looking to start a new 10gallon nano

[suitcasey]

Hey everyone :) , I've been browsing around this forum for months now and i just can't get enough of it here! I currently have a 55g FO tank in my bedroom, its been up and running for a long time and been doing great! I have a clown in there who's 15 years old!! (maybe thats normal for a clown, but i thought it was pretty impressive so i wanted to brag a little :) !)

I have been reading up on reef tanks a lot lately and think it would be fascinating to own one, but i love my bigger tank just the way it is right now so i wont be changing it. When i get my own house i guess i'll have a big reef tank, but for now, I'd like to make my old 10gallon tropical tank into a nano! and i'd very much appreciate some of your help if you's don't mind :) !

Here are some things I was thinking about:

1) I have this eheim internal canistor filter that I used in my old freshwater tank - http://www.eheim.de/eheim/inhalte/index.jsp?key=liniendetail_27481_ehen . Would this be a good filtration system and pump for a small nano? You can get a real powerful flow with it.

2) How much live rock would i need for a 10 gallon tank? I know it can be expensive, so i was thinking of starting off with the minumum amount that i would need.

3) I've found a seller online of Madagascar Live rock for quite cheap, and they say when they recieve the rock they put it through a very thorough curing process and then ship it out to you. Forgive me if im being stupid, but does this mean i could place my rock strait into my nano and that would be it completely ready? Or does more need to be done to the rock before it is safe?

4) Would it be a good idea to use water from my 55gallon?

5) I am not sure whether i would like to use substrate or not, if you think it would be better with it, what would you recomend?

6) And fiiiinally (I think!), could you give me a link to a good set up of lights that you would reccomend for this tank? For the first little while it'll only be live rock in the tank (does it need special lighting?) but when its ready i'd like to add some corals. I am not sure what type but I quite like the look of soft corals and open brain corals, and maybe a few hard corals - is there anything that would be benificial to all?

Thanks for everyone who reads, (sorry its long!), and thankyou very very much to anyone who replies :) ! If you have any extra advice or additional information that i forgot to ask about, feel free to say!

Thanks, Casey :)

[sophia101]

Hi Casey!
I will do my best to answer as many of your questions as possible..and i am not an expert but i think i can help you out a bit :) I always had so many questions when i first began nano reefing...so dont worry about it!

2) As far as live rock goes...its good to get AT LEAST 1 lb per gallon (10 lbs) or more...dont overpack the tank though..i would say dont get more than 15 lbs or so in the aquarium...but thats personal preference.

3) As far as the madagascar live rock goes, i have never had experience with it. BUT with any live rock that is shipped to you there will always be die off which means before placing the LR into your tank, you will want to scrub as much die off off of the live rock as possible. This is so you can avoid as many possible hitchhikers as possible. You can also get VERY nice fiji, tonga etc. live rock from reliable reefcentral.com members for very cheap. I got mine from someone for only $32 including shipping for 10 lbs...and i got a mixture of fiji and tonga..its gorgeous rock (lots of color etc)

4. Its not a bad idea to use water from your current 55 gallon aquarium...still know that you will still HAVE to cycle your aquarium..which take time..anywhere from a couple weeks to a month..sometimes longer. Dont think that becasue you are using water from an established aquarium that your tank is cycled. It is NOT the water that is cycling...its the bacteria colonizing on your live rock etc.

5. Well...as far as substrate for your aquarium goes, its not an abolsolute requirement. Personally though, i like the look of nanos with substrate...i have about 1 inch of aragamax sand in my aquarium.(there are very nice barebottom aquariums though). The sand also helps i believe with the bacteria and also as natural filtrations along with the LR which is excellent. Also, if you are thinking about having any type of sand sifting fish, invert etc. you will want to have some type of substrate for the nano.

6. As far as lighting goes..here is a link from drsfostersmith.com that is a great light setup (Power compacts) that will work with low-moderate light corals. I dont think you will be able to keep hard corals like acropora but soft corals and MAYBE a brain will be fine...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12109&N=2004+113345
Here is another one...
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=11418&N=2004+113345

Im not sure how long your aquarium is..so hopefully those links help :D

I hope all of my information helped you out!! Just remeber...in this hobby patience is key...so never rush anything..especially in a nano cube.
Good luck!

[suitcasey]

Hey sophia!! wow, thankyou very much, thats some brilliant information :)! You've helped me out a lot!

Thanks for clearing that up about the live rock for me, I'll be sure to do all that. During the curing process, am I right in saying that the water flow has to be high and I'm to have no lights on? or is light on for a few hours a day? And do you think that pump/filter i showed you would do the trick? Are there any other extra things i need to know?

Also about the fiji rock, i would love some! but the thing is I live in the uk and I dont know of any reefcentral people here or in fact anyone who even owns a reef tank here!! If anyone would know where to get it for cheap here, or there are any members here in the uk that would be willing to spare about 10lbs of live rock please let me know as I would gladly buy some :) !

