Setting up 10gal reef help plz..

[gooyferret]

Im setting up a 10 gal reef and was curious about how to set one up. Nevr done anything this small...Give me some advice plz. Mostly going to be LPS.

 

[loganj]

Can you be more specific? There are lots of ways to do it. Most nano tanks rely on water changes instead of an elaborate filtration system and additive dosing.

 

[d9hp]

Well, for lighting I want to suggest the 96 watt coralife hood, I have only heard good things

 

[HoopsGuru]

My 10g reef is pretty simple. I used 1" of sand an then about 15-18 lbs of LR. The lighting is 2x32w Custom SeaLife retrofits. I don't think I would have a problem with adding LPS corals at all. The 96w hood would be great, although I am not sure how much heating would be a factor from the small amount of water volume. I think you would certainly have to use a fan as my setup reaches up to 84° quickly even with central air. Other than that I just use a Maxi-jet 400 for water movement along with a Penguin Mini. Water changes are a gallon every week or two weeks.

As for the LPS corals themselves, my experience is limited to only Euphyllia sp. While being characterized as "aggressive", I have found the branching varieties at least to be very tolerant of each other, with no instances of sweeper tentacles. Chemical warfare is unknown. My only concern in a 10g would be that they can and will get much larger, quite easily to the point where you will have to frag them to keep them from overgrowing the confines of the tank...keep that in mind. Also, with a small amount of water volume, you could very well have to drip kalkwasser or some other form of calcium maintenance to keep up with the use by these corals.

 

[gooyferret]

well to be honest with you guys im not a expert on corals i know a little about them but i still cant understand the difference between SPS and LPS?? I know what they stand for just dont understand how to differ them apart from each other. Which corals are the ones that wave with the water current LPS? SPS are hard corals right? My plan is to kinda do it like Hoops and use a penguin mini with a small PH.

 

[HoopsGuru]

LPS have the larger polyps. Investing in Eric Borneman's Aquarium Corals will pay itself off many times over in educating you on corals and their proper husbandry. It really is THAT good!

 

[hisc1ay]

corals can be aggressive?

 

[ReefLady]

Which corals are the ones that wave with the water current LPS?

The corals that wave most with the water current are soft corals (Xenia, Colt, etc.). LPS include Hammer, Torch, Frogspawn, Bubble Corals, Fox coral. Torch & Candy cane, etc.

SPS are mainly the Acroporas, Montiporas, Bird's Nest, etc. etc.

corals can be aggressive?

Extremely so. They battle for territory by excreting toxins, stinging each-other, etc. I've got a pic of a Green Acro and a Orange Monti battling in my tank - give me a sec to find it....

Also - a lot of softies, mushrooms, and polyps are notorious for chemical/toxic "warfare". These can be some of the worst.

 

[ReefLady]

Here you go:

I had to frag the Orange digitata to get it out of the way. The Monti. is always the loser in this battle.

 

[HoopsGuru]

corals can be aggressive?

Definitely, and explained very well above. Think of corals on a reef as being just like fish, they have to protect their territory and potentially gain more to ensure their, and their offspring's survival.

 

[reefrunner69]

I always find it ironic that we keep these tanks because it is relaxing and peaceful, when the exact opposite is true inside our aquaria. The reef is a violent place and Darwinism is alive and kicking in our tanks

 

[gooyferret]

So your saying that SPS and LPS can both be softies? Then how do i know from pictures on the internet, Im thinking of purchasing some down the road and just wanna make sure what im getting thanks for the info guys, also how do you frag them?

 

[reefrunner69]

As a geral rule soft corals do not have a hard skeleton, they are soft.
As a general rule, LPS corals do have a hard calcerous skeleton, but have very large polyps.
As a general rule, SPS corals have a hard skeleton and have very small polyps.

Soft coral

LPS Coral

SPS coral

Soft and SPS coral courtesy of ReefLady's photo album.

 

[d9hp]

Reeflady, that is a great picture!! My money was on the green one, you can see the monti bleaching out or whatever.

 

[loganj]

Fragging SPS usually entails breaking a small piece off the colony and attaching it to a rock or reef plug with gel type super glue.
Fragging soft corals...most of them...entails cutting a piece off the mother colony with VERY sharp scissors or a razor blade. Super glue usually won't hold these as they produce too much mucus and will undo the glue job. I usually use bridal veil and super glue to strap the cutting to a rock or plug. Another method is to put the cutting on some coarse substrate and let it attach on its own. You can then glue the substrate to a rock or plug.
LPS is different in many cases...pretty much depends on which coral you're working with. You can break a piece off of a torch coral and relocate it in the tank...it will grow. If you break a bubble coral, you will likely damage the polyps and open the door for infection.
My 10g reef had a 3" sandbed, about 20lbs of LR, a Lee CC skimmer, and two MJ400 PH's. I started with NO lighting and graduated to two 36w 50/50 PC's. Like Hoops, I did about a gallon a week water changes...sometimes 2 gal. I had an assortment of snails, hermits, and one brittle star. Also had one fire shrimp and one ocellaris clown. Tank was very stable and did great until the chihuahua knocked the heater plug out and the temp dropped to about 68* one day. That was the end of the clown.
In retrospect, I probably didn't need the 3" sandbed...and possibly didn't need the skimmer. It did pull a good bit of gunk out, but took up a lot of room and was pretty ugly. Water changes would probably have taken care of things just fine. JMHO.

 

[gooyferret]

WoW now i know why my girlfriend hates it when im on the computer the whole time.....its because of this site and the AWESOME info that you give! Thanks reefrunner for the pics and explanation. I have ordered more books for my collection that i have And plan to have ALOT more in a month or so..I am educating myself more and more each day. This is now my homepage and i plan for it to be for many years to come! Thanks everyone!

 

[loganj]

I have ordered more books for my collection that i have And plan to have ALOT more in a month or so..I am educating myself more and more each day.

This is the key to the whole thing. Keep doing that and before you know it, you'll be answering our questions