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Coral Vue Hydros

New 10 Gallon + Lighting


suhaib10

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Hi guy I am currently trying to get into SW (currently have only FW) with a fairly low budget and have decided to start out using the 10 Gallon I had lying around as a test run. So I have a couple questions id like answered before I begin.

 

1. Should I start of the tank 100% RO water mix or keep it like 75% RO and 25% tap?

 

2. Filteration: I currently have a AquaClear20, but I read some people say that SW shouldn't use HOB since it collects detritus and makes nitrates worse and that live rock should be the base filtration. Should I just get rid of the AC20 and add a hydor koralia 240GPH?

 

3. Live rock: Is live rock that was in a tank for years and removed few days back still considered live or will need to be cured, will that help the cycling or should I choose live rock which currently still in the tank. How long can it stay out of water without all the organisms dying off.

 

4. Substrate: Is it ok to use regular FW sand(caribsea super naturals) i have lying around or does it need to be marine sand. At my LFS there's two types: Caribsea Reef sand and Caribsea Fiji Pink Reef sand. Any difference between the two other than their coarseness?

 

5. Lighting: The tank has a single t8 18" hood, now this might sound stupid but will the liverock be okay with it for now like if it is cured will the organisms on it already be okay? I do plan on upgrading the lights to a DIY LED since I want to grow soft coral but need some help with it so will post in the DIY section.

 

Thanks.

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reeferbrownies

1.Use 100% RODI with salt, it really helps with water quality and will help down the road

2.HOBs are ok but there really isnt a need for mechanical filtration in saltwater let alone such a small tank, keep up on water changes and youll be good, one thing you can do is turn it into a refugium, A refugium usually has macroalgae like Chaetomorpha that help with water quality and are a "refuge" for beneficial organisms like copepods. About the hydor, those are good AC pumps but If you get a DC pump like a Jebao (cheap but very good) or a Ecotech Marine (Expensive but good) they allow you to control the pumps and the flow which really comes in handy. If you try to control AC pumps they will wear themselves down

3. If its been dry for a few days its probably dead

4. Fiji pink is one of my favorites because it doesn't get blown around and its still a fine grain size, the only thing is that with marine sand there is Live sand which is sand with bacteria that most LFSs sell, its just 10 bucks more for a 20 pound bag

5.Curing and cycling the tank will be fine with t8, and most LEDS will be able to handle basically anything.

 

Welcome to the salty side and welcome to Nano Reef, Good luck on your tank and feel free to ask questions

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Hello

 

100% ro/di or distilled only. Tap water has far too much in it and the rocks and sand will absorb it, leading to problems in the future.

 

Hob is fine to use. In Sw its not used for biological filteration, its used for chemical, added flow, and added water volume. Using the ac20 is fine. Just use filter floss and a good carbon like matrix. If you have phosphate issues in future, you can add a bag of phos remover.

 

Don't use the filter sponges, they are nitrate factories even when washed.

Clean the filter and pump monthly and you will be fine.

 

You will need a powerhead for water movement. Hydor pico or hydor 240 is good.

 

Sand - i'd suggest using caribsea arragonite or caribsea livesand.

 

As for the liverock. How long have they been sitting around? Completely dry?

Oh yes, lighting. For cycling t8 is fine but for corals its not.

 

Here are a few options if you don't wanna go diy. These are affordable options that will allow you to house various corals.

 

Aquamaxx nemolight or marine option(depends on length of tank)

 

Coral compulsion par 38 full spectrum

 

Rapid Led par38 or kits

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Okay so I setup the tank yesterday, put fiji pink live sand then 9 gallons ro saltwatermix( left a gallon incase salinity is to much and adding rocks will raise the water level). The water became extremely cloudy, this morning i checked still cloudy, so attached filter floss to the intake of the filter and it had cleared up but if I turn off the filter or try removing the floss I can see the particles getting released making it cloudy again. Also if I stir up the sand even lightly i can see a cloud forming. Any ideas how to get rid of whatever it is, dust or bacteria?

 

 

My Aqua clear has been a bit too noisy, my guess is the impeller is damaged, so I put an old tetra pf10 filter and will eventually mod the tetra into the refugium by cutting it and attaching a small acrylic box/tank(approx 500ml) which came with a bribe shrimp hatchery to it. Also I've decided to add a jebao pp4. Will this be enough circulation?

 

I found a sweet deal on some wet live rock from a local, hopefully I can get it by tomorrow.

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Get a RODI Filter to make all of your water, always. Top offs included.

