mattscheck4
Aquarium Advice Regular
I want to start up a nano reef in a 10-gallon. Is this too small? What kinds of corals and/or livestock should I consider putting in?
New nano reef--need advice.
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austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Coral will depend on the lighting. Small fish, and maybe only 1-3 depending on thier size. Look up gobies and blennies. Crabs, snails, and a shrimp would also work IMO.
10g can be done, but you've gotta study hard and long and take your time. Not much room for error in such a small tank. Considered anything larger? 29g bio-cubes or something?
10g can be done, but you've gotta study hard and long and take your time. Not much room for error in such a small tank. Considered anything larger? 29g bio-cubes or something?
You can do a 10 gallon, you will have a limited variety of fish to chose from and the coral you will want to consider the size and how fast it can spread. Research everything!
Nano Reef Aquarium Articles - Nano-Reef.com
Setting Up A Nano Reef - Nano Reef Articles - Nano-Reef.com
lgreen's Ultimate Guide To Nano Fish - Nano-Reef.com Forums
Most important item for a nano SW tank is a refractometer, for me anyway.
Research and go very slowly.
Nano Reef Aquarium Articles - Nano-Reef.com
Setting Up A Nano Reef - Nano Reef Articles - Nano-Reef.com
lgreen's Ultimate Guide To Nano Fish - Nano-Reef.com Forums
Most important item for a nano SW tank is a refractometer, for me anyway.
Research and go very slowly.
OP
OP
mattscheck4
Aquarium Advice Regular
The reason I was considering doing this is that I have a 10g setup in storage, and I wanted to break it out again (it's still in great condition). Thanks for the links and help!
OP
OP
mattscheck4
Aquarium Advice Regular
Here's what I'm thinking to stock the tank... does this sound good?
Live sand (5 pounds), live rock (about 10 pounds), 2 scarlet leg hermit crabs, 4-6 turbo snails, 1 or 2 cleaner shrimps, a bangaii cardinal, a royal gramma, an a. ocellaris clown or six-line wrasse. Not sure about corals and/or anemones; any helpful hints?
Does this all sound good? If no, how should I tweak it?
Live sand (5 pounds), live rock (about 10 pounds), 2 scarlet leg hermit crabs, 4-6 turbo snails, 1 or 2 cleaner shrimps, a bangaii cardinal, a royal gramma, an a. ocellaris clown or six-line wrasse. Not sure about corals and/or anemones; any helpful hints?
Does this all sound good? If no, how should I tweak it?
No sixline. Need at least a 30 gallon for them. IMO two small fish at the most. Wont be able to have an anenomie in a 10 gallon tank. They will walk around and kill alot of your corals.
As mentioned above it will be harder because of size. Less water volume is less forgiving of mistakes and problems. It can be done but diligence will be needed.
As mentioned above it will be harder because of size. Less water volume is less forgiving of mistakes and problems. It can be done but diligence will be needed.
OP
OP
mattscheck4
Aquarium Advice Regular
Good to know about the wrasse; thanks. Any suggestions with corals? I'm not too concerned with esthetics on those; I just think it would be good to have them in there. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
No anemone in a tank that size but you could consider something like a hammer, torch or frogspawn if your lights are adequate.
IMO only one fish in a 10 gallon especially if you have many corals since some corals will sting fish. The less fish you have the more stable a 10 gallon tank will be. Make sure of your choice of fish you don't want to change your mind and have to tear up your tank completely to get the little guy out.
Get a good liquid test kit and don't add anything to your tank you aren't testing for.
IMO only one fish in a 10 gallon especially if you have many corals since some corals will sting fish. The less fish you have the more stable a 10 gallon tank will be. Make sure of your choice of fish you don't want to change your mind and have to tear up your tank completely to get the little guy out.
Get a good liquid test kit and don't add anything to your tank you aren't testing for.
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
One turbo only so he doesn't starve
Mitchell0605
Aquarium Advice Addict
Zoanthids and Corallimorphs are good nano corals. Just watch they don't get everywhere.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
As others said, skip the sixline, I would watch the royal gramma as they tend to get territorial and agressive as they age. Skip the turbo as they get big and clumsy, and will knock things such as coral and rock over. Astrea or trochus would be the way to go. I would get just one cleaner shrimp as they do get a bit large for a 10g. Skip the hermits as they will go after your snails for their shells when they need a bigger one. Others would suggest that you add in spare shells, this may work, but the main problem is that the hermit needs to find those shells, and a moving snail is a lot easier to find than a shell in a random place in the tank. With proper flow, the shells may become buried in the sand after a while. As for the sand, grab dry aragonite as it will become live over time. I would say 15lbs. of dry aragonite would be great. Grab 2-3 nassarius snails for the sand too, they will help stir the sand up and scavenge the left over food that has dropped to the sand. As for lighting, a 2x40w PC fixture would be great over a 10g, I'll post a link below. As for coral, I would start with zoanthids and shrooms along with some of the other softies.
Here's the light: 20" 2x40W Satellite PC Fixture by Current USA* - AquaCave If you order from them, or anyone else online, make sure you select the legs under "optional equipment."
So for here's a revised list for your consideration:
15lbs. dry aragonite
10-12lbs. live rock
2-3 astrea/trochus snails
2-3 nassarius snails
1 cleaner shrimp (skunk or cardinal)
1 clown
1 royal gramma
1 banggai cardinal
zoanthids to start
mushrooms to start
Make sure you keep up with topping the tank off with freshwater when it gets too low. Get liquid test kits and a refractometer. That basically covers it, good luck and have fun! HTH.
Here's the light: 20" 2x40W Satellite PC Fixture by Current USA* - AquaCave If you order from them, or anyone else online, make sure you select the legs under "optional equipment."
So for here's a revised list for your consideration:
15lbs. dry aragonite
10-12lbs. live rock
2-3 astrea/trochus snails
2-3 nassarius snails
1 cleaner shrimp (skunk or cardinal)
1 clown
1 royal gramma
1 banggai cardinal
zoanthids to start
mushrooms to start
Make sure you keep up with topping the tank off with freshwater when it gets too low. Get liquid test kits and a refractometer. That basically covers it, good luck and have fun! HTH.
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OP
mattscheck4
Aquarium Advice Regular
Thanks for all your thorough answers, everyone. VERY helpful. : )
th08tu
Aquarium Advice Freak
I agree with thominil about the sand and rock, usually you should try to do at leat 1.5lbs of sand per gallon, same goes for rock. There isn't really a danger of adding too much sand (without going nuts of course), and with live rock as long as you have swimming space you will be fine with 15 pounds or so...
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