(Help) New nano reef

[AZdogpatch06]

Hey folks, so essentially I've decided to take the plunge into the saltwater world. I'll try to keep it short. 99% of all my fish knowledge is in freshwater and up until now I've only ever had fresh water. Attached is a picture of my nano reef tank, a work still in progress obviously, but I just wanted to see if there was anything wrong with my setup essentially. Note that I haven't added any corals or fish yet. My main questions are:
1.) Can I use the internal power filter I have in there now? It's only a ten gallon tank.
2.) When you set up a new fresh water tank, you have to introduce beneficial bacteria. Is there anything like that I need to do for this saltwater set up?

Thanks so much in advance, and I know, I have a really small tank and that's bad for saltwater and whatnot, but I didn't want to throw myself into the "saltwater world fire" if you will.

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[Macscale]

Welcome. The first thing I see wrong is the hydrometer . Common mistake in newbies, haha, including me when I started. They are notoriously unreliable, you can dip it in 10 times and get 9 different readings. Invest in a refractometer $25-40 item, much more reliable.

Next, yes the filter should work. Nothing that complicated is needed for a ten.

As for the bacteria, yes you must sill cycle the tank. You must add rock, dry or live, for the beneficial bacteria to colonize on. Normally 1-1.5lbs per gallon is accepted. 10lbs will do you good . If you mean some kind of "Bacteria in a bottle" product, the one I find works best, and actually does work is Dr. Tim's the One and Only.

 

[AZdogpatch06]

Thank you. I noticed that the hydrometer tends to bounce around quite a bit. I invested in "Spira" by instant ocean for my bacteria. Love rock soon to come!

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[Macscale]

Thank you. I noticed that the hydrometer tends to bounce around quite a bit. I invested in "Spira" by instant ocean for my bacteria. Love rock soon to come!

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Yeah, having bad salinty readings can be a major issue. Bio spira is a decent product, it's what Dr. Tim made before one and only . You'll have to add an ammonia source to begin your cycle though. A table shrimp, or pure ammonia are common choices.

Please understand the live rocks counter part, dry rock can be a great and cheaper alternative. All rock will become live during the cycle.

 

[AZdogpatch06]

Live rock and bacteria added! Thoughts?

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[dingusplease]

LR is good, but you'll definitely need more than that. How much (lbs) is that you have?

 

[AZdogpatch06]

I've since added some more "dead" rock. There's at least 10 pounds.

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[AZdogpatch06]

Tank looks kinda bland. What can I do?

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[dingusplease]

You sure that rock is dead? Looks pretty alive... Is that algae on there? Looks like tons of cyano and gha, hard to tell from pic.

Once you are satisfied with the amount of rock you can begin scaping. It can be really fun! Just experiment and see what you like... You can really move the rock around as much as you want until you find a good arrangement.

 

[AZdogpatch06]

I'm just wondering what I can do to "brighten it up". Preferably without coral for right now. The bottom rock is very much alive. The top two pieces are just volcanic rock I bought off the shelf and then boiled before putting it in.

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[bribo12]

Do you have a powerhead? You will nee one. I'd add a piece of base rock on each side of the main pile too. What do you mean by add some color?

 

[AZdogpatch06]

I bought a powerheead, it's rated for a 25 gallon, but all it seems to do is kick up everything in the tank to the point where you can't see.

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[AZdogpatch06]

See what I mean? This head also seems to do short bursts as well.

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[AZdogpatch06]

Alternate view

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[bribo12]

Holy crud that's powerful. I'd look into switching that out for a koralia 425. Much better flow and not as intrusive in the tank

 

[AZdogpatch06]

These look like a good deal: Amazon.com: Hydor Koralia Nano 240 Aquarium Circulation Pump 240 GPH: Pet Supplies

It says it's only rated for an 18 gallon freshwater, but do you think I can use it in my 20 gallon fresh? I want to buy two. One for the nano reef and and one for my fresh if you guys think it'll be ok

 

[bribo12]

I have no idea on fresh as I have never used one in fresh but it will work great for the sw tank. That's what I used when I had my 10 gallon reef

 

[AZdogpatch06]

Thanks a bunch! Way cheaper on Amazon!

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[BigRedsReefs10]

I would go with the 425 (or maybe 2) I'm using 2 of the 240s in my 10

 

[AZdogpatch06]

Wouldn't the 425 be too much?