New to nano reef setup

[toekneelikesfish]

My girlfriend has a spare 10 gallon tank and is looking to start a saltwater setup for coral/reefs and possibly small live critters like shrimp/starfish. She knows about maintaining freshwater tanks but is new to saltwater as am I. Basically whats needed? and what are some good options for equipment that wont break the bank?

[Jaren45]

All you really need is a powerhead, heater, and light combined with some dry/live rock (and sand)

 

To start the tank out i'd recommend a small hang on back filter as well to be able to run filter floss or carbon on occasion.

 

Here's my cheap recommendations

- Light: Nicrew 50w from amazon

- Powerhead: Sicce voyager nano 270gph or similar

- Filter: Seachem tidal 35 (worth the money imo)

- Heater: Any 50w heater, glass ones work fine but I always recommend plastic or titanium to prevent catastrophic failure

 

The cycle is exactly like freshwater, set it up, add ammonia source to 1-2ppm and optional bottled bacteria and wait it out

[debbeach13]

Welcome to NR.

[banasophia]

Yayy! Welcome!!

 

 

Agree with @Jaren45’s suggestions.

To start out:

tank

heater

thermometer

filter/pump

saltwater

fresh RODI/distilled water for topping off evaporation 

sand

rock

light

refractometer

bottled bacteria/ammonia depending on how you decide to cycle 

[Amnemonemomne]

18 hours ago, toekneelikesfish said:

possibly small live critters like shrimp/starfish

in the future when you get inverts, starfish aren't the best first choice as most are hard to keep and are really dumb, which is why Patrick in SpongeBob is so dumb

[toekneelikesfish]

Thank you all for the replies! I will search up all those products on amazon you recommended! as well as look up some of the other essentials. Also thanks for the tip on starfish, dont want to take on something right away thats more difficult than needed.

[Tired]

Brittle starfish are easy enough to keep, but not starfish-shaped.

 

If you want to see loads of cool creatures and instantly have your tank, not just cycled, but basically fully mature, look into ocean live rock. KP Aquatics and Tampa Bay both sell small packages you can get shipped overnight to your doorstep, that would be perfect for a 10gal. No need for bottled bacteria, or for cycling- just wait for any die-off to finish, and bam, years worth of ocean-grown maturity in the course of a week. 

[banasophia]

Alternatively… I personally would not recommend live ocean rock for a new reefer… there will be lots of interesting hitchhikers but there could also be all kinds of pest hitchhikers that could be stressful to deal with as a new hobbyist. I would recommend dry rock along with beneficial bacteria such as BioSpira, or rock that was dry and cycled by the LFS in bins so it’s now live but doesn’t have pests. 
 

One thing about reefing is that there are lots of different methods and opinions on how to start a new tank… you’ll just want to do your research and read up on the pros and cons to decide what sounds most compelling to you… they will all get you there!
 

This forum tends to lean toward live rock starts, but the Facebook groups I’m in lean toward dry rock with bottled bacteria. Once you decide on your method you’re going to use, my biggest guidance is to stay your course and don’t give in to the people from the other camp telling you to do it the other way. 

[Tired]

The trouble with dry rock is that you get all sorts of pest algae running rampant, without competition, and it becomes much more important to hit stable nutrients faster in order to prevent those pests from getting established. Most of the pests you can get on live rock are things like crabs, which can be trapped and removed, as opposed to things like dinos that you can't remove. 

[banasophia]

3 hours ago, Tired said:

The trouble with dry rock is that you get all sorts of pest algae running rampant, without competition, and it becomes much more important to hit stable nutrients faster in order to prevent those pests from getting established. Most of the pests you can get on live rock are things like crabs, which can be trapped and removed, as opposed to things like dinos that you can't remove. 

From my perspective the issue is that there is already a ton to learn when someone is new to the hobby… dealing with unidentified instant livestock on the live rock that may be friend or foe could be overwhelming for some.
 

We always tell people to research any livestock before adding them to your tank… but when you get live ocean rock you have no idea what you’re getting in the rock. Could be getting gorilla crabs, mantis shrimp, bobbit worms, flatworms, among other things. So a new hobbyist has to figure out what the hitchhiker is, if it’s good or harmful, how to get it out if it’s harmful, and then what to do with it once they get it out. 

 

In the beginning a new reefer is learning how to keep their tank stable, heaters/pumps/thermometers/lights/topping off, how to test, how to make or get saltwater, how to choose fish - do they need to be quarantined? how do I set up a quarantine tank too? - how to choose and dip and inspect corals and place the corals, how to feed and care for the corals and fish, how to choose and add cleanup crew. 
 

I think we’re very fortunate to be at a time in the hobby when there are several reliable beneficial bacteria products now available to make dry rock starts pretty straightforward so people can typically have a good experience starting out. 

[sapling]

for cheap, in general, amazon will be your friend here, but I think with the caveat to still compare prices at sites like petco/petsmart and BRS, bulk reef supply. Some things are just cheaper from them than amazon. Your local fish store could be another option, but YMMV for prices being competitive,

 

I'd also think using dry rock will be good in this setup, since it is just generally more economical than LR, live rock, and has good value for those on a budget.   

 

hope that helps!

 

 

[ubpr]

There will be a lot of learning/search and reading. How to prepare salt water, or, if buy premixed, how to check it each time.

 

If make own water, what kind of RO filter, what chloramine does to a membrane in a filter without chloramine cartridge (RO Buddie manufacturer's blog post "What is in your water?"). How to mix, how to check if water parameters are as expected, and what to do if they are far off from what they should be (other than starting adjusting them manually). How to calibrate refractometer at keep salinity in the tank the same. Nuisance algae and microorganisms like cyano, dinoflagellates, chrisos and other.. Increase competition for them by adding biodiversity in any way possible. Keep nitrates in phosphates in a detectable range, as recommended, this helps, at least at Salifert test kits sensitivity, not API.