Help!!!!!! NANO TANK

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Aug 1, 2008
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I have heard horrible things about setting up and caring for a nano tank

I am trying to make a 10 gallon salt water nano tank and can you see if i am doing good

10 gallon aga tank
295 gph maxi jet power head
rio nano skimmer + filter
28 watt coral life compact lights
50 watt heating
total amount = 100 dollars

for sand i decided to get nature's ocean white sand i don't think it is a live sand but it says it came from the ocean = 6 dollars

getting about 5 to 10 pounds of live rock = willing to spend 20 to 30
3 damsel fish and snails, crabs, maybe coral banded shrimp

please tell me if i am doing any thing wrong and stay tuned to this post because i will need a lot of help setting the tank up on august 5 or 4
thank you
 
A 10g tank will be too small for damsels. If you buy 2 or 3, you will soon only have 1, as they will most likely fight for territory in a tank so small. The last one will quickly outgrow a 10g tank and need to be moved to a more suitably sized tank.

If it were me, I'd spend no money on damsels and instead use it to put 10 - 15 lbs of live rock in the tank. If buying all live rock exceeds your budget, you should be able to pick up some dry base rock reasonably priced and mix 50/50 live rock / base rock.

For fish, I'd recommend looking into some of the smaller gobies. Maybe even one of the shrimp gobies with an appropriate shrimp for it to pair up with.
 
thank and what are dry rocks ?
i have also heard that the damsels that only grow 2 to 3 inches can be in there just like the fire fishes and is my equipment good and how long do you think i can maintained this?
is it really complicated to have a salt water tank like i have heard before?
The Lights
is it good enough for mushroom and soft corals?
 
Oh i forgot one more thing
all the substrates and calciums and etc
are these stuff in the salt mix to keep the water and pH level to atomatically 8.1 or 8.2?
thank you
 
Okay, i've got a 12 gallon nano, so i might be able to help here
As for the tank, should be good.
The filter/skimmer will be nice. I personally have a nanocube where i use Liverock rubble for pretty much all my filtration in the back. Works well.
The damsels...3 of -any- fish in a tank that size would be pushing it...Paricularly damsels, as they are fairly active.
I've got a percula clown in mine, and i'm looking at firefish. Both, as i've read ,are pretty much ideal..Well ,adn the ocellaris clownfish, of course. Neon gobies are another excellent addition.
Coral banded shrimp could be iffy...I've heard that in tanks of this size, they a) Get too big and upset the balance and B) can get overly agressive, killing corals and inverts alike.
I agree with the idea, however, of saving the money for Liverock .The more you've got, the less filtration you'll need. A grea t thing about nano's is, if you have enoguh LR, you can typically get by without a skimmer.
If i were you, however, i'd look at the shrimp/goby pair. If it weren't for the fact that i already have a setup i like , iwould switch over to that. It's a very cool thing that mainly nano people appreciate, as the relationship is often lsot in larger tanks.
 
Oh,and as far as corals..I think some softies, Zoa's, Mushrooms, leathers, could work well with your lighting.
 
Oooh, and one -more- thing. The heater, you probably won't need it. The lights in mine keep the tank at 80 as it is. Might want to run it for a few days without heater, just to see how it goes.
 
so no damsels than i will probably get fire fish if that is ok
and also about sand i don't have to use live right?
does salt mix keep the 8.1 pH?
i don't need to add any additives also right?
please keep replying with good answers and thank you
 
You may want to invest in some buffer. I use Seachem Buffer which keeps the pH at 8.3. I have been maintaining a 1gal pico for about 8 months now and have had no need for a heater. By keeping something so small, and yes 10 gals is small, be prepared to do daily tests on the water along with quite frequent water changes. You don't need live sand, its a waste of $$$ as it will become live soon enough, but don't skimp on the lr, this is probably your biggest ally in keeping the tank stable. Also, if you are set on getting a couple fish plus some inverts your bioload will be quite large for the tank, so you definitely will what as much filtration (Live Rock) as possible along with frequent water changes.

One more thing, invest in some Seachem Purigen and put it in your HOB filter. I use this mixed with some carbon and has kept my levels to a bare minimum.

Hope this helps.
 
Live sand would be helpful but it will become live soon enough. I would recommend adding a bacteria culture such as Bio Spira to start. As for stocking you could do something like an ocellaris clown, a firefish, a a peppermint shrimp and 2 snails. You will need to be prepared to do a lot of water changes.
 
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