want to make sure I got setup right and have some questions

[doubletail]

Ill be starting a saltwater tank hopefully in a couple of months so I'm gathering information and came up with this setup...

Equipment:

1. 10g AGA
2. AC50 filter(modded to fuge)
3. Korelia Nano Powerhead
4. 50W heater
5. DIY ATO
6. Refractormeter(spelling?)
7. Light Fixture
8. Salt
9. Salwater testkit
10. another power head to mix salt

Livestock:
1. Zoas
2. Ricordias
3. Shrooms
4. CUC
5. Frogspwans
6. Hammers
7. Xenias
8. Firefish
____________________________________
Questions:

A)The AC50 gives 200GPH and the Korelia Nano gives 240 GPH giving a total of 440 GPH would this be enough for the corals I would like to have?

B) Still not sure on the lights possibly a T5 but cant find a fixture thats 20 inchs if anything ill live with the 24" ones.

C)I want to make sure I have the water change part right. I have a 10g tank I remove 3g the new 3g has to have the 1.024 so I can add it to the tank and be the same temp correct?

D)Havent seen a thread on this but ive seen youtube videos of people fragging coral with and without gloves... so question is can I touch corals with bare hands? I dont want to get sick or damage they little guys.

E) Last question is when you buy a coral from the store or member how do you attach it to the rocks? Some type of glue?

Thanks in reading this long post haha Ive had freshwater for a year now and want to start a saltwater the right way unlike the freshwater tank tha was a surprise bithday gift haha

Is there anything that needs to be added?

 

[Hooked Newbie]

Questions:

A)The AC50 gives 200GPH and the Korelia Nano gives 240 GPH giving a total of 440 GPH would this be enough for the corals I would like to have?

I believe that should be plenty.

B) Still not sure on the lights possibly a T5 but cant find a fixture thats 20 inchs if anything ill live with the 24" ones.

C)I want to make sure I have the water change part right. I have a 10g tank I remove 3g the new 3g has to have the 1.024 so I can add it to the tank and be the same temp correct?

Yes. Match temp and get salinity right and you're good.

D)Havent seen a thread on this but ive seen youtube videos of people fragging coral with and without gloves... so question is can I touch corals with bare hands? I dont want to get sick or damage they little guys.

The corals will be fine as long as you don't "man-handle" them. There are corals which can be extremely toxic (Palys are the only ones I know of) to you though so gloves are a good idea.

E) Last question is when you buy a coral from the store or member how do you attach it to the rocks? Some type of glue?

They can be glued, but usually come on a disc, plug, or small piece of rock that can be wedged into your LR.

Thanks in reading this long post haha Ive had freshwater for a year now and want to start a saltwater the right way unlike the freshwater tank tha was a surprise bithday gift haha

Is there anything that needs to be added?

I'm a newb to SW myself so take this with a grain of salt. My comments are in blue above. There are some very knowledgable & helpful folks here so I'm sure you'll get the answers you need. Good luck!

 

[redfishblewfish]

Hooked hit it on the head. My only additions would be

• use RO/DI water to make you saltwater (or buy it at your LFS).
• Cycle your tank before adding any fish / corals.
• If you can, get a HOB protein skimmer to remove naughty stuff from the water.
• Go slow…take your time. Rapid changes are sure death.
• Zoa’s release a toxin…wear gloves. If you are frag’ing them, wear safety glasses…they can squirt this stuff.
• Read……and then read some more. The internet, as well as books, are loaded with knowledge about starting a salt tank. Read it!
• NOW, sit back and get ready for hair algae, cyano infestation, etc…..new tank outbreaks that we all go through.

Best of luck!

 

[doubletail]

Grain of salt taken Hooked

E) Last question is when you buy a coral from the store or member how do you attach it to the rocks? Some type of glue?
They can be glued, but usually come on a disc, plug, or small piece of rock that can be wedged into your LR.

So do these pieces eventually dissolve or the coral grows over the disc and onto the LR?

Thanks redfishblewfish forgot I could get the premixed water from LFS. The cycling im familiar with from freshwater and Ive read about the tank outbreaks so I wont be panicking haha.

Hmmm not sure about the skimmer have to research that more have been reading thats its not beneficial running them on small tanks but other threads say its okay ..... again need to research more on that

 

[Hooked Newbie]

Grain of salt taken Hooked




So do these pieces eventually dissolve or the coral grows over the disc and onto the LR?

Depending on the type of coral, it will grow on, over, or encrust over them. They shouldn't dissolve (anything that does can't be good).

Thanks redfishblewfish forgot I could get the premixed water from LFS. The cycling im familiar with from freshwater and Ive read about the tank outbreaks so I wont be panicking haha.

Make sure you have top off water (RODI) available.

Hmmm not sure about the skimmer have to research that more have been reading thats its not beneficial running them on small tanks but other threads say its okay ..... again need to research more on that

I'm not running a skimmer and opting for more water changes, but do see the reasoning behind those that recommend them.

 

[doubletail]

Im worried that the skimmer will take out not only the gunk but also the trace elements that the corals would need since this is a nano tank. I would like to try 30-40 PWC every week and see how that goes if not then I'll look more into it

 

[ToeJam]

Frog spawns and hammers have sweeping stingers..and being LPS you will have to maintain some kick butt water parameters and have sufficient lighting.

I think you should take it slow...like others suggested...10g can only hold so much..remember corals have to poop also...and the long list going in a 10g..sounds a bit much...

In terms of difficulty for saltwater... the smaller you go the bigger the challenge is for reef tanks... its not impossible..but I think you are over doing it on the stock.

