Nano tanks

[fishaddict]

Im real interested in staring a saltwater tank. Maybe 6 or 7 months down the road. Im willing to make all the commitments for it unless its like extremely overwhelming. Can someone give me a few tips or pointers at this and maybe send me in the right direction. I was thinking about a 10 gallon tank but am clueless as to what it will need.

Thanks

[Pooky125]

I leave someone else to preach about not starting with a tank that small, cuz I started with one smaller... Anyway... a 10 gallon tank, should actually be pretty simple, but be careful, because you will spend major major money on it, just setting it up. Be prepared to let your checkbook take the commitment as much as your time. You'll need live sand. I have 20 pounds in my 10, that seemed to do quite well. Made for about an inch-inch and a half deep sandbed, which was enough to look nice, and serve its purposes. You'll want somewhere between 7 and 14 pounds of live rock. I had 7, it was to empty. A powerhead or 2.. A powersweep 224 should do nicely. A reliable sumbersible heater. Tronic is my prefured kind, but I've never used an Ebo Jager. You'll also want a skimmer. Most would say you don't need one, but it's a great help, especially, if you get lazy. Lee's makes a nice small airpowered one for about 30 bucks that should fit the bill nicely. Now, as for corals, thats whats really gunna set you back. Assuming, you want to be able to do corals, you will need quite a bit of light. I'd suggest a 96 watt PC. That should only limit you to a few softies, most hard corals, and clams. Good luck, and keep us posted..

[fishaddict]

Thhanks alot, im not really worried about the bill for the tank, at least not yet. I have enough money to back me up. Also what would be the purpose behind the "live" rock and sand. Do they put anything good into the water. Id probably add them just because it looks nice but if something goes wrong with that will it just destroy my tank. Im also not sure if i want to jump into corals , so assuming i dont, maybe save that for something bigger, would i still need that much light.

Thanks for all the basics there, now that i have more time im going to go on the search for some pics and details of some already set up tanks. Google.com here i come.

PS ebos are pretty nice. After a problem in the beginning it keeps my 55 at a nice warm 79 degrees. 200 watt

[fishaddict]

Ok after about 10 or 20 minutes of looking up stuff i am in amazement at the wonderful pictures but also and more importantly copletely mystifies as to all the different things that have to be monitored. I still want to do the nano reef in the future but i can only take about 20 minutes of this stuff a night without getting to confused. I think ill stick to maintaining my freshwater and learning everything about that. After getting that as close to perfect then the nano reef might be feasible. I still have much to learn about fresh water. I have a feeling what i still need to learn may help with the salt water.

Please if you have any info , post it. Its more knowledge for me. I will be doing this sometime i just dont know when.

Thanks

[wayne at home]

Well if I had infinite cash I wouldn't start with a nano. Too tricky, too limiting - 'I like that fish - 50 gallons plus sir. What about that one - 50 gallons plus sir.....'
Live rock and live sand are your principal forms of filtration
Go to wetwebmedia.com and read their comments on small tanks - small is less than 40 - yes it's possible, but small isn't easy always

[Pooky125]

The live rock, live sand, and skimmer would provide as your filtration. (and a darn good one at that!) however, wayne has a point, most saltwater fish need a good sized tank. With enough reserach, you can fine tons that don't. Most clownfish don't, along with most damsels (not that I'd keep anything with them anyway), pseudochromis (mean lil devils!), or the smaller varietys of gobies. You can also keep a variety of shrimps, and snails along with it, to add more interest to the tank. wetwebmedia is a great place to start, but I've always found it a touch confusing. Here are a couple articles I found particularly intersting..
http://www.aquaserve.com/10_gallon_mini_reef.htm
http://www.turetsky.org/nanoreef/ - smaller then you wanted, but got the basics down..
http://www.garf.org/news6p3.html
http://www.masla.com/reeftheory.html
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/reference/as6.asp
http://www.geocities.com/angiefishdu...saltwater.html

[darkblade]

if you're really serious about starting a nano check this site out
http://www.nano-reef.com

more info and answers that you could ever want...