# My First Salt Tank! 10 gal Reef.



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey guys, Finally took a look at salt stuff and decided.. Well it was Time haha... I started off with a Hard 10 gallon to do basic 10 gal dimensions.

So far I have 3.4lbs of LR and I know I need more. I would rather not get it at Big als so if anyone has suggestions as to a good source that would be great. Once I get more rock I plan to scape it better .

Its day 4 of the tank and all is very well. Only things I have not tested are ammonia nitrate and nitrite. But my Salinity is at 1.025, KH is 13, and PH is 8.2, Calcium is at 440ppm.

I just have to grab those test kits in some time.

For filtration its pretty basic, so far a AC 30, and I plan to get a Powerhead, probably the hydor 240? If thats enough flow.

Lighting I am waiting for a Odyssea 72watt 20" T5 Quad fixture, 
12000K x2,.
Actinic Blue x2.
Blue LED x4.

Not sure If i need a protein skimmer or not? Suggestions on what else I need for this tank would be appreciated.

Anyways guys heres the Tank atm. Also had this small coral on it, any ideas?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

awee cool!!! The beginning is my favorite part... I like seeing what crawls out of the LR.. @[email protected]


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

Looking good, like the natural scape. No, you don't need a skimmer but one could never hurt. As long as you keep up on the water changes (10% per week), you'll be fine. 

You could try using some purigen/carbon in addition to help with things overall. 
I'm sure you could get some good live rock of the classifieds section.

Oh and the coral looks like a bleached mushroom of some sort.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Hey Kelly looking good, you dont need to much flow in a 10 it really depends on what you want to keep different corals need different flow unless you are keeping hard corals I would just add a small powerhead the smallest you can get.If you need live rock let me know I can shoot you some small frags to, we can do a trade if you have some rams, anyway shoot me a pm Pat.ps hows the ants .


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

Nice start, amount of flow you need depends on what you plan to keep in the future, Id get the 4XX gph hydor and point it at the class or something to reduce the flow. IME its too much trouble running a protein skimmer on such a small tank, just do weekly water changes. 
The coral looks like a Ricordia Yuma.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

I think 180 Gal Amazon Tank (in the process) will fit much better as the salt tank. Don't bother to set up 10G. It will be just for a 2-3 months and you will start thinking about transforming 180G in SW.
SW is narcotic substance. you tried - you done 

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## thmh (Mar 17, 2011)

sig said:


> I think 180 Gal Amazon Tank (in the process) will fit much better as the salt tank. Don't bother to set up 10G. It will be just for a 2-3 months and you will start thinking about transforming 180G in SW.
> SW is narcotic substance. you tried - you done


sig is some what right! but you shouldnt rush into things salt water rule 01.! that being said i really enjoy my 10g salt water tank it gave me lots of knowledge and experience to run my 90g tank, 6months after!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Thanks *Cid*! Yeah there are so many little things to observe I cant wait!

I definitely prefer the natural look *Kooka*, I have Carbon in the AC30 atm so thats good. Ill keep up with the WC's too. I actually have two of those little corals, both are alive and open every day when the light comes on. Seems like they were damaged prior to me acquiring them but I hope they live.

Hey *Pat*! I plan to keep some Zoas to start, get the feel for them and then get some harder stuff for sure once i'm a pro . Still have some rams left too, so we could trade sometime. Just let my tank get properly cycled and established and ill give you a shout. The Ants are great! My colony is massive I would have to guestimate 1700 workers 1 Queen. Thanks.

Thanks* TypeZERO*, I hope that small coral survives, looks like it can look pretty neat when it gets bigger. Ill pass on the skimmer then, more $$ for other things.

Hey *sig*, trust me.. In due time... Ends up salt burns your nostril.. but you get used to it after a while ...

Haha *thmh*, I already love this tank so much. Very exciting to watch, and ill try not to rush.. But the things I can get... haha. What this tank is holding me back from getting, makes me thing more and more about that 180gallon I have... grr.

Oh and one more question, How do you grow a mangrove plant?... Reason being is this.. I have no idea if that is viable. I may have went to Florida.. And may have had a hitchhiker stuck on me..


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well MY mangrove is starting to grow a tad, it was getting soft from being out of the water too much, its becoming hard again and i hope to see growth soon. I dont have a permanent spot for it yet but I was thinking the back corner of my tank for now. I noticed some algae growth (brown) and its quickly being eaten by the 2 snails I have.. Just waiting for my light to arrive now.


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## Timelesss1483 (Oct 15, 2012)

Tropicana said:


> Thanks *Cid*!
> Oh and one more question, How do you grow a mangrove plant?... Reason being is this.. I have no idea if that is viable. I may have went to Florida.. And may have had a hitchhiker stuck on me..
> 
> Hello,
> ...


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Thanks! the mangrove is doing quite well. Hopefully it will be a beautiful plant soon.

UPDATE

Well the tank is doing very well. At the moment I have brown algae growing on the rocks and substrate, but its not lasting very long with me mixing up the substrate and the 2 turbo snails i have chomping away. The coraline algae is still looking good, hopefully growing too.

