10 gallon SPS tank?

vikes1414 · Dec 9, 2018

I have a new 10 gallon i am setting up to start cycling tomorrow. I am trying to decide what to stock it with. Is it possible to make an SPS dominant 10 gallon reef? i understand that it will probably be difficult, but if i want to hear some imput!

Crabs McJones · Dec 9, 2018

vikes1414 said:
I have a new 10 gallon i am setting up to start cycling tomorrow. I am trying to decide what to stock it with. Is it possible to make an SPS dominant 10 gallon reef? i understand that it will probably be difficult, but if i want to hear some imput!

It is absolutely possible

as you said itll be a challange, parameter swings are much more of a risk in smaller tanks. But if you stay on top of it, it sounds like a fun adventure

vikes1414 · Dec 9, 2018

Crabs Mcjones said:
It is absolutely possible as you said itll be a challange, parameter swings are much more of a risk in smaller tanks. But if you stay on top of it, it sounds like a fun adventure

Thanks! i think I'm gonna try it!

Crabs McJones · Dec 9, 2018

vikes1414 said:
Thanks! i think I'm gonna try it!

Be sure to document your progress. I've always wanted to try this with my spare 10 gallon. So you may be the kick I need to actually do it

vikes1414 · Dec 9, 2018

Crabs Mcjones said:
Be sure to document your progress. I've always wanted to try this with my spare 10 gallon. So you may be the kick I need to actually do it

Yep! I will be posting about it tomorrow as I build it

I can't wait to start! Gonna be a lot of fun to maintain everything lol but hopefully I can create something awesome with it!

mannyhernz · Dec 10, 2018

Dont think its too tough..i have a 20RL frag tank from jbj..its 20 gallons no sump full of sps, maintenance is simple.

Coastie Reefer · Dec 10, 2018

I used to have one and it wasn't bad at all. Regular water changes and an ATO goes a long way. 5 gallons of new water every 2 weeks keeps things running smooth. I found temp swings to be my biggest issue, but upgraded to a slightly over-watted heater and that helped.

vikes1414 · Dec 10, 2018

Coastie Reefer said:
I used to have one and it wasn't bad at all. Regular water changes and an ATO goes a long way. 5 gallons of new water every 2 weeks keeps things running smooth. I found temp swings to be my biggest issue, but upgraded to a slightly over-watted heater and that helped.

Nice! Do you have any pics of it?

Hemmdog · Dec 10, 2018

vikes1414 said:
Yep! I will be posting about it tomorrow as I build it I can't wait to start! Gonna be a lot of fun to maintain everything lol but hopefully I can create something awesome with it!

Just make sure to check salinity like 3 times a day and you should be good! Oh man you can do water changes with a pitcher ! Scooooop, Lucky !

Coastie Reefer · Dec 10, 2018

vikes1414 said:
Nice! Do you have any pics of it?

Not the best, but it's the last one I could find. Night time pic so a lot of stuff is closed up too... Nothing too fancy. Some caps, setosa, pocilipora, a pc rainbow and a couple stags. It was a great tank. It's all in my 40B now.

vikes1414 · Dec 10, 2018

Hi everyone I just wanted to share the thread I amde for this tank!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/10-gallon-sps-tank.522034/

jerl77 · Dec 16, 2018

What lights you running over it ???

vikes1414 · Dec 17, 2018

jerl77 said:
What lights you running over it ???

The Hipargero aqua knight light bought it awhile ago and used it on a previous 10 gallon and it worked awesome I saw a lot of growth with it.

DesertReefT4r · Dec 17, 2018

You can totally do it. As said temp and sg will be whatxyou need to watch. Set up an ATO AWC system and done. A160, Prime HD or XR15 for lighting and a small power head to provide flow.

jda · Dec 17, 2018

The hardest thing with small acro tanks is longevity (ask me how I know). Everything will be a bit less stable and eventually, you will make some stuff mad and it can die back. You need to watch it every day to keep stuff stable. If you do happen to have a nice run of stability, then all of your stuff will outgrow the tank soon in a catch-22 kind of deal... you kinda have to treat them like a bonsai tree for constant pruning. Fortunately, I could never get as fast of growth in a 10g acro tank as I did my 240, so I got to enjoy it longer... stuff did OK, but without the rock-solid stability, nothing thrived to the max, but it did good.

I should say that I mostly did super-hardy stuff like ORA and time tested frags like GARF Bonsai and the like.

Maturity is going to be key, so have some patience.

Set your expectations appropriately. If you are really good at this, then you will be one of the exceptions and not the rule.. most people struggle to do SPS in 10g tanks, but not all.

Jacked Reefer · Dec 17, 2018

My ten gallon is on its way to becoming an sps reef. The fun thing about smaller tanks is you can light em for cheap! Once or twice a week water changes as export and some carbon is really at that is required matinence wise (until you have to start dosing). Don’t expect crazy growth or anything but I expect coloring them up will be easier with more light plus more nutrients.

Stuartmercer · Dec 17, 2018

It's very possible, however, as the frags grow they will consume more and more elements from the water making it more and more unstable and thus, a tank crash. If you can get a dosing system, and forsure bright lights.

Jberg · Dec 17, 2018

The toughest part for me was keeping Calcium high enough. Not enough water volume for all the sps. I used two part Calcium for nano tanks and that helped alot.

vikes1414 · Dec 17, 2018

jda said:
The hardest thing with small acro tanks is longevity (ask me how I know). Everything will be a bit less stable and eventually, you will make some stuff mad and it can die back. You need to watch it every day to keep stuff stable. If you do happen to have a nice run of stability, then all of your stuff will outgrow the tank soon in a catch-22 kind of deal... you kinda have to treat them like a bonsai tree for constant pruning. Fortunately, I could never get as fast of growth in a 10g acro tank as I did my 240, so I got to enjoy it longer... stuff did OK, but without the rock-solid stability, nothing thrived to the max, but it did good.

I should say that I mostly did super-hardy stuff like ORA and time tested frags like GARF Bonsai and the like.

Maturity is going to be key, so have some patience.

Set your expectations appropriately. If you are really good at this, then you will be one of the exceptions and not the rule.. most people struggle to do SPS in 10g tanks, but not all.

Thank you for this! I really am trying not o be patient!

minus9 · Dec 17, 2018

I had a 22g sps nano. I know it's not a 10g, but with LR, I figured around 12g - 14g total. Stability is the key. Temp and salinity can jump rapidly, but it doesn't take much to have an alk spike unless you have a really accurate doser (GHL Doser 2), even then, you really need to monitor all parameters constantly. I did weekly 10-15% water changes and dosed 2 part. I ran skimmerless for nearly two years, until a long winter prevented me from opening the windows.

Sorry for the blue pics, this was before getting a filter for the phone.