YOTN's 10g Economy-Build Tank Diary

[yearofthenick]

about 9 months ago, I had to sell my red sea max and 120g due to being unemployed. I have since gotten an excellent job that i love, and thought i would get into fishkeeping again. I didn't want to spend too much money... I remembered that I still had a 10g I used to keep my inhabitants in while I did major maintenance on my red sea max and thought I would set it up economy-style. I use the term "economy" very loosely, since saltwater fishkeeping is not a cheap hobby. But I wanted to be as cheap as possible. I had the tank, a cheap light (which does nothing except illuminate the tank, doesn't keep corals happy) I had two heaters and a powerhead.
So I went shopping:
30g-rated HOB filter (new design I've never seen before but it was on sale)
Hydor Koralia 1 (I plan on keeping corals in here eventually - need good filtration for that)
20 Lb's Aragonite Live Sand (used 15 lb's of it)
5 Lb's Live Rock (to get the party started)
2x 5gal jugs with RO water
20 lb's salt mix (mixes 50 gallons)
Hydrometer
Thermometer
Magnetic Tank-Cleaner
and $160 later, here we are.
Look below for some action shots.

 

[yearofthenick]

I want to upgrade the lighting once the tank gets cycled. I was thinking some PC's or if I'm lucky, a few T5's... anything that will support corals. I've even thought about a clamp-style HQI, but they're kind of expensive. Since this is an economy tank, T5's would be better than a $200 HQI.
I also have an old HOB that i plan to use as a refugium. We'll see how that goes. I figured it was better to get everything going, then set up the refugium once it's settled down. I'll take the filters out of it and throw a little bulb in there... then some chaeto and voila.

 

[coastie5685]

awesome... looks good. and i like the rena filter... ( built in protein skimmer )... cant wait for more pictures.. good luck dude. next ... live rock?

 

[coastie5685]

if you want a cheap " economy " lighting... try t5 ... i have a 24" 2x24w t5ho ... not allowed to say where from.. but we see if i can get away with it . its from pet
mountain
dot computers lol
catch my drift ? very cheap i spent around sixty or seventy.... they have as small as 18 inch

 

[jtt]

*subscribed*

 

[17cuddlefish]

looks to be the start of a great tank. good luck

 

[yearofthenick]

Originally Posted by Coastie5685
http:///forum/post/3033885
if you want a cheap " economy " lighting... try t5 ... i have a 24" 2x24w t5ho ... not allowed to say where from.. but we see if i can get away with it . its from pet
mountain
dot computers lol
catch my drift ? very cheap i spent around sixty or seventy.... they have as small as 18 inch
Thanks for the info... I checked it out and it IS cheap.... nice. I'll have to get the 24" T5HO next time I have a few bucks in my pocket.... 48 watts for a 10g? More than enough IMO.

 

[17cuddlefish]

Oh I forgot to ask, what are your fish stocking plans?

 

[yearofthenick]

Originally Posted by 17cuddlefish
http:///forum/post/3034238
Oh I forgot to ask, what are your fish stocking plans?
I'll likely do just corals... maybe a few pecula's. Not sure yet, but DeMartini's 18g inspired me to do this... that's what I'm hoping mine will look like when I get it going.

 

[17cuddlefish]

alright, cool. oh, demartinis tank is amazing, hopefully yours looks just as good!

 

[yearofthenick]

Here's a pic I just took.... cleared up nicely.
I'm a little surprised with how bright the light looks. Maybe it's the aragonite... I got it as white as i could.

 

[yearofthenick]

I still need to paint the back. I was going to last night but I didn't have enough time. I will do it probably tomorrow. See that Rena HOB? It goes across at least 2/3 of the entire back of the tank!
I also need to work on my flow with my koralia. I think I'm going to put it on the left side (currently on the right) and face it parallel with the front wall. Even though the HOB is rated for 30g's, I don't think it provides much flow - the output on it stetches about half the length of the tank, and although it provides excellent aeration/surface flow, I don't think it does any sub-surface movement.
There's foam on the top of the water column... does anyone know how I can get rid of it? Or is it normal for a starter tank like this? I don't remember it happening with my other tanks, but it was a while ago - I could have forgotten.

 

[spydo]

Nice looking tank keep us posted

 

[jtt]

what color are you going to paint it?

 

[yearofthenick]

Originally Posted by JTT
http:///forum/post/3034769
what color are you going to paint it?
I'll just paint it black

 

[coastie5685]

the foam at the top is just because its a new tank. its the saltwater foaming up no worries. if anything take the koralia and point it to the surface to aggitate the surface a little so it goes away.
and painting black is a good way to go lol

 

[flower]

There are lots of low light corals, you don't have to spend on fancy lighting for a 10g to look awsome. sun coral, red chili coral...real nice color in gorgonias too.

 

[yearofthenick]

I found a hitchhiker in the tank!
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=357679

 

[dankbardy31]

Congrats on starting a new tank. It's looking good. What is the stock light that you have right now.
For aesthetics I would recommend putting your adhesive thermometer on the bottom right side of your tank. Do you have another more accurate one? You may eventually want to invest in a more precise instrument, I have heard that the adhesive ones are not that accurate, but thats just what I heard. Good luck with everything!

 

[yearofthenick]

Originally Posted by dankbardy31
http:///forum/post/3036723
Congrats on starting a new tank. It's looking good. What is the stock light that you have right now.
For aesthetics I would recommend putting your adhesive thermometer on the bottom right side of your tank. Do you have another more accurate one? You may eventually want to invest in a more precise instrument, I have heard that the adhesive ones are not that accurate, but thats just what I heard. Good luck with everything!
Thanks dude. I had a cable guy over here yesterday to fix our cable box and he asked why the tank didn't have any water in it... that's how clean it looks. I'm really pleased (and kind of surprised) with the HOB - it does a really great job of keeping the water clean, although I wish I had some form of surface-skimming.
As for the light, it's a stock 15w bulb that came as a part of the kit. It's got almost a pink hue to it, so I can only assume it was meant for fresh water... but it does the job for now, so I'm happy. It's probably not going to cause an algae bloom in the tank either, so that's another benefit to having it. I'll probably upgrade in a month when I want to get some frogspawn, zoo's, or ric's.
I got rid of the "digital" thermometer because it kept dancing from 76 to 84. I've got an eheim 100-watt heater in there and I know it keeps the water the same temp pretty well. I added a floating thermometer and it says my tank is a constant 77, which is exactly what my heater is set at. It looks a lot nicer too without that black thermo strip in the front.