Thinking about a saltwater tank...

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So would two 10-watt bulbs be enough? Or would I want to do the two 20-watt ones? My hood can handle up to 50 watts so I'm not sure why people said they have to adjust their hood. Corals or not, I still want to switch to these to have a more blue-ish look to the tank. I don't want to have too much lighting, but as of now I only turn on the lights in the evening anyways.
 
Seeing as these bulbs are going to cost me 30 dollars, would there be a better lighting situation? A new fixture/hood/something? I only want basic and easy corals. I know pretty much nothing about corals...
 
I'm thinking those may be the most inexpensive lighting, but you can look into T5HO fixtures. I will look around too a little later. It's time to cook dinner! :)
 
They take those long tube lights.

That light is pretty cool. So would 36 watts be enough for some easy corals? And do I just put a glass piece over the tank and then put the fixture on it?
 
Yep, just get a glass top for the tank. I think 36W would be sufficient for some easy corals. Maybe some Xenia, mushrooms and zoas. Things like that. I'd stick with soft corals. It's probably not enough like for SPS and most LPS.

You don't have to have a lid as long as your fish aren't jumpers. Do you have fish?

(I'm sorry if you already said. It's hard to remember with all the threads I read.)
 
No worries. I have a firefish and a neon goby. I think i'm going to go with a lid to be safe, keeps me from accidently dropping things in there on accident.

Can anyone provide me with a link about corals? I'm an absolute beginner, and I need some info before I just jump into it.
 
okapizebra said:
No worries. I have a firefish and a neon goby. I think i'm going to go with a lid to be safe, keeps me from accidently dropping things in there on accident.

Can anyone provide me with a link about corals? I'm an absolute beginner, and I need some info before I just jump into it.
Click to expand...

Live aquaria has an info page I think. I'll check.

Firefish are jumpers. Best get that lid. :)
 
okapizebra said:
No worries. I have a firefish and a neon goby. I think i'm going to go with a lid to be safe, keeps me from accidently dropping things in there on accident.

Can anyone provide me with a link about corals? I'm an absolute beginner, and I need some info before I just jump into it.
Click to expand...


http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=597

Upper right hand side has an "information center".
 
Thank you! Okay, I have a number of questions.

1. Will corals be easy enough to move back and forth between college semesters? I have a 2.5 hour drive from home to school.
2. What other equipment will I need? I know I will need a refractometer instead of my hydrometer. But will I need a protein skimmer? Anything else?
3. Will 10% WC once a week still be enough? If not, how much?
4. Would any of the soft corals on liveaquaria be appropriate? Could I have some type of anemone?

So many questions. And here I jumped into the saltwater world saying I'd never do corals... :)
 
okapizebra said:
Thank you! Okay, I have a number of questions.

1. Will corals be easy enough to move back and forth between college semesters? I have a 2.5 hour drive from home to school.
2. What other equipment will I need? I know I will need a refractometer instead of my hydrometer. But will I need a protein skimmer? Anything else?
3. Will 10% WC once a week still be enough? If not, how much?
4. Would any of the soft corals on liveaquaria be appropriate? Could I have some type of anemone?

So many questions. And here I jumped into the saltwater world saying I'd never do corals... :)
Click to expand...

I think if you transferred back and forth to school they would probably be ok. I imagine you would have to monitor the tank closely once the moves were complete to watch for mini cycles. Corals get shipped over night to customers all the time. Simple corals like zoas and mushrooms would probably be upset at first but should recover. How many weeks do you have between semesters? How long is a semester?

You may need stronger light for an anemone. I really don't know and I'm not comfortable saying to go ahead and get one.

10% of 10 gallons is 1 gallon, right? I'd try for 20% weekly if you could. But if you test your nitrates and can keep them at 5 or less by doing a 10% change it should be fine. Also, if you do corals, instant ocean reef crystals will have all the nutrients your corals need. I don't know what kind of salt you use. I use petco natural seawater and it has the trace elements my corals need. One more thing to research! LOL!

You don't need a skimmer for a 10 gallon tank. Usually tanks 30 gallons and up need one. You have a power head already, right?

Live aquaria corals you could try:

Button polyps:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+2856+670&pcatid=670

Mushrooms:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=597+598

Zoanthids:
http://aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.co...cat1:corals&isort=score&method=and&ts=results

Duncans:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+2790+2670&pcatid=2670

Candy cane:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+321+454&pcatid=454


Jasmine polyp:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+599+671&pcatid=671

I would try to stay away from anything that says moderate-high or high lighting. Stick with corals that have low or moderate requirements.
 
I don't know the specifics for school yet, I don't attend for another 9 months.

Do I feed corals? Do they have a bioload? How many do I add a time? Are they all fish friendly?

I could easily up to 20%. Currently I have been using petco's seawater, but to save money I actually just got reef crystals to make 50 gallons. Yes, I do have a powerhead.

Thanks so much for answering all my questions!! And thanks for all the coral recommendations!
 
So after looking at all the links, it looks like I'll be able to keep one or two of the semi-aggressive kind because they may impede on each other's territories, and perhaps the giant green polyp duncan and the candy canes because those are both peaceful, providing there is enough room to keep the semi-aggressive away from them. It is only a 10 gallon, and of course I have a rather small budget lol, so I'm thinking that should be plenty for the tank. Does that sound good?
 
okapizebra said:
I don't know the specifics for school yet, I don't attend for another 9 months.

Do I feed corals? Do they have a bioload? How many do I add a time? Are they all fish friendly?

I could easily up to 20%. Currently I have been using petco's seawater, but to save money I actually just got reef crystals to make 50 gallons. Yes, I do have a powerhead.

Thanks so much for answering all my questions!! And thanks for all the coral recommendations!
Click to expand...

You don't have to feed corals, they have a very small bioload, you could add a few at a time. I'm nervous about killing things so I've only added 2 at once.
 
okapizebra said:
So after looking at all the links, it looks like I'll be able to keep one or two of the semi-aggressive kind because they may impede on each other's territories, and perhaps the giant green polyp duncan and the candy canes because those are both peaceful, providing there is enough room to keep the semi-aggressive away from them. It is only a 10 gallon, and of course I have a rather small budget lol, so I'm thinking that should be plenty for the tank. Does that sound good?
Click to expand...

That sounds good. It's definitely a starting point! :)

Feather duster worms add a little flair to the tank as well.
 
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