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10 gallon tank build on a budget :)


singmealullaby

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singmealullaby

Hello to everyone out there,

 

I've decided to start a 10 gallon reef tank and wanted to share with you all some of the photos and details along the way. I'm trying to build on a budget and spend as little money as possible while still having high quality tank overall. Here's a list of the things I've collected so far.

 

10 gallon top fin glass tank (standard) $10.99

20 lbs. Tahitian moon sand by CaribSea $19.99

18" Nova Extereme t5 HO 40 watts $50.39

Hydor koralia nano $26.19

Jager 50 watt heater $15.99

 

Here are the all important pictures :)

 

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This is the 10 gallon glass top fin tank with one side panel painted with some cheap "gloss black" paint I picked up at home depot. I'm not what you call a do-it-yourselfer, so I'm very proud of myself at the moment. :P

 

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Pic of the nova extreme I ordered from Drs. Foster and Smith

 

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Pic of tank with light mounted on top.

 

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Pic of tank with light and Tahitian moon sand! In person the sand is really amazing, it has a sparkle that doesn't show up with my cheapo camera.

 

That's all for now. I'm planning on ordering some live rock online (any suggestions?) and really getting the tank going. I haven't found any local spots in San Diego that have any good live rock... Well thanks for looking. I'll give an update when I get some rocks in there! ;)

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Oooooh, this is going to be a good one. I'm just a tad worried about the tank hanging off the edge like that.

 

I agree, this will be a good one. People who start out trying to go cheap but who also make sure they get good gear always end up with a nice tank. I wouldn't be too worried about about that little of an overhang, I have run tanks off the edge like that (10g tanks that is) and been just fine. Mine actually hung off a little on each side so this one is probably better off.

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SaltWaterNewb

Since you are in San Diego I would try reefer madness. They have some very nice looking rock and they are close to you.

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InTr4nceWeTrust

Mmmm....if you have the option to turn it the other way so there's nothing hanging...you probably should. I'd also look into a second powerhead. I have one in my 10 and I'm not satisfied when it's the only thing running.

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singmealullaby

thumbs up to Lalani, Longinus, BKtomodachi, SaltWaterNewb and InTr4nceWeTrust for the input. :) you guys are badass. I was a little worried about the overhang too when I chose the spot but I figured the majority of the weight bearing load would be concentrated on the other three edges, and the entire bottom frame is one piece so the load would be shifted to the sides.... but I got a B- in physics so I might be wrong! :o

 

Thanks SaltWaterNewb for the tip, I'll definitely have to check them out now.

 

InTr4nceWeTrust, thanks to you too. I was thinking about a second powerhead, but ima take things slow for now and see if the corals can live with just one. Also, I like the look of the tank in that position more than any other, but if the tank bursts.... I'll remember what you said while I'm soaking up the puddles with my big towels. :D

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singmealullaby
I like your light.... I cant wait to see some photos of it with water and LR. Are you going to have a Hang on filter?

 

thanks OceanNano, i'll try to post some new pics tommorrow. i didn't plan on using a hang on filter full time, only when the water needs to be polished a bit. but when i do i usually run purigen, it polishes the water nicely.

 

Where would he/she put it?

 

Looks like he/she is planning on using powerheads.

 

I'm all about the budget builds. B)

 

your right Mr. Fosi, i planned on just using powerheads for circulation and keeping a low bioload so I could hopefully get by without the need for any kind of filter besides the live rock. anyway i hope you tag along, i'll try to make things interesting. :)

 

Looks great so far. Another reason for a second powerhead is backup. If the one you have fails you'll be left without any current. :)

 

that's a good point OB1, I'm thinking about picking up a second. InTr4nceWeTrust was right, the koralia nano has a really gentle flow for 2 hundred something gallons per hour. thanks for the comment.

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singmealullaby

Well.. after my long and tireless search I finally picked up some rocks and put em in! :lol: I picked up about 15 lbs of Fiji Ultra Premium rock from OceanproAquatics, but ended up using only about 8-9 lbs of it. They have a warehouse in chino, ca where I personally picked em out. Here are some pics.

 

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This one's a pic of the whole setup. That huge hydor heater is temporary till I get my 50 watt Jager heater, which should be coming in today!

 

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Here's another pic taken a bit closer. The ghosting around the rock edges is the reflection from the other side of the tank.

 

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Here's a view from the back. It looks alright, but I'm more worried about the other side cause that's the side I see when I'm drinking coffee in the morning.

 

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Finally, two macro shots of my babies! Overall I'm pretty happy with my scape, I wanted minimal rock work so the focus will be on the corals. The only thing I'm worried about is filtration... I might have to go fishless or keep it down to maybe 1 fish. I plan on running the lights 8 hours a day during the cycle, hopefully the little bits of macro algae will be able to make it. well, hope that gave you something to look at, i probably won't have any major updates for awhile during the cycle. thanks for stopping by! :D

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i notice that the tank has quite the amount of sun exposure from those 2 doors.

might want to think about those just incase of algea explosions.

 

looking nice though

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singmealullaby
Looks good! I am also a fan of minimal rockwork.

 

thanks BKtomodachi!

 

i notice that the tank has quite the amount of sun exposure from those 2 doors.

might want to think about those just incase of algea explosions.

 

looking nice though

 

that's a good point qbical, if things get too crazy :P i'll think about using the door blinds to block out the sun, or maybe cut down on the light cycle. thanks for the comment.

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singmealullaby

well, my jager heater just came in along with a few other nick-nacks i ordered from drsfosterandsmith.com. i couldn't resist taking one more picture, this is how the setup will be for awhile unless i change my mind.

 

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also took a pic of some fake seastars i got! they're really cool. :D might be a little tacky to put in the tank, but they look cool just lying around. walt smith did a good job, they look very realistic.

 

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well that's it. i promise! i took too way too many pictures today.

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SaltWaterNewb

Good find on the local LR. What are your stocking plans? I am liking the minimal rock too. I look at mine sometimes and wonder if I might actually have too much rock, especial since I will be adding corals soon so I have to also account for plugs and small pieces of LR.

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I really like your tank! Some of the corals you might get will probably have live rock with it so that will add to the filtering capacity of the tank. And as Lalani stated, "there is no such thing as too many pics!" :D

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singmealullaby
Good find on the local LR. What are your stocking plans? I am liking the minimal rock too. I look at mine sometimes and wonder if I might actually have too much rock, especial since I will be adding corals soon so I have to also account for plugs and small pieces of LR.

 

thanks SaltWaterNeb, i don't have any stocking plan in particular right now, but I plan to get alot of bright and contrasting colors in there to make it interesting. and don't worry, your tank looks great with the lr you have now, the aquascape you chose is really sharp.

 

 

I like the look of the tank with the heater along the back like that, so far it looks pretty good :) goodluck with it.

 

thanks BeesGoneWild! I was hoping to make it less noticeable since the thing is pretty big. anyway thanks for taking a look. :)

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singmealullaby
I Spy a Biochemistry book. :P

Tank looks great, and that rock looks good.

And there is no such thing as too many pics!

 

that thing is the bane of my existence! :P But I have a really good professor for my structural biochem class, Dr. Towb. He has one of the best laughs of all time, i love that guy. Anyhow thanks for the comment Lalani. I'm glad you liked the pics cause i took them just for you. :D

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nano reef boy13

you really cant put anything in there thats

really colorful because you only have 36watts of pc lighting

and the brighter the coral the more light it is going to need...

i would suggust getting t5 or mh

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