10 gallon stocking question

[nubsauce2010]

i am about to start a 10 gallon reef tank and know what i would like to keep but need to know if it is too much or not here is what i wish to have as my stock

 

10-15 lbs live rock

10 lbs of live sand up to 1.5 inch deep

5 gallons of live ocean water rest will be created to fill tank

 

in refugium will have macro algae to help reduce micro algae blooms will have a small powerhead to send water back to tank

 

have a protein skimmer bio pellet reactor and a 30 gallon hang on back filter

 

livestock i wish to have in tank

1 firefish

2 clownfish

1 frogspawn coral (frag to start)

1 small plate coral

1 bubble coral (frag to start)

3 different zoas (frags to start)

2 mushroom corals (frags to start)

1 leather coral (frag to start)

1 anemone prefer green bubble tip for clowns to host in

1 feather duster

1 cleaner shrimp

1 brittle star

2 hermit crabs

 

i plan to start with this and then slowly upgrade to bigger aquarium as corals start to outgrow the 10 gallon i plan to start at 10 then go to 15 then 20 then 30 then 55 final display tank with a few other residents

forgot to mention i am new to reeef systems only saltwater experience i have is a shark tank so this is going to be an exciting adventure to start i know will take a long time but i can't wait to start.

[Smithjm5]

Some people would say that three fish in a ten gallon is pushing it...But I myself have a little under ten gallons including the canister filter in my tank and have a clown, yellowtail damsel, and a watchman goby and they all do great. I'd say you'll be fine as long as you keep up on water changes every week. (I do 2 gallons once a week)

 

Oh if you haven't started the tank yet make sure the tank has fully cycled before adding any fish, and don't add them all at once!

[nubsauce2010]

Some people would say that three fish in a ten gallon is pushing it...But I myself have a little under ten gallons including the canister filter in my tank and have a clown, yellowtail damsel, and a watchman goby and they all do great. I'd say you'll be fine as long as you keep up on water changes every week. (I do 2 gallons once a week)

 

Oh if you haven't started the tank yet make sure the tank has fully cycled before adding any fish, and don't add them all at once!

i have not started yet no and i do know about cycling i plan to use live rock from my shark tank and some sand from it to help as well as the live rock, live sand, and live water from my lfs. i plan to take it verry slow so as not to mess it all up lol. my main worry was if the inverts/corals would also be too much moreso than the fish, i am verry versed in fish keeping i have done it since i was 5 and im 28 now so i got 23 years experience of salt and freshwater experience.

[Smithjm5]

i have not started yet no and i do know about cycling i plan to use live rock from my shark tank and some sand from it to help as well as the live rock, live sand, and live water from my lfs. i plan to take it verry slow so as not to mess it all up lol. my main worry was if the inverts/corals would also be too much moreso than the fish, i am verry versed in fish keeping i have done it since i was 5 and im 28 now so i got 23 years experience of salt and freshwater experience.

Sounds like a good plan! I wouldn't stress too much on the bio-load of the corals and inverts it's pretty minimal compared to the fish. I wouldn't go fully stocking the tank with corals and inverts from the start but adding a few corals to begin with and a clean up crew you should be fine! I myself haven't been in the hobby for a long time (7 months or so) so take everything with as you will but you'll learn a lot just from reading on here. Good luck and let me know if you ever have any more questions. I'll be following along.

[nubsauce2010]

Sounds like a good plan! I wouldn't stress too much on the bio-load of the corals and inverts it's pretty minimal compared to the fish. I wouldn't go fully stocking the tank with corals and inverts from the start but adding a few corals to begin with and a clean up crew you should be fine! I myself haven't been in the hobby for a long time (7 months or so) so take everything with as you will but you'll learn a lot just from reading on here. Good luck and let me know if you ever have any more questions. I'll be following along.

thank you so much for quick replies i cant wait to get started and my refugium area is a old 5 gallon tank does that help with the 3 fish to make it less worriesome? i will have macro algae and 10 lbs live rock 5 lbs live sand maybe a mangrove for nitrates not sure yet

[Dark_ice]

First off welcome to nano reef

 

I had this set up for about a year. I felt the clowns needed more space so I upgraded to a 20L. It is fine but eveyone has their own opinions on it. Watch with a shrimp in there though, they hate parameter swings.

[Smithjm5]

thank you so much for quick replies i cant wait to get started and my refugium area is a old 5 gallon tank does that help with the 3 fish to make it less worriesome? i will have macro algae and 10 lbs live rock 5 lbs live sand maybe a mangrove for nitrates not sure yet

I don't have experience with refugiums but I know they can be very beneficial, and with saltwater tanks the more water volume you add the more stability to your tank you are getting, so I say go for and I've heard good things about people using mangroves too! My lfs uses them in their coral tanks refugium and they always say good things about them, so I say go for it!

[nubsauce2010]

so instead of 2 clowns maybe i should go with just the 1 then?

[Smithjm5]

so instead of 2 clowns maybe i should go with just the 1 then?

I think you'd be fine with a small pair

[CatfishSoupFTW]

I recently picked up 2 clowns. One osc. and one extreme missbar Darwin. They paired up nicely. always together. No issues, but still early in. Love em though. At the most I may get a shrimp but thats it. They fit fine too. Got 15 pounds of LR or so, and an inch of aragonite. Heavy zoa stock, two acros, and some other stuff. Only coral death was my pipe organ. lol

[nubsauce2010]

starting setup tomorrow should i move this to a different area or keep posting updates on this section?

also wonderin g if it is ok to have an only lps/zoa tank or should i have some sps in there as well?

