10 gallon reef

[jeharrisonjr]

Hi everyone, my family and I started a 10 gallon reef 2 weeks ago. We used live sand in a bag from petco, 20lbs I believe, we bought 5lbs of live rock from 2 different pet stores and let the tank cycle for a week, we also have a regular filter (from walmart) a bubble strip and we have the temp at 78 degrees. The hood has a 18' zoo med reef sun 50/50 bulb and for salt we used instant ocean reef crystals and set the salt level at 1.023-1.024. After a week we added 2 pepermint shrimp and then a couple days later a clown fish. My first concern is that both shrimp died last night, 1 had molted 4 days ago and it seemed to be fine. I have been feeding the tank baby brine shrimp (frozen) every couple days and omega one marine flakes with garlic 2x a day. I have added kent marine purple tech (1/4 teaspoon) 2x to the tank so far and kent marine coral-vite once at the same 1/4 teaspoon. I have been using jungle quick dip 5-n-1 test strips and they have been showing everything is well. I feel maybe the test strips are not the right ones as I got them from walmart. Could anyone tell me of a better more in depth test kit? I also have 1 mushroom coral on 1 of the live rocks and a couple little star fish also came with the live rock. Any advise you guys can give would be greatly appreciated. Things I want to add to the tank are, an annemia for the clown fish, a flame scollop, other corals, an emrald crab, and other bottom feeders. Once this tank is going well we plan to setup a 55-75 gallon.

 

[bonomo53]

Welcome to r2r, it seems you moving a bit to fast, i would have let the tank cycle at least 3 weeks before adding anything, for a test kit i would pick up a api saltwater master test kit which has everything you need. You don't need the the filter or bubble strip, the live rock will act as the filter for your tank. I would also go with a different light because i don't think it will be strong enough for many corals other then maybe some mushrooms but defiantly not a anemone. If you want to try a flame scallop i would wait a until you tank is very established but that still might not be enough for since they don't do well in small systems. You don't really need the purple tech or coral vit since you don't have much in the tank and it such a small system. Other then that i would pick up a few nano power heads for some flow and you will be good to go.

 

[slugwall]

"Quote" it seems you moving a bit to fast, i would have let the tank cycle at least 3 weeks before adding anything.
You hit it right on the head... I usually let my tank/tanks establish themselves at least a month before introducing anything in the tank. I have a 5.5, 20 and 55gl saltwater tank and right now I am curing live rock in my 5.5. You did the right thing with Live Rock/Sand as for the filter... it's really not needed and if you want to save money pull the filter medium from the filter and just run the pump so you can move the surface of the water and add flow in the small tank until you get nano power heads. I wouldn't worry to much about testing with all the chems as of yet except for Nirates once you see the spike is gone then I would invest in test chems, as this is usually a sign that the tank has cycled... I would also make sure that the test kits are not out of date. I don't believe in master test kits as I like to purchase individual tests.

Hope you have fun with the new tank

 

[jeharrisonjr]

Everything is going pretty good now, I'm getting alge bild up but I think I have been over feeding. Is it bad if I change out 4-8 gallons a week?

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[jeharrisonjr]

And does anyone use undergravel filters?

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[TheEngineer]

jeharrisonjr, algae blooms happen when your biofilter can't export nutrients as fast as the tank inhabitants are creating them. This is typical for an immature tank. Typical water change volume is 20% weekly. Given that this is a 10g tank, with 20lbs of sand and 10lbs of LR, you probably should be changing 2 gallons a week, tops. Your actual water volume is probably around 6-7 gallons. The most you should ever change is around 5 gallons at a time in a tank that size and that is only if something drastic happens.

Two clownfish are going to be too much for that tank when they grow. You might want to consider a new home for one of them in future.

Under gravel filters are just for that, under gravel. If you have live sand, you'll just clog the filter up. You can use a simple powerfilter that they usually sell with tank kits and run carbon in it.