Lighting is essential so don't skimp on it, try to save for a good fixture asap.

What heater are you using? Do you have a fan to control heat?

The sand dust should settle within a day or so. The filter floss is ok to use but you have to change it every other day, religiously.

Have the koralia (pointed mostly at water surface) AND the jebao in there as well for flow.

The cycle, is of PARAMOUNT importance, so you should get a test kit for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Test daily for a week or so so you understand exactly what is happening. Once the cycle is done (2 months or so), wait for diatoms to sprout (brown stuff in the beginning - after the cycle) add about 5 Snails or a singlular Scarlet Hermit, maybe a zoa polyp to gauge how the water quality is doing, also so you can mess around with the intensity of the light, depending on which light you will go for. If you want to help out the cycle process, add some Nitrifying Bacteria (Biospira, Dr. Tims, etc)

Look into an Ai Prime HD, Kessil A80, Kessil A160, NanoBox MiniTide for light fixtures. If you buy a poor light fixture, your corals will not thrive and you will end up getting one in the end when you realize you want nicer looking coral (;

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Great advice^

 

 

The dust will subside, give it time. If the filter is too small or broken it will take longer to filter out the cloudiness.

 

Definitely get your test kits and start testing the cycle as soon as rocks are put in.

 

As for lighting. I've had many.

 

T5ho's - still my fav for growth and colouration.

 

Par38 on my 15g. Did a good job but I had a cheap product with poor optics so the spread wasn't great.

 

Upgraded to Ai Prime. Does a nice job, nice colours, programmable.

 

10g - had the skyye light which was ok but limiting.

 

Use the aquamaxx nemo on my 10g now and its been good. The tank is lps and sps

 

Lighting will be the most expensive and most important purchase. Do a lot of research. There is some great info here.

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Thanks for all the advice guys, I finally got some live rock from a guy who was tearing down his tank. He had removed the fish last month and was slowly selling off the rest. Got around 10lbs he said the coralline algae started dying off after fished were removed, but my issue is that it also has a greenish color to it guessing algae too, but how do I get rid of it no light.

 

Also I added a food pellet to start the cycle since day 1. Checked the readings today weirdly Ammonia: 1.0, Nitrites:.25 and Nitrates:0.

 

PS. I used a friends API SW master kit, which looks extremely similar to the FW one I have, so will my FW one work with Saltwater?

 

Edit: nvm searched up difference between the kit and only difference is the chart is slightly different for SW https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fE77Q8tTTRwsome proof

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I have had my ten gallon up for over a year and I use a biowheel hob and have never had nitrate issues,just keep it clean,I like the surface aggitation it provides,and I'm always surprised when I check out the filter and see how much crap it's pulling out.as for lighting I just bought an usa current orbit led light,which is adjustable and programmable,but I'm only growing softies under it,but would check out other lights if your going to keep lps,I've heard some people keeping them with this light but most say softies only but I'm definitely no light expert,lol but it's working for me! Good luck on your build!

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I would say the fw test kits won't work. Some of the api say salt and freshwater but if its only fw, you won't get accurate readings.

 

I wouldn't continue feeding the tank with food. It will increase nutrient levels which will cause issues later.

 

 

Now that ammonia is at 1.00, the cycle has started. Keep testing it to watch. Once ammonia and nitrites are 0, you can do a waterchsnge to lower nitrates. You want them around 10 or less.

 

Then you can add a small cuc. Keep testing, do a weekly waterchange. If no ammonia is present you can add a fish.

 

As for the green algae on the rocks, can you take a pic. Its hard to say what kind of algae it is.

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On the API test kits:

 

high range ph can be used both for salt and fresh.

 

Ammonia can be used for both salt and fresh

 

Nitrate can be used for both salt and fresh

 

Nitrite can be used for both salt and fresh

 

 

The colors for the results do differ on some of the tests between fresh and salt, but you can easily google image to find a color chart to compare if all you have is the fresh chart.

 

If you buy the individual test kits, they come with both the fresh and salt chart.

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Cool! cycle has started bud. I would suggest to bring Ammonia up to 3 - 4ppm then consider the cycle begun, this should be repeated every time it reaches 0ppm until that much Ammonia is consumed to 0ppm in less than 24 hours. This will ensure your nitrifying bacteria will be strong enough to handle anything you throw at it and giving you a very strong bio-filter. Just my two cents (-;

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So I noticed yesterday there was a tiny starfish on my glass which was so exciting, since it is first live creature in my SW rank :) but by the evening was gone somewhere else.

