My new 10 gallon test nano tank (yes I know bigger is better & easier). I cannot afford to go big at this time so I put some rocks in a 10 gallon tank with a heater, a powerhead and a filter with some saltwater and live sand and turned it all on!!
Cool good luck! Just keep an eye on temp, and parameters as they swing easily in small tanks. Evap also causes salinity increases, so watch that as well...
Thanks muchly! I was aware of the evap causing higher salinity, gravity on my tank to start was only 1.022 in hopes of keeping that relatively balanced and will be doing "top offs" with non salted but dechlorinated water.
I forgot to take a pic of my light fixture - do I need it right away? Should I run a light yet at all?
Set myself up with RO/DI water and got my next batch brewing, heating and bubbling (for Sunday water change)
Picked up a light fixture, a new oxygen friendly canopy AND two light bulbs! (one is standard LED to start the live rock/other is for later -actinic blue for corals)
ok, still leaving light off and with a bit of hemming and hawing i decided to add 4 drops of pure ammonia to my tank last night. Will check ammonia level tonight around 24 hours later and if "high" 4+ then I will only add 2 drops, if still less than 4ppm I will add 4 drops again.
Will begin to "fishless" cycle my SW tank exactly the way I did with my 10 gallon FW. Should take about 3 weeks (give or take a day or two) with no water changes.
Guess my only question is: saltwater also needs a bunch of lil copepods etc for the live rock, is this different than the bacteria I am establishing with the cycle? or are they one and the same?
My sand was CaribSea live pink fuji (dry when I opened it) with some separately envelope of bio magnet stuff that I had to mix and add to the tank. Now CaribSea is supposed to be a top supplier of aquarium supplies so I am really hoping that the sand did in fact have what it should have...
This IS my first saltwater tank and I am not sure what to expect. I have set myself up with a source of RO/DI water for future water changes and will monitor the cycle closely. Is there anything else I need to do aside from regular water testing?
some pics of the tank today. Thinking a couple of my rocks are getting more color
Well, I went to our local walmart and they have an RO/DI machine and a 2 gallon jug (refillable) cost me 4.97, first fill was 1.97. ALL 2 gallon refills after are again, 1.97! Thought that wasn't too bad, until I came across a different RO/DI machine right next to our local farmers market stand..... 5 gallons for $2!! YES, it IS RO & DI, I checked
Thanks for the well wishes. I am hoping that this goes really well except NOW I have to spend another $40 + taxes on another 10g starter for a QT but will give me the bare necessities for it so could be worse!
Sometimes I stare at it for an hour in the dark with just a flashlight in hopes of seeing some "live" rock critters but so far (7 days after setup) still haven't seen anything