10 Gallon Testing the waters

[ahud]

After too much thought and time spent on deciding on a tank and lighting, I finally decided to "test the waters" versus building my idea of a perfect nano. In the initial planning stage, I was ready to pull the trigger on everything from a complete DIY rimless AIO all the way to an IM Fusion 20. I really love the clean rimless look with a single gooseneck light fixture such as an AI prime or Kessil. But I finally decided to start small and see how I like maintaining a nano reef before spending unnecessary money on aesthetics/cool gadgets.

 

Equipment:

Tank- 10-gallon standard

Lighting- Debating between an ABI par 30 bulb for $25 or picking up a used light that offers some controllability. 

Filtration- AC-70

Auto top off- Tunze 3155 (I had left over from a reef I started in college, but only kept for six months).

 

Livestock plans:

Yellow watchman goby + tiger pistol

Hermit crabs + snails for CUC

 

Coral:

Sticking with easy and hardy corals. I really like aquascapes that showcase a small variety of coral in large quantities. So corals will depend on availability, I would rather start with 3-4 frags of one type of coral than several different frags.

 

No pictures to speak of yet. I have some dry rock in a 5-gallon tank with a powerhead+ heater cycling. I can't wait to get started!

[debbeach13]

Welcome back. How long since your last tank? Seems like you know what direction you would like to head in. Some previous experience should come in handy. I do like the shrimp goby combo and your comment about corals. Let us know how it's going

[ahud]

3 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Welcome back. How long since your last tank? Seems like you know what direction you would like to head in. Some previous experience should come in handy. I do like the shrimp goby combo and your comment about corals. Let us know how it's going

The last tank was setup around 2012. I did not run the tank long before shutting it down. 

[ahud]

I found some scrap acrylic in my building and decided to play around with cutting it with a jigsaw. I was able to get decent cuts using a blade designed for plastic and taping both sides of the acrylic along the area I was cutting. So I ordered a 12x24 sheet of 1/4" black acrylic to take a shot at doing a DIY AIO style sump. This way I can make a custom media basket and make use of equipment I already have.  I have a large 125-gallon freshwater tank that I want to create an AIO style sump as well. So this will be good practice!

 

Price break down:

Weld-on #4 $12

12x24 1/4" acrylic $25

Plastic Jigsaw blades(5) $10

 

Not exactly cheap, but the hope is I can apply the experience down the road for other builds. Acrylic has endless possibilities. The off the shelf AIO tanks are very tempting, but I wanted a fairly narrow tank since it sits near my desk and a wide stand cuts into my work area. The current stand is 14.6" wide and I have bumped it a few times.

 

Everything should arrive next weekend so that I can knock out the filtration and add sand and water to the tank. I'll try to get some pictures up of the process.

[ahud]

I have the tank put together! I opted for a 4" wide back section just to give me plenty of room. The display section will be 16x10. The current light is just a fluval Stingray LED that I am going to use until I upgrade lighting. All together, the tank does not look too bad, but I could for sure do better now that I understand how to work with acrylic better. I had scrap pieces of acrylic to practice on, but they were extruded and it cut totally different than the cast acrylic. The cast was much easier to work with.

 

I opted for a two-section sump since I am not going to run a skimmer or fuge. I wanted more room for the return section so I did not have to worry about the ATO kicking on and off all the time. I hope I don't regret that decision!

 

To do List:

1. Paint back and sides to hide filtration area

2. Make a lid for the filter section

3. Build a DIY media rack (I built one but did not account for the rim of the tank so I could not slide it out UGH)

4. Pickup/Build new stand so that I can hide cords/equipment

 

My wife and I are taking a trip to the Florida Keys in September, I will collect a few corals for the tank there. 

 

Here is the tank:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ahud]

And just since cats seem to get so much love on this forum, here is my helper:

[ahud]

I water tested the chamber today and I had a tiny leak in the very bottom left. Ugghh, added more silicone to both sides. I'll wait a few days and then test again.

 

I'm so ready to get water in this tank!

[ahud]

Leak test passed! I'm mixing up some saltwater as moving everything made a mess. Will post some pictures once the water clears. I'm going for the "edge of the reef" look with reef rubble and small rock. The overflow works great, very quiet and no splashing sound. I currently have a maxijet 1200 as the return, but I may opt for something smaller. The water is running a little high over the overflow.

 

I'm about three to four weeks into the cycle. So it should not be a lot longer before I can add a few snails and hermits.

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome back @ahud! Cute pup  

 

I wonder if you can add something to help screen the overflow from future tank inhabitants? I'd worry about fish or shrimp ending up in the sump with the free flow. Egg crate plastic comes to mind.

[ahud]

Thank you. He will pick up and hold anything so it makes for entertaining pictures lol.

 

I could add something like egg crate, but I was hoping that if I get the flow just right, the water would not be high enough on the overflow to encourage fish to go over. That may be wishful thinking on my part? 

 

[Christopher Marks]

It may indeed, but I suppose it depends on the fish! Depending on what's going on back there, it might not be a big issue to retrieve them should it happen.

 

Do you have some black acrylic leftover? You might be able to craft some sort of surface skimmer that mates with the existing overflow. You could cut teeth and then glue on something to help it clip over the divider wall. Not unlike this, although yours could go flush against the divider.

