Ok, lets try this again...

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JDogg

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
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Location
Rapid City, SD
Although it has been almost a year since THIS, I seam to keep leaving and coming back to this project.
:roll:
I am once again ready to give this whole nano reef tank idea a try... my wife's B-Day is October 18th, and this tank shall be her present (I do all the work and she gets to enjoy it, and give her opinion on what goes in the tank)

Here is where I am at:

10 Gallon Tank the Dwarf Puffer died, so the tank is free again :(
Will get
15-20 lb Live Rock
Live sand for substrate

Did a little research at a couple LFS today and this is what they suggested
Lighting: a clip on light from Coralife w/ 150 watt Metal Halide Bulb (like THIS)
They said this light will let me grow "anything"
Filtration: Skilter 250 Power Filter/Skimmer Combo Job

Thoughts and opinions on these two items?

So of the inverts that caught my wife's eye (I have no research them yet, but perhaps you all can let me know if anything will not work at all)

Chocolate Chip Starfish
Brittle star
Peppermint Shrimp
Tube Worm
Flam Scallop
Purple Tip Anemone
Nudabranch
Green Eyed Fauia
Green Mushroom
Orange Zoanthids
Hermit Crabs

Fish she likes are Clowns and Gobies (species recommendations are welcome)

So if you get a chance give me any opinions, suggestions, advice and problems you can see.

Thanks!
 
You do have enough light to grow just about "anything" but don't forget about things like water movement and the like. Light is just one of many variables that needs to be met for certain colors to grow and thrive. What are your coral goals for the tank? Mainly SPS? LPS? Softies? A mix? This can make the difference in what type of lighting you want as softies needs considerably less than something like SPS. Also they don't need the massive water flow and turbulence.

As for what your invert list is, I can make an unexpert-like comment on a few:

Chocolate Chip Starfish - Skip it. Coral eater, needs bigger tank.
Brittle star - Careful which kind you get. I'd skip that for now or until someone can give you a better answer.
Peppermint Shrimp - Aptasia eaters, not a bad addition really. I like them.
Tube Worm -
Flam Scallop - Never heard anything positive about these guys.
Purple Tip Anemone - Can't comment.
Nudabranch - Can't comment.
Green Eyed Fauia - Can't comment.
Green Mushroom - Go for it! Very easy to care for. I grow them under 9w! Just watch your placement, too high up with a 150w light might be a bad thing.
Orange Zoanthids - Another great coral choice. There's a wide variety of orange Zoanthids. Pick what you like. One of my favorite (which I have) are Fire & Ice. Very colorful and easy to keep.
Hermit Crabs - Not a bad choice. Although I have heard reports of them picking at polyps. Careful, they will kill snails for larger shells. May want to provide larger empty shells for them as they grow.

I'll skip on the fish selection since I'm really just learning them myself. I'm more of an invert/coral guy.

Although I will say this, have a good algae/cleanup crew. Look into the various types of snails out there. I've found Margarittas and Nerites to do a darn good job on my tank.

For some "cool" crabs there are the Porcelain and Pom-Pom. They are a bit shy but really colorful and fun to watch. I'm still trying to track down one or the other. Even my buddy who owns a LFS can't get them!
 
I agree with Burks, I can add some input (not on the corals):
Flame scallops have a very dismal survival rates on our tanks.
Purple Tip Anemone needs at least a 30G tank (like the dwarf puffer) and a mature tank, and would probably sting your other corals.
Nudibranchs tend to have specific diets and when they deplete their food source, they tend to die (some can nuke a tank, depending on what they eat).
Green Eyed Fauia - not sure what this is....
For snails, I like nassarius, cerith and margarita snails.
Personally, I am not a big fan of hermits, but they are generally great additions to tanks. I have 4 in my 55 and as stated above, get larger empty shells for them to move into.
 
roka64 said:
needs at least a 30G tank (like the dwarf puffer)

Dwarf puffer.com-
Even though they are small in size, dwarves need roughly 2 to 3 gallons per fish to have adequate space. They will become aggressive to one another if cramped too tightly together. They also become more aggressive as they age, particularly with sexual maturity. Make sure to keep this in mind when choosing your tank size as well as stocking it.

10gallon is good enough for up to 4 dwarf puffers. Liveaquaria.com lies.

Just want to say JDogg, i'll be watching this thread :)
 
Hmmm, you may have a point there, I didn't see they only grow to about 1 inch.
 
thanks for the input so far, i will show this to my wife and do a little more research, will get back to you soon.
 
