hogangtp Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Ok ive never had a saltwater tank before. I right now keep to many freshwater stuff(i breed betta, keep discus, goldies, angels, and community tanks etc..) and i want a challenge. Also i really love reef tanks, but could never convince myself to do one till now. So here i am. I have 2 big questions to start off. 1st which is better to use. A 10gal i have sitting around with a Penguin Mini (up to tanks of 20gals). or should i buy a 12 gal eclipse tank. Which would work better. will this filtration be enough? (also on the 10gal i will need to buy a hood). I am trying to keep my costs down as well so I do want quality but yea i will like to have as low of costs as i can have. Some other questions i have are, will i need a protien skimmer?, I really want to have at least 1 clown fish can I (if so what and how much rock will i need?) what are other good fish for a 12 or 10gal tank to go with a clown, and what would be a good clean up crew. Last but not least if i missed anything that is a huge thing about nano-reefs pleast point that out. Also any good links would be awesome ( i tried google, but i probably missed some stuff. I am going back there now.) Im sorry this is so long, but i just have so many questions, going from freshwater to salt is crazy. Thanks for all and any help Link to comment
MGXsport Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 I did the same EXACT (except for the discus) same jump as you from fresh to saltwater. Right now I have a 10 Gal that I am really loving. Check out the link in my sig at the bottom of the post. The page has pictures and information/specs about my tank. Don't use an eclipse or the penguin mini they don't work well with saltwater and the wheels seem to make a ton of nitrates. For filtration the best thing to have is a refugium filled with sand rock and macro algae along with about 1 lbs of live sand a gallon and 1-2 lbs. of live rock per gallon in the tank. Let this cycle the tank for a few weeks and then you should be ready for a clean-up crew. I personally don't use a protein skimmer because I heard that they can skim off many of the nutrients for the tank and then those nutrients will have to be dosed back. I have one clown and a clean up crew of assorted snails, about 13 blue leg hermit crabs and an emerald crab. They seem to be doing a good job after they were overwhelmed by algae a week ago. One thing you missed about the reef is the lighting. This isn't my specialty but the more the better Hope this helps some. Link to comment
hogangtp Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 For the lighting i think im going with PC Link to comment
hogangtp Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 oh and thanks for your help, nice site cool pics! Link to comment
MGXsport Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Originally posted by hogangtp For the lighting i think im going with PC I love my 96watts they are great. Link to comment
hogangtp Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 Oh one more thing, im trying to go low budget so a refugium may not be the best idea, what would be another good filter if penguins dont work? Link to comment
MGXsport Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 If you are going to do the 10 gallon then I would modify an Aquaclear 500 to act as a fuge. You can check out the refugium forum here or search for aquaclear fuge and that will probably bring up some helpful threads. Link to comment
hogangtp Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 k thanks for the help Link to comment
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