# nano reef?



## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

well i have a 10 gallon tank my friend just gave me cause his turtle died. 
i was thinking of making it into a 10 gallon nano reef tank since my girlfriend always wanted to have "nemos"  
i have never worked with saltwater before. like.. NEVER..ZERO LOL

i was thinking about how much it would cost and what i need to get
any pros and cons about it, that you can share with me will be greatly appericated.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7482

Expect it to cost at least $250 - $300.


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## Big Ray (Dec 8, 2009)

see if u want a reef tank or only fish first

reef u can keep corals, but will cost u more. 

fish only can be done less expensive. 

READ before u buy Anything. u will waste ure money on useless equipments. I did .. :S

for a 10G, Id say grab 7 lbs of live rock this will be biological filteration.(7*8 = $56)

an aquaclear 70 HOb filter, use it to put carbon in there. ($40)

a power head ($20)
heater($20)
and some salt. 
and sand (Not live sand, wate of money)

make salt water, pure sand and live rock in, wait for a couple weeks, then put in 2 nemos  

with this, if in future u decide to go with corals, all u need extra is better lighting, and a skimmer. 

I had friends who started a 600 dollar unit to find out they dont care much for all the maintanance ... that would suck as u cant really sell them.


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

i was reading mostly all the stuff today
i'm planning to put coral in for sure. ( what does the protein skimmer do?)
i heard you had to use RO water. 
i have a softwater system running though my whole house, is that workable?
in a 10gallon what kind of fish can i stock in it? and shrimp?
whats live sand?


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Make sure she actually wants it because you might get so addicted you'll have to choose the tank or her.


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

Brian said:


> Make sure she actually wants it because you might get so addicted you'll have to choose the tank or her.


lol well she was always crazy about the great barrier reefs so a little reef at home would be nice for her 

BlueRay: 
LOL yah i know how keeping fish can get REALLY addictive  i have a 30gal planted tank, and i already want a 90 and 125!! lol
i was just wondering if i can do it (a reef tank) with a small 10gallon and still make it look at least a bit attractive  i know its very limited in space but i guess i can alway start with a 10 and upgrade later (as a learn more) then to start big and make mistakes that would cost me.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

The best 10 gal I've seen was ameekplec's... maybe you can go through his thread and get some ideas from there.

Good luck with the tank and even more luck with keeping the lady happy.

I couldn't... so I said f* the b*, I don't need this s*!


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

LOLL!! im trying my best my friend hahaha
well this is what i had in mind





o yah is there a limit of how much coral you can have in a tank? like (1inch of fish per gallon thing <-- even tho its not true)

i'll see if i can find some of his thread


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

I don't think there is a limit but if there is... who the hell cares?

Nobody who stays in this hobby long enough actually follows the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule.

I say, if you like it... and it doesn't eat or kill the remaining things in your tank... get it.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

My suggestion- start with aragonite, live rock, and featherdusters (a kind of worm that lives in a tube it makes from mud and detrius)







their tentacles grab food from the water. They're cool as heck, don't require the specific water, lighting, and chemistry conditions of coral, and if you tell someone who doesn't know better they're coral, they'll believe ya 

You can still have the exact same fish and shrimp as the person in the video (try to go for captive bred percula clowns if thats what you're looking at getting as they don't have the same desire/need to do the whole anemone bond thing)

I think it's easier to ease into it this way. The only real difference for you would be that you'd be maintaining a specific salinity level. Other than that, you pretty much treat it like a freshwater tank. Small periodic water changes, feed the fish, test the water-- except your biofilter isn't in your filter, it's in the live rock. You can also use the slightly cheaper salt because you don't need to be as specific about the chemistry without coral.

You'll already have the live rock and if you decide to later, you can add corals.


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

AquariAM said:


> My suggestion- start with aragonite, live rock, and featherdusters (a kind of worm that lives in a tube it makes from mud and detrius)


OOO thats soooo cool! whats some start off coral thats good for me or for the fish?
i love how u provided me with pictures!  it makes it so much more interesting


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Featherdusters (large ones at least) are a bad idea as they do poorly long term. Featherdusters that come as hitchhikers on rock are a different matter, but they hardly dress to impress.

Aln, if I were you, I'd go for as big as you're comfortable going. Mind you, the smaller you go the harder it is to maintain everything constant and not be affected by large parameter swings.

And as always, you'll want to bigger


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

ameekplec. said:


> Featherdusters (large ones at least) are a bad idea as they do poorly long term. Featherdusters that come as hitchhikers on rock are a different matter, but they hardly dress to impress.
> 
> Aln, if I were you, I'd go for as big as you're comfortable going. Mind you, the smaller you go the harder it is to maintain everything constant and not be affected by large parameter swings.
> 
> And as always, you'll want to bigger


I was under the impression that if you ensured they were well fed and otherwise provided for they lived for years...


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

I found the best information for setting up a nano reef in the Library section of Nano-Reef.com: http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/?article=1

There are also a ton of examples to peruse in the forums (not to take away from GTAA, of course -- it's way friendlier here, the Pico Reefs are sick! http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showforum=37

One piece of advice I'd like to offer is, buy the best of everything because if you want to upgrade, you'll probably reuse it and if you want to get out of the hobby, it's easier to sell.

Good luck!

