Build thread Nano 10 gallon budget builds

[SebastianM]

Hi guys, trying to get my build thread badge here. I’m an entry level reefer with a nano tank . This is my somewhat of a budget build that’s going into week 5.

Filter: H.O.B. AquaClear 70 (replaced original carbon bag with chemi-pure blue)

Heater: Eheim 50 watt

Power head: Hydor Koralia 240 gph

Light: Amazon AquaKnight 30w LED

Started with dry rock and live sand and Dr. Tim’s O.A.O.

Week 3: I added 2 clowns

Week 5: I got a good deal on a LPS bundle consisting of a little hammer coral, candy canes, the blue and red acans and some purple/green favia

 

[Peace River]

Nice! Congratulations on the Build Thread Contributor banner! I enjoyed how your clownfish looks like he is trying to photobomb your coral photo!

 

[Hollywoodwater617]

Awesome setup its very similar to my setup. I was thinking about add chemi blue to my hob filter. Congrats on the banner. Keep enjoying your budget build, in loving mine. Cute clown also

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Just came across the build so, had to stop and say hi.

i thought the clown was smiling for the camera. Keep updating with photos

 

[SebastianM]

Everything is thriving and parameters are stable, I believe I’m entering week 10 of the build. I kind of surpassed the “budget” mark I’ve added a Smart ATO Micro to the tank and a few more pieces of coral, including my main show piece, an Aussie Gold Torch (the dang thing cost me more than the system;Woot ) Everything is going smoothly, I do 2 water changes a week, 10% Wednesday and 10% Saturday (after feeding frozen foods and coral). I am working on a 150 gallon cube setup, in which I will hope to transfer things into if this nano gets a little too crowded.

 

[SebastianM]

Everything is thriving and parameters are stable, I believe I’m entering week 10 of the build. I kind of surpassed the “budget” mark I’ve added a Smart ATO Micro to the tank and a few more pieces of coral, including my main show piece, an Aussie Gold Torch (the dang thing cost me more than the system;Woot ) Everything is going smoothly, I do 2 water changes a week, 10% Wednesday and 10% Saturday (after feeding frozen foods and coral). I am working on a 150 gallon cube setup, in which I will hope to transfer things into if this nano gets a little too crowded.

+ a Hydor Koralia Smart wavemaker, to give the power head a more natural flow

 

[SebastianM]

Around week 8, I noticed the clown acting a little funny, hanging around the surface of the water and some white stringy poop (a sign of worms), so to be safe I removed the chemi-pure (carbon) for about a 10 days and dosed some PraziPro medicine. It is a reef safe dewormer (will kill flatworms and feather dusters) . After about 4 days the clown was back to himself and happy. And on the 10th day I reintroduced the carbon back into the filter.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Awesome start to your tank! I feel like I am about to start almost the exact same set up with the same plan to transition to a larger setup Once things have grown out a bit. Which ATO did you wind up going with? I was planning on picking one up.

 

[SebastianM]

Awesome start to your tank! I feel like I am about to start almost the exact same set up with the same plan to transition to a larger setup Once things have grown out a bit. Which ATO did you wind up going with? I was planning on picking one up.

The Smart ATO Micro, got it on Amazon prime

 

[Rudzbrewski]

The Smart ATO Micro, got it on Amazon prime

That was the one I was looking at as well. Sounds like I have a plan that is almost a mirror image of your build. Glad to hear yours is going well as mine will be starting once my RODI unit comes in.

 

[SebastianM]

That was the one I was looking at as well. Sounds like I have a plan that is almost a mirror image of your build. Glad to hear yours is going well as mine will be starting once my RODI unit comes in.

The only thing I would really change about the initial plan is the light. It works great on Zoas and Acans but it seemed a little to strong for my torch and hammer coral. I wish the the whites were able to drop into an even lower setting, but it’s all just basic preset settings on the light and no built in timer, but for $60 I can’t complain.

 

[Requiemiero]

Nice set up! It looks like my set up may end up looking a lot like yours as well since I got a 10 gallon tank so I'll be following along to see how it develops!

