first nano build

[lovemyfish79]

So I've decided to jump on into the saltwater dive! I'm building an inexpensive 10 gallon nano reef tank. Setup is as follows
Aquaclear 30 h.o.b. filter
1/2-3/4 argonite substrate
2-20 watt coralife 50/50 bulbs
9 lbs of live rock
Haven't even started thinking of livestock yet but will be putting coral in once ny cycle is done.
Enjoy the thread will post pics of the progress, just added the live rock today

 

[lovemyfish79]

Liverock cycling!

 

[Mebbid]

What corals were you thinking of trying?

 

[lovemyfish79]

Have no idea, its gonna have to be super hardy. I have 2-3 weeks until my cycle is done. Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

[Mebbid]

Zoanthids and mushrooms are always popular choices for beginners. Other options would be most leathers. Kenya Trees, Pulsing Xenia, and green star polyps are debatedly popular as well, a lot of people don't like them because they grow soo fast though.

 

[lovemyfish79]

I appreciate the input! Now I'm gonna have to research them cause I have know idea what they are haha, have a pretty good idea what the mushrooms and leathers look like but no clue on the others. How do you go about caring for a coral that has out grown its tank? You can't trim it right? I'm pretty sure this tank will end up with me getting a bigger one, we all know the routine

 

[Mebbid]

It depends on the coral. Most can be trimmer or fragged in some fashion. Others will split when they get big enough.

 

[lovemyfish79]

Maxi-jet 400 might have been a little to much haha, anyone think the aquaclear 30 will provide enough circulation?

 

[lovemyfish79]

I believe its way to much

 

[Mebbid]

If I'm not mistaken the maxi jet 400 only does 110gph which is pretty low flow for a 10g tank. You should be looking at 10x-40x tank volume per hour in flow for a reef tank.

 

[lovemyfish79]

It says 500 gph, it just scared me because my substrate was flying all over the place but then I repositioned it and not as bad as suspected

 

[lovemyfish79]

Just read the box, it 500 gph max so probably more like 350?

 

[lovemyfish79]

Finally after such a long time! Livestock day! So of course I had to go with a clown seeing how this is my first saltwater tank then I ended up getting 2 mushroom corals I believe and 4 snails.

 

[melosu58]

Looks like a pretty good start

 

[lovemyfish79]

Looks like a pretty good start

I'm quite excited! Luckily the wife hasn't asked me how much I spent haha. Question for you melosu58, my lfs told me I could use super glue to attach my corals to the live rock but she said make sure its the gel?

 

[carey]

Yep, a gel super glue would be fine to use. You dont want the drippy liquid kind though it will just make a mess. lol

 

[lovemyfish79]

Got ya, thanks Carey! That's gonna have to wait until tomorrow so I can pick some up.

 

[lovemyfish79]

How long does it usually take for them to open up?

 

[carey]

Could be a day or a couple of days, kinda depends on how quickly they adapt to their new home. Every coral is different, you could get two of the exact same corals and one may open up days before the other. lol

 

[lovemyfish79]

Could be a day or a couple of days, kinda depends on how quickly they adapt to their new home. Every coral is different, you could get two of the exact same corals and one may open up days before the other. lol

Cool! Something else to look forward too! Hahaha