 

[ahud]

I do have some left over. I will see what I can come up with.  The only thing I dislike about teeth is it seems to cause that trickle/splashing sound. But if I try something like what you are suggesting at least I can remove it if it does cause a noise increase.  

[ahud]

I can't get a good picture with this LED light. The pictures make the tank look white and stark compared to real life where it is bluer. Any ideas?

 

The live rock in the chamber is just temporary while I fashion a media basket. I just needed some floss to catch all of the junk.  The water is still a little cloudy, and I'm leaving the filter area unpainted until I iron out the kinks, but here it is:

 

 

 

[ahud]

The maxijet is really loud. Super annoying hum. So I bought a Sicce Syncra .5 rated for around 180gph.

 

I'm not sure what to do with a cleanup crew. Since this tank is going to be a FOWLR for a while, I am just using the small LED you see in the pictures. Should I just wait and see if algae start to grow and add snails/hermits as needed? The light may not be powerful enough to grow anything.

 

I want to try my best to hold off on any coral until our trip to the keys. There is just something cool about collecting your own coral. I know green zoanthids are common in that area so that is what I am shooting for. There are blue zoanthids as well, but I think they are harder to find and typically located in deeper water. 

[Tamberav]

Looks good! The light is probably powerful enough for pest algae (boo). That stuff grows in ambient light and dark areas of my AIO chambers. However, I wouldn't be in a rush to add a CUC until you see some algae. Hermits will eat algae but also prepared foods so that is an option too.

[ahud]

Thanks!

 

Now that everything is running, the hardest part is waiting on the pistol shrimp. I can't wait to watch that little sucker bulldozing around. I tried to arrange my rock so I can see him no matter where he decides to build. I also have some shells and extra rock to break up and drop in the tank for burrow building material. 

 

In the 40 breeder I had years ago, I had a candy cane pistol shrimp. He was fun as first, but eventually stopped working much on his burrow where I could see. I am looking forward to having the shrimp in a much smaller space for viewing. I hear that the tiger pistol is much more active and bold as well. 

[ahud]

I am getting pretty large water level drops in my return section. I added a Tunze auto top off that I had from a previous tank, so that will solve that issue. I also added a Koralia nano 425gph pump to the tank. The sicce pump is pushing around 180gph. It seems like a lot of flow to me, but its "gentle flow". 

 

I broke down and ordered Dr. Tim's one and Only to see if I can polish off this cycle. 

 

 

[k4ndyk1ng]

That sort of flow should be fine aslong as it is indirect to the softies and LPS.

[ahud]

Awesome. If it proves to much flow i can take it out. Haha, I want the sand to move a little to encourage the pistol shrimp to stay at work. I watched a video that said in the wild they have to keep on top of maintaining their burrows due to currents moving sand. 

 

I ordered 1/4" screening from BRS for a DIY top. I'm going to source the screen frame, corners, and spline from the local hardware store as it was significantly cheaper. The completely open top look is so cool, but dried fish are not. And with the little brown dog snooping around, I would probably not even find a body!

[ahud]

Oops, one more thing. There seems to be some conflicting reports about smaller gobies and tiger pistols. I really like the yellow watchman, but if they do reach 4" that seems like a huge fish in a 10-gallon system. An article from practical fish keeping states that the tiger pistol will pair with the yasha goby. Expensive goby, but I think it would make for a better fit in my tank. I would guess between rock, sand, acrylic, etc that I am closer to 7-8 gallons of actual water.

 

The main reason for a tiger pistol over the candy cane is most people say the tiger is more active and moves more substrate. 

 

What do you all think?

[ahud]

I'm still on the fence about the YWG and tiger pistol versus a smaller duo like a hi-fin and candy cane. My display area is 16"x10".

 

Pro's:

-More active tiger pistol

-Possibly more fun to watch

-The tank will not look empty

 

Con's:

-Higher bioload

-Larger pistol may kill hermits/snails 

-So much construction could cause issues in such a small tank once I add coral

[k4ndyk1ng]

1 minute ago, ahud said:

I'm still on the fence about the YWG and tiger pistol versus a smaller duo like a hi-fin and candy cane. My display area is 16"x10".

 

Pro's:

-More active tiger pistol

-Possibly more fun to watch

-The tank will not look empty

 

Con's:

-Higher bioload

-Larger pistol may kill hermits/snails 

-So much construction could cause issues in such a small tank once I add coral

For a 10g I would reccomend the smaller pair, I used to have one and they were still very active. The lower bioload will make this tank easier to maintain.

[ahud]

On 4/3/2018 at 9:44 AM, k4ndyk1ng said:

For a 10g I would reccomend the smaller pair, I used to have one and they were still very active. The lower bioload will make this tank easier to maintain.

I think that is the smart call. I am sure I could manage the larger goby and shrimp, but the extra food and bioload would trim my margin for error. 

 

Do you think I could add anything else such as a small goby? I would love to have another critter that would elicit the open mouth territorial display of the shrimp goby. I always wanted to see that.

[k4ndyk1ng]

I'm not sure you would want that sort of territorial behaviour in a 10g, you could maybe get a cleaner drink or something like that as they are fully of character.

[ahud]

47 minutes ago, k4ndyk1ng said:

I'm not sure you would want that sort of territorial behaviour in a 10g, you could maybe get a cleaner drink or something like that as they are fully of character.

Cleaner drink? Auto correct strikes again! haha