10g plant tank

[surfdawake]

ok guys, i have a 10g, and i want to use it as like a plant/mysis shrimp, amphipod, everything else breeder. so i can eventually put a mandarin in there, i have 2 15w incandecent lights on it, 1 white 1 blue, i only have about 3pds of lr in there right now and i want to know if you have any suggestions, it just finished cycling the figi rock, its about 5 weeks old, all i have is a heater, and a small whisper power filter on it. thanks austin

[ELGORDOINAVW]

dude a mandarin is going to wipe a 10 gallon clean in a few weeks. even if you were to have a jungle, they just require a large tank to keep up with there appetites. the lighting should be sufficient to keep a refugium type tank.

[wetworx101]

you might want to boost the lighting a little. 2 15watt NO bulbs might be enough if you ran them 24/7...but if you plan on just having a day cycle...get ready for a few challenges. First, double the lighting. I once made a 30L into a seagrass tank for a mandarin and seahorses. Some might question keeping a mandarin in such a small tank...usually I would say minimum 60 gallons/lbs live rock per fish...but a macro dominated tank is different. Pods prefer macro to grow, and so multiply faster in this types of tank...thus allowing for a mandarin in a smaller tank. Having a macro tank presents it's share of challenges however.

First, large amounts of algae/plant matter in the tank will release large amounts of CO2 when the lights are off...turning the water acidic. That can be a problem. I tried to keep this from happening by turning on a massive skimmer every night...aerating the water...releasing CO2.

The other problem has to do with the light cycle itself, as well as nutrients. Macro tends to go 'sexual' when it's living conditions change unfavorably...when the nutrients run out...not hard to have happen in a tank full of macro, eh? Then, the light cycle triggers the 'sexual' event...just after the lights come on, about a half hour later, the living cells of the macro eject from the structure of the macro, leaving a semi-transparent husk behind, and turning the tank into pea soup. This is what I did. First, I made sure the nutrients never ran out. I made the bottom substrate out of miracle mud, mineral mud, etc...eventually learning of a way to make it myself as well. This helped keep the nutrients high...the only other way I know of doing this is with a well-aged plenum that is releasing large amounts of phosphate...but mud will do. I also kept the fish load pretty high, along with biological filtration (bio-wheel)...something not recomended for coral/reef tanks, but just right for an algae tank to provide the macro with a good source of nitrates. In a way, the skimmer was working against me because it removed proteins that would have been converted into nitrate if left in the tank, but just something to keep in mind. I also kept a few varieties of macro in the tank, so that if one did go sexual, it wouldnt do as much damage as it would if everything did, and then the other macro can still exist to keep everything going. When an algae did go sexual, I used a diatom filter for a quick cleaning...very important or else everything could die. If I were to do it again, I would make a mud tank again, 12 types of macro, and run it on a wet-dry (good CO2 removal and waste>>nitrate conversion)...oh, and plenty of fish and critters to make waste and burrow in the mud.

Oh, and a 10 gallon for a mandarin..dont care how much macro you have...It's just not enough...but I would encourage you to try a grass/macro tank in a 10 anyways...you could keep many other organisms in there that can be just as interesting...if not more. I have never seen bristleworms grow bigger faster, nor reproduce as fast than in one...keep in mind, we are really making what other reefers refer to as a refugium. Seahorses, pipefish, seadragons, eels, blennies, gobies, etc...all love the seagrasses. Hermits, snails, sea-slugs, etc...all love these tanks.