Acqueon 10 Gallon Budget Build

[Frugal Reef]

Hi All!

I've had freshwater tanks all throughout my childhood but never felt confident enough to start a saltwater tank until now. I am an avid fisherman and boater but with the cold weather here in NC fast approaching, that is soon taking a halt. Time to pick up another hobby... I was inspired by reef builder's Nano tank build with minimum feeding / lighting/ no water changes.

I originally built this standard Acqueon 10 Gallon tank back in highschool 10 years ago and found it sitting in my parents garage on a recent visit home. Surprisingly the AIO sump chamber I built was still intact and just needed a quick reseal with silicon. I like to challenge myself by keeping my budget always as low as possible - this tank will be no exception. I bought mostly everything off Amazon.... Let's see how this goes!

Tank has currently been up and running for exactly one month. I used Carib Sea Live Sand along with 7lb's of live rock from my LFS. I had the typical algae bloom within two weeks, then I added a small damsel for further cycling. I have since returned the damsel to my LFS and picked up two snowflake clowns on BF.

Feeding / Maintenance
-Feed fish twice a week
-Reef Roids once a week right before water change
-Weekly 10-20% water changes
-Filter floss changed out weekly
-Chemi Pure Blue Nano Pouches changed out every 3 weeks

Currently I am running:
Hardware
-Acqueon 10 Gallon Tank $10
-Plexiglass sheet from Lowes used to build Internal sump $15
-Homasy 80 GPH Pump from Amazon for sump $10
-Pulaco 25 W Heater $14
-Nicrew Saltwater Aquarium LED Light with Timer $40
-Glass Lid $14
-Manual ATO - Great Value Water Bottle filled with RODI water from LFS LOL
-Wood for Home Built Stand $40
-Total: $143

Inhabitants
-CUC: 4 Red Legged Hermit Crabs, 2 Astraea Snails, 2 Trochus Snails, 1 Nassarius Snail $15
-2 Snowflake Clownfish $65
-Total: $80

Aquascape
-10lb Carib Sea Live Sand $15
-7 lb's Live Rock $58
-6lb's Base Rock $15
-Total: $88

Corals
- Pulsing Xenia $10
-Pandora Zoanthids - Free
-GSP $10
-Kryptonite Candy Cane $30
-Duncan - $20
-4 Heads of various Frogspawn/ Frammer $95
- 2 headed yellow tip hammer $40
-Alien Eye Leptoseris $10
-Total: $215

Grand Total: $526

I think I need a small circulation pump in the near future. Please let me know of any suggestions to further this build.

This is how the tank looked when I first picked it up from my parent's garage after sitting for 10 years.

Built a stand for it ( you can somewhat see the side sump compartment)

Current FTS

 

[Frugal Reef]

One month update!

I’m glad to report that all corals/ livestock have been doing great! Still doing weekly 20% or so water changes along with changing out the filter floss. I’ve removed a piece of live rock that was covered in mush rooms as I didn’t want them spreading all over my main rock.

The frammer and frogspawn have been moved higher up in the tank and seem to prefer the higher flow and light. The hardest part now is refraining from buying too many corals and keeping my hands out of the tank.

I still have yet to test my water for any levels aside from salinity, but everything seems happy thus far!

 

[Frugal Reef]

I wanted to add some brightness to my tank so I picked up a Kryptonite Candy Cane frag today. I can’t wait for everything to start growing!

 

[itsken37]

Nice tank! I wish my nano turned out that well!
I exchanged it for my new tank, my custom 65 gallon build now. Its not turning out too well but i hope it gets better.

 

[SilverRanger]

Are you getting RO water from your LFS or do you have your own system? If your own system which one?

 

[Frugal Reef]

Are you getting RO water from your LFS or do you have your own system? If your own system which one?

To keep things simple, I’ve been buying 6 gallons at a time of RO/DI pre mixed saltwater from my LFS. One container lasts about two months with my water change frequency. I also buy their freshwater to top off my tank.

 

[Frugal Reef]

2 month update!

With nothing more than weekly filter floss replacement and water changes, I am happy to report that everything is alive and healthy! I picked up a small 2 headed yellow tipped hammer today that I am so excited to add to the tank.

I still have no idea what any of my parameters except for salinity are. Still minimal feeding my fish twice a week, and have stopped using reef roids for the time being since I didn’t notice much of a difference.

 

[Sweetreef21]

Cool tank man, forget about parameters lol as long as things are lookin good thats all that matters. Im sorta doing a budget build myself, having more fun this way then i did when i spend a ton of money on other setups.

 

[Frugal Reef]

8 month update! Tank is still up and running great. Still doing bi weekly filter floss and 20-40% water changes depending on how the tank looks. Several corals have been added along with a Lawnmower Blenny.

I’ve also set up another nano tank on my office desk. It’s a Lifeguard Aquatics Fullview 7g that I received from a friend last Christmas. This tank has been up and running since mid December with mainly zoanthids. I have done absolutely no water changes or filter floss changes with this tank. Solely just been topping it off. I feed several times a week with one mocha storm clown and it’s been the most low maintenance tank ever.