10 Gal nano tank

[paco83]

I'm planning on starting a 10 gallon saltwater tank. It will have fish, and about 20 pounds of live rock, I may decide to add coral later. Someone told me that i should try to have balanced water flow on both sides of the tank ie small filters on each side, and sweeping powerhead in the middle, or 1 medium sized filter in the middle and 2 small power heads on both sides. Is this a good thing to have or is one filter enough? My other question is how much lighting should i have?

 

[cprdnick]

IMO you can never have too much filtration except for the fact that most filter media is an ammonia and nitrate trap. I would probably go with a HOB and a PH on each end, both equaling....
I think the rule of thumb is 10 times the gallons (not sure on that one.) Just a warning, I've heard that HOB's are crap traps as well, but that hasn't stopped me on my 10 gallon. I haven't seen any unusual imbalances on my 10 yet.
How many fish are you wanting? you know that there isn't much room for fish in a 10 gallon right. What kind of substrate are you going to use?

 

[slofish]

your lighting depends on what you want to keep, fish only, or fish and corals.
Also, is this your first saltwater tank?
BTW WELCOME!!

 

[paco83]

For substrate i'm probally going to use some sort of sand, whether or not it's live sand i've yet to determine. What is an HOB? And yes i know i can't fit too many fish. I was thinking a couple of clown fish, and mebe a couple of angel fish.
Yes this is my first salt water tank. For lighting at the moment i'm only planning on live rock and fish. In the future i might want to add coral but in that case i would probally have to get a new light too.
BTW thanks for the help =)

 

[cprdnick]

HOB mean "hang on back" talking about your power filter. You want to put two clowns and two angels in a ten gallon tank? I'm pretty sure that's sacreligious in this hobby, I think u'll be able to MAYBE but two fish in a 10. If you are like me and you don't like to waste water space and you like to over crowd the glass a little bit, you had probably go with LS (live sand). BUT, I wouldn't recommend more than 1 fish even with the LS and LR (live rock).
WELCOME TO THE BOARD
BTW, listen to the people with the higher post rating (ie, over 1000) under their names, they'll do you a world of good. These people have been in the trenches long enough to know how things are operating.

 

[bdhough]

No angels in a 10.....
You can however do 2 clowns. There are alot of other organisms you can buy to put in the tank like a pair of shrimp or snails or crabs that add color to the tank. Corals themselves do the same.
As far as waterflow goes you want to turn the water over several times an hour. I have my 12 gallon setup to do that at almost 15 times an hour. I have one power head, a rio 50 at 60gph, and the filtration is about 120gph.
Let me explain live rock. It IS your filtration. The bacteria growing on that rock once established will handle any kind of ammonia, nitrites, and even nitrates to a reasonable extent.
A HOB filters real benefit is not in filtration but in water flow. It is key in a saltwater tank to have water movement. Stagnant water leads to a world of issues with algae blooms. The pad in the HOB can catch large matter and needs to be changed every now and again or rinsed out thoroughly. Carbon is another use of a HOB and without getting technical it somehow absorbs things/impurities from the water clearing it up. That can be placed in the HOB and changed every now and again. Filter pads with carbon in them are the same thing. They need to be changed once you see that water is backing up and not flowing through the pad.
So moral of the story buy a single HOB filter rated at about 120 gph. Then get one or two power heads, ideally two rated at 60-100 gph. Have one blow at a diagonal to the front of the glass and have the other blowing along the back of the glass. This will create a circle motion in the tank. The hob should be placed to work in conjunction with those. Hope all this makes sense. You can even set one of the powerheads on a timer to simulate the calming of the ocean at night and slow down the water flow.

 

[aarone]

BTW, listen to the people with the higher post rating (ie, over 1000) under their names, they'll do you a world of good. These people have been in the trenches long enough to know how things are operating.
most of the time it just means we like to talk alot.
A smaller tank will mean more maintenance. Water levels can get way out of whack daster with a small tank. Is there any way you can up to a 20 gallon?
for water movement, i would run 2 powerheads in each side of the tank. One flowing to the right top, and one flowing to the left back. HTH
aaron

 

[paco83]

I might be able to up it to a 15, but that would be about all i have room for.
I know it will be quite a bit of work to make sure water levels don'e get out of whack at all.
So one powerhead pointed diagonally toward the opposite corner on top of the water, and the other pointed at a 45 degree angle toward the ground? What about a filter?
Originally posted by aarone
most of the time it just means we like to talk alot.
A smaller tank will mean more maintenance. Water levels can get way out of whack daster with a small tank. Is there any way you can up to a 20 gallon?
for water movement, i would run 2 powerheads in each side of the tank. One flowing to the right top, and one flowing to the left back. HTH
aaron

 

[aarone]

no no, i meant each power head pointing at the top of the water diagonal. Kind of like an x..... do you get what i mean? You could run a small penguin biowheel. but make sure that you change the wheel out every few months.

 

[marvida]

Alright! another 10. 10's are my favorite. A 10 as your first tank is going to be a challenge but not impossible. Take it really slow & you should be fine. I have one HOB whisper 30 just for carbon or whatever, when needed. Most of the time it sits empty just moving water. I have one power head, a hagen 120. I like this one because it's adjustable. It sits in the center blowing tothe front glass at a very slight angle. If you want to put fish in it with corals just put one in two max. More than that you'll run into water quality problems. if you want to do 'shrooms & softies a 2X32 PC is a nice lighting setup.
The main thing is to take it slow. Read a lot, prefferably here, & ask questions. Here's my 10, (the site is graphic intensive).
My 10
Good Luck & WELCOME to the board!

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by cprdnick
WELCOME TO THE BOARD
BTW, listen to the people with the higher post rating (ie, over 1000) under their names, they'll do you a world of good. These people have been in the trenches long enough to know how things are operating.
I also pass along a welcome!!
Using post count solely is a dangerous way to go. Listen to what everyone has to say. Some people have huge post ocutns because they have countless posts defedning their counter-culture ideas.
Don't ever take just one person's advice and take all on-line advice with a grain of salt!!!
As for a filter I like tetrtec's because you can put a heater in the filter and have two water outputs.
In your tank I would think about either just a pair of small clowns (like percs or false percs) OR start looking for some small unique fish like firefish or clown gobies or maybe some paired up critters like a pistol shrimp and shrimp goby ....
for substrate check out your local home depots to see if they carry some sand called southdown or yardright.
Good luck - nano's are fun!