10Gallon

[Guest anthony]

I'm starting a project with a 10gallon tank. I have not done a nano tank before so i need a little help . if anyone has any tips to give me or advise i would greatly appreciate it, so far the only thing i have right now if a 10 gallon tank please let me know what i should get or look into and what to have and what not to have it would be greatly appreciated, Thank you.

[YBeNormal]

Do you have saltwater experience?

[Guest anthony]

well i do to a certain degree but, really not too much. i am aware that it would be better to do freshwater or have a bigger tank but having this 10gallon tank and turn it into a nice saltwater tank is something i really want to do....i guess its just the idea of a nano tank that sounds cool to me im not sure.

[HowardofNOVA]

Anthony,

Welcome aboard and I hope you get alot of off our website and take the time to join soon! Maybe in time to join us at the Baltimore Aquarium 18Nov?

 

I had a tank at my office which was a 10g unit. Issues that you will need to consider:

#1 Heat, small tank depending on where you have it placed will fluctuate ALOT! Algae problems are something that you will need to consider and a good heater as well

#2 Lighting, I used a Coralife 96w PC Setup for around $85. that worked great

#3 Water changes need to be made regularly and need to keep RO/DI water and Saltwater handy all the time. Remember 1 gallon evaporation isn't much in a large tank, but that 10% of your water supply in this!!

#4 With a small tank, everything can happen FAST and you need to keep up on it.

#5 Don't over load the tank with alot of fish. Docile tank mate and only a couple of fish or so.

 

It was a great tank to keep and I used a single MaxiJet 1200 for the power head and a RedSea Turbo HOB Skimmer which was rated for a 100g system.

[Guest anthony]

Anthony,

Welcome aboard and I hope you get alot of off our website and take the time to join soon! Maybe in time to join us at the Baltimore Aquarium 18Nov?

 

I had a tank at my office which was a 10g unit. Issues that you will need to consider:

#1 Heat, small tank depending on where you have it placed will fluctuate ALOT! Algae problems are something that you will need to consider and a good heater as well

#2 Lighting, I used a Coralife 96w PC Setup for around $85. that worked great

#3 Water changes need to be made regularly and need to keep RO/DI water and Saltwater handy all the time. Remember 1 gallon evaporation isn't much in a large tank, but that 10% of your water supply in this!!

#4 With a small tank, everything can happen FAST and you need to keep up on it.

#5 Don't over load the tank with alot of fish. Docile tank mate and only a couple of fish or so.

 

It was a great tank to keep and I used a single MaxiJet 1200 for the power head and a RedSea Turbo HOB Skimmer which was rated for a 100g system.

 

 

thank you very much for the input. a question i had though reguarding the "regular water changes" is how often? like once or twice a week or what?

also what would be a good estimate as to how many fish i could have in a 10 gallon tank if i had some coral and shimp as well?

Edited October 29, 2006 by anthony

[Wasga]

I would say 10% twice a week, or if you are lazy 20% once a week. As far as fish goes, I would only have a max of 2 in a 10g. 2 small fish and a shrimp would be ok.

[Guest anthony]

I would say 10% twice a week, or if you are lazy 20% once a week. As far as fish goes, I would only have a max of 2 in a 10g. 2 small fish and a shrimp would be ok.

 

ok cool, and do you think i could fit in some coral as well?

[Wasga]

Yes. Corals dont add to the bioload like fish. You can add what you like.

[emissary]

Yes. Corals dont add to the bioload like fish. You can add what you like.

But you will have to keep an eye out for compatbility in terms of:

* corals that develop sweeper tentacles need a certain distance from others

- frogspawn

- galaxea

- brains

- others

* corals that carry toxins can kill other corals in the small water volume quickly

- sinularia

- other softies to varying degrees

[tygger]

I use to have a 10g nano and would stick with two small fish.

 

I had three (clown, stripe damsel, yellow tail damsel) fish and was doing only 10% every two weeks. Because of the heavier bioload, I did have some minor algae problems.

 

If you haven't bought the tank yet, I would consider a 15g tall. Same footprint as the 10g, only a bit taller.

 

Also, you'll need to have topoff water on hand at all times. I was manually topping-off every other day due to evap.

[Guest anthony]

I use to have a 10g nano and would stick with two small fish.

 

I had three (clown, stripe damsel, yellow tail damsel) fish and was doing only 10% every two weeks. Because of the heavier bioload, I did have some minor algae problems.

 

If you haven't bought the tank yet, I would consider a 15g tall. Same footprint as the 10g, only a bit taller.

 

Also, you'll need to have topoff water on hand at all times. I was manually topping-off every other day due to evap.

ok thanks, i do have the 10 gallon I bought a while back and wanted to make that into a saltwater tank. i have been having second thoughts though because i do not have quite that much practice with saltwater and if im gonna do a nano it will deffinitly be harder to keep stable then keeping a freshwater tank.