Starting my new mini reef

[mandarin man]

I am going to do my own little project now that I have been sucsessful with my 55 gal I am going to make a 10 gallon mini. Now i have just a few questions i need opinions on. First how much lighting to yall prefer for a 10 gallon mini reef i plan to put some coral in it after awhile of cycling so i want efficient lighting. I was thinkin like a double bulb hood with one white flourescent and one blue actinic do yall think that will work? And also i am going to put liv sand in the bottom what is the right amount of sand per gallons I have forgetten since i did my first tank.THanks a bunch for any responses

 

[hermit crab]

well i know that when i bought my 12 g nano cube the fish store owner said to buy 12 pounds of live sand.

 

[mandarin man]

How did you set up your tank forexample live rock corals inverts livestock.......Im trying to get a feel for what other people have done so i can get my own ideas

 

[ClamKnuckle]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/calcs_new.php

I've never done a nano so i dont want to chime in about that, but the above link is to the calculators where you can figure out how much sand to get the depth you want for your size tank

 

[jackdp]

For a 10 gallon, I would go with some sand if you want, a DSB won't really be effective in a 10 but if you want the look go for it. Think around 10-15lbs of LR. For lighting, I would go with PC lighting, you wouldn't be able to keep much more than mushrooms under the NO lighting. Look on hellolights.com or ahsupply.com for some ideas. I would consider a 96 watt powerquad or like 2x55 watt setup. A couple of medium size powerheads, a heater and small skimmer and you should be set. If you haven't seen it there is a site that is guys that just have nano reefs..I think it is nano-reef.com or something like that...just watch what you ask, they can be testy over there HTH

 

[fishywoman]

Check out www.nano-reef.com . You will find lots of info and there is a forum as well

 

[boardsurfer]

Sorry to butt-in on your post mandarin man, but do you guys know if I can have soft corals in my 10 gallon?
I have:
-Smartlite Retrofit 32 watt(1 10,000k & 1 Ultra-Actinic)
-1 Biowheel filter
-1 Powerhead
-Live sand
-15lbs of LR

Thanks

 

[skipper]

In my 10gal nano I put 15lbs sand and almost 30lbs lr. I have the 96watt power quads. All my lr that was near the surface got bleached. Its now come back with a bright green and light purple coraline. I have a whipser 20 that I had a filter in for the first 2 months as it cycled but now i run it with no media and it provides all the circulation i need. HTH