gboulton Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 Ok...so as it turns out the firefish didn't even make it another 24 hours. So here I sit with a nano-reef that's a blank slate at the moment. So I'm curious. What would you experienced folks advise as a "road map"? Tank specifics are below. I'm not looking for step by steps or anything, but rather a "what would you do if you had...?" type of thing. What critters/fish would you start with? What sorts of things might you hope to introduce in the future? What mistakes have you learned from in the past starting a new nano? Thanks in advance. Tank Specifics: 10 gallons. Argonite substrate, 9 lbs of LR Tank is cycled (0 NH3, 0 NO2, 2.5 NO3) SpGrav 1.023, stable. Temp 78 deg, stable Two Coralife Deluxe Mini Aqualights (each with 2 9 watt CF bulbs, 1 True Actinic 03 Blue, 1 10,000K daylight) for a total of 36 watts, both on for 11 hours daily. Millenium HOB filter 50W Heater Link to comment
reefermadness Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 You could start with something tough, like a tomato clown or dottyback, though these can both be agressive to newcomers (orchid dotties are more sedate). Maybe then try some critters, like hermits, snails, an emerald....as you are sure to have an algae bloom at some point. The light you have is kinda weak, so low-light, hardy corals could be added bit by bit. Maybe mushrooms, ricordia, a leather, and some varieties of zooanthids. If you want to keep anything other than softies, you will need more light than what you have now. If you do get a dotty, forget ever having a firefish or gramma (they are mortal enemies). You will get 1000 different opinions here and most will work OK. It is very much a matter of taste....This is a loaded thread waiting to go off. Link to comment
gboulton Posted January 7, 2004 Author Share Posted January 7, 2004 Thanks for the info, rm. I've just about decided on an orchid dotty having seen several in the past...imo, their color contrasts nicely with almot anything in a reef. I'm curious how much light you (and others) reccomend? Most of my reading and research suggests that between 3-5 watts per gallon is ideal, and I'm sitting just shy of 4 wpg now. Do you reccomend significantly more than that, and if so why? Link to comment
tylernt Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Ach no, not the specter of WPG! Just teasing, sorry. Forget WPG though. For a 10g, medium light would be 96 watts of Compact Flourescent. High light would be a 150 watts of Metal Halide... or more. Corals are almost all 100% photosynthetic. Short of full strength natural sunlight, they need every watt you can give them. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Originally posted by tylernt Corals are almost all 100% photosynthetic. Short of full strength natural sunlight, they need every watt you can give them. most corals are photosynthetic. while they do need light to exist, they also feed. passive or active, hunter or gatherer; that aspect is probably best indicated by their sting strength or presence, if at all. i agree, the more light (of the correct spectrums) the better. Link to comment
nalbar Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 my advice is, don't hurry. that was (is) my major mistake. it did not cost me but i was on the edge the whole 'start' time. my advice on fish is this (besides don't hurry), get something that is compatible with shrimp and crabs. i picked a tiny gobie. then i filled my tank with inverts, which i am more interested in. for 100 dollars you can solve any lighting problem on a 10g. that is with the regent pendant 70w metal halide in the diy section. btw, that gave me about NINE watts per gallon. then you can keep anything you want. nalbar Link to comment
reefermadness Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Fuzzy math NALBAR.....70W divided by 10 gallons is 7W/gallon. That's far too much anyway for a reef tank by the WPG rule LOL.....Or are you subtracting the displacement of the sand? :P Actually, my new 2.5 which only holds about a galllon and a half of WATER is over 17 wpg with 2 x 13W pc lights.... Sorry, I just think it's funny that people still think these figures mean something aquaria of all shapes and sizes... Link to comment
nalbar Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 actually reefer, i said "that gives ME about nine watts...." i don't have a 10g! :P my point was not to give credence to wpg but to show that most of us have far more than he does. nalbar Link to comment
reefermadness Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 I know....Just trying to have a little fun is all. It would be interesting to see how many folks are running the 70W on a 5.5, or a 150W on a 10, then subtract for displacement to finally shatter the WPG myth. Some might have 30W/Gallon!!! that would be preposterous by the "rules".... Link to comment
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