I am noticing some small tube worms and other fan like worms in the tank. Also this thing that is making a tube out of the substrate that is in the live rock, a long clear tentacle comes out and lays on the substrate which sticks to the tentacle. It then proceeds to retract bringing small bits of stone to its tunnel. I have noticed a second tentacle now too. In the same tube though... Its quite odd..

I also have a red legged hermit crab doing very well, and a peppermint shrimp that loves the big empty clam on the right of the tank. He has shed once now and looks very good.

Parameters seem stable so far, keeping up with top ups etc.

Cant wait to get my first coral!

but its only been a few weeks.. lol I know.. patience is a virtue.

Updated picture of my new scape is coming.
* Heres the new pic, I opened the rocks up a bit to allow some more flow through them and give the tank some 'caves' 
Also a shot of a zoa I believe. little guy popped out of no where lol.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Update

Got in my Odyssea Light and a Hydor nano. Great flow and the light looks awesome. 
Params look good!

Heres a shot from my computer chair and a FTS, hope you guys like it! Any tips would be great. Cant wait to get more LR too.
(Fixed my mangrove, Its 50% out of the water in the hob atm)


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## Timelesss1483 (Oct 15, 2012)

looks nice. It could use some more LR, but depends on what you want to stuff in there.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Looking good Kelly If you coming down this way stop in I have a bunch of extra live rock in 20. I can shoot you a few softies too


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey guys thanks! I'll have to stop by pat send me a pm with your location and ill let you know when I can . That's very nice of you.


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

What are you running in your AC? Tank is looking very good by the way. You'll be upgrading soon


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Thanks!, Currently I just have Carbon and a sponge to catch particles. My mangrove is also chilling in there. I'm not sure what else to run in there. Maybe some phosphate removing stuff? hm. Or do something else completely. Thoughts are welcome lol.

Yeah my 180 Gal looks like the next contender. In time.... lol


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

Carbon is a good start, should help in the removal of chems released by your corals.

Inevitably you're gonna run into major algae problems, so I'd start planning a nitrate/phosphate export solution ASAP. I run a HOB refugium filled with macroalgae on my 20 gallon and it works extremely well, I have minimal algal growth after 1 year and the tank is HEAVILY stocked.

I also run a AC70 modded to run with carbon, purigen, filterfloss and liverock rubble. The extra flow is a bonus too.

The HOB refugium that I have is actually a breeding box, and instead of using the airlifter pump, I attached a small hydor nano pump to it. Total cost was $40.

Here's a link to the exact same one I have: http://angelfins.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=534


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

I wanted to run Chaeto actually, so I might pick up a second hob maybe? The one you shown is a bit to big for my tank I think. I'll check later. Would I be able to plant my mangrove and have Chaeto in a hob?


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

Sure, I've seen people run macro and mangroves in the AC's. Personally I've never tried it, but it could be done. I have my tanks and HOBs covered to cut down on the evaporation. Unless you have an auto top off, you'll have to keep an eye on your water level, otherwise you'll end up with salinity fluctuations which won't suit your corals at all.

Cheato is great, never goes sexual and is easy to maintain. my only gripe about it is that it grows slowly when compared to caulerpa (which I use along with the cheato). You gotta be careful though, some types are especially prone to going sexual, especially grape caulerpa. The results are not pleasant to say the least


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey guys took a video of my tank at night. Looks pretty nice! also showing some of my corals that I recently got. I hope you guys Enjoy the video.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Made an updated Video of my tank, Today I am going to do one with the light on, seems everytime i make one its with the blue led night lights lol.. Okay here it is. Different scape now  too.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Is the rock on the right the one I got for you? If so, looks sexy..


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Indeed George!

Night video of my tank, Mandarin Dragonet included lol.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

awesome start on your tank there dude. It looks like you need to upgrade already though


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Thanks alt, I'm going to buy a 20gal, and possibly add 16 3watt leds to my odyssea fixture in the future. Mp10 coming soon also.  I can't fkin wait. Hahaha

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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Hay man i'm upgrading to a 30g. You should buy my 20g!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Haha I'm going to De rim one and give that a shot. Thanks for the offer though! Your probably really far away too lol.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

orillia isn't that far. We usually drive up to simcoe about once a month so it ain't that far from simcoe

Anyways I have a 20g drilled with overflow, 10g sump/refuge, on a black stand with T5HOx2 and 8x3w LED's to suppliment that I'll be selling off as soon as I upgrade if it interests you.

Either way good luck with the tank!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Interested, $ and damage? Any scratches etc. I don't need the light though. 

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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

It's pretty prestine. There's one small scratch on the side panel from something (don't know if I did it or it came like that)

I'd sell it for what I got it for, $50


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Could I see a pic of it? As for the sump does it need a pump etc? I've never had one before. 

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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Made a little video of my tank with the lights on.

Added Recent photos of my Coral! Unfortunately I dont have a Macro lens ! but these will do.


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