The Darkside :O

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#1
Jul 9, 2003
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#1
Ok so my dad's 55gal FOWLR is striking my fancy lately. I am going to have an empty 55gal coming up and i was just pondering and reading. Also have an empty 10gal.

Another thought that crossed my mind was something like a 10-20gal Invert nano. I hear they arn't for beginniers (nanos) but would it possibly be better with just inverts and maybe some LR? No fish. Would that make it any "easier" to control?

Keeping Discus for about a year now makes me feel good about water quality. I shouldn't have a problem with that by how my discus have been doing. :)

If i don't need any of this please let me know....we all want costs to be as low as possible.

10-20gal - Invert tank
-Crushed Coral substrate
-LR
-Filtration - i'd like a nano cube so everything is built in...heard bad things about them though? What are my other options filtration wise? What about a AC500 with its box turned into a fuge?
-Test kits
-Hydrometer/Refractometer
-Small powerhead
-lighting - not sure MH's?...someone advise me on this. Would MH's run to hot?
-skimmer - is there one small enough for size tank. I've read it isn't needed if regular W/Cs are preformed, but i might as well look into it just incase. I have no problems with W/Cs.

Hmmm well thats all i can think of now. I'm kinda following what someone in my local club did. He put together a 10gal Invert tank that really....really looks pretty darn nice. And he said it wasn't all that expensive or hard.

Comments? Suggestions? Anything? I'm still reading, this is just in the early stages........brainstorming. :cool:

Thanks a lot. Matt.
 

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1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
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#2
Hey Matt

sounds like you have your stuff pretty well together...empty 55 would be a better choice (as you know) but a 10 or 20 is doable

By all reports I've heard the JBJ NanoCubes are really good, but if you've got a ten coming available its probably just as easy and more adaptable to set up your own system...as far as the AC500 some people like it, some dont...its probably not a bad idea as it adds a little water volume and takes care of water circulation too

not having fish will make water quality considerably easier to maintain, however there is no real reason not to add a small clown or similar

crushed coral substrate is purely aesthetic, you don't need it at all...a lot of people are going bare bottom...personally i dont like the look of it. I would add that instead of crushed coral i prefer sand, but to each his own

LR is of course a must

there are skimmers available which will work fine on a ten or twenty...HOB models are generally better but berlin makes an airstone driven crappy skimmer too which is cheap and will work...i tried going sans-skimmer on a 20 nano and basically it was not working very well for me. When I added the skimmer life got easier.

the Metal Halides are going to be super hot and not a good choice for the ten...i would like at PC if you plan to keep corals...if you just want LR, inverts, and maybe some non photosynthetic corals and feather dusters then you don't need anything more than a NO flouro tube...i know the JBJ NanoCube Deluxe comes with a PC bulb with something like 48w which is darn good...

i think that pretty well covers your questions

read a book or two before you get going really seriously (although you probably already did for the FOWLR)

hope that was useful, and not just rambling
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#4
Jul 9, 2003
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#4
FOWLR = Fish Only With Live Rock

I'd like to do the 55gal but with cost, i'm not sure. A simple small Invert tank will suit me fine.

I've read Fenner's "Conscientious Marine Aquarist". Still going back through and hope to pick up some more books. Like i said this thing is still in the planning/learning stages so...i'm still reading all i can.

I don't care for BB tanks unless its a bredding or discus setup. :) So i'll use something down there.

Any other suggestions on filters other than the AC500? AC500's are big. The guy in my club converted his AC500 on his 10gal invert tank to a fuge too.

As for lighting, i thought so about the MH's. I saw the Nanocube Deluxe at the LFS yestery day with the JBJ lighting....very nice. I'd eventually like some corals.

I'll start looking into the skimmers, i think we'd all like it as simple as we can get :p Are you talking about the Berlin Air Lift Skimmers? yeah they are cheap, which is good, but would it be worth it it buy one of these? They will work you said....but how well?