[CatfishSoupFTW]

up to you. you can always make a new journal. (though link it in original post) In my 10 gallon i started with all lps, but now have two sps. they are getting their color back after some browning. My nutrients, params are all in check.

 

may as well try it out. a cheapo sps frag wont cost much. shoot, my second one was free. lol

[vlangel]

I would also watch the brittle star and cleaner shrimp. Brittle stars will grab a hapless cleaner shrimp if possible and invite it FOR dinner! I've lost more than 1 that way and my tanks have been 36g and 90g.

[nubsauce2010]

ok thank you for all the info i might skip on the brittle star then i deff do not want it to kill my cleaner lol what should i use for a cuc?

also i jsut setup the tank and to help it cycle i aclimated a black molly baby i had in my freshwater tank and i am aclimating a guppy too for help cycling both will go back to my freshwater tank in a week or 2 when doen cycling. i have 11 lbs live rock 20 lbs live sand and 8 gallons ish may be little more or over of real ocean water. once the water clears i will post a picture probably be tomrrow the sand was fine and made tank cloudy

[CatfishSoupFTW]

20 lbs of sand ? Sounds like a lot.

 

Anyway , I got a bunch of blue legit hermit crabs and a turbo snail soon after and possibly during my cycle. All survived. The turbo likes to blow trough whatever though. The smaller snails everyone gets .. N something rather I see is a common one. People get like 10 of those and just check them in. My cycle was quick. About a week ish due to using someone's established LR. They sold me.

[Smithjm5]

Hit up reefcleaners.org for your clean up crew, they always give you way more than you need though so I'd just get the 5.5 gallon cleaner package. You should start a thread in the members section or you could just re-title this one and post pics on here!

[nubsauce2010]

thank you for the website i decided to make my own little cleaner package it will consist of 4 blue leg hermits ( plus some extra shells) 2 nassarius vibex for sand sifting 2 florida cerith and 5 dwarf ceriths does that sound like enoug or should i get more?

[CatfishSoupFTW]

That's the site ! Yeah that sounds pretty good. Don't forget they may be a cuc but also have their bio load. I may pick up more myself with that I got currently.

[Smithjm5]

thank you for the website i decided to make my own little cleaner package it will consist of 4 blue leg hermits ( plus some extra shells) 2 nassarius vibex for sand sifting 2 florida cerith and 5 dwarf ceriths does that sound like enoug or should i get more?

That sound like plenty, I wouldn't get more than like 2 of the hermits though, they go a long way.

[nubsauce2010]

Took some pictures but i do not know how to upload them tank is almost completely clear had to change my powerhead into a circulation pump though it was way to strong as a powerhead lol who knew 20 bucks could get so much power.and thanks for letting me know about the hermits 2 it is lol.

[nubsauce2010]

does anyone know if i buy walmart water by the gallon if it is safe for reef use? i can not afford to buy my own ro unit it is way too much money and i live in an apartment so would also be a waste. i do not want to have corals die off because of copper in the gallons i buy i tested my tap water and it came to about .1 mg/l of copper which i know is bad so i know i can not use tap water or can i with that litlle of copper?

[Smithjm5]

does anyone know if i buy walmart water by the gallon if it is safe for reef use? i can not afford to buy my own ro unit it is way too much money and i live in an apartment so would also be a waste. i do not want to have corals die off because of copper in the gallons i buy

You can buy distilled water that's what I did on another tank when I first started, you'd be surprised how fast they add up and driving to the store whenever your out sucks lol.

 

If you do decide to get an rodi this is the one I bought, you can hook it up to your sink that's what I do and just put it away when you are done! http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaticLife_RO_Buddie_3_Stage_Reverse_Osmosis_System_w_Mixed_Bed_Resin_DI_Cartridge_50_to_75_Gallons_Per_Day_RO_DI_Water_Filter_Systems-AquaticLife-AK010162-FIRORDFS-vi.html

 

Oh yea, and I use Flickr for my pics I upload them to that and then copy and paste them into the forum post

[nubsauce2010]

i usually buy about 5-10 gallons a month of water already i dont mind buying another 5-10 each month lol 5 is more like it would cover a 50% water change each month and for 5 bucks much cheaper for me atm here is the picture of the tank as it sits a lot clearer now than in the picture but the rocks are in place i might be buying another 1 or 2 pieces still not sure yet getting the light fixture in bout 2 weeks from ebay an awesoem deal quad t5 lights 20 inch for just 52 bucks with reef bulbs cant wait

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126123058@N04/14913219325/

[Smithjm5]

i usually buy about 5-10 gallons a month of water already i dont mind buying another 5-10 each month lol 5 is more like it would cover a 50% water change each month and for 5 bucks much cheaper for me atm here is the picture of the tank as it sits a lot clearer now than in the picture but the rocks are in place i might be buying another 1 or 2 pieces still not sure yet getting the light fixture in bout 2 weeks from ebay an awesoem deal quad t5 lights 20 inch for just 52 bucks with reef bulbs cant wait

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126123058@N04/14913219325/

Looking good! I uploaded the pic on that other post you made for you and told you how

[nubsauce2010]

thanks for your help and info glad to know i dont need a ro pump if i had the money i would buy one but until i move next year fall it just isnt worth it as i only have a 10 gallon and 5 gallons at most in a month will be changed if that

here is picture for anyone else following thread and make sure to go to new thread from my signature