I have been playing around with small budget setups (under 30g) for a couple years now but don't really have any build thread because none are "display tanks" per say. After various methods, I have finally come up with the simplest. cost effective setup for a basic clown/nem tank that works well. The reason I am taking the budget tank approach is because I love clowns and nems and found they do best in separate tanks as some varieties don't mix well.
This isn't the most impressive build thread, but I thought I would share for those who are after a budget tank that works. I have a similar setup that has been running for over a year without issue, the only difference is that there is Chaeto in the HOB (Aquaclear 70 for a 20 gallon with 6 BTA and 4 clowns) instead of gracilaria. I may do that with this tank if the gracilaria cant keep up, or just add more garacaria, maybe some palm caulerpa. Its doing well so far at one month. I have some dwarf ceriths I will throw in in a month or so when there is algae for them to feed on. They are in QT.
Standard 10 gallon tank (Petco $ per gallon sale) $10
NICREW ClassicLED Marine Aquarium light $42
Aquaclear 30 HOB $33
50 watt heater $15
AQUANEAT sponge filter $8
CaribSea Arag-Alive Hawaiian Black Aquarium Gravel, 20Lb (used 10 lb) $18
Live rock $100
Stock
Premium nem pack from LA $385
-Watermelon BTA
-Ultra color tip green BTA
-Ultra white tip BTA
-Ocellaris clown
Additional snowflake clown $60
2 portions "flame" gracilaria algae from LFS $40
Total:
Equipment and supplies $226
Livestock $485
Total $711
Notice that bulk of cost is premium livestock, you can easily have an OK nem/clown tank for under $350
The lighting is a mix of natural day light, ambient light from nearby T5s and the generic light bar. I run the 20Watt light bar for 12 hours with white channel on at 70% from 10am to 4PM and the blue channel at 80% from 2PM to midnight. Note that Red macro needs white light, otherwise it will not grow well. I also found that too much light makes it turn orange (which can look cool). You need to find a balance of white for the macro, with enough additional blue for the nems.
Tank 2:
Snowflake pair and Arizona Sunburst BTA
Similar setup but with Nicrew SkyLED Plus feshwater tank light. (Blue is run at 100% and white at 20% as 100% was too much for gracilria and nem)
Tank 3:
Cinnamon pair and Black Widow BTAs
This isn't the most impressive build thread, but I thought I would share for those who are after a budget tank that works. I have a similar setup that has been running for over a year without issue, the only difference is that there is Chaeto in the HOB (Aquaclear 70 for a 20 gallon with 6 BTA and 4 clowns) instead of gracilaria. I may do that with this tank if the gracilaria cant keep up, or just add more garacaria, maybe some palm caulerpa. Its doing well so far at one month. I have some dwarf ceriths I will throw in in a month or so when there is algae for them to feed on. They are in QT.
Standard 10 gallon tank (Petco $ per gallon sale) $10
NICREW ClassicLED Marine Aquarium light $42
Aquaclear 30 HOB $33
50 watt heater $15
AQUANEAT sponge filter $8
CaribSea Arag-Alive Hawaiian Black Aquarium Gravel, 20Lb (used 10 lb) $18
Live rock $100
Stock
Premium nem pack from LA $385
-Watermelon BTA
-Ultra color tip green BTA
-Ultra white tip BTA
-Ocellaris clown
Additional snowflake clown $60
2 portions "flame" gracilaria algae from LFS $40
Total:
Equipment and supplies $226
Livestock $485
Total $711
Notice that bulk of cost is premium livestock, you can easily have an OK nem/clown tank for under $350
The lighting is a mix of natural day light, ambient light from nearby T5s and the generic light bar. I run the 20Watt light bar for 12 hours with white channel on at 70% from 10am to 4PM and the blue channel at 80% from 2PM to midnight. Note that Red macro needs white light, otherwise it will not grow well. I also found that too much light makes it turn orange (which can look cool). You need to find a balance of white for the macro, with enough additional blue for the nems.
Tank 2:
Snowflake pair and Arizona Sunburst BTA
Similar setup but with Nicrew SkyLED Plus feshwater tank light. (Blue is run at 100% and white at 20% as 100% was too much for gracilria and nem)
Tank 3:
Cinnamon pair and Black Widow BTAs
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