Just curious, did you buy anything used or did you order everything off Amazon?

 

[Rudzbrewski]

The only thing I would really change about the initial plan is the light. It works great on Zoas and Acans but it seemed a little to strong for my torch and hammer coral. I wish the the whites were able to drop into an even lower setting, but it’s all just basic preset settings on the light and no built in timer, but for $60 I can’t complain.

I’ve seen a lot of people having good things to say about that light. And you’re right, for $60 you can’t complain. I wound up picking up a AI Hydra 32 at a great price that I couldn’t pass up for the eventual larger DT I am planning and acquiring pieces for slowly. WAYYY overkill for my initial setup, but might be able to turn it down to like 10% intensity or something to use. Otherwise, I’ll probably go for the same light.

 

[SebastianM]

Alright folks, here we are about 4 months into the build. I have made a few upgrades along the way, the biggest one being the light. After a tough choice between the Kessil A80 and AI Prime 16HD, I went with the AI prime. It’s probably the best thing I did for the tank, solely because I didn’t want to tick off my trophy Aussie Gold Torch and a Pink hammer. The spread is very uniform and the controllability of the light through the Bluetooth App is amazing but it’s a $200 light vs a $60 Chinese black box.... I have also added a wave controller for the Hydor ($65 on Amazon) and AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro I have mentioned before ($128 on Amazon). Again, these updates were not required for the general functions of the tank, they were just for my personal decisions and ease of maintenance. The tank would still be fine with my initial setup. I am pretty much at capacity for coral real estate and live stock with a handful of LPS, A few types of Zoas, a skunk cleaner and a black ocillaris clown. I am still running reef crystals salt, (not keeping any SPS) my levels are stable with a ~15% weekly water change. 8~9 DKH, 460 calc, 1500 mag. Nitrates depend a lot on feeding this small system, but have never crossed 4-5 ppm. I just feed the clown and cleaner a pinch of flake once a day and once a week I will drop a blend of frozen reef blend food mixed with some reef Roids (try to target feed), this is usually done the day before a water change. Mid week I will drop 1-2 ML of Aquavitro Fuel amino acids/vitamins, supposed to help coral growth, but it might just be bullsh*t ;Wacky Overall I am very satisfied with this little desk top build being my first tank and I will just let it grow out. I think I’ve come across the addiction of picking up coral frags every weekend. My next two builds will be continuing my 150 gallon cube and a 50 gallon zoo med lowboy (48” x 24” x 10”) that I ordered to be drilled from a LFS, that’s going to be my grow out/frag setup to try to propagate some coral in. Stay tuned!

 

[SebastianM]

Nice set up! It looks like my set up may end up looking a lot like yours as well since I got a 10 gallon tank so I'll be following along to see how it develops!

Just curious, did you buy anything used or did you order everything off Amazon?

I couldn’t necessarily find anything used this small around me locally (Chicago) it seems like everyone is primarily keeping to the 75 gallon to 180 gallon build range and that type of equipment would be way overkill on this setup. I justified buying most of this equipment new because the entire setup cost me what it cost my neighbor just for his sump on a 150 gallon display plumbed through his floor . I was looking for a used Kessil or AI light, but figured how do I know how long someone has ran it for before me, and if it broke down on me I’d be out even more money buying a new one. Regardless I got the filter and heater at PetSmart for $100 together and the tank at Petco’s $1 a gallon sale for $10.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

How long did you wait before adding fish/CUC, and corals? Also, what did you go with for CUC?

 

[SebastianM]

How long did you wait before adding fish/CUC, and corals? Also, what did you go with for CUC?

I started with dry rock for the base and a pukani dry shelf, with a bag of live sand. I dosed Dr. Tim’s one and only and ghost fed some marine flakes. I waited about 3 weeks, ammonia tested 0, I added a clown fish and a hermit crab at the same time. Then I started adding my clean up crew as algae and diatoms started appearing. After about 6 