 

Today I moved some rock around which kind of made the water cloudy so I couldn't get any decent pics, but I think the green stuff is coralline algae as well so keeping my photoperiod around 5 hours. I have been reading about hitchhikers on live rock and that is seriously freaking me out. Tonight I turned the lights of and on half an hour later and saw this tiny red worm around a cm also a black one. Also noticed a couple of red coral or sponge type things inside one the rocks.

 

So should I be wearing gloves while handling the rocks, I honestly thought of it kind of dumb. But after reading about all the creepy creatures in the tank I am not sure, the creatures scare me more than the potential toxins in the tank ?.

 

Man freshwater is so much easier. If I knew how scary SW was I doubt I would have ever dived in lol. But since I'm here might as well go all the way.

 

My Ammonia has reached 3.0 Nitrites around .50-1.0. Should I do a water change or wait till Ammonia drops to 0.

 

I'll try to post some pics soon still trying to get the perfect aquascape, how much is too much live rock?

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Yeah, the new things are exciting. There are a lot of little things that happen in the tank that are exciting. I don't wear gloves when I move the rocks but I don't move mine very often. I didn't read what you did with the ammonia but I would let everything drop to 0 and then you should be ready to add something. It is usually recommended that people use 1 to 2 pounds per gallon but I don't think any amount would be too much. You just might want to take into consideration what space whatever you put in the tank will have. As for the sand and cloudiness, that sand is very fine. I use a coarser sand myself and don't have that problem. Also, check to make sure your water source doesn't have any ammonia in it.

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Yup. I always wear gloves. I wear plain old vinyl gloves. Liverock cuts and its not fun. Sliced my knee snorkeling.

 

The red worm is probably a bristle worm. Beneficial unless you get tons of them. Don't touch them, it will hurt.

 

There are a lot of beneficial hitchhikers and a few that aren't. You can still get these from purchased coral.

 

Melevs reef is a great site with a critter page. It lists common predators and beneficial ones.

 

Common is 1-1.5 lbs of rock per gallon. Its a guideline. The only ossue with having too much is the space it takes and it can block flow causing dead spots.

 

 

Fw is far easier, less stressful, and 1000 times cheaper.

 

Sw can be fun but it can also be stressful, constant work, always buying something.

I have 2 nano's. I love them but wish i only had the 1.

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reeferbrownies

Glad to see the cycle has started,

as with the gloves I usually wear them just because

a) I have a multiple tanks to work on and i dont want to wash my hands with toxic soap then put it in another tank

b ) Certain corals like zoanthids have something called palytoxins that can kill you

c) really makes everything easier, because you dont have to continually wipe/ wash your hands

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Hey guys a quick update, I took some rocks out since it looked to full of rocks and now swim space. Still not too sure about the placement.

 

I finally saw the worm fully out tried grabbing him with tweezers but he ran back in the rock. I attached a pic of him is he a bristle or fireworm or are they the same thing I read mixed reviews about it what do you guys think keep him or try taking him out.

 

Also posted a pic of the rock covered in algae.

 

Not much to do just waiting for it too cycle, in the mean time reading up on corals and lightings. Will probably have the lighting setup by next month or around Christmas.

 

Right now I haven't put a pump in since the flow seemed to blow my sand around. Once the tank matures hopefully the bacteria will hold the sand a bit together.

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For flow, don't point the powerhead directly at the sand. What powerhead were you using? The HOB alone will be woefully inadequate and create tons of dead spots.

 

The rockwork doesn't look like much, and I would expect you would want a bit more, but with light stocking will probably be okay.

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fishfreak0114

It looks like a bristleworm to me, I like them personally. They may be creepy, but they make good scavengers. It's pretty hard to avoid getting them in your tank. They come in on live rock, frags, macro algae etc. They can also make a good gauge of whether or not you over feed. When I was feeding a lot trying to get a coral back to health, my numbers grew.

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For flow, don't point the powerhead directly at the sand. What powerhead were you using? The HOB alone will be woefully inadequate and create tons of dead spots.

 

The rockwork doesn't look like much, and I would expect you would want a bit more, but with light stocking will probably be okay.

 

I placed the circulation pump on the left side in the in the middle facing the center of the tank, it was a hydor koralia nano 425.Should I replace it for a 240. Once I add the pump i'll probably try modding the filter into a refugium, basically cut open the media area and attach a 1G acrylic box to it.

 

I do have more rocks but don't want place them since they are too round and I don't want it looking like a stack of rocks(it kind of does look like that now though :/). I might get some more unique shaped rocks and retry aquascaping.

