Ryan's (NEW) 10 gallon Nano Journal

ryandefones

ryandefones

Member
Okay, let's start things fresh; my last tank was fun and to be quite honest it was very "beginner." I had a 25 gallon tank that nearly crashed on my account of being a noob, so I sold all my fish, my coral, my live rock, equipment, and tank....
But I am back:). I have purchased a 10 gallon tank, new rock (9.4 pounds), sand, a 240 gph koralia power head, an aquaticlife internal mini skimmer 115, and am currently searching for lights.....
I want to own 4 corals, 1 sps, 1 brain (I'll sell when it get's big), 2 others maybe duncan and 1 anyone suggests! and then I'll replace the brain.
I also would like to own a crocea clam or dersa if possible...
I want a fire shrimp, serpent star, multiple small snails...
For fish a blue spotted jawfish, with 2 neon gobies? (if possible)
sooooooo.... please suggest lights! and pics will be up tomo!

Btw today is day one of cycling.
 
ryandefones

ryandefones

Member
Day 3!
Okay sorry I haven't been on, I've been swamped with school and practically looking up what would be good for my tank everyday. I have come across three things.... :D
So for lights I wonder if I should get a Viper Clamp Lamp or Aqualight Quad Tube Flourescent fixture, both have about the same amount of watts but I am still somewhat stuck as to which fixture might be better...
For fish, I might have changed my mind.... I know this may be too small for this fish specifically but have read personal pages saying the've been kept in 12gallons, BUT I really am intrigued by the Harlequin Filefish.
Since the harlequin is so new to the trade It's been tough scrummaging information about the fish, but it say's it is reef safe to certain corals and does well with passive fish. So maybe I'll get one Neon Goby to join it! (If I get the fish that is.)
I know that it does feed off of SPS but it can be converted to commercial foods so we shall see!
All I need are about 2 more pounds of sand and I want to get some kelp.
here's my tank and specs are all presto so far...
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
you cannot compare wattages in lighting anymore. the viper clamp light would be way better than the quadlight power compact crap. power compact are on their way out of this hobby. thats why i suggested the 4x24w TEK elite t5 fixture. it'll be better than either of the fixtures you stated
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
for a 10 gallon, i would highly go with t5 over metal halides. theres too much heat associated with metal halide for a 10 gallon. for t5's, once a year is good
 
ryandefones

ryandefones

Member
Alright well I am still looking, this is going to be my final tank, so I just want to be satisfied with whatever I get, and so far the only bulbs I have had are LED and as much as they are nice, they are alot of money and I am not sure if they would be enough to sustain SPS. I am selling my two Sunbright LED Bulbs (Generation 2). And that's why I am finding something more fit for my tank,....
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
if you are looking into an led fixture, the evolution 120w would be a great option. i dont know why you think leds wouldnt be able to sustain sps corals when leds have a higher ratio of par to wattage than any other type of bulbs.
what sunbrite bulbs are you running? the par38s?
 
ryandefones

ryandefones

Member
Oh I didn't know! I just have 22,000k T10 tube and a ProPink T10 bulb as well, the only thing is the Pro Pink is so damn purple it cancels out any color in the tank! I wonder if I should just purchase a 10,000 or a 12,000 T10 tube 24'' and zip tie the bulbs together and mount them to a handmade wooden frame and sit them over my 10 gallon?
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
hmm, seeing as you only have two bulbs, maybe you might want to sell of the pro pink and replace it a 470nm t10 tube and hold on to the 22000k tube which should be pretty blue too.
then to this, i would add 2 t5-ho bulbs in a retro fit format. get an ATI purple+ bulb and a ATI aquablue special bulb, so your set up would be like this
LED 470nm T10
T5-HO ATI Aquablue Special
LED 22000k
T5-HO Purple +
if you dont wanna have a retrofit, then selling both of your two tubes would be a good a idea for a full t5 fixture, or maybe just a single Evolution LED 120w fixture. The 120w LED fixture is really a great bang for the buck fixture. they're not high powered 3w leds, but they give off great par and will be great for nanos. especially with how shallow they are
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
i really dont think you should use a pro pink bulb unless you have at least 3 other blues to offset it.
i had a similar situation with t5's where ATI made a color that was called Pro Color which had a pink hue. it needs lots of blue to help offset its strength. Adding more white to pink will only make it worse. I'm afraid you'll spend the money and not enjoy your choice. thats why adding 2 t5's to your setup would allow you to fine tune your set up
 
ryandefones

ryandefones

Member
I guess I'll just leave out the pink-.- I just would rather use it because I spent the money on it, and it's somewhat disappointing to leave it lying around,...
I wonder if I should go to my LFS and ask for water straight from another tank to help cyle my tank?... When is it the okay time to start adding CUC? My sand is already cycled and came prepacked, so I wonder if that helped speed up the process?
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
water doesnt contain any kind of nitrifying bacteria, therefore it wont help your cycle. when ever your ammonia and nitrite go down, you can add your CUC.
having pre cycled sand helps, but if it was pre packed, thats not really cycled. cycled would have come from an established tank. live sand will help with seeding though, give it time, slow is the best way to go
 
ryandefones

ryandefones

Member
So I have decided that these are what I am planning to own for my tank:
1 green slimmer SPS,
Duncan coral,
Blue waving hand,
Zoas,
1 chalice coral.
For livestock, I would like:
1 serpent star,
1 Harlequin File Fish,
2 nerite snails,
1 acropora crab,
1 Fire shrimp(if he fits),
1 neon goby.
 
ryandefones

ryandefones

Member
Day 9!
so everything is settled and I am just waiting to add clean up crew to my tank, I also have another ten gallon to start my sump.
I have to drill two 3/4s holes in my tank so I may have to remove everything and re set it up which isn't too much of a hassle.
 
ryandefones

ryandefones

Member
About 1 month now!
:)
But I am still going over whether or not I should add a built in sump too my tank or just be careful with often water changes... I am afraid the tank might have too much flow from the nozzles if I have a sump.
mmmm steady water parameters so,....
I am finally getting my clean up crew this weekend and I want to start dosing my tank with Kalkwasser but I really don't know how too so I need to catch up a bit.
(cleaner shrimp or snails first?)
Not too much else!
thanks.
 
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