Thanks for the help, it really did help. :D I'm gonna have to start venturing into this section of the forum more now and keep learning. :)
 

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1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
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#5
venturing into both this forum and the general SW will provide you with a lot of information

As far as the skimmer is concerned, I wouldn't personally go with the airlift (thought it is cheapest) because I think the skimmer is the most important piece of equipment you will buy and it is better to get something of higher quality. For a ten or twenty the Red Sea Prizm will do a good job (or so people say) and it runs about $80...the Aqua-C Remora is a better skimmer but it is twice the price and might be a bit overkill for your setup...not to mention it is super tall so I don't know if it would have enough lower clearance on a ten gallon. I think if it was my tank I would go with the Prizm. Something to take into consideration is the noise factor, I would post about that in the general section as I know several people have them and could no doubt tell you more.

as far as the filters, I probably wouldn't use one at all. I think the AC500 fuge is cool, but more of a pain/expense than I would want. Instead, you could use an old HOB that you had lying around somewhere for some water flow and get another powerhead. You want to turn avore approfimately ten times your tank volume every hour (so your pumps need to total at least 100gph).

you might talk to dbacksrat, he is in the process of doing a ten gallon nano so he might have some more specific advice and tales of woh...sorry, lied to you...he is doing a 29g. I had a 20 for a while so feel free to AIM me about it or just post here, only thing is its been a while so some of the frustrations may have faded ;)

kevin
 

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1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#7
Oct 22, 2002
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#7
SPS corals in a small tank are tough to do...LPS dont require that much light

what size tank are we talking? ten gallon? that is a lot of light in a ten gallon tank...but it wouldnt cause a problem unless it gets too hot. i should add, i wasnt aware that coralife made a 96w 20" fixture...got a link?

skilters are crap...you really dont need a filter, your LR will do all that...just a skimmer is probably best
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#8
Jul 9, 2003
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#8
Ok cool.

This is where i saw it. http://aquariumpros.com/aquaprostore/ENEfb.shtml

Possibly a 20-29gal (which gives me more options stocking wise and such. But i know i can do at least a 10gal (since i already have one empty).

SPS means Small Polyp Stone coral right? And LPS means Large Polyp Stone coral? Gotta get the lingo down and make sure i understand whats being said ;) So to grow these types would you reccommend i look into using a 20 or a 29gal instead? Hmmm it would give me more stocking options anyway...:)
 

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S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#9
Dec 1, 2003
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#9
Man...10 gallon tanks cost like 8 bucks! If being conservative is what your about saltwater might not be for you. I strongly advise a 20 or bigger. 3-5 watts of light per gallon will be excellent for a lot of corals, some clams and anemones. I think power copact would be a good choice, along with metal halide.

Skimmer wise...even the seaclone is a good choce for a small tank. I think most skimmers should work on your set-up.

It is a lot easier to set-up a reasonably sized tank20-70gallon. Once your skills are improved move up...or down I guess to a little nano. Trust me, you will will have way better success.
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#10
Oct 22, 2002
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#10
youve got the lingo

bigger is always better as far as tank volume. the problem with SPS coral is that they 1) demand a lot of light (pretty much need MH) which is not always compatible with small water volumes. 2) they grow pretty quickly under proper conditions and don't always play well together 3) in such a small volume it is pretty much impossible to keep anything other than SPS because they are easily killed by softies and LPS

LPS and softies are a much better choice for a nano tank in my opinion

looks like a nice light. i have a coralife for my 55 and i like it. it would be if you wanted a clam or some such thing to have that amount of light...its hard to say there is any such thing as "too much" light, everything will just spread faster with lots of light, though coraline algae prefers a bit of a darker tank
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#11
Jul 9, 2003
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#11
Man...10 gallon tanks cost like 8 bucks! If being conservative is what your about saltwater might not be for you. I strongly advise a 20 or bigger.
Click to expand...
Well i just don't have a 20+ open now. I was just looking around and seeing what i had that i could use. When i move my discus out of the 29gal i'll have that. So i think i'll shoot for the 29gal instead of the 10. Leaves more room for error.

Thanks for the input SReef and camaro, i'm sure i'll be back with some more questions, comments, etc. :)
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#13
Jul 9, 2003
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#13
My Dad's 55 FOWLR? Nah no pics. Its at his office so i'll get some maybe monday when i go over there.

Basically its not really a looker right now. 2 Large pieces of LR on either side of the tank, 2 damsels...i'd have to look up the name. (Both got blue on them...one is blue and yellow), And he has 1 anemone which came with a piece of LR. Got a deal on that. Thats like a $50+ anemone (LFS priced) for free, he just bought the LR. Shrimp and more fish are coming this coming week i think he said.
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#17
Jul 9, 2003
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#17
LOL i'll get some pics Mon if i remember.

Thats what i was thinking....maybe some nice pieces will just break off ;) :)

He stocks the tank as slow as he walks :p Which is good with SW, take your time, and since LR is pretty expensive it'll take him a while to build up. If my tank is setup by the next time he gets some LR i'm gonna snag a few of his small pieces :p!! muhahaha
 

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