I think i'll definately take your advice on the substrate now, after thinking I would like some sand-sifting inhabitants in my tank. I have some normal coral sand (i think) left over from my 55gallon so i could use that, or if anyone thinks a live sand bed would be a lot more benificial I could try that.

And about the lights, thankyou for those two links! is there as much difference in the performance as there seems to be in the price? would it really be more benificial to spend more money on the lights?
While at my local pet store today, I saw this light: http://www.aquahobby.com/products/e_powerglo.php . I know the description here is a bit crap, but it implies that it is used for coral growth, would this be good?

One more question I was thinking on, I would like to keep an anenome or a small clam in the tank, would this be possible? and are there any special things I would need for them?

Thankyou so much for your help, I really appreciate it :)!

[sophia101]

Hello again suitcasey!
Im very glad i could help you out! Lets see here...as far as the fiji live rock goes, ill keep an eye on someone who has maybe 10 lbs of live rock they are willing to sell to you who is based in the UK. :) Im guessing your talking about crushed coral that you are thinking to put in from your 55 gallon into your 10 gallon? Crushed coral really isint the best...there a few reasons. One being that sand sisfting fish, inverts etc. really dont like those big sharp pieces of crushed coral in the tank..they prefer finer sand..like this one:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=7321&Ntt=aragamax&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
That is the type of sand i have in my tank (1 inch maybe more)...what you could do though is use some of that crushed coral to seed out the aragamax sand. The sand is also cheap which is a plus :D

Well as i saw you want to keep anemone or small clam...dont do either to begin with..especially the anemone IMO. They both require HIGH light (very high actually) and much care...especially in a small tank of 10 gallons. You would really need about 5-6 watts of light per gallon in order to keep either of those critters. And you will also want to wait until your tank is estabishes (many months) before you add one anyway. In the beggining stick with softies like shrooms, plyps, zoos etc. As far as light goes..you might be able to get away with power compacts...

I really dont know anything about that eheim filter...maybe you should start out with a Nano Cube 12...
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=10677&Ntt=nano%20cube&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1
That aquarium comes with a powerhead and 3 stage filter build in and all the stuff needed to start out other than the heater..

Hope this helped you out! Be sure to ask more questions if you need answers :D
Good luck again!

[suitcasey]

Hello again!! I'm sorry about the late reply, I've been so busy lately due to a lot of school work :( , but things have finally calmed down again and I can focus on planning my new tank :) !
Thanks for the heads up about the sand, there's a pet store near here that has something almost identical to yours so I shall definately purchase that :) !

Also thankyou for the advice on the anenome and clam, I guess that could be what im working towards many months down the line. I've done a lot of research on some corals and I think I'd like to start off with some mushrooms, polyps, zoos, and maybe a leather or brain coral eventually. (I'll make sure to start off slow though :) )

Although that looks like a great set up, I'm afraid I just don't have the money right now :(, and after some extra research I'm pretty sure this filter I have would be perfect for the job.

I guess now the only little problem I have is the lights and the live rock! Im looking around for someone I could get 10lbs of fiji rock from here in the UK but to no success so far, so to anyone who reads this, if you can help me please please let me know :)!

And I just don't understand about the lights really :(, I keep hearing so much about different things like T5 lighting but while at my pet store I looked more closely at that Power-Glo light (which is very cheap), and here are some of the specifics that I remember it saying - "18,000K", "14W", "high intensity output", "encourages coral growth" and something about it being in the blue/white part of the spectrum... Would this be suitable? And would that be absolutely all I need? It says it works well with another light called Marine-Glo which I could also get. Sorry if I'm being really stupid :(.

Thankyou so much for all the help you've given me so far, you've been great :) ! If I could just hear if you (or if anyone else has had experience with them) think these lights would be good for the job then I'd be well on my way, as the last thing I would need would be the live rock. I shall post in the WTB forum about the rock, but if someone knows of anyone in the uk who would be able to sell me some that would be fantastic.

Thanks so much for helping me :) ,

Casey.

[JC VT]

Hi Casey,

If I were doing a 10 gallon, I would go with power compact lighting; inexpensive and looks great. http://www.ahsupply.com has some pretty good information and retro kits for PC's.

I would also seek out a local reef club; great information, great guys. You may also find great deals on used equipment as well.

Check out: http://haaga.aqua-web.org/Nano/index.htm

You may be able to adapt his approach to reef keeping with your set up. Good luck!

[WarEagleNR88]

Hey Casey here are some sweet lights. 96W Power compacts made especially to fit over a 10G tank.

Coralife Quad 96W (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13734&N=2004+113345)

They work well. I'd recommend getting the little legs for them too if you decide to go this route.