To reiterate what others have said, you are moving very quickly. There isn't a set timeframe to add things to a tank, you have to test your water and verify that things are where they should be. Your best bet is going to be religiously keep up with water changes and even think about doing them twice a week until your tank stabilizes.

 

[cdness]

Yeah put on the brakes for a bit here... So did you happen to follow the advice from the prior posters in the thread? It would be nice to know before moving forward.

By the way, welcome to reef2reef. There are many who are willing to assist here.

Algae is normal. Let it run its course. Do not use magic in a bottle to cure it as that will cause other issues. You are only running a 10G reef so 4-8 gallons will shock your system. Look into doing 10 - 15% water changes weekly which for you is 1 - 1.5 gallons per week. This will help keep things stable. It isn't a freshwater tank so you need to go much slower with everything you do.

You can buy RO water at the pet store or Walmart. If no RO is available, use distilled water from Walmart or any other store that carries it. The quality of water you add to the tank can determine your success as a reefkeeper.

Undergravel Filters are not needed for a reef with live rock and live sand.

Note to always remember "Nothing good comes fast in this hobby" so slow down and take it day by day or week by week. Don't add stuff too fast and remember to not overstock your tank. It is smaller so bad things can happen faster if they happen.

 

[jeharrisonjr]

Thanks for the help, I have a 52gallon that's been setup for 2 weeks and its just running with live rock. When I first set it up I took 3 or 4 gallons out of the 10 gallon and dumped it into the 52. Both tanks have carbon filters and I'm going to get a protien skimmer for the 52 gal. I've been keeping the temps at 79 and the saltinity at 1.024-1.025. I was hoping to switch everything from the 10gal to the 52 in a week or two. Also the 52 has dead rock that I'm cycling back to live rock, how long should I wait? I check all my levels freqently.

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[Otter_rs]

Ok.... Seems to me you are very new to this hobby (welcome) and have jumped into a shark infested deepend so to speak. You have obviously gotten some info in starting this aquarium, but I'm not sure if you have enough base info to ask the right questions here. Have you read any books yet, because in order to point you in the right direction without confusing you, I would have to write you a book. If you haven't already, buy and read a good reef aquarium book such as "The Reef Aquarium" by Sprung and Dellbeek.
Although a 10 gal. aquarium is capable to support marine life, it is not a very good tank for a beginner with grand ideas. It is very difficult for even experienced hobbiests to keep a stable environment in a 10 gal.
From what you have already stated, I would agree that you are over feeding and adding chems you don't need at the moment. I would also agree that you should remove the filter media in the power filter.
Was your liverock cured or newly shipped, because that makes a difference in how to cycle an aquarium.
Did you use tap water to mix your saltwater? If so, you will need to do a 100% water change with Reverse Osmosis or Deionized water. "Very Important!" and let the salt mix for at least 24 hours.
To answer the question about the under gravel filter, people used them with success back in the day, but they have many drawbacks and there are way better options out there.
So all I can say is read read read, and once you have a base of knowledge that brings up more precise questions, then ask away on here. There are many people here that would love to help you grow in the hobby, but don't use them in place of doing your own research.

 

[jeharrisonjr]

Ok ill check amazon for that book, I did use tap water but its from a spring fed well and I let it sit for 24 hrs I'm also using reef crystals for salt. My live rock I bought from the local pet shop along with the dead rock. Thanks

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[Otter_rs]

It doesn't matter where you get the water, city, well, spring, they all have desolved solids that you don't want to accumulate in a reef aquarium. Salt mixes replace everything that you need in your saltwater, so you should mix it with as close to 0 tds water as you can. This is very important because it removes a variable for the introduction of unwanted substances such as algae growing phosphates.

 

[revhtree]

Got any pics!!

 

[PokyReefs]

Welcome to the forum! This is a good place to have alot of knowledge for free, if you listen to alot of these guys you will save your self alot of time and money. most of us have had to learn the hard way. +1 on Revs need pics!, Also something that will help you in the long run is "Nothing happens fast in a reef tank, except failure".

 

[jeharrisonjr]

Ill try and get pics up and update my account tonight

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