10g Nano (1 Viewer)

[Inspired]

After shutting down a tank of mine a year ago, I have missed having one. So, with some peer pressure from the girl friend I finally decided to bite the bullet at set up a new tank, except go smaller this time around. Having a nano has always intrigued me so I went and picked up a standard 10g.

Lighting: I bought a 4x18W AquaticLife T5 fixture that has 2 lunar LEDs.
Circulation: Koralia Nano 425
Filtration: ~12 lbs of rock (most of it old live rock that died off with some new live rock to help seed) and ~12 lbs of live sand
Skimmer: Haven’t made up my mind on what I want to get yet, hoping for some input. Tank will not have a sump for time being though. I am torn between adding the CPR AquaFuge2 that is a refugium and protein skimmer combined, or adding a separate HOB refugium and the AquaC remora nano.
Refugium: See above

I like the idea of having both my skimmer and refugium combined, but wonder if I will ever want to run them separately as the combination requires the skimmer to be running for water to flow through the fuge. Has anyone had any experience with either?

As for livestock, I plan on having a mini reef. The tank will end up being dominated by softies and lps, but will have a few sps growing too. I plan on keeping a pair of clowns with a goby, hopefully. Finally, the usual cuc. Any suggestions on what an adequate cuc would be for a 10g? If anyone has any experience with nanos or the equipment let me know as well. Since I spend most of my time at work, the tank is going in my office. Already enjoying having it at work, and there’s nothing but rocks in it.

As an added bonus, this tank is going to let me see if how I cleaned up old live rock actually works for a future tank. After shutting down my previous tank, I had 80-90lbs of old rock sitting in stagnant water with plenty of light, so it became covered in algae. I looked online and saw someone saying you could bleach the rock in a 50/50 bleach/water solution followed by soaks in water and baking soda to balance the acidity, and finally multiple soaks in water. The rocks did come out looking clean as ever, but usable is still in question. Interested to see if it works out good.

Tank is currently cycling and here is a pic:

 

[Copingsaw]

Good luck and keep us posted.

For nano's, I believe a skimmer/sump/fuge are not necessary.

I just use a HOB filter on mine and this has been by far the least maintenance and most successful tank I have had. Key is regular water changes and changing the filter regularly. Using Purigen or Chemipure also helps.

If I had to do it over again, I would use a canister filter instead. I've read a lot of nano success stories using canisters.

Here's the link to my tank:
http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=45599

 

[waterguy123]

my 10g nano's circulation and filtration is all just a bio-wheel 100, which has a actually done the job quite well. however if you do decide to go with the skimmer and fuge, the cpr would be a little too expensive in my opinion. aquatraders gets a bad rap sometimes, but they have an almost identical product, minus the light: http://www.aquatraders.com/Hang-On-Refugium-with-Protein-Skimmer-14in-p/43016.htm
i have the 24" version of it on my 37 gal reef and it is thriving. I have personally never had any problems with aquatraders.

 

[Inspired]

Thanks for the input. Your tank looks very nice Copingsaw. I've always heard of those cannister filters causing problems for reef tanks, but I've never used one so I'm not sure. I'll give them a look again.

Waterguy, I looked at the AquaTraders skimmer/fuge but was scared away by some of the reviews. I am having a hard time finding measurements for it. Is it large enough to fit a heater into? Does it pull out a fair amount of gunk?

 

[waterguy123]

it put out alot of stuff for me, and it has more than enough space for a heater. if there was any problem with it on a 10, it would be that it is too tall.

 

[DHoward]

I actually just started a 10g as well, wanting to fix it up with some coral and 2 clowns, trying to get them to host to a sebae, a fox face and either a blenny or gobi. Any suggestions?

 

[DHoward]

I actually just started a 10g as well, wanting to fix it up with some coral and 2 clowns, trying to get them to host to a sebae, a fox face and either a blenny or gobi. Any suggestions?

 

[Inspired]

Congrats on the new tank. The two clowns and anemone will be nice to have. Be careful with the anemone in the tank, especially if you're wanting corals because it will move around if it doesn't like it's current position and possibly come in contact with your other livestock and sting them. I'd suggest you not get a fox face for your tank, as the 10g isn't big enough for it to be a happy fish. They are very pretty fish though. As for a blenny or goby, that is up to you and which on you like. There are lots of very pretty options that are helpful as well with cleaning our tanks. I am getting a goby because there seem to be more options with respect to the small thank size. Just do some research when you are finding the species you want and make sure it will be happy in a 10g. Also, keep in mind we can't keep very many fish in our tanks since they are so small, especially if stocking with coral. What are you planning for lighting/live rock/etc?

 

[DHoward]

I already have the fox face... Lol. But I have like 3-5 pounds of live rock, a regular filter and a good reef light. So a goby and blenny clean about equally? Cause I like the mandarin goby and catalina goby.

 

[rxonco]

Catalina gobys, prefer much cooler water. Not sure why they show up in our stores. You're gonna need a bigger tank and more live rock to sustain a mandarin. I wouldn't even put an ORA mandarin in a 10gal with only 5-10lbs of LR.

 

[DHoward]

Ok that's good info, so what would be the best cleaner for my tank?

 

[rxonco]

Personally, I'd just go with a few snails and some blue-legged hermits. That should keep the detritus to a minimum. If you're wanting to keep your sand bed stirred, you might go with a diamond or watchman goby. However, it you do that, be prepared to have cloudy water because they're always "working." Good live rock and sand will serve as its own clean up crew.

 

[Inspired]

I have to agree with rxonco. The mandarins are one of my favorites, but they will need a larger tank. They can be very picky eaters and prefer live food like pods and brine, and with only 3-5lbs of live rock it will be very difficult to sustain enough of a food source to keep them alive, although you can get them to eat frozen stuff. It'd be safer and easier on you to go with a goby. Here's a list of some that could work for the 10g.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+2124&pCatId=2124

p.s. If you wanted to cheaply add some more live rock, someone on here is selling some for $2/lb still I believe.

 

[Inspired]

Also check out:
http://reefcleaners.org/
for cleaners for the tank.

They have a 10g starter package if you don't want to customize anything. Look at the description of what they are including and it will give you an idea of what each will help with. I'm personally just using a smaller version of what they offer, with 2 hermit crabs and about 10 snails and it comes out to around $8 + shipping.

 

[DHoward]

Thanks guys, just kinda want to keep all the algae to a minimum

 

[rxonco]

Careful with which hermits you're going to be getting. The smaller blue-legged variety are much better and usually cheaper. The larger red-legged or scarlet hermit is notorious for eating snails and stealing their shells.

 

[Inspired]

Pretty sure snails were my scarlet's favorite snack even though I threw in extra shells for them, but they did help clean. Probably will be going blue legged for this tank.

 

[DHoward]

So hermits and snails would be the best cleaners instead of a goby?

 

[DHoward]

So hermits and snails would be the best cleaners instead of a goby?

 

[Inspired]

Yes, the snails and hermits will help you clean better. Ceriths, nassarius, and nerites should be good with one or two blue leg hermits. Just don't add 30 snails. I would also stay away from the turbo snails. I'm getting a goby more because I like the fish than for its cleaning abilities. With a goby or not, you are going to want some snails and hermits though.