new to nano

[midwest reefer]

My friend has decided he wants to setup a reef, and he decided to go small for lots of reasons(space, $, experience etc...) He saw me fragging some corals and decided he wanted to try reefing.
Ive never really kept a nano, so tell me how this sounds?
10 gallon tank, corallife 28w pc.
20lbs sand, and Ill give him a cup or two of LS from my reef
7lbs base rock, 4lbs LR
Emperor 280 filter(possibly a 120gph powerhead for extra flow)
My questions are, is that filter suffice? It wont overdue the tank? Should he use the extra powerhead?
I know 28w only gives him 2.8wpg, but he should still be fine with some shrooms, zoo's or possibly some xenia.
any thoughts?

 

[black99l]

as long as he keeps a very close eye on his tank, keep a regular maintance schedule he should be fine. Most of the guys/gals with ten gallon nano either went with the 96 watt custom sea life, or the cpr lighting with the moon light. the emperior will do fine IMO but he needs to add a power head for circulation. 11lbs of LR really isn't that much once you get it in there.
but in my opinion i would tell him to go with the the 20long tank. it looks awesome when it gets setup right.

 

[midwest reefer]

yeah... Ive tried to convince him, in fact thats what Im going to turn my 37 into is a 20L, but $ is really the issure here. were in high school and make miniumum wage

 

[midwest reefer]

does anyone think it would be ok to put a 24 inch pc fixture on a 10 gallon tank? I know it will hang over 2 incehs each side, but will it be ok?

 

[kona]

Originally posted by midwest reefer
does anyone think it would be ok to put a 24 inch pc fixture on a 10 gallon tank? I know it will hang over 2 incehs each side, but will it be ok?
Hey, I put a 24" Custom SeaLife PC light on my 10 gallon, and it looks perfectly fine....and works like a charm.
Only concern is that you are maybe losing like 1/6 of the watts, since 1/6 of the light is actually hanging off the tank.
By the way, check ---- for. I found an absolutely amazing price.

 

[vision]

if you have a lfs that sell used tanks you can get them for a steal if not check the newspaper or a tradin post you can always find deals in it. good luck.

 

[midwest reefer]

thanks for the help... we ended up getting the coralife 28w. we chose it for price and so he could mount it up on the legs...
Any coral reccomendations for this setup? emporer 280, rio 400 and coralife 28w PC. 10 gallons.
I am already getting some zoo frags ready, what else would go good in this tank?

 

[diddley]

i've got the same light and tank. i use a penguin 125, if i had it to do over i would go with the AquaClear 150, it has more media space and separate carbon and mechanical options. i have shrooms and ricordia right now and think xenia, gsp, and buttons would definitely be appropriate. i don't use the legs, since the wattage is lower in this fixture i want the lights as close to the livestock as possible. heat is not a problem. i also use two hagen 101 powerheads for circulation. good luck and keep up with the water changes.

 

[fishman830]

my LFS sells "mini PC bulb's" they're 50/50 10 watt. they're the screw in kind of bulb.. it's nice.. and you could make your own light system...