Tabatha


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

i found this image on google
http://ui06.gamespot.com/1925/aquarium_2.jpg
i was wondering if anyone can guess around what size this tank might be.

as the more i read it seems like there is soo much more to learn and it gets pretty complicated

and i'm wondering if i should really get a bigger tank if i do decide to make a reefer. maybe a 20-30gallon tall? <--does that sound any better? then a nomral 10gallon?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

That looks kind of like a solana (34g).


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Those cube type systems are a great way for a new reefer to get into the hobby as they come with pretty much everything you will need equipment wise to start off a reef tank. The equipment in them sometimes is not the best... but it is a good start and you can replace what you need over time if you find that you are truely enjoying the hobby and want to progress to larger sizes and more intricate systems.


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## simsimma (Aug 3, 2008)

dont listen to what others say, size is purely personal opinion 
i have seen so many beautiful established nano reefs, once u get the hang of the pattern of taking care of it it becomes a habit i guess

im starting a 12 gal reef cube real soon also !! 
Join the fun lol


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

lol. the problem is my 10gallon isnt a cube lol its one of those rectanglur one (lenghtwise, if it was heightwise that would matter)
but yah! SW seems soo fun and beautiful! i already spend like hours looking at my freshwater one. if i can get a SW one i'll never leave!


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

simsimma said:


> im starting a 12 gal reef cube real soon also !!
> Join the fun lol


tell me how it goes! maybe i can drop by and learn a few things from you  if you dont mind that is


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## simsimma (Aug 3, 2008)

lol mine isnt a cube either but its a 12 gal, so its longer heightwise compared to 10 gal,

the first thing we guta find is a nice suitable light fixture for cheap hopefully that can grow corals


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## simsimma (Aug 3, 2008)

im kinda tight on budget right now but whenever i get some spendables i shall begin the saltwater transition lolll

we shuld do it 2gether will prolly be easier and cheaper


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

simsimma said:


> im kinda tight on budget right now but whenever i get some spendables i shall begin the saltwater transition lolll
> 
> we shuld do it 2gether will prolly be easier and cheaper


 we can buy bulk! lol, well im still in school right now and get off around april  then as soon as i'm out i'm gunna get a job and saltwater tank here i come!


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## simsimma (Aug 3, 2008)

this is my goal right here










im totally new to this i might not be right about everything

but from what i beleive its a lotta live rock and as you go just add corals depending on your budget 
well thats my gameplan atleast

but the critical start is the lighting and something to start nice water flow,
these two will be the most expensive then comes the live rock/ livesand and then corals when i get moneyy lol....


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

well i know this is kinda undoable for a noob like me but heres my goal!  a 34gal cube









OR atleast something that colourful!  let a guy dream


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## simsimma (Aug 3, 2008)

oohh shitt ur going out with a banng lolll

im gona start off slow hopefully in the end it should end up looking like that


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

simsimma said:


> oohh shitt ur going out with a banng lolll
> 
> im gona start off slow hopefully in the end it should end up looking like that


LOL of course this is lightyears away from me, but cant kill a guy for trying


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## simsimma (Aug 3, 2008)

ok after talking to one of friends that has saltwater and doing some research,

so it seems there is a cheap mans method to lighting for saltwater even

bigals online has 10K-20K 15" bulb's for $5 yeah FIVE DOLLERS LOL, plug into ur old light fixture and ur ready to go

if that doesnt work ebay has metal halide bulbs for abour $30 shipped

and theres some DIY plans im looking through also here are a few links

http://www.reeftime.com/diy-reef-projects/diy-aquarium-lighting/diy-odno-lighting/5.htm

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/diyhoodcanopylighting/ss/sbsdiydonhood.htm


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

It's easy to do things on the cheap, but you get what you pay for, especially in terms of equipment. It's cheaper to go and buy the decent/good/best thing the FIRST time around than to buy three or four cheap crap things before finally coming to the right realization that you should have just bought the good thing the first time. 

And that's not just an isolated opinion, a lot of people do the buy crap till you figure out it's crap. Suddenly that $150 fixture that you SHOULD have bought cost you $300 cause of the crap fixtures you bought in between.

I can assure you that the $5 bulb from BA is going to be insufficient for anything.


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

lmao! yah.. seems kind of sketchy 
hey ameekplec, what would you recommand me for light and for water flow?
with a price, and ur experience would be nice


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Another thing you can do is shop around on the sites selling used equipment. You can find some pretty good deals on some great equipment. That was you can deal with your budget issues AND get good equipment at the same time.


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

dont really know much about SW equipment, thats why i thought maybe i'll get the approximate price for it first then look around


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Just like Ross said, a good way to get quality equipment at a bit cheaper prices is to buy them used - just make sure what you're getting is in very good condition - no point in buying another person's garbage.

For entry-level T5HO lighting, I'd go Current USA or Aquatic life. While I haven't tried anything Aquatic Life yet, I do have many of the basic 2 bulb T5HO Current USA fixtures and they work great


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

My other recommendation is to go with a 24" long tank - it's much easier on lighting choices, which is going to be your most expensive (well, maybe second to skimmer if you choose to use one) purchase.


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## simsimma (Aug 3, 2008)

ok then hows this for a cheap find

Double Bright LED Lighting System (18" - 24")

Sale Price:	$109.99

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp17949/si4461231/cl0/doublebrightledlightingsystem1824


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