FW oldie, SW newbie....gathering information

[newfound77951]

I've kept FW tanks for a long time, and am a regular poster in the FW forums....but now kinda have the itch to do a SW tank (you gotta love MTS). This all started when I acquired a 15 watt fluorescent strip for a 10 gallon tank....and started thinking what I could put UNDER that strip (how's that for convoluted thinking).

I'm considering doing a 10 gallon fish and live rock (not reef) tank....wasn't sure whether or not to post here or in the FOWLR forum but thought the nano nature of the tank probably outweighed the fish-only part. Again, I'm a relative newbie to SW but I've been doing some research. (Oh, and I'm an oceanographer so I have a pretty good handle on water chemistry). What would i need for a basic setup for some LR, some hermits, maybe a shrimp, and 1 or 2 small, hardy fish (damsel or goby maybe). How much live sand/rock? What type of filter? Do I need a skimmer? Powerhead? How big? What additives would I need to add to the water to keep everyone happy, or is that just a reef thing? (I'm a FW planted person so I'm used to adding nutrients and stuff to my tanks to prevent deficiencies).

I'd love to hear from folks who've set up a tank in this size range, what worked and what didn't. I'm also looking to keep this relatively inexpensive, but I'll get what I have to get.

Thanks!

[Scottm]

Pistol shrimp gobie combos might work. There are alot of mantis shrimp that would work. You don't NEED a skimmer but it does help alot. I don't know about flow, its not that important with a fowler from what I understand. No additives should be needed, just do frequent water changes and I mean frequent, your chemistry staying stable is vital to the success of the tank. As you know things go bad fast on a small tank. The only peice of equipment that I highly recomend is an auto top-off system, it'll be much easier to keep a stable system with that. I would go with 1 fish. unless the second was somethin glike a neon gobie in which case it might work. The smaller your bioload on a small tank the easier it will be.

[vsnsofadrgn]

about 10-15 lbs of lr should be good. the more you get, the less youll actually NEED the skimmer. you can also run a hob powerfilter, this has flow, and you can run the media of your choice (suggestion: poly filter, purigen, etc) media in it, . i would go with one fish in such a small tank. no additives are neccassary as long as youre keeping up with water changes and never add anything unless its been tested for....

btw, mts is a great disease to have, LOL

[sum1serin]

I also have a question...

Since we are doing smaller tanks then the others out there... could another nano-er tell me how they do their pwc? I'm hearing all this stuff about pumping it out from this buket and into that sink.. and... well it's just overwhelming...

And what is the setup like.. for the pwc ?
Do you put a heater and a pump on it?

Let's say you do use a pump... could you use a simple fw filter without the media so that it just keeps the water moving? and cycling? Blah! please help. lol.

[swjunkie]

I have a 10g there is a section at liveaquaria.com for nano fish that will give you an idea of what fish you can have in there. I went to walmart and bought a whisper power filter, and a cheap little power head. I also bought the hood from them. on a smaller tank I think it is important to have the LR needed because there is little room to work with so I would go with no less than 15 lbs. of LR. I also have about 2" of LS. If you are going with FO/LR you wont need the expensive lights. on a hood like mine I have the 2 screw in bulbs with 2 coralife 50/50 (on my fo/lr 2 10w mini's) I dont add anything as far as supplements. I do a gallon water change every week. that is usually my sunday thing. For the water change I make up a batch of water(saturday) in a small trash can that I also got from walmart. I have a powerhead that I keep just for that. I let that run for 24 hours. Then I take my vacuum and clean/drain the water out of my tank. Then I add my new water slowly with a measuring cup. As long as you do you pwc religeously you will be alright. And make sure to get a test kit. Dont add anything unless you have a test for it.

[sum1serin]

Sond's good...

Now.. I don't know if I quite understand the difference between FO/LR and a Reef tank...

on the FO/LR are you only having the rocks? and no corals? Because the 10 gallon looks like it has coral in it.. heh. please de-confuse me.

[Devilishturtles]

You are right. Basically tanks are either Fish Only (FO), Fish only with live rock (FOWLR), or Reef (with corals and such).

[swjunkie]

I have one 10g with only LR. and one 10g reef (with corals). One on each side of my walls.

[newfound77951]

I have an Aquaclear 70/300 left over from another tank....would that be OK to use on the 10g? That's a lot of flow but I know SW tanks need it. What media should I use? (ie foam blocks, carbon, biomax etc).

[Devilishturtles]

Maybe some LR rubble?

If you find that it is too much flow, you can always trim down the impeller blades to create a less forceful current.

You could also consider creating a small HOB refugium with the AC. Check this link for more info.

http://www.oc-creative.com/reef/foru...?TID=1331&PN=1

[newfound77951]

OK, the AC has adjustable flow anyway. I know that SW tanks need a lot of flow, that just seemed like an awful lot. So just LR rubble? No mechanical filtration? I'm planning on LR in the tank as well but no corals/anemones etc.

From what I can gather, I should add the live sand and live rock, and then cycle the tank the usual way, then add larger critters once the cycle is done. Is this correct?

In addition to the cleanup crew, I would like to have a shrimp, maybe a tubeworm and one fish. I was thinking either a goby or a damsel. Which would be better, and what species are recommended?

This is so fun, learning new things....done FW for a long time but this is my first SW tank. I figured being an oceanographer I should have at least one SW tank.

[Jarred Darque]

Newfound, I used that same filter on my planted FW tank, and kept it at max flow, I dont think it would be too much flow combined with only a small powerhead, which I also ran for the CO2.

I am intereted in doing a set-up like yours to, a FOWLR tank using the eclipse 12

[swjunkie]

yes put your sand and LR in and cycle. my 10g took 4 weeks to cycle then I started adding my clean up crew. when it is cycling it will go through a diatom bloom (nasty looking stuff) on my first 10g I made the mistake of trying to clean it up and it just spread. on the 2nd 10g I left it alone and as soon as it was cycled I put in 2 turbo snails they made short work out of the diatoms in 2 days. Now I keep 1 in each tank. get about 5 nassa. snails for the sand bed. I have 2 blue legged hermits and 2 scarlet hermits. They have kept my tank pretty much free of the nasty's. Also let me say that I have found out the more you mess (adding stuff as far as chemicals) with these small tanks the more problems arise. I have found that you dont need any chemicals like stabilizers or ph buffer or anything, do a gallon water change every week and that is all you need. and as with all tanks dont add anything unless you have a test for it. Get you a good master test kit. and one thing I would highly recommend is a refractometer. I used the hydrometers until they started giving me off the wall results. I bought a refractometer from foster and smith for $39.00 and it is awesome. With that small of a tank I could not afford to be off.