new member.....Advice plz!!!

[dalton0608]

I'm starting my first sw tank and was needing some help on what all i need to get it up and running. (I already have the 10 gal. tank, hood, and araq alive live sand 20 lbs.) what else would you recommend as far as lights, heater, power head, filter, etc..

 

[dalton0608]

also, i have 15 lbs of live rock from the lfs

 

[MJSerik]

Do you know if you have lights that can grow coral?

Just saw the question about lighting, whoops!

 

[MJSerik]

Look at Korallia (Think that's the spelling) for power heads, use live rock as your filter, and get a protein skimmer. What kind of corals do you want?

 

[dalton0608]

not really thought about the types of coral just yet. I was more so trying to get fish and invertebrates for now until I get my tank established.

 

[MJSerik]

If you want to get SPS coral you need a powerful light, but LPS and softies/polyps are easier

 

[Fishman007]

I'm starting my first sw tank and was needing some help on what all i need to get it up and running. (I already have the 10 gal. tank, hood, and araq alive live sand 20 lbs.) what else would you recommend as far as lights, heater, power head, filter, etc..

For the Powerhead i would go with the koralia 425 nano, i have it in my 20 long and it gives lots of flow. For the filter a HOB will work but a sump is preferable. Are you going with a reef? For heaters i alway go with ehiem or aqueon. I have an ehiem in my 60 and 37 and the ehiems are better IMO. I also have an aqueon in my 20 which is good but a little shy of the ehiems.

 

[Fishman007]

Oh and also welcome to AA! Glad to have you here

 

[dalton0608]

I've been looking at coral and decided I'm probably going to go with SPS and maybe a NPS further down the road. I just ordered the koralia 425 nano so it should be here early this week. Also, I planned on a protein skimmer but not really sure what to go with. As far as lighting I'm just gonna go wit an ecoxotic 24 in. Stunner 12 watt led strip.
What do you guys think

 

[Fishman007]

I've been looking at coral and decided I'm probably going to go with SPS and maybe a NPS further down the road. I just ordered the koralia 425 nano so it should be here early this week. Also, I planned on a protein skimmer but not really sure what to go with. As far as lighting I'm just gonna go wit an ecoxotic 24 in. Stunner 12 watt led strip.
What do you guys think

I would start with softies first before you try sps. Especially sense this is your first SW.

 

[dalton0608]

ok, well do you think that the AquaticLife Internal Mini Protein Skimmer 115 will be sufficient to run on this tank.

 

[bribo12]

I've been looking at coral and decided I'm probably going to go with SPS and maybe a NPS further down the road. I just ordered the koralia 425 nano so it should be here early this week. Also, I planned on a protein skimmer but not really sure what to go with. As far as lighting I'm just gonna go wit an ecoxotic 24 in. Stunner 12 watt led strip.
What do you guys think

Even though the tank is a 10g I doubt one stunner strip can grow sps let alone keep their color. You will probably need 3 of them. Why not just get a par38 bulb and then you can keep sps down the road. I would also strongly suggest you stay away from nps corals for a while. Meeting their food requirements is very tough let alone in a 10 gallon nano. I got pretty fed up when I had my tubastrea and gave it away because it was just a complete pain. There are tons of amazing lps and softies that will not drive you to the verge of madness like sps will.

 

[dalton0608]

got my tank and live rock and sand set up will be postin pics soon

 

[dalton0608]

also, thank you for the good info bribo

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

You can go with a biocube skimmer runs about $25. Easy set up skimmer an is good for that size tank.

 

[Saltwaterfish56]

Led lights , korilia power head , and a titanium via aqua heater , so you'll never have to worry about your heater breaking / shattering

 

[Bectan01]

I wouldn't bother with a skimmer on that size tank, just keep up the weekly water changes and you should be fine. Even though you have just set it up I want to recommend using ro-di water (especially because you want to keep corals) tap water is just going to lead to algae problems down the road. Don't forget test kits and a refractometer for measuring salinity. How do you plan to cycle the tank? I set up a 10g a few ok this ago so feel free to ask any questions...

 

[dalton0608]

im still really confused on how to cycle

 

[Bectan01]

Get a raw shrimp from the grocery store, put it in a pantyhose and let it rot - test for ammonia and nitrites initially. You will fest see the amm rise, followed by nitrites, they will then drop to 0 and you should see nitrates. Do a big water change and you'll be good to go...

 

[dalton0608]

alright thanks for the help