent size, but IIRC orange-lined cardinals stay relatively small, and don't have the vertical footprint of the aforementioned.

[Jerzboi]

they only sell the pj's and the kaudrens
would like to get a emarld crab, little touch here an there of inverts that are small
emerald crab, hermits (scarlet, blue/gree), and maybe a shrimp :)

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Ahh, well in that case nevermind.

An emerald crab would be fine for quite some time, though just bear in mind that they become predators when they get bigger. A couple peppermints or a cleaner would be a nice touch though :-)

[Jerzboi]

you don think 2 peppers would be too much?
I do like the banded a lot though

Yeah, i saw the emerald may turn on corals or whatev if it gets hungry :\

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Banded shrimp get really large. I think 2 peppers would be fine in there, I kept a trio in my 15 when I had it set-up my freshman year, they were perfectly fine.

[Jerzboi]

haha i know they are awesome though
i'll have to see i guess, they do have peppers there
Still stuck on the second fish though lol

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Hopefully other people will chime-in here, I don't wanna feel like the only one helping out here (too much pressure!). As for a second fish, I'm a bit stumped, it's mostly up to practicality and personal preference (within reason of course).

[Jerzboi]

Yeah, I mean worse comes to worse I'll settle with purple firefish or small clown and just sell it if it gets to big, unless others have other ideas :)

So will I be alright using the 65w flood light for the corals putting in 6.4w per gallon, besides maybe gettin algae?

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

What's the temperature of the bulb? do you know what kind it is?

[Jerzboi]

not sure on the temp
might actually be the 75w
it is a "daylight" flood light bulb from lowes
puts out 650 lumens of light output
67000k rating

[Jerzboi]

Finally got the 6lbs of live rock cured and in the tank

here is the set up as of right now I beleive i will stick with
this set up gives the fish room to swim around the main rock
and two smaller cave type peices on the side for inverts to chill on

any feed back would be great :)

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Very nice! Not nearly as crowded as some of the other nanos I've seen.

[Jerzboi]

Thanks, I don know though. Someone has alread told me I need a lot more live rock to grow a lot more bacteria which will play a key role, but I don want much more than this. I also have 3/4 of a pond of LR in my filter as well that already has the good purple bacteria all over

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

The purple stuff is coraline algae, but the bacteria are definitely there. IME the best way to build up a good bacteria population is simply time. You don't really need that much more in your tank, considering your low bioload.

[Jerzboi]

That is good to know then, what size cleaning crew should I have in a ten, 4 hermits, 5 snails?

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

I don't know if I'd have that many because chances are, and IME, the crabs will usually just eat the snails. I'd say go with a couple less.

[Bulldog0407]

Id say looking at a geometric hawk fish. They are my favorite nano fish!!!

[Jerzboi]

Don't hawkfish tend to pick at corals or inverts?
As for the snails and hermits, I had seen empty shells for sale at a LFS
thought about buying some and puttin a couple in the tank so they avoid my snails :)

[ZoomBlue]

I've had my 10 gallon tank setup for about 8 months now.Its looking pretty good I have to say. The hard part is keeping all the parameters in check.

[Jerzboi]

pretty sweet, what do you have in it so far?

[ZoomBlue]

I have Red/Pink Acans, Galaxia, Green and orange monti's, Lord of God Zoos, red chili pepper encrusting monti, rainbow monti, about 8 headed Duncans, Lettuce coral, neon green candy cane/trumpet coral, Hollywood Stunner chalice, blue shrooms, blue ricordia, Arrow crab, Harlequin shrimp, tiger pistol shrimp, sixline, orange spotted goby, cleaner shrimp, brittle star,a couple blue legged hermits and some nasarius snails.

[Jerzboi]

Update:
Fish day was two days ago, after much thought I decided on the first two fish.
I grabbed a yellow clown goby and a green clown goby. The green clown goby is a good hider, but the yellow clown goby loves attention

Started getting some bright green alge in the silcone coreners of the tank and some light orangish/brown alge on the sand. I have been doing my water changes and mixing the sand every day
I also grabbed 3 snails, astric snail i believe

Here are some pics

[laxer23]

the light brown algae is easy to control however the other can get out of control quickly now that you have fish it is important to maintain water quality in a tank that small it will be very easy for water quality to go bad. I would say test your water every week and you will be in good shape

[ZoomBlue]

Its coming together and looking good.

[fstar25]

Update:

I have been doing my water changes and mixing the sand every day




I'm new to the hobby so someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that you should not mix your sand at all, that you should actually leave it alone?? Doesn't the sand trap all sorts of things that can eventually build up to levels that will crash your tank if released back into the water column? Or is the point of mixing it daily to prevent that build up from ever occurring. Sorry to hijack your thread.