I started with a 10, then moved to a 40g, then a 60g, then a 30g (rental), then a 40g (new baby, new house), then a 30g, now I have a 120g and a 10g (and a FW 20g)
the 10g is an IM nuvo all in one and I HIGHLY recommend it over a biocube or other smaller tanks. It’s been running for 3+ years now.
it’s perfect for an apartment or bedroom and it’s easier to light than a 20g (cubes are easier to light).
On a 10g, you don’t need a Power head. The return nozzles I use I bought on Etsy. Coupled with an IM mighty jet pump and it’s dead silent and there are 0 cords. They create turbulent flow. Stay away from the spin streams or things with moving parts.
I ran an MP10 on my 30g and an MP40 on my 40g (both were cubes).
I use a Radion XR15 on my 10g (I recommend buying new but older is fine. Don’t get bogged down on “generations” 3-5 is fine). I ran a Kessil A160 Tuna Blue over it for a year with success but felt that some things were stretching for light.
NO LED LIGHT SHOULD BE RUN AT 100%. People will tell me I’m wrong but you wouldn’t expect your car to last a long time if you floored it and redlined it every time you drove it, same with lights. I’ve fried more Kessils than I care to admit running them at 100%. It has cost me thousands to learn that more light turned down is cheaper in the long run. Clean your lights!! Don’t expect cheap lights to look as good as expensive lights or be as effective. People who Stan for them will end up slipping up with a “you can’t beat it for the price.” This is a luxury hobby, Don't lose sight we’re in it for the aesthetics and well being of animals, not to shove, slam, and duct tape cheap stuff together and call it good enough. You have a responsibility to living creatures in your care.
You need an ATO. You’ll want to aim for a 5 gallon reservoir. Trust me. Get this up front. In fact, get EVERYTHING up front and installed. I could have saved myself headaches and money by just being good equipment up front.
Skip the skimmer on the 10-30g. Tunze makes a perfect skimmer for the IM NUVO 40. They’re finicky. Tiny cups. Noisy. Not that efficient.
I can’t function without a controller. This will make this hobby so much more fun for you and I think I would have suffered far less “reef fatigue” if I had started with one.
I hate recommending it for bigger tanks, but you want small so long as you have a separately named 2.4ghz Wi-Fi network, pickup a Coralvue Hydros Controller. Probably a Control2 + 4 outlet power strip. You can control your heater, temperature, return pump, fan, etc. You can even control a single dosing pump if you want to dose an all-in-one additive or setup an auto-feeder.
if you’re going with a decent light, don’t forget a fan (the hydros controller can control the fan too). You can pickup one that attaches to the tank for very little.
Heaters suck. Replace them yearly (which reminds me) and use a controller because the built in controllers are awful. For every “my eheim has been running for 25 years and was my best man at my wedding” story there’s a “my eheim became sentient and cooked my fish” story.
The controller will coordinate the fan and heater to keep your temps stable.
I like Chemipure. I have it on
Amazon subscribe and save. I gave up on filter sucks a long time ago on smaller tanks. They clog so quickly. I just drop a bag in the media tray and
Amazon tells me when to
FISH: Keep your bio load LOW. Fish=problems. I have no fish in my 10g, just some crabs and sexy shrimp and snails. Haven’t don’t a water change in 6 months. Go small.
DO NOT GET BABY TANGS AND LARGE FISH. BUY FISH THAT WILL BE HAPPY IN YOUR TANK WHEN THEY’RE ADULTS.
I like watchmen goby and pistol shrimp for smaller tanks. You’ll need sand.
Clown fish can kill corals, especially LPS, so if you’re going to get a pair, I’d get them hosting a soft coral or anemone before adding a frogspawn or torch. They “love” them to death. They will also sometimes choose to “host” a power head or return nozzle so be aware they’re
CORALS: Rockflower anemones, maxi/mini, and BTA are great since you don’t have to watch calcium levels too much. Soft corals and Zoas can work too.
Stay away from refugiums in small all-in-one tanks. The cost/benefit isn’t there. They’re messy and require upkeep if they do work.
Use gulf live rock. I’ve started tanks every other way and gulf live rock gives me a stable tank in about a week. If you go with dry rock or “cured” rock from the fish store, expect 2-3 months or so of diatoms and cyano and hair algae to come and go (called the uglies).
In fact, after an unfortunate Eunice Worm incident in a Biocube, I decided to use dry rock in my 10g. The tank got so bad I didn’t bother to clean the glass and just let it turn into a weird little underwater jungle for the first few months.
then you should be fine. However, from personal experience if you think you would like a larger setup, just wait a little longer and spend more upfront to get what you want. It will save you money rather than upgrading every 6 months like me
