10 gallon reef for my daughter.

[jmann124]

My 11 year old daughter told me that she wants to take our empty 10 gallon tank and have a reef tank in her room. That's where you guys come in.

I have some CaribSea aragonite sand. I plan getting about 10 lbs of LR from the LFS or another reefer in the area if I can find someone that will sell/give me some. That should speed up the cycle, right? I have supplements and test kits already.

Now, I know params are harder to keep stable in a small tank, so she'll have to do water changes frequently and keep the fish stock small.

I have a filter that came with the tank. You know the ones that come with the freshwater kits at Wal-Mart. Will that work with the right media? If not, what should I get, if any filter of that sort.

Next, powerheads. I was considering 2 very small powerheads, but have seen a lot of these small tanks with just one like 250 gph, there abouts. What would you guys recommend?

Should I run a skimmer on a tank that small?

I actually have 2 10 gallon tanks. Should I use one as a sump for her tank, or not bother with drilling and plumbing that in?

Now how long after the cycle can she put a coral in a tank of this size? Also, what would be good for her to start with?

I'm very excited that she is wanting to get into this hobby. That's my girl!

 

[Dixie_reefer]

I have a 10 gal mixed reef tank. I have one of those hob filters that you have but I rarely run carbon in it. At the moment, I have rock rubble in it. I also have a power head, its a used 540gph. If you get all live rock then yes it will speed up the cycle. I had about 2lbs of live rock I used to seed my tank whaen I got started and the cycle only took about 3 weeks. I dont have a skimmer on mine but it couldn't hurt if you could find a small enough one for it. You shouldn't need a sump but once again, it couldn't hurt it either. Take a look at my build thread, it could help.

 

[that novice guy]

You could use a bio cube skimmer our any other kind that what i use on my frog fish tank and a little power filter but that's enough flow for him

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[that novice guy]

And forgot to mention if you can make that a sump then do it

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[Dowtish]

Go buy an Aqua Clear 70 from Walmart. they are huge boxy HOB filters, that you can convert into a mini fuge if you want. I have a 10 gallon tank with one on it, but I just use a bag of purigen and a bag of chemi pure elite in it. I have lots of xeina in there, and that helps with water quality too.

I literally never do anything to this tank except top it off and do a little Water change every month or 2. I should do more, but hey the corals seem really happy.

Here is a quick video:
[video=youtube;i83TDuOozP0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i83TDuOozP0&list=UUiIrju8joSfDCWLj6TKGFng& index=4[/video]

 

[that novice guy]

Go buy an Aqua Clear 70 from Walmart. they are huge boxy HOB filters, that you can convert into a mini fuge if you want. I have a 10 gallon tank with one on it, but I just use a bag of purigen and a bag of chemi pure elite in it. I have lots of xeina in there, and that helps with water quality too.

I literally never do anything to this tank except top it off and do a little Water change every month or 2. I should do more, but hey the corals seem really happy.

Here is a quick video:
[video=youtube;i83TDuOozP0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i83TDuOozP0&list=UUiIrju8joSfDCWLj6TKGFng& index=4[/video]

That's a very nice little tank

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[jmann124]

Go buy an Aqua Clear 70 from Walmart. they are huge boxy HOB filters, that you can convert into a mini fuge if you want. I have a 10 gallon tank with one on it, but I just use a bag of purigen and a bag of chemi pure elite in it. I have lots of xeina in there, and that helps with water quality too.

I literally never do anything to this tank except top it off and do a little Water change every month or 2. I should do more, but hey the corals seem really happy.

Here is a quick video:
[video=youtube;i83TDuOozP0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i83TDuOozP0&list=UUiIrju8joSfDCWLj6TKGFng& index=4[/video]

Do you have a skimmer on there? Also, what kind of lighting is that?

 

[calvo15290]

I got a fish and some softys she can come pick out I'm always sooo exited when a new person joins the hobby Especially at a young age that shows this hobby is alive and well pm me and I can help you


Andrew calvo

 

[jmann124]

Pm sent. Thanx

 

[calvo15290]

I just keep macro Algae in my tank


Andrew calvo

 

[calvo15290]

this is the 4 stripe they both behave amazingly


Andrew calvo

 

[calvo15290]

Andrew calvo

 

[solar]

Stay away from damsels......

All of them lol

 

[calvo15290]

Idk about y'all but mine play nice with my GOBYS n clowns


Andrew calvo

 

[jmann124]

I've heard that they can be a pain. She'll only have 1 or 2 fish. So we'll see what she wants and go from there.

 

[calvo15290]

Mine are good for me haha


Andrew calvo

 

[fragmatic]

Damsels, love 'em or hate 'em. I love 'em. They have attitude.

Back on subject. I'd use the second 10 as a refugium. It will add diversity to the system and with it being a 10 gal you can use all of that you can get. Plus in this case it doubles your effective water volume. I'd put lots of live rock in the refugium and grow lots of algae and pods in it.

 

[Dowtish]

I dont run a skimmer on it. Just what I listed in the post. The fixture is a deep blue fixture with 2 T5's. And I havent tested the water in over a year. But I truly credit the water being clean from the xenia.

 

[nerdwolf]

I dont run a skimmer on it. Just what I listed in the post. The fixture is a deep blue fixture with 2 T5's. And I havent tested the water in over a year. But I truly credit the water being clean from the xenia.

+1 on that. Xenia thrived in my tanks under PC lights with no skimmers and infrequent water changes. Same with kenya tree and frogspawn, though the latter would have probably had better color under T5s.

 

[grumpy-crab]

Sense the tank is a nano i think you would be fine with a HOB filter or you can get a small HOB refuge. LR and live sand would definitely help. I saw some one mention damsel fish for live stock. I personally like and keep them in my tank. Above pictures is a 3 stripe damsel fish i know they said 4 stripe but you count the black stripes. They can grow up to 3.9" and would out grow the 10g tank. Also the black with blue stripe damsel fish is a blue velvet damsel and is one of the largest damsel fish and can grow up to 6" and will lose its blue and white stripes as it matures. So i would suggest nano fish ive always liked the green banded goby and the red headed goby. You could also get a mandran goby or really any none burrowing goby. As its for your kids room im sure u will want the best suited live stock for longevity sense she will probably get attached to what ever you get. Good luck with setting it up. :)

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