First Attempt at SW - 10 gal

[rossim]

I'm going to get my feet wet in SW Reef tanks in about a week or two. I want to do a little more research before I start my 29 gal. However, I just got back from the LFS with my uncle who is going to set up a 10 gal tank today. I just want to post the setup procedure they told us and see what everyone has to say (I'm sure there's a better way to do it).
We bought distilled water and purchased the salt mix (sorry, I don't remember the brand names but I can find out). They told us to mix the saltwater and add it to the tank and put the LS in afterwards. After having everything settle and testing the salinity, in a day or two go back to get cured LR and a damsel fish. They said this is all we would need to start the cycle.
We also got the wet/dry filter, a powerhead, and a heater. They had to order the lighting for us and it should be in on Thursday (that's when we'll probably go back for the LR and dmasel).
Does this sound like a good start? I know we need to wait till it cycles before adding any coral and atleast 6 months before adding any anemones.

 

[sweetdawn]

some people dont think you should cycle your tank with a damsel. do a search on cycling tank. if you do use a damsel when you go to get other fish you will probably want to take the damsel out(good luck catching the little monster) they do not play well with others.

 

[nudibranch]

I'd scratch the damsel idea. Let the tank cycle w/ LR and LS.
I would probably recommend mixing the salt water up in a rubber maid container before you add it to the tank. Once you get the salinity around 1.023-1.025 let the water age for about 24 hrs then get your LS and LR. The reaon being if you put the sand and rock in first you can slowly pour the water into the tank over the rock and lessen the cloudyness of the tank. Also, as a side note, you do not need to buy all LS. You can make a DSB (around 3") w/ regular aragonite based sand (south down) and seed it w/ a pound of LS from the LFS. This will save you some $$$
When the tank is cycled go ahead and start adding stuff. I recommended leaving out the damsel only because they tend to be aggressive and if you ever want to put another fish in there the damsel will most likely kill it. Another important thing is to find out if you are getting cured LR or not. Cured LR is going to make your cycleing period much shorter.
What kind of lighting are you getting? What types of corals are you planning on keeping?
HTH
~Nudibranch

 

[rossim]

Thanks for the responses. We probably added the water wrong, but since its a fresh tank, we added the water and mixed it directly in the tank (and we used disteled water which I've just read probably isn't the best idea). After we mixed the water, we set up the Millennium 1000 wet-dry filter, the AquaClear PowerHead 201, and the thermometer. We have everything running now and am waiting to get the temp up to 78 degrees. They hydrometer is soaking in some saltwater in a bucket now for 24 hours per its directions. I guess once the salinity and temp are right, we can add the LR? We're going to take your advice and not put the damsel in. We'll just wait until it cycles and then add fish as we go along.
Any tips as to where to put everything (fileter, powerhead...) on the tank? Any order that works best? We currently have the filter on the far left with the heater on the far right and the powerhead next to the filter with the water shooting directly across the tank. Is that right for the powerhead?
Also, we put in 20 lbs of LS and it seems to be a good 2-3 inches. Is this good or should we add more to get a true DSB? With a 10 gal tank, how many lbs of LR should we get?
Sorry for all the questions, but I know that everyone here can help me a lot more than my LFS. To answer your questions on the lighting, I'm not sure exactly what they're giving me. My uncle talked to the kid when they were going over that and he doesn't remember. We can always just change the bulbs if we need to, right?
Oh ya, its cured LR and not sure what exactly he wants to put in the tank. I know that based on what he wants, the lighting may need to change. I'm pretty sure he's just interested in basic beginner stuff though.

 

[brownleaf]

LR may or may not give you cycle, best to put a raw dead shrimp in there for the cycle. And get your test kit ready.

 

[yellow ace]

I have had a 46 gallon tank for about a year now and it is working great. I mixed the water directly in the tank and then added my sand (not live) I cycled it with a blue damsel who is still alive and not aggressive (although he has more space than in a 10-gallon). I currently have:
1 Coral Beauty Angelfish
2 Firefish Gobies
2 Peppermint Shrimp
1 (fake) percula clownfish
5 green chromis
1 cloudy damsel
everything is working fine and it looks like my two largest chromis have staked out a breeding territory. I had alot of fish losses toward the beginning

, but I think it was worth it. I hope this has been useful to you! (I am going to start a 10-gallon fish-only tank soon)