Operation Overkill: 10 gallon reef build

Fishieness

Fishieness

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Jan 14, 2006
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hey everyone.... this is the start to a build/reef diary. i know what you are thinking... how can a 10 gallon be overkill? well... that isnt the part that is (obviously). as some of you know, next year i will be going off to college. but a tank up to 10 gallons is allowed and i am going pretty close by so i would be able to transfer all my equiptment and live stock pretty easily (one of the only perks to going to school close to home). Anyways, here is a list of the equiptment:
-10 gallon AGA tank that has been running for about a year and a half....
-3.5 gallon CRP aquafuge
-a few moonlights i am able to scrounge up
-as much live rock as i can cram in there
-20-30 poudns of live sand
*now for the overkill?*
-250 watt DE MH running on a PFO mini pendant and an ice cap ballast. right now i have a 14,000K running, but i may eventualy replace it for a 20,000K as i probably wont have any actinics(....yet)
-Deltec MC500 skimmer, rated to a 120 gallon heavily stocked tank. and it's a deltec so you know that isnt a huge fabrication like any of the crappy seaclones or the red sea skimmers.
-and for flow, besides the water coming out of my fuge and skimmer, im goign to use a hydor koralia 4 (1200 gph). if i really really dont like it and it is too much, even with all the walls restricting flow, i might think of switching to a 3.

Corals/cnidarian:
-lots of acros and montis (DUH!). some i own, some i will be in the market for (FE: tyree sunset if i can find one)
-a few heads of my 30 head frogspawn
-my 10 headed ORA duncan
-a frag of a purple/gold/pink chalice colony i have
-a few other LPS if i can fit them in
-my crocea clam
-a blue squamosa if i can find one that isnt $600. (have some good priced ORA ones with a hint of blue at the LFS i work at)
-some xenia and anthillia (probably mostly in the fuge)
-any softies/zoos that i really love and have good color that can stand the high lighting or can be shaded by my purple rim cap colony or in the fuge
-My BTA if i can get her to not roam too much

Fish and inverts:
Im thinking of either doing a small wart skin angler (the maculatus species.)
OR doing a few small gobies. possibly my clownfish pair also. still not entirely sure which option i want to try. with my skimmer, nutrients isnt goign to be a huge issue, it is more in terms of space and what i want the most. i want the angler, but i would love to get some sexy shrimp and some other awesome inverts to give the tank a little more movement and life.


and i think that is about it....
oh yeah.... and a WHOLE lot of kalk/two part. im waiting for a very small, used Ca reactor to come on the market, cause i will probably need it... :D

ill take some pictures at some point of the tank as it is running as well as some of the corals and such that i will be transfering to the smaller tank.
any questions/comments are welcome :)
 
knowing your attention to detail mate, i have no doubts it will be stunning and very well tended and thought out....

I cant wait to see some progress pictures of it and start to see this reef long get under way..
 
Fishy,
You're a NUT!!! :)

The 10 won't support the koralia. You will be fine with the skimmer/fuge. 2 airlift tubes at 3/8" with NO airstones will keep the water pretty chaotic!

Chill on the 250w...go with the new clamp on HQI's.

Post pics as soon as you set it up!
 
heh heh heh. it'll be ineteresting. and i dont have AC in my dorm apparently, so i might even need a small 1/15 horsepower chiller? we shalll see. i think i could probably make it through, cause ill be back home for the really hot months.
and thanks nikko! it shoudl be interesting. im goign to try transferign some stuff tomorrow. start out with some LPS before i do the sps so i can try selling what i dont have room for/dont want anymore. perhaps ill take a few pictures at some point soon? :)
 
Mr.Firemouth said:
Fishy,
You're a NUT!!! :)

The 10 won't support the koralia. You will be fine with the skimmer/fuge. 2 airlift tubes at 3/8" with NO airstones will keep the water pretty chaotic!

Chill on the 250w...go with the new clamp on HQI's.

Post pics as soon as you set it up!
Click to expand...

ahahaha. yes, im thinking it will be too much flow. i will most likely sell my 4 and get a 2 or a 3. the skimmer doesnt put out too much water and the fuge only has a 50 gph pump on it. i think im gonna upgrade that though.
what do you mean by the new clamp on HQIs? are you talking about the coralife fixtures? those arent new though... and they also dont come with a UV shield because the coralife bulbs suposedly have one, even the DEs. And i am super happy with my PFO minipendant and my ice cap too :) I build a SUPER ghetto (but fully functional) canopy today to house it in. and i plan to put a few of the clip on fans in the back. the entire back to the canopy is also open to allow for a lot of ventilation.
it should be entertaining :)
 
By the way Fishie, I was showing my son your post and not only was he laughing at the thought of all that flow but he immediately said "HA! Avenue Q!" Isn't that 2 comments about your avatar in one week now? He had to explain to me what it was.
 
Grins said:
By the way Fishie, I was showing my son your post and not only was he laughing at the thought of all that flow but he immediately said "HA! Avenue Q!" Isn't that 2 comments about your avatar in one week now? He had to explain to me what it was.
Click to expand...

haha. yes. and the only two in having this avatar for about 2.5 years.
yeah. flow would be rediculous, ill probably have to go a few sizes down or something :)
Firemouth, not a bad idea with the canister, dont think im going to do it cause i dont want to have to deal with cleaning it. If i do add something besides my HOB fuge, ill probably make a sump. my dorm allows tanks up to 10 gallons... but it doesnt say how many ;)
 
A few things, and this is just stuff I've read:

1. The type of flow you're talking about will probably be too much for anything but SPS. I hear they love the super flow, but the softies and the fish would probably have a hard time with 150x turnover. It'd look like a toilet bowl after you flushed it.

2. Why a skimmer? Nutrients get into the tank either in the water, or in the food, right? If you're using ro/di, it shouldn't get in there, and the fish you're talking about will require about a flake a day, maybe less.



Other than that, it sounds really nice. I mean, I probably wouldn't go with the 250 watter on such a small tank, as you'd think the penetration with a 175 would be plenty, but that shouldn't really matter too much. If your corals get bleached from too much light, you can just lift it a little bit higher off the tank.

Good luck, and like has been said...post pics!

PS - which college?
 
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