10 gallon reef for my daughter.

nerdwolf · Feb 9, 2013

Dowtish said:
I dont run a skimmer on it. Just what I listed in the post. The fixture is a deep blue fixture with 2 T5's. And I havent tested the water in over a year. But I truly credit the water being clean from the xenia.

+1 on that. Xenia thrived in my tanks under PC lights with no skimmers and infrequent water changes. Same with kenya tree and frogspawn, though the latter would have probably had better color under T5s.

grumpy-crab · Feb 9, 2013

Sense the tank is a nano i think you would be fine with a HOB filter or you can get a small HOB refuge. LR and live sand would definitely help. I saw some one mention damsel fish for live stock. I personally like and keep them in my tank. Above pictures is a 3 stripe damsel fish i know they said 4 stripe but you count the black stripes. They can grow up to 3.9" and would out grow the 10g tank. Also the black with blue stripe damsel fish is a blue velvet damsel and is one of the largest damsel fish and can grow up to 6" and will lose its blue and white stripes as it matures. So i would suggest nano fish ive always liked the green banded goby and the red headed goby. You could also get a mandran goby or really any none burrowing goby. As its for your kids room im sure u will want the best suited live stock for longevity sense she will probably get attached to what ever you get. Good luck with setting it up.

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nerdwolf · Feb 9, 2013

I had a pair of oscillaris clowns in my 8 gallon biocube at work for about 2 years before I gave them away with the frogspawn. Conventional maybe, but there's a good reason they're popular. They don't need to be paired up, but their little dating rituals are fun to watch.

Cardinalfish like hi fins (banggais) and pajamas would work well in a nano - they like low flow, and aren't too aggressive. Just make sure they're eating at the store and buy captive bred if possible. Same goes for clown gobies - I had a wild-caught one that got little white bumps, which I think was a symptom that it was malnourished. I figured out too late that it was just "pretending" to eat...it would dart around grabbing food like crazy but it was spitting it all out.

Not sure mandarins are a good beginner fish, only because they're constant feeders and will likely starve to death without multiple daily feedings of live brine shrimp (at least until they learn to eat prepared foods.) If you get an ORA "aquacultured" fish it will probably eat prepared foods already. They also jump, so you need a good cover. Challenges aside, they are colorful, active, and even breed regularly in small tanks if you get a pair, so the rewards are probably worth the effort to some.

calvo15290 · Feb 9, 2013

That was me and my bad sorry for the mis info well gobys are always the safest bet

Andrew calvo

gmoney243 · Feb 9, 2013

Mandarins eat to much to really be in a nano unless u are harvesting live baby brine daily.

A nano can be fairly easy if done right. Dowtish nano is excellent. 1-2 fish. Easy corals like.mushrooms and such. A hob is a good way to run one because the fiber cartridges they come with can be cleaned and reused easily and refilled with carbon or any other media like gfo or purigen. I do this in my sump on my coral QT.

Now if u wanted a sump would be better just for more volume and a place to hide heaters and all that making the nano cleaner looking. U can always buy a hob overflow or build one out of pvc if u dont want to drill the tank.

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calvo15290 · Feb 9, 2013

http://youtu.be/NC_RSJ3buRA

Andrew calvo

gmoney243 · Feb 9, 2013

Looking good. I like the red algae stuff. Videos is almost a year old tho we need a new one haha

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calvo15290 · Feb 9, 2013

I upgraded to a 55 and the red Algae is dragoons tongue I'm still looking for someb

Andrew calvo

calvo15290 · Feb 9, 2013

Some* and I just got a new phone guys pm me if you'd like it

Andrew calvo

jmann124 · Feb 13, 2013

So, I have decided that this weekend when we put the sand in the tank, I will do a water change in my 75g. I will take the water from my WC and put it in her tank along with LR. I'm assuming that will equal a nearly completely cycled tank. Granted the sand will be fresh and new, not live.

calvo15290 · Feb 13, 2013

That's what I did on my big tank it works amazingly it's like doing a water change if u out about 7 in and lr with sand and some new water

Andrew calvo

gmoney243 · Feb 13, 2013

jmann124 said:
So, I have decided that this weekend when we put the sand in the tank, I will do a water change in my 75g. I will take the water from my WC and put it in her tank along with LR. I'm assuming that will equal a nearly completely cycled tank. Granted the sand will be fresh and new, not live.

Will definitely get you mostly there. Still might have a mini cycle.

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calvo15290 · Feb 13, 2013

ImageUploadedByReef2Reef Aquarium Forum1360811079.980749.jpg

I found this guy cleaning my tank if u want him

Andrew calvo

jmann124 · Feb 13, 2013

Serpent star? Or brittle star?

calvo15290 · Feb 14, 2013

Brittle

Andrew calvo

NeveSSL · Feb 14, 2013

Micro brittle... I love those things... in my old 45g tank, I used to have hundreds of them. When I'd feed, you'd see all of these tiny little striped arms come out of just about every crevice on the tank. It was neat. They also loved living in the cheato.

Chris, your 10g looks awesome! I may have to do one soon. I've got the rock and the light... might as well get a $10 tank and a small filter to get my fix.

Brandon