You can say its dumb but please answer me

[oneoffcustom]

hi

i am thinking of trying my hand at salt water but wish to try on a small scale with a 10 gallon tank. thats rigfht i said it 10 gallons. the only reason i say this is because i have one handy and available. i know as well as any beauty takes money and time. the time i have and the money i have but i want to try it b4 i buy it, so 10 gallon is what im talking. As of now it is just a basic run of the mill ten gallon tank. i will spend a little money on needs, but have no clue of whats needed. i know 10 gallons may be more work but i have the time. so if some one or everyone could tell me first what type of pump i need and all the other parts to transform this empty 10 gallon into a small live rock supporting a baby clown fish i would appreciate it. please be specific in parts.

[roka64]

You will hear bigger is better, due to the more water volume=more forgiveness in fluctuations in water chemistry, less water volume=not much forgiveness.
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[fijiwigi]

IMO your are setting yourself up to fail. Buy a larger tank you'll thank me later.

[pat8you]

I have a 12 gallon and it takes twice the time that my brothers 90 gallon does. I'm not saying start out with 90 gallons but 10 will be tuff. a 55 with a sump would be a great size to start with and will keep you busy for a long time before you need to upgrade.

[roka64]

Well, I wouldn't exactly say that. The OP states they have the time to take care of the tank, so let's not doom them yet (plus, look where they are asking for advice, aquariumadvice.com)!!!

[melosu58]

It can be done. It will be harder. I always suggest a 55 to start with also. Try checking things out in the nano forum.

[ryshark]

If you must try a 10-gallon, you will probably want to get a bio-wheel filter for mechanical, chemical and biological filtration. You will also want to get 10-20 lbs of live rock and some live sand for substrate. Also get a protein skimmer if you can. With the 10-gallon tank the temperature, salinity and everything else can fluctuate quickly, which is not a good thing. Make sure to get a hydrometer or better yet a refractometer. IMO one small powerhead would also be a good addition and of course the heater and thermometer. If you are not doing reef, then just a regular NO fluorescent bulb will work fine. Keep extra water on hand for emergency partial water changes. Thats all I can think of that you would need. I'm sure some of the others will chime in too. Just make sure the tank is properly cycled before you add the clownfish.

[oneoffcustom]

like i stated in my regular addmission i realize the bigger the better. and im not even so interested in the fish part of it as i am seeing what i may be dealing with work wise. i have the time to spend. i have heard of several people running 10 gallon salt water tanks with very little problems. By useing live rock and plenty of if it the bacteria will spread further and by haveing only 1 fish the bio load should be super small. as far as room for error, i definatly understand how it can get bad ugly but i am super devoted to my 36 gallon fresh water tanganyika tank. if i could get more info like ry shark gave that would be awesome, but maybe more specific as in filter sizeing and maybe even some links.

thank you nick

[fijiwigi]

Originally Posted by oneoffcustom

By useing live rock and plenty of if it the bacteria will spread further and by haveing only 1 fish the bio load should be super small.
as far as room for error, i definatly understand how it can get bad ugly but i am super dedicated
thank you nick

this is key as long as you are aware of the parameters and keep them consistent with daily top-offs you could pull it off. Aquarium Power Filters: Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
This biowheel has a small footprint and good surface area.
Or a large canister filter for some overfiltration and flow would also be a great idea.

[Innovator]

In all honesty, I have found no real difference in maintaining a nano compared to a larger tank. To say that someone is setting themselves up to fail is quite unfair considering at least they are asking for proper help and not letting their ignorance guide them. Sure, large aquaria obviously have larger volumes of water, but that really is quite moot when you consider aerosols or other contaminations can completely destroy water chemistry regardless of size within hours.

As for the 10g, I will always recommend the Hagen AquaClear 110. You shouldn't need a powerhead with this large filter, plus it can be turned into a refugium (do a search on nano-reef.com). It also allows for enough room to place 2 50w heaters (Tronic or Visitherm) inside. As for lighting, a Coralife Aqualight 1x96w would allow you to keep just about, if not anything. Most of your biological filtration will come from the live rock and a couple of inches of sand should suffice or bare bottom. A pair of Amphiprion percula or A. ocellaris would be fine in such a tank

[cmor1701d]

Excellant advice from Innovator, Fiji and Ryshark. A 10 gallon is considered a nano tank and does require more care (time) than a larger tank. Posting questions in the Nano section is a great idea.

In additition to what the others have said I would always keep a 5 gallon bucket of SW mixed up and ready for a partial water change. Things can go wrong quickly in a 10 gallon tank.

You seem like you want to do this the right way and go slowly. That's good because "Noting good ever happens fast in a salt water tank". That goes quadrouple in a nano tank.

The hagen filter should meet your needs. You should remove and rinse the filter pad weekly to remove accumulated detritus. Two heaters are recommend for faillsafe measures.

Just keep coming back and asking more questions as they arise.

Good luck!

[fijiwigi]

Originally Posted by Innovator

in . To say that someone is setting themselves up to fail is quite unfair considering at least they are asking for proper help and not letting their ignorance guide them. Sure,

I totally agree perhaps I was harsh. I just don't see the benefit of starting a 10g when you can start with say a 29g allowing so much more room for error. Its money well spent were are talking like 50bucks maybe unless its a challenge that you are after then thats a different story If if were me I would not start with a 10g saltwater simply because of the fact the evaporation causes SG to increase dramatically and daily top-offs are not easy to keep up with especially if you have a busy life like so many of us do. I barely have enough time to keep up with the top offs on my 46g tank it evaporates an entire gallon of water per day. But when there is a will there is a way and I should be more supportive of the idea that the glass is really half full.

[Dave66]

The Number One piece of equipment you need to buy is a good protein skimmer. A skimmer will remove organic debris before they decay and impinge on your water quality, which in a 10-gallon tank with such a small volume of water, could spell doom in a big hurry. A good skimmer also raises the dissolved Oxygen levels in your tank, to the benefit of the life within.
You could use live rock and live sand for your filtration; a 10 is small enough to use just that. The HOB filters mentioned could be used for floating debris removal and current. Stay away from the bio wheels. The bacteria in the Oxygen-rich air/water interface on the spinning wheel are so efficient at turning Ammonia in to Nitrite then to their 'waste' product Nitrate that people who use them almost always have higher levels of Nitrate in the water than those without biowheels.
Also, you need to have the waterfall of the HOB filter low enough where it doesn't splash, or you'll end up with crusty salt spray all over the back of your tank.
I've known many people who have little reefs your size, so there's no reason you can't do it, if you are properly equipped and educated on the subject.

Dave