New to Reefing - Information Overload

Derek Claxton · Dec 18, 2018

Good day reefers!

I am new to reefing. As in, I don't even have a salt tank set up yet. I am a meticulous researcher before getting involved in all things new.

I have been keeping freshwater for a couple of years now. I have always been hesitant to get into salt, as I have been told it's super time consuming and costly. However, I recently watching a Marine Depot video on a "budget" nano tank. It got me very interested.

I have been inundated with information and possibly bad information. I came here for your advice and interaction.

Is a 10 gal AIO nano tank appropriate for a 1st timer if I am diligent in monitoring and maintaining it??

Thank you for your time,
Derek

Crabs McJones · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to R2R! There is alot of information out there. I would suggest checking out these threads to get you started

As long as you stay on top of your parameters, a 10 gallon tank would be good

Larger tanks tend to have less parameter swings, but unless you're getting into SPS corals, you should be fine

Starting A Saltwater Aquarium
Cycling an Aquarium
Acclimation and Quarantine

#WelcometoR2R

HotRocks · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to R2R!!!
10 gallon is small. Small = harder to keep parameters in check with much less room for error. Just my opinion.

Wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do and this is a great place with tons of great people and info!!!

theMeat · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to r2r

Have met some awesome nanos

Ruben's Reef · Dec 18, 2018

!!! Welcome to R2R Derek !!! Same like you. I kept freshwater fish for many years from Goldfish and ending with Discus and African Cichlids. But always have a interest on Saltwater but many people said and told me that is hard and you have to be an expert to have a saltwater or even a Reef tank. Then, here I am, I got my first setup a year ago and thanks to R2R reefing family I have a nice 40g Reef tank that was far from hard to keep. Those BRS and other videos will help you a lot but if you have any question, don't hesitate to ask here. Also we have a Articles library with a lot of information to read and learn.

Dennis Begley · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome. I agree with the others, 10 Gal is TOO SMALL. The larger the tank the more stable the system is. You want to keep everything as stable as you can. Heck even water evaporation can swing the parameters of the tank too much on a smaller tank. I have a 40 gal quarantine that does not have a top off like my 90 gal does and I have to watch the salt levels almost daily in that smaller tank due to evaporation. I have had salt water tanks for 30 + years. One piece of advice I can give is don't chase parameters. If you feel you need to alter something in the tank like PH or temp or whatever, do it very slowly. Your tank and its inhabitants adjust to whatever the settings are so if you are going to make changes do it slowly. Even water changes. I aim at doing smaller bi weekly water changes rather than a massive monthly change. Long ago one of my friends gave me a cartoon that had two fish talking to each other, the one fish said "there must be a God, someone changes the water." Stability is what I aim at. Keep the parameters as close as I can to where they should be. Your tank is an ecosystem build it so that if functions that way. Also when you are planning to add inhabitants consider what parameters each needs and find critters that have similar needs. The best idea I heard recently was someone on a webinar I attended suggested finding critters and life from the SAME area so their requirements are the same. Not all fish or coral or inverts like the same parameters. One last tip, when I set this tank up a couple of years ago, I wanted some algae for my refugium. My local store had some real cool grape algae. It was so cool I put a little bit in the main tank. Within that first year I had a forest in my main tank. I was taking grape algae out in the handfuls. I really intended this tank to be a coral tank with a few fish. I had to deal with algae as it covered my live rocks. Then it all died off. I see that it is taking hold again. The point being there is nothing wrong with algae in your tank if that is what you want but if you add algae (which is not a bad thing) be aware of what can happen. I regret putting that in my main tank.

KJ · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to R2R!!!

SPR1968 · Dec 18, 2018

You’ve had some great advice already but welcome to R2R!

Antics · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to R2R!

Seawitch · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome home, Derek. You'll find answers to all your questions here, and we're delighted to have you. I agree with HotRocks that 10g is pretty small to start with. There's very little margin for error. My vote is for starting something between 30g and 50g.

There's no place like home:

speedstar · Dec 18, 2018

Derek Claxton said:
Good day reefers!

I am new to reefing. As in, I don't even have a salt tank set up yet. I am a meticulous researcher before getting involved in all things new.

I have been keeping freshwater for a couple of years now. I have always been hesitant to get into salt, as I have been told it's super time consuming and costly. However, I recently watching a Marine Depot video on a "budget" nano tank. It got me very interested.

I have been inundated with information and possibly bad information. I came here for your advice and interaction.

Is a 10 gal AIO nano tank appropriate for a 1st timer if I am diligent in monitoring and maintaining it??

Thank you for your time,
Derek

Welcome, I went with a 40g AIO getting back into the hobby. It allows for some fish and coral growth. Though the upgrade is in the works.

PDR · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to R2R!!!

You can definitely be successful with a 10 gallon as that was the size of my first reef tank.

That being said, a 10 gallon (especially an aio 10 gallon) really limits what you can keep. I would research what kind of animals you want to keep, then find the appropriate size tank to accommodate them.

kschweer · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to R2R!!

Billldg · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to R2R!!!

Aqua_KRiS · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome to R2R ! All the info you’ll need is here

cromag27 · Dec 18, 2018

Mikeneedsahobby · Dec 18, 2018

Welcome.

All I can say is jump right in. You will never have the information and knowledge. Accept you will make mistakes and go for it.

10 seems small. But if it’s cheap and you accept that you may change in the future than why not.

50 - 120 gal is a good range that provides a nice compromise between cost and stability. Look at Craigslist to find a deep discounted system that someone else made a mistake on and gave up. Fix their mistake and start learning.