15g nano planning

[twentyone]

hey guys, I’ve kept a freshwater tank for the past 5 years and a friend just gave me his 15gal(24”x12”x12”) aquarium, therefore I decided to have a go at a small nano reef tank.

I only plan to keep two clownfishes and maybe some invertibles? Some soft/los coral after few months, gotta educate myself on those first.

Anyway I have been searching for light&pump that would suit my aquarium which by the looks of it is not a popular size.
Would $150&$100 be sufficient budget for those items? If not what would be your recommendations?

Most people recommend live rock & sand which I will go with and they say that I can add one fish straight away which doesn’t really sit right with me, I recon I should do a full cycle first and make sure the parameters are stable, am I correct on this one?

Third thing is about skimmer. Do I need one? Opinions are divided. I dont mind buying one if it will be beneficial.

I think thats all for now? If not I’ll edit my post.

 

[fishski13]

So by pump what do you mean? A wave maker? Or a pump for a AIO system?

For light, it all depends on the coral you want. If not coral at first you can just get a standard led strip light until you figure out what corals you want. You can definitely work with $150 for a good light depending on what coral you want.

So live sand you should definitely get from the store like caribsea. However, where are you planning on getting liverock? If it is actual live rock from the ocean, you should definitely cure it to check for unknown hitchhickers before adding it. If it is from a trusted and healthy aquarium source, you can use it. When adding, you technically could add fish right away especially with the hardy clowns however, I would test and make sure all levels are right as live rock and sand could have dead organic matter that could cause an ammonia spike.

So from the beginning a skimmer is not needed when you have just clowns and no coral. It all depends on bioload. Once you get coral it is your choice if you want to spend money on a skimmer for a small tank. It helps keep nitrate levels down, so if you can keep nitrate levels down without one you technically dont need one.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I have a 15 gallon with 3 fishes and no skimmer. Just weekly water changes.

Welcome to the salty side. Sounds like your on the right track.

 

[twentyone]

So by pump what do you mean? A wave maker? Or a pump for a AIO system?

Wavemaker, yes.
Regarding light and corals, I dont know the exact type yet, but I will definitely go for beginner friendly low/medium light requirement lps’s.

My LFS has a solid selection of live rock so I was going to get that.

 

[MoshJosh]

Heres my 10 gallon softy tank (I know the title says 10 gallon but ignore that):

10 gallon nano softie tank?

So have a spot for a tank. . . needs to be filled. was thinking about trying an AIO 10 gallon soft coral tank? Trying to keep it pretty basic/low maintenance. This is sort of what I wanted to do with my evo 5 gallon, however, that has quickly become complicated with a refugium and water bridge...

www.reef2reef.com

I'm using Caribsea "life rock", a tidal 35 HOB filter, and Sicce voyager nano. Lights I'm using are fluval marine nano and freshwater nano (using the freshwater cause I had it laying around and can't afford a second light right now. . .). All relatively cheap, plus I bought my marine light used for like 50 bucks used.

 

[twentyone]

Heres my 10 gallon softy tank (I know the title says 10 gallon but ignore that):

10 gallon nano softie tank?

So have a spot for a tank. . . needs to be filled. was thinking about trying an AIO 10 gallon soft coral tank? Trying to keep it pretty basic/low maintenance. This is sort of what I wanted to do with my evo 5 gallon, however, that has quickly become complicated with a refugium and water bridge...

www.reef2reef.com

I'm using Caribsea "life rock", a tidal 35 HOB filter, and Sicce voyager nano. Lights I'm using are fluval marine nano and freshwater nano (using the freshwater cause I had it laying around and can't afford a second light right now. . .). All relatively cheap, plus I bought my marine light used for like 50 bucks used.

Looks great! I’ve read that with live rock you dont really need a filter, was that a misconception or do you not have enough rock for proper filtration hence your hob?

 

[MoshJosh]

Looks great! I’ve read that with live rock you dont really need a filter, was that a misconception or do you not have enough rock for proper filtration hence your hob?

The life rock I’m using is different than live rock, it’s technically inert, and it is not as porous as actual live rock. The company that makes it coats it with some purple stuff that has minerals in it. I just prefer the look of the purple rock. Eventually it will be colonized by bacteria, not to the same extent as live rock, but will still have some biological filtration. So I am using bio media in the hang on filter, but it’s also for flow.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Looks great! I’ve read that with live rock you dont really need a filter, was that a misconception or do you not have enough rock for proper filtration hence your hob?

live rocks provide biofiltration, filters (HOB's, Canisters, etc...) provide mechanical filtration. 2 seperate things.

 

[twentyone]

Thanks for feedback guys!
Would you have some recommendations regarding wavemaker(+-100) and light for soft/lps coral (+-150)- tank is 12” deep and 24” wide