tank for apartment

ngarcia11892 · Apr 2, 2014

Hey guys so i wanna put an aquarium in my apartment for next fall but i wanted some opinions of what to do with it i need it under 10 gallons and preferably something that can be put on autopilot over a weekend when i go home from college. Any ideas for stocking or which aquarium kit i should get for it?

rdevoe11 · Apr 2, 2014

check out the nano tanks from Innovative Marine and the nano cubes by JBJ, cant go wrong with either. just make sure youre prepared to stay on top of the upkeep as smaller tanks are more susceptible to large changes in water parameters.

as far as stocking goes, I would keep it conservative. stick to soft corals (mushrooms, zoas/palys, ricordeas) and lps. for fish, you could certainly get away with a clown or even a clown pair but nothing else, IMO. if clowns arent your thing, check out some of the different gobies or smaller damsels.

Ive been really wanting to start a new nano/pico tank to keep on my desk at work (unfortunately not allowed to) and I personally would make it barebottom with one small rock in the center and devote it entirely to growing a huge green star polyp colony or start with 8-10 different zoa/paly frags and just let them grow over everything...but thats just me lol

Clink51 · Apr 3, 2014

+1 on JBJ nanos and on the corals

just make sure when you get these AIO tanks that you have a bucket filled with water and a ATO handy.

ngarcia11892 · Apr 3, 2014

IF i only have coral and a couple of inverts what do you guys think of having SPS?

mrcoffee2 · Apr 3, 2014

You can do the 8G nano from IM. However... You will be MUCH happier going with the IM 16G. The foot print is not much bigger and a larger tank is easier to take care of.

It depends what coral but SPS is hard in a small tank I find because the water has to be crystal clear. This means it needs a lot of attention... If you really dont do any fish, and your inverts are not ones that constantly disturb the sand then it might be doable.

Actually if you dont put any sand in it might be better

I am trying to remove sand from my 8g now and its a PAIN

ngarcia11892 · Apr 3, 2014

I'd love to do like a 20 gallon but at my apartments any thing bigger than 10 I need to pay a 400 doller pet fee and that's not worth it to me

Mattyice008 · Apr 3, 2014

Hey, I go to UF in Gainesville and I have 2 tanks in my apartment. A 16g innovative marine in my room and a standard 10g in living room. Both good sizes for a small apartment. And the people here did the same thing with the size limit, saying nothing over 10g of water. Honestly they will not tell the difference. I've been perfectly fine with mine and maintenance/management has come in before, looked at it, and said wow that's cool. And its probably only 10g of water anyway when you minus rock sand and equipment

SloppyJ · Apr 3, 2014

I bet If you get the IM 16g they couldn't tell. Besides the displacement from the rocks has to account for at least 2 gallons. It's not like they're going to take a volume measurement of your tank.

AAdkins5944 · Apr 3, 2014

+1 for IM tanks. I have owned the 16 gallon and it's an awesome little tank. I would look into one of those or the nuvo 24. Very good tanks for an apartment

Mattyice008 · Apr 3, 2014

If you go with a nuvo 16, my advice would be upgrade lighting and get more flow.

IotaElwyn · Apr 3, 2014

I have a nuvo 8 and love it. Used to do Seahorses in it, now it keeps a damsel, a shrimp and some crabs pretty happy with minimal involvement on my part. I put some algae from my refugium in my big tank in overflow of the nuvo and that seems to help.

rdevoe11 · Apr 3, 2014

+1 on the ATO and light/flow upgrade

if you really want to pull off sps in a tank under 20 gallons, there are certain pieces of equipment that are highly recommended to aid in the successful keeping of such corals (lights, powerheads, etc)

an alternative, if youre a DIYer, you could purchase a standard 20 gallon long and an AIO kit to make your own all-in-one tank. this would undoubtedly save you money in the tank purchase itself (especially if you catch the petco $1/gallon sale), leaving money to spend on the exact lights you want, pumps, etc.

SloppyJ · Apr 3, 2014

Dont but the tank with the lights. I did it that way and added a 150w halide and eventually went to an AI Sol.

Pinemere · Apr 4, 2014

I just put up this 12 Gallon JBJ 1 1/2 weeks ago... only holds approximately 9 gallons of water with substrate & rock. I'm running cheato in the back with a Tunze top off. I absolutely love it!

Pinemere · Apr 4, 2014

Pinemere said:
I just put up this 12 Gallon JBJ 1 1/2 weeks ago... only holds approximately 9 gallons of water with substrate & rock. I'm running cheato in the back with a Tunze top off. I absolutely love it!

Btw... I picked up the tank and stand at Dr's Foster/Smith for $250 total

JBJ Lighting Nano Cube Next Generation LED Aquariums | Nano Aquarium Systems & Aquarium Kit

vlangel · Apr 4, 2014

Very sweet little tank!

ngarcia11892 · Apr 4, 2014

nice tank how are the lights working for you? did you have to upgrade

ChuckFu · Apr 4, 2014

I'm running a 7.5 gallon Mr Aqua, and I sumped it. I'm only running SPS in the tank, and it's doing fine. My light is an AI Nano, 5 pounds LR, bare bottom, MP-10. Sump has GFO reactor, carbon bag, E-Shopps 120, 100w heater, and a rio 8hf return. My tank is on my desk, running for over a year now. Fish are a flasher wrasse, springers dottyback, and a lemon chromis. Mer-Maids are 2 Trochus snails, that reproduce, stomatella snails, and one turbo snail. Tank is banging.

Pinemere · Apr 4, 2014

ngarcia11892 said:
nice tank how are the lights working for you? did you have to upgrade

The lights are working for softies. I do not have an upgrade , but it could use a few more watts of lighting. Overall, I really like it. It's a baby compared to my 100 gallon reef