 

[ToeJam]

Im worried that the skimmer will take out not only the gunk but also the trace elements that the corals would need since this is a nano tank. I would like to try 30-40 PWC every week and see how that goes if not then I'll look more into it

No such thing as over skimming to me..=) but all skimmers will remove the good stuff to..reason reefers will supplement there tanks.

Look into purchasing C-Balance by twolittlefishies company. its designed for that purpose..and maintaining calc and alk for SPS LPS.

 

[ToeJam]

To answer your questions directly.

A)The AC50 gives 200GPH and the Korelia Nano gives 240 GPH giving a total of 440 GPH would this be enough for the corals I would like to have?

The purpose of flow is to keep detritus stirred into the water column and have zero dead spots to stagnate an area and have cyano problems to boot.I think a 10g with that is just fine ...just place them to where the water collides from the powerheads...dont get a swirl going..

B) Still not sure on the lights possibly a T5 but cant find a fixture thats 20 inchs if anything ill live with the 24" ones.

When I did 10 gallon I used Power Compacts and yes hard to find a store in stock with that.. I would surely try to get 5watts a gallon average if you are going to put soft corals in... just a general rule ..not accurate though.
Lighting spectrums I would read up on them..but I prefer 14k vs 10k or 2ok..it covers the whole spectrum of what corals like..and brings out the color of your corals at the same time..kinda like 10k and 20k benefits in one.

C)I want to make sure I have the water change part right. I have a 10g tank I remove 3g the new 3g has to have the 1.024 so I can add it to the tank and be the same temp correct?

Keep in mind about evaporation to... Have RO/DI water on hand to top off that tank... as for changing water in general...just replace what you take out so get a 1 gallon milk jug and take out exactly 3g and put in exactly 3g...most salinity problems are due to replacing evaporated water with salt mix...causing it to raise ... replace evaporation with ro di..replace salt water change out water with salt..and ofcourse test after done.

D)Havent seen a thread on this but ive seen youtube videos of people fragging coral with and without gloves... so question is can I touch corals with bare hands? I dont want to get sick or damage they little guys.

Corals do not like the oils from your hands...try not to touch them at all if possible. I have had a Galaxia coral roll over in my hand ..felt a little tingly was it...stingers can only go so deep =)...but no big deal..the reason for gloves isnt your safety ..but the health of the coral itself...

E) Last question is when you buy a coral from the store or member how do you attach it to the rocks? Some type of glue?

Soft corals put it in a little plastic container in the tank with rubble rock and let it stick to the rock of choice...i find them hard to glue..Xenia for one is like that...

Hard corals can be glued with Super Glue Gel..but they also make products specifically for glueing corals... I used super Glue gel to glue down bases of Hammer corals...it works fine.


Get yourself a Water Chemistry for salt water tanks book asap. It will be your water bible.


And Take one step at a time..go Slowww!

 

[Hooked Newbie]

A)The AC50 gives 200GPH and the Korelia Nano gives 240 GPH giving a total of 440 GPH would this be enough for the corals I would like to have?

The purpose of flow is to keep detritus stirred into the water column and have zero dead spots to stagnate an area and have cyano problems to boot.I think a 10g with that is just fine ...just place them to where the water collides from the powerheads...dont get a swirl going..

B) Still not sure on the lights possibly a T5 but cant find a fixture thats 20 inchs if anything ill live with the 24" ones.

When I did 10 gallon I used Power Compacts and yes hard to find a store in stock with that.. I would surely try to get 5watts a gallon average if you are going to put soft corals in... just a general rule ..not accurate though.
Lighting spectrums I would read up on them..but I prefer 14k vs 10k or 2ok..it covers the whole spectrum of what corals like..and brings out the color of your corals at the same time..kinda like 10k and 20k benefits in one.

C)I want to make sure I have the water change part right. I have a 10g tank I remove 3g the new 3g has to have the 1.024 so I can add it to the tank and be the same temp correct?

Keep in mind about evaporation to... Have RO/DI water on hand to top off that tank... as for changing water in general...just replace what you take out so get a 1 gallon milk jug and take out exactly 3g and put in exactly 3g...most salinity problems are due to replacing evaporated water with salt mix...causing it to raise ... replace evaporation with ro di..replace salt water change out water with salt..and ofcourse test after done.

D)Havent seen a thread on this but ive seen youtube videos of people fragging coral with and without gloves... so question is can I touch corals with bare hands? I dont want to get sick or damage they little guys.

Corals do not like the oils from your hands...try not to touch them at all if possible. I have had a Galaxia coral roll over in my hand ..felt a little tingly was it...stingers can only go so deep =)...but no big deal..the reason for gloves isnt your safety ..but the health of the coral itself...

E) Last question is when you buy a coral from the store or member how do you attach it to the rocks? Some type of glue?

Soft corals put it in a little plastic container in the tank with rubble rock and let it stick to the rock of choice...i find them hard to glue..Xenia for one is like that...

Hard corals can be glued with Super Glue Gel..but they also make products specifically for glueing corals... I used super Glue gel to glue down bases of Hammer corals...it works fine.


Get yourself a Water Chemistry for salt water tanks book asap. It will be your water bible.


And Take one step at a time..go Slowww!

I was educated on this in an earlier thread (by Ace I think).

Palytoxin targets the sodium-potassium pump protein by binding to the molecule such that the molecule is locked in a position where it allows passive transport of both the sodium and potassium ions, thereby destroying the ion gradient that is essential for most cells.
Typical symptoms of palytoxin poisoning are angina-like chest pains, asthma-like breathing difficulties, tachycardia, unstable blood pressure, hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells), and an electrocardiogram showing an exaggerated T wave. The onset of symptoms is rapid, and death usually follows just minutes after.


SOOO, yea... safety first.