needing advise on a Reef tank

[sgr7781]

im looking at mainly reef and inverts and Maybe a single fish. looking at either 5 or 10g. leaning towards a 10 becuz it would give me more options on fish/verts
also the hood could support duel mini compact florecents... ANY advise would be welcomed.

 

[TheTodd]

Go 10g if you are going to go small. Not many fish are going to work in a 5g.

The thing to understand is that small tanks can fluctuate rapidly and that does not go well for reefs. They need constant temp, salinity, pristine parameters, etc. The smaller you go, the more work it is IMO.

 

[Elykreefs97]

go with the 10 gallon thats what i started out with. the compact floresents wont be enough for many corals. make sure you have good filtration if you do no protien skimmer is needed. on the fish side of things you could go with a pair of false purcula clowns and a goby. with the inverts i had a pepermint shrip. 10 narsirus snails and 10 hermit crabs. any other questions id be happy to answer

 

[sgr7781]

I'm looking at canister filter that's a 88gallon a hr it's rated for a 20g I believe. What light you would get for a 10g

 

[Elykreefs97]

i dont know about a canister filter on a saltwated tank. marine tanks are all natural filtration. so unless you are going to fill it with live rock its not a good idea. for lighting it all depends.on your budgit t5s are the way to go.

 

[sgr7781]

So what all would I need for a budget friend 10g salt? As cheap as possible

 

[Elykreefs97]

well light if you want corals yoy will need t5s the zoomed aquasun would work and there about 100. the filter i used an HOB filter rated for 30 gallons. i put some live rock and sponge in it.your sand is about 15 bucks. the rock i spent about 50-60 dollars on it. but dont forget i did it over time not all at once. get your lights sand and maybe a 10 dollar piece of live rock to start off. thwn over time just buy stuff here and there.

 

[sgr7781]

At least the good thing is I got a awesome lfs with a good selection of saltwater. So would I be better of doing a 20g since those r the long bulbs already?

 

[Elykreefs97]

yea i have a 29 gallon now and i can say ita alot easier to maintain. if you want you can watch my vids ill post a link. this is to my latest vid which was like 2 months ago ill post a new one tonight if you want ill give you some info on it.

 

[sgr7781]

PLEASE! Lol I might be getting a 20g at petsmart 2$-1g sell so that I wouldn't be spending the full amount. Might splurge for the 29 since its only 20 bucks more. Ideas?

 

[Elykreefs97]

that sound good. i found a really good deal at petco i got a 29 gallon with a wood stand for 100 dollars. i got this hang on the back refugium with LEDs on it and it was also a crazy deal its called the finnex fugebox. i can review all my stuff for you later tonight.

 

[sgr7781]

Please! I'm still green to all this and want to do it right I cycled my 5g for right at a month.

 

[Elykreefs97]

ok i wont be home for another hour so ill do it then. what do you have in the 5 gallon?

 

[sgr7781]

It's fw it has three nerite snails and two green Cory's and a female crown tail with dw

 

[Elykreefs97]

oh. i have a 90 gallon cichlid tank. but freshwater is never as exciting as salt.

 

[sgr7781]

Salt r soooo much more rewarding

 

[Elykreefs97]

oh definetly. are you going to get a test kit

 

[sgr7781]

API salt

 

[AquaRick]

I would agree and go with the largest tank you can get. A 29g would be nice and can house several nano fish and a pair of clowns as well. What type of livestock are you going for?

 

[Elykreefs97]

im going to post the vin in a sec