View Full Version : mini saltwater aquariums 10 gal or less
wantsome8
01-02-2003, 12:36 AM
when i was in high school my math teacher had a 5 gal tank with a single percula clown no air pumps and no firltration no live rock just some crushed coral for the substrate and the thing lived the whole year now that i m getting into sw and i saw a pic in a pet warehouse catalog of a eclips system 12 aquarium with live rock and about 6 fish can anyone tell me if the pic i saw is possable to recreate if so how much matinence would something like that need
latazyo
01-02-2003, 4:08 AM
I dont' have any personal experience involving 6 fish, but I don't really see it working
well I guess it could if you had a good sized sump to control all of the bioload
I am started my first 10g reef tank a few weeks ago and I've been reading for months
this board here (http://www.nano-reef.com) is an excellent resource for the aspiring nano-reefist
wantsome8
01-02-2003, 11:03 PM
how about those wings last playoff season gooo wings
all in fun
latazyo
01-03-2003, 3:14 AM
you are only about the 9,899 person to mention that to me...hehe
yeah, my idol, Roy, wasn't on his game that night....I started watchign the game mid 2nd period and nearly puked, it was disgusting
fishfreek
01-03-2003, 9:38 AM
Dont use those photos in about that eclipse system as a gauge to how many fish youcan put in your tank. If they put the correct number of fish in there then they probably would not sell as many systems.
The general rule of thumb is 1" of ADULT fish per 5 gal of water capacity.
Personally the smallest saltwater tank that would have a fish in it for me would be a 10 gal tank and that would have 1 fish. Anything smaller IMHO should be set aside for an invert only tank. Maybe some hermits with a CBS and some soft corals like shromes or leathers.
BiggerWurm
01-05-2003, 1:40 AM
wantsome8,
I don't know about the eclipse but here is a really sweet nano reef. http://www.oc-creative.com/reef/index.asp i think its a 7 gallon but you won't think so by looking at it. I agree that you could not have 5 happy fish in 12 gallons maybe guppies
:D
I concur, those photos are very disturbing to see... I saw a mother buying her kid one of those nano-able tanks at Wal-Mart recently and she was asking the gal that worked in the fish department if they sold "this" fish... She was pointing to the yellow tang they had pictured in the photo on the box and was going to buy her kid one to go in his new tank... It took 20 minutes to explain why that was a bad idea, and in the end she didn't buy the tank there, but went to our LFS for some decent advice... Somedays it pays to listen to what people say =)
coyote94
01-06-2003, 10:28 AM
KUDOS RAVEN!!!:D :D :D yes, it is very disturbing to see those kinds of pictures.. And what's more troubling is that the majority of them are computer generated.. So the majority of manufacutres understand that it is wrong to have that amount or that particular fish in a tank that small, but use the appeal of interesting fish to sell their product...
Satchmo
01-06-2003, 1:04 PM
"The impossible illusion" as Fenner calls it.
Six fish in 10g is a disaster. I have a 10g reef with 2 small fish and it's very stable. But you have to move slowly and you have to stay on top of it. The second fish was added at least six months after the tank was fully established.
rift-n-reef
01-08-2003, 7:20 AM
I had a 10g nano set up for about 2 1/2 years, and to date, it has been one of my most satisfying tanks, however you do have to stay right on top of it. I changed a gallon of water every other day, which when you think about it, is pretty easy maint. compared to some of my other tanks...:D I used a retro kit for the light sold on www.ahsupply.com. The fish were kept to a min. Just two percula clowns, and a watchman gobie along with a couple cleaner shrimp, and some hermits. About 15lbs of LR and a bunch of mushrooms and button poylops. I tried to avoid sensative corals do the size of the tank, one little slip, and they would of suffered greatly. At any rate, the point I'm getting at is a nano can be done, and work very well, but there are limitations. As for the picture you saw on the box.....well, lets just say I'd like to smack the person responsible...
:mad:
Side note(in case you were wondering) I no longer have my nano because after 2 1/2 years, one day I awoke to a carpet of green hair algea in the tank, and after battaling it for about 3 months, I threw in the towel, and figured the residents were better off moving out.
"J"
Originally posted by rift-n-reef
I used a retro kit for the light sold on www.ahsupply.com.
"J"
Rift-n-reef, can you tell me which light and retro kit you used? I'm interested in putting together a setup like you descibe.
99RedSi
01-08-2003, 12:56 PM
Originally posted by rift-n-reef
I had a 10g nano set up for about 2 1/2 years, and to date, it has been one of my most satisfying tanks, however you do have to stay right on top of it. I changed a gallon of water every other day, which when you think about it, is pretty easy maint. compared to some of my other tanks...:D I used a retro kit for the light sold on www.ahsupply.com. The fish were kept to a min. Just two percula clowns, and a watchman gobie along with a couple cleaner shrimp, and some hermits. About 15lbs of LR and a bunch of mushrooms and button poylops. I tried to avoid sensative corals do the size of the tank, one little slip, and they would of suffered greatly. At any rate, the point I'm getting at is a nano can be done, and work very well, but there are limitations. As for the picture you saw on the box.....well, lets just say I'd like to smack the person responsible...
:mad:
Side note(in case you were wondering) I no longer have my nano because after 2 1/2 years, one day I awoke to a carpet of green hair algea in the tank, and after battaling it for about 3 months, I threw in the towel, and figured the residents were better off moving out.
"J"
Green algae just "appeared" ? Did you check your nitrate level, etc?
Satchmo
01-08-2003, 1:41 PM
The 2x36w kit from ahsupply is great lighting for a 10g. No complaints with mine.
99RedSi
01-08-2003, 2:14 PM
Originally posted by Satchmo
The 2x36w kit from ahsupply is great lighting for a 10g. No complaints with mine.
Holy COW that's ALOT of lighting! Do you have any pics of your corals, Satchmo?
Satchmo
01-08-2003, 4:00 PM
I'm actually waiting to recieve a new part for my digi cam which will (hopefully) get it working again. I'll get up some pics once I take them.
It's good lighting, but I don't know if it's "Holy Cow" worthy :) There's still plenty of stuff I wouldn't try keeping under it. Right now, that tank's home to a slew of softies, shrooms, zoos, LPS, a few of the lower-light SPS species, and a squamosa clam. It's a great little display, I've had a lot of fun with it.
rift-n-reef
01-09-2003, 7:05 AM
I used the 2x13 bright kit on mine. Keeping in mind, I was not keeping any thing real special. But even a tank of the right mushrooms, and polyops can look super...:) And as for the hair algea, I may of exagerated a bit when I said "overnight"....hehe, I accidentally imported a bit with some culerpa I added to the tank, and well, it took over in just a couple months. Rather than fighting it daily, I just chose to take it down, and chalk it up to a lesson learned.
"J"