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My first 10 gal. tank started!

O

obi

Just started it yesterday.I'm learning as i go so i chose to start small,there is barely anything in there yet,and still have to go out this weekend and pick up a heater and light but here is what i have so far

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blange3

blange3

Hey Obi,

Coarse, gravel like substrate will trap uneaten food and waste. The more waste that stays in the tank, the higher your nitrates will be.

I think you are going skimmerless and relying on weekly water changes for maintenance.
I would use a gravel vac type of siphon when you do water changes or consider changing the substrate to sand.


What kind of substrate is that? Dolomite?
 
A

albie611

i would replace the substrate with aragonite sand...same reason as above...and you should rethink the skimmerless idea...imo they are worth the extra cost,especially in a small tank where things can change faster then you can notice...it will remove organics before they breakdown into nitrates and polute the water. there are a few available for nano tanks that will be fine for a 10 gal.

also smaller tanks are considered harder to care for due to the small water volume
a larger volume of water will give you more time to recognize bad things happening before they get to disastrous levels. if you can i would add a sump or refugeum for a little extra water volume.
good luck......and happy reefing ......al (see my galery for my 20 gal)
 
O

obi

Thanx for the ifo guys,i will take it into consideration,i was thinking of changing to sand so it looks like i will go that way.As for the skimmer,i will probably get one also,it seems like its almost mandatory for any tank no matter what size.Thanx again guys ;D
 
blange3

blange3

obi said:
As for the skimmer,i will probably get one also,it seems like its almost mandatory for any tank no matter what size.Thanx again guys ;D
Click to expand...

Always helpful for any size, but never mandatory. But as Albie pointed out, smaller tanks require closer attention to maintenance. So if you rely on water changes, they have to stay on schedule.
 
O

obi

Have a question about my filtration setup,for know i have one of those filters that hang off the back(you can see it in the pic above it is for a 30 gal.tank)but i was planning on getting a skimmer,should i use both the filter and the skimmer,or just the skimmer?Or should i get a totally new filter?Also i am going to get rid of the gravel and go with sand if that makes a diffrence,i don't know what to do.
 
blange3

blange3

Sand would be better.

Use the filter. Some folks convert the Aquaclear filters to work like a refugium. I have a bed of rock rubble and a bag of carbon in mine. Some folks use other filter media like chemipure.

If budget allows add a skimmer. Once you get the feel for the hobby you'll want to updgrade,so you might want to save that money until you are ready to go bigger.
 
O

obi

ok thanks.but when you say refugium that means gut the filter and replacethe inside with rock rite?
 
A

albie611

on my 20 gal i use a hang on filter for running gfo and carbon and a prizm pro skimmer
the skimmer is rated for 80-100 gal but i would not use it on anything over 50 gal.

as said above if you plan on going bigger in the future get equipment that can be moved to the bigger set up to save on cost.
and remember in this hobby nothing good happens fast...take your time and do lots of research
 
M

mgonz

what type of skimmer would you guys recommend for a 10 gal tank? also would PC bulbs adding up to about 9 and a half watts per gallon be enough to hold acros in such a small tank? thanks in advance...
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
if the space allowed, i once saw someone have a 12g nano tank with a 20g garbage container as a sump under the table - to increase the water volume, also more room to do the refugeum and skimmer stuff in that container.
 
M

mgonz

thank you for your feedback. Unfortunatly there is no space for that which is the reason why he is going with only a 10 gal. But I appreciate the response.
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
i know what you mean about no space.

sometime people may not have space on the desk, but they may have space under the desk, inside the draw...etc.
;)
just kidding...
 
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