Friends don't let friends buy the skilter. If you run an airstone instead of the venturi its not so bad but its still not very effective. I would honestly go skimmerless and just do frequent water changes, thats only if you were not trying to do SPS. SPS are a whole different ball game and then I would suggest a much more serious skimmer.
 
Scottm said:
Friends don't let friends buy the skilter. If you run an airstone instead of the venturi its not so bad but its still not very effective. I would honestly go skimmerless and just do frequent water changes, thats only if you were not trying to do SPS. SPS are a whole different ball game and then I would suggest a much more serious skimmer.
the lfs guy did mention running it with an airstone. obviously it is job to sell it, but he said people seam to like it :?
what are the pros and cons as you see it?
 
ok here i am. i find it hard to get on the site lattly. 9 out of 10 times i try to get on i get some virus alert on the home page :? it totaly freezes up my computer! i close it and another one pops up. they do not allow me to do ANYTHING.

anyways here is the pic of the tank...

img_834534_0_44755906a5915e4640691a929361c7dd.jpg
 
Not tank related, but that virus warning you're getting probably means you're already infected with spyware. Some of the newer varieties are down right obnoxious too. It very quickly becomes a question of which is easier, reloading the system or cleaning the virus.

Back to the tank, have you decided on a filter/skimmer solution?
 
Sorry, I am not on much, this project is moving forward though

I have turned the filter into a small fug, and filled it with lr rubble.
img_840703_0_264ea5f62bafc08934b0961e4061d1cc.jpg


And I have obtained two hitch-hiker organisms... I need to IDs and if they are good, or should be eliminated

Some kind of multi-cellular algae???
img_840703_1_69a891bd1d7ddd309de36d532ef22fc5.jpg


Some kind of anemone (Aptasia???)
img_840703_2_aa476133f836616310a2e8dd0dee81a0.jpg


I might be picking up a better light today (right now I am just running the and incandescent hood w. screw in 20 watt day-light CF from when it was a planted DP tank)

And I have 5-6 pounds of softball sized LF coming in mid-week and maybe a couple of peppermint shrimp (my first official residents)
 
The first looks kind of like Grape Caulerpa, without the grape part, so I may be some sort of Caulerpa. The second could be aiptasia, but it is kind of tough to see.
 
can we talk a little bit about lighting...

if you have been reading through this thread you will see that at the start i was (well ok more my wife:rolleyes:) thinking about this light. http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...ralifeaqualightadvancedhangontankmountfixture

the plan is to grow some basic corals. everyone one i have talked to has said that light will do the job.

any suggestions on a more, shall we say wallet friendly, option. i have been running my planted tank for over year now with shop lights and they are working great. any options like that for this project?
 
With that metal halide lamp over a 10 gallon, you are looking at enough light to keep ANYTHING you could possibly imagine... and along with it some heat problems I would assume.

I have this 96 watt PC fixture over my 10 gallon and I really like it. It will be more than enough light for your nano reef. It's currently at a great price as well.

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1323
 
With that metal halide lamp over a 10 gallon, you are looking at enough light to keep ANYTHING you could possibly imagine... and along with it some heat problems I would assume.

I have this 96 watt PC fixture over my 10 gallon and I really like it. It will be more than enough light for your nano reef. It's currently at a great price as well.

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1323
well i picked up this light, thanks for the suggestion. the guy at the lfs agreed that it would be a good light for what i want to do (inverts and soft corals)

while price checking at petsmart i found some more (an lets face it more realistic) base rock. so i layed down the lava rock, and has begun to cover it up. Wednesday i plan to pick up the last 5-6 pounds of rock (lr this time :) ) this should give me well over 15 pounds of rock total, that is not counting the lr rubble in aquaclear fug. i also will pick up at that time my peppermint shrimp. i check on them today and they are nice over an inch long!

img_841893_0_e03b4860b9efef5294980845b82dcadf.jpg

img_841893_1_55b717f1fc70d91f6f9dcbc70a25ece4.jpg
 
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well if all goes as planed i will pick up the last of my lr and my shrimp tomorrow.

say... i was at the book store the other day and i picked up a book The Ultimate Guide to Reef Systems Under 15 Gallons: The Nano-Reef Handbook by CR Brightwell. has anyone read this and what are your thoughts? i found it helpful to me. what i like the most is it has a Template for a 10 gallon that i think is more of less what i am aiming at. i will post that live stock list tomorrow when i have more time. i of course want to run things past all of you! :D
 
Never heard of that book, but glad it is helping you!

One thing I just noticed is your glass lid. You may find (probably) that you'll have to remove it. Closed tanks = trapped CO2 which = low pH in most cases. You can buy mounting legs for the aquaclear if you find the low pH problem.
 
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