Easy Corals for Ten Gallon Reef

[brandon4432]

zoas, softies (leathers, xenias, cloves etc) and some lps are good beginner corals that are very durable.

I would eventually ditch the in tank uv as it can leak electricity and potentially hurt you and your livestock as well as canister filter and replace it with a reactor.

I plan on ditching the UV soon and setting up a in-line reactor, heater, and UV all on the same pump. Although the in-line UV will only be used once a month or when introducing new livestock.

I also plan on grounding the tank Via simple ground kit sold af pet stores. Have you ever had experience with this? Or heard of any one who grounding their system?

 

[brandon4432]

I imagine I do have some swings but the corals seem to be perfectly happy with this routine so long as I don't knock them off their rock or touch them. (including my beautiful sunset monti which I've had for over a year). I personally think if you properly dose though you can probably minimize the difference in alk between tank and fresh saltwater (I personally don't which is part of the reason why I stay away from acros).

What and how do you dose your system?

 

[Ahruk]

I personally don't but I probably should. I would definitely recommend looking into dosing calcium and alk (and maybe magnesium) especially if you want to go sps or lps heavy. Unfortunately, since I don't actually do it I'm not the best resource to help sorry. :/

 

[brandon4432]

Right now I have a simple daily two part, I think it's the Kent Marine Nano Reef complete supplement. Is this sufficient to any means?

 

[Afishionado]

I plan on ditching the UV soon and setting up a in-line reactor, heater, and UV all on the same pump. Although the in-line UV will only be used once a month or when introducing new livestock.

I also plan on grounding the tank Via simple ground kit sold af pet stores. Have you ever had experience with this? Or heard of any one who grounding their system?

I wouldn't use canister filter due to it's known to clog up in time. I would also advice using individual machines instead of all in one so that you can replace one if something were to happen to one of the equipment.
I also use titanium rod to ground yes.

 

[brandon4432]

I wouldn't use canister filter due to it's known to clog up in time. I would also advice using individual machines instead of all in one so that you can replace one if something were to happen to one of the equipment.
I also use titanium rod to ground yes.

I plan on cleaning it strictly every two weeks.
Individual machines would be ideal although the I don't want to have multiple pumps in the main system. How else would I do this? Also what Rod do you have? How does get work and what noticeable differences are there before and after the grounding rod?

 

[Ahruk]

Yes, that's pretty much what I was talking about. Although I'm not that familiar with it so I'm not positive if it includes magnesium so you might want to test your magnesium just to make sure it's fine (most of the time I don't think it's much of an issue, I just use saltwater that I know is low on magnesium and I know this can skew alk and calcium results).

 

[Afishionado]

I plan on cleaning it strictly every two weeks.
Individual machines would be ideal although the I don't want to have multiple pumps in the main system. How else would I do this? Also what Rod do you have? How does get work and what noticeable differences are there before and after the grounding rod?

You can use 1 pump and t it off using either soft or hard plumbing. or both.

 

[PostShawn]

Also from your picture you have the rocks on top of the sand. You'll want to seat the rocks in the sand and touching the bottom of the tank if you can. You don't want the rocks sliding around on you killing the coral. You can have rocks on top of rocks if they are placed securely or held with some putty or something. But never on sand like that.

 

[Pete polyp]

An anemone will quickly outgrow a 10 gallon and I wouldn't even consider one for this tank. Yes you should be able to keep some zoa in there with ease. Maybe some green star polyps on an island so they don't take over the whole tank. You might be able to keep a couple easy lps like favia, acan and candy cane.

Is there any reason you're limited to a 10 gallon tank? A tank that small can quickly become a pain and take a lot of your time.

 

[brandon4432]

Also from your picture you have the rocks on top of the sand. You'll want to seat the rocks in the sand and touching the bottom of the tank if you can. You don't want the rocks sliding around on you killing the coral. You can have rocks on top of rocks if they are placed securely or held with some putty or something. But never on sand like that.

The rocks are attached to two layers of egg crate

 

[brandon4432]

An anemone will quickly outgrow a 10 gallon and I wouldn't even consider one for this tank. Yes you should be able to keep some zoa in there with ease. Maybe some green star polyps on an island so they don't take over the whole tank. You might be able to keep a couple easy lps like favia, acan and candy cane.

Is there any reason you're limited to a 10 gallon tank? A tank that small can quickly become a pain and take a lot of your time.

I've had many tanks and own many larger freshwater high tech tanks. I also share a 110 gallon reef tank with a basement plumbed 90 gallon sump. I want the 10 gallon as a little piece of my reef in my bedroom as I would not see fit to move a 110 gallon. I also ten gallons in my room to display the High tech small ecosystems I like to create

 

[Pete polyp]

I've had many tanks and own many larger freshwater high tech tanks. I also share a 110 gallon reef tank with a basement plumbed 90 gallon sump. I want the 10 gallon as a little piece of my reef in my bedroom as I would not see fit to move a 110 gallon. I also ten gallons in my room to display the High tech small ecosystems I like to create

Sorry for the confusion. In your first post you said you were new to reefing and I assumed this was your first tank.

 

[brandon4432]

Sorry for the confusion. In your first post you said you were new to reefing and I assumed this was your first tank.

New to reefing solely by myself, it's all good that was probably my bad. I'm more so new on the coral aspect of it

 

[paul.rushton2]

For sale

 

[paul.rushton2]

Freetogood home

 

[tjgr34]

I've found mushrooms to be the all-around easiest corals to keep. They do fine, and even prosper in low light conditions, the only thing they won't tolerate is a lot of direct water flow. Even if they're in a spot with too much flow, shrooms will just detach from their rock and "jump" to a spot they like more. What's more- you can get a very large variety of colors and textures for cheap.

 

[brandon4432]

I've found mushrooms to be the all-around easiest corals to keep. They do fine, and even prosper in low light conditions, the only thing they won't tolerate is a lot of direct water flow. Even if they're in a spot with too much flow, shrooms will just detach from their rock and "jump" to a spot they like more. What's more- you can get a very large variety of colors and textures for cheap.

Thanks! Is the Current USA Orbit Marine considered low light?

 

[1fishjones]

I'm all for using a protein skimmer no matter the size of the tank. The Rio nano on my ten gallon reef does a great job. It is a little noisy but the results for a $26 skimmer (Pet Mountain currently has them at this price) are impressive, hard to believe so much gunk comes out of what appears to be crystal clear water. Your setup looks fantastic, I'd say you're on the right track with all the test kits, a good filter, & UV but from what I can see it looks like you may have to up grade your lighting if you want to keep coral. I hope this helps & wish you success.
P. S. Who makes that stand it's very cool.

 

[tjgr34]

Thanks! Is the Current USA Orbit Marine considered low light?

I haven't played around with the Marine model, so I can't say for sure. Perhaps others can weigh in on that one. I've used the Current USA Pro model, and found it insufficient for anything but softies, like mushrooms. I would guess that the Marine is more powerful, but not a ton more powerful- you might still be limited to softies near the bottom of your tank. Start with low-light stuff and then work your way up the ladder if it does well.