Hey guys i am new to the club and new to the forum and figured since im a Nano Reefer this would be the place were i could get some good feed back and tips.
First let me start by saying i am new to salt water and reef keeping and i've lived and learned by trial and error, now i am not an expert and some of my methods others may cringe at but they have worked for me and i am always open to advice from other with more experience. My quote of the day is show me some one who says they know it all and ill show you someone that has tons to learn.
So about my tank:
i am running a 10 gallon standard tank
filtered by a off brand canister filter rated for 75 gallon tank (ebay buy and it was an awesome purchase)
HOB filter converted in to a fugi diy (also provides some extra water movement)
Off brand power head (ebay buy again ... rated at 850 gph) alittle to powerful though i want to upgrade to an MP 10 or RW-4 just don't have the money yet. wife keeps a tight chain on the cash
Standard LED viewing lights- Definitely plan on upgrading asap i had bought a light on Ebay ... it turned out to be falsely advertised dims LED lights that i had ever seen in fact i had lit my own farts that produced brighter light then that back in my childhood. I got my money back and i have my eyes on a Orbit Marine LED Pro light set hopefully in my near future.
Heater 100w (don't remember the brand or type of hand)
*** tanks 10 gallons + about 1 gallon or so in the entire system and filtration minus the displacement of the rocks and sand***
*** bought and emergency battery operated air pump for power outages has about 4-5 hr battery life but it feels cheaply made. Maybe someone knows of a more quality one out there?
Now for the stuff in the tank:
I have aprox 9 lbs of live rock but i want to add maybe 2 or 3 more lbs. (i just dont feel i have enough)
20 lbs of live sand
1 Tomato clown
1 Coral Beauty (extra small.. will eventually be re-homed if he grows to wear it looks uncomfortable)
1 Blue cleaner fish (sorry i dont honestly remember his species name)
1 black and white striped blemmy
1 watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair (they have been paired from the moment i put them in the tank)
inverts:
Blue linckia star
10 blue leg hermits
2 turbo snails
3 kirth snails
1 emerald crab
1 peppermint shrimp
*** i had a condy anemone that hosted the clown fish for about 4 months unfortunately it deflated on schedule and got sucked into the filter head survived but lost to many tenticals i tried my best to save him in a recovery tank and he fought the good fight for 2 weeks but in the end died from his wounds.
Corals: none yet but i really really want some just need to get the right light and circulation pattern and learn alot more about them before i make the leap.
To wrap it up like i said i am sure some people might cringe about the set up and the stock but to be honest the tank has never had a crash and is going on a 9 months. I have never had a fish die from an illness but have lost some to a power outage in the middle of the night and one to a fight with the filter. I keep a very good eye on the water quality and the filter making sure to remove waste before it becomes harmful and do weekly water changes 65% when i change things around in the tank or i start noticing issues and when things are going strong i just monitor the water conditions and do 30% to 50% every other week. what i have noticed is the tanks biological abilities do a great job handling most of the work and i hardly get high readings during testing.
So far i have learned a great deal and i cant wait to dive deeper into this awesome field.
First let me start by saying i am new to salt water and reef keeping and i've lived and learned by trial and error, now i am not an expert and some of my methods others may cringe at but they have worked for me and i am always open to advice from other with more experience. My quote of the day is show me some one who says they know it all and ill show you someone that has tons to learn.
So about my tank:
i am running a 10 gallon standard tank
filtered by a off brand canister filter rated for 75 gallon tank (ebay buy and it was an awesome purchase)
HOB filter converted in to a fugi diy (also provides some extra water movement)
Off brand power head (ebay buy again ... rated at 850 gph) alittle to powerful though i want to upgrade to an MP 10 or RW-4 just don't have the money yet. wife keeps a tight chain on the cash
Standard LED viewing lights- Definitely plan on upgrading asap i had bought a light on Ebay ... it turned out to be falsely advertised dims LED lights that i had ever seen in fact i had lit my own farts that produced brighter light then that back in my childhood. I got my money back and i have my eyes on a Orbit Marine LED Pro light set hopefully in my near future.
Heater 100w (don't remember the brand or type of hand)
*** tanks 10 gallons + about 1 gallon or so in the entire system and filtration minus the displacement of the rocks and sand***
*** bought and emergency battery operated air pump for power outages has about 4-5 hr battery life but it feels cheaply made. Maybe someone knows of a more quality one out there?
Now for the stuff in the tank:
I have aprox 9 lbs of live rock but i want to add maybe 2 or 3 more lbs. (i just dont feel i have enough)
20 lbs of live sand
1 Tomato clown
1 Coral Beauty (extra small.. will eventually be re-homed if he grows to wear it looks uncomfortable)
1 Blue cleaner fish (sorry i dont honestly remember his species name)
1 black and white striped blemmy
1 watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair (they have been paired from the moment i put them in the tank)
inverts:
Blue linckia star
10 blue leg hermits
2 turbo snails
3 kirth snails
1 emerald crab
1 peppermint shrimp
*** i had a condy anemone that hosted the clown fish for about 4 months unfortunately it deflated on schedule and got sucked into the filter head survived but lost to many tenticals i tried my best to save him in a recovery tank and he fought the good fight for 2 weeks but in the end died from his wounds.
Corals: none yet but i really really want some just need to get the right light and circulation pattern and learn alot more about them before i make the leap.
To wrap it up like i said i am sure some people might cringe about the set up and the stock but to be honest the tank has never had a crash and is going on a 9 months. I have never had a fish die from an illness but have lost some to a power outage in the middle of the night and one to a fight with the filter. I keep a very good eye on the water quality and the filter making sure to remove waste before it becomes harmful and do weekly water changes 65% when i change things around in the tank or i start noticing issues and when things are going strong i just monitor the water conditions and do 30% to 50% every other week. what i have noticed is the tanks biological abilities do a great job handling most of the work and i hardly get high readings during testing.
So far i have learned a great deal and i cant wait to dive deeper into this awesome field.
