Wolf's Minimal 10

[Wolf]

The day has finally come! After six months of researching message boards, reading books, asking questions, and bugging LFS employees, I've finally started my nano!

 

My original plan was to incorporate a sump, fuge, skimmer, etc., but then I decided, why make it any easier than it has to be? So, I decided to go with the minimalist approach.

 

This is a standard 10 gallon AGA with 20lbs of Live Sand, 14lbs of Live Rock, a cheap HOB filter, a Micro-Jet 450 for movement, a CoraLife 96watt 50/50 PC, and a DIY ATO (complements of UnderTheRadar).

 

Right now, I'm just topping off with RO/DI but I'll start adding limewater in the near future. I'm planning on removing the Bio-Wheel after it's cycled, and I'll put some mesh around the float switch before I add the snails, the black stuff at Home Depot used for rain gutters.

 

The rock is uncured, so I'm estimating that it'll take about two months to cycle, and then I'll add some snails. After two weeks, I'll add a few shrooms, two more weeks, a few zooanthids, and after one more month, I'll add a mated pair of Skunk Clowns. And finally, after two more months (6 total), assuming everyone is happy and things are going well, I'll add a green BTA.

 

Here's the front:

[Wolf]

Here's the front with the ATO:

[Wolf]

The whole enchilada:

[schaferfred]

Looks great. I'm a minimalist as well and things have been going great, water quality wise that is. Have a hitcher crab or peppermint that's been causing some problems but other than that, it's all good. Good luck and keep up on those water changes.

[EtOH_is_good]

sounds like a good plan. can you explain why you want to keep the biowheel on during the first part of the cycle? it doesn't make sense if you want the lr to provide the biological filtration.

[Wolf]

Wow, I knew someone would call me on that, but not so quickly!

 

I want to go as heavy on filteration during the cycle as I can, in hopes to minimize the die-off on these rocks, and reduce the chances of excessive amounts of algae. I don't know if it'll work or not, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

 

I forgot to mention that I'm only running the lights for 4 hours a day right now. I'll increment that by an hour each week until I get up to 10, for the same reasons.

[badmatt]

nice

[holyherbiness]

seems like you've done your homework

[Wolf]

Thanks! I've been scuba diving for several years and I've always been fascinated with ocean life, and I love animals. So, the last thing I wanted to do was jump into this without doing the research and kill something out of pure carelessness. I would hope that if something bought me in a pet store, they'd have the same degree of consideration!

[oldtimer]

Looks good! My way of doing things for ten years. Keep in mind some clowns can get large. Good luck.

[EtOH_is_good]

not that i've been stalking you, but have noticed you around on the boards. so i knew that you weren't a total newb just throwing things together. had to ask about the biowheel because some newb will say, "well, wolf has a biowheel". ime, the hard part will be knowing when it is safe to take off the biowheel. good luck with your very clean set up.

[Wolf]

Thanks oldtimer! From everything I've read, Skunks are only supposed to reach a maximum of 4" so with a mated pair, if she reaches the maximum size, and with him being a little smaller, it should be well under 8" of total fish, plus I didn't cram too much rock in there and arranged it so that there's plenty of swimming room, so hopefully they'll be fine. I'm more worried about the BTA. I know he'll outgrow the 10, it's just a matter of when, and how well I'll be able to handle the move without hurting him.

 

In either case, there's a 360 gallon right outside of my office, so there's plenty of growing room.

 

[Wolf]

Thanks EtOH!

[banditfl]

looks good. For you float try an empty 35mm film canister, it worked very well for me.

[Wolf]

That's exactly what I used! Damn, and I thought I was being original.