my first tank, a 10 gallon.

[Snowgrrl83]

Hi everyone!

So here is my story and this is where you can help!

I have a 10 gallon tank that is empty. The aquaclear filter broke down, so did the heater and therefore, my tropical FW fish that used to live in it have died.

I therefore have a simple tank with nothing.

I would like to try out my first little salt water tank. Nothing complicated yet, until I know more about this crazy domain.
I know I should start with a bigger tank, but I am a very poor student and I would rather not spend thousands of dollars. I am not very crafty either, so don't ask me to DIY.

I want to start out with a FWLR tank and then when I get the hang of that and get more knowledge maybe I`ll try some hardy small soft corals in the future.

I would therefore like to know:

What kind of substrate should I buy and how deep should it be?
What kind of powerhead and how powerfull should it be?
What kind of light and how many watts should I get?
Do I need a sump?
Hydrometer?
What about a skimmer?
What kind of salt mix?
What kind of fish and inverts should I get? -- I'm thinking a very small clown fish???!!
How much live rock and what kind of live rock should I find?

Please give me a 10 gallon set up example is what I'm asking!!

HELP!

 

[Yash]

Hello there ... here's some answers to the questions you listed:

What kind of substrate should I buy?
Look for reef sand that is aragonite based (you can use playsand bought at Home Depot) ... the grains of sand should be about the size of sugar crystals.

What kind of powerhead?
You can go with the basic maxijet or aquaclear powerhead for your tank.

Do I need a sump?
Though a sump is recommended, with the size of your tank, it is not a necessity. Besides, you probably won't have much room for it. You could go a "hang on the back" refugium.

What about a skimmer?
Once again, for that sized tank, a skimmer is not really necessary.

Heater?
You will certainly need one of these. You can go with one somewhere between 50 and 100 watts.

What kind of salt mix?
For a salt mix, I know of people who've had good experiences with Instant Ocean Reef Crystals

What kind of fish and inverts should I get? -- I'm thinking a very small clown fish???!!
This is where you'll be most limited due to the size of your tank. You could certainly get a clown fish and maybe a goby to go with it. You'll also need a cleanup crew (crabs, snails, shrimp)

How much live rock and what kind of live rock should I find?
The general rule of thumb is to have 1.5 to 2.0 lbs of live rock per gallon. Fiji, Marshall Island are two popular kinds of LR.

One other thing you could do is query up "nano reef" in this forum and on google and read read read That should give you all the information you need about a setup the size you're looking at.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Cheers!
Yash

 

[Snowgrrl83]

thanks... so erm...

After getting to know a lot of information and reading...

What is a sump exactly? and how do I get one for a 10 gal?

 

[WeeNe858]

sumps dont work well for a ten gallon or even a 30 for that matter.. the size and plumping needed is a bit akward...

but a sump is simply a holding tank of water that is hooked on to your existing tank via an overflow running down to the sump (by gravity) and then a pump pumping it back up.. skimmers are ushually housed in a sump .. a way of keeping it out of view and still giving it the proper needs to run... and also live rock, carbon, and mineral blocks can be places into this sump..

a refugium is an area within a sump that houses live sand (or miracle mud -better) and macro algae as a way of cultivating copapods and antheopods (food).. and help keep the nitrates down.. so all in all refugium is good