 

 

It looks like a bristleworm to me, I like them personally. They may be creepy, but they make good scavengers. It's pretty hard to avoid getting them in your tank. They come in on live rock, frags, macro algae etc. They can also make a good gauge of whether or not you over feed. When I was feeding a lot trying to get a coral back to health, my numbers grew.

 

If its good I'll leave the worm alone for now if he gets any bigger out he goes. Although my mom will freak out if she sees it lol, she already finds the shrimps(Cherry Shrimps) in my freshwater tanks weird.

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The bristle worm is beneficial and pretty hard to prevent. There are tons of critters in sw.

 

You will definitely need a powerhead, the hob will not be enough. Its direct downward flow.

 

There isn't much distance from the back wall to font so a 425 when it hits the wall may be causing the sand to move.

I would place the powerhead on the side wall opposite of the filter. Point it slighly up, you want surface agitation for gas exchange and helping to keep the surface clean.

 

If you choose to add rocks, i'd do it while cycling.

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fishfreak0114

If its good I'll leave the worm alone for now if he gets any bigger out he goes. Although my mom will freak out if she sees it lol, she already finds the shrimps(Cherry Shrimps) in my freshwater tanks weird.

The biggest ones I've seen in my tank are close to 5 inches. My mom refuses to put her hands in my tank because of them :lol: Do you have a colony of cherry shrimp? Do they reproduce? I never keep enough at a time to get proper colony going. Just the occasional batches of babies.

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get the jabeo because it's adjustable or the koralia 425. I have a koralia 240 in my 15 gallon, it's ok but could be stronger.

 

Edit: Whoops didn't read fully sorry....

 

Knab that bristle worm with tongs or tweezers I hate them. They look like a$$h0l3$ anyway.

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Hey guys been a while so Friday I checked my readings and ammonia was around 0(the color was hard to read since it looked between 0 and .25), nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 20, so did a water change nitrates were between 0-5 and the rest read 0( ammonia looked same as before :/).

 

I guessed my tank was cycled decided to get some stuff but was not too sure what I would need since I had very little algae (kept lights on only 1 hour a day) mainly diatoms but a bit of stirring the sand fixed it. found a piece of bali live rock and ended up getting a tiny blue legged hermit, Ninja star snail. and I know I don't have proper lighting but found this tiny mushroom coral for $5 so coudn't help myself.

 

The live rock was posted as uncured and had a bunch of plant/algae matter on it, wasn't sure about how to clean it so got rid of much as I could with tweezers left the rest on. Tested the water today and haven't seen anything different in water chemistry, so my guess is there probably nothing dead in it (hopefully)

 

FTS with new rock

IMG_20161017_142347_zpshou6s7yd.jpg

 

Mushroom: The guy said it was a Rhodactus Mushroom, its about 3 cm in diameter.

IMG_20161016_145401_zpsubltd6gq.jpg

 

Close up of live rock with stuff on it.

IMG_20161017_142359_zpsghgnbct3.jpg

 

P.S. I moved the Pump to the right and place it up facing up and it seems to be working well no flying sand YAY.

 

So now for the livestock :) ...

The ones I think might be okay, clownfish(maybe but its the most iconic reef fish so...), firefish, yellow watchman goby, twinspot goby.

Anyone know any other interesting species okay for a 10G something bright and colorful or interesting shape/features.

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I have a bicolor dottyback in my 10g but its alone. Its quite a nice looking fish but they are aggressive fish so in a small tank its a loner with snails and crabs.

 

You could do a clown. There are different ocellaris out there.

 

For colourful your could get a purple firefish. Its beautiful with a great personality. You might be able to get away with a small goby with it.

 

You could do a watchman and pistol shrimp pair.

 

Try Liveaquaria.com they have a slew of stuff on their site.

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Hey guys quick question, do you think it would be ethical to keep a mandarin in a 10g if it is trained to eat frozen, and how tough is it. I have been reading around many say it is quite possible to train them on frozen mysis and brine. I could feed live copepods since a guy close by cultures them and sells for like $20 a coke bottle (yup) filled with them while I'm training it.

 

Reason I ask is because last week when i went to my lfs i saw a bunch of mandarin in a fairly shallow atleast 50g tank with live sand no rocks. This week I saw two dead in the tank, so I played dumb and checked with the owner if they eat frozen or pellets and he's said They usually eat microscopic creatures in the sand and live brine( and I checked I could barely see any copepods.). There are like 6 of them in the tank spotted and regular with shrunk bellies almost an hourglass shape. :( feel so bad for them.

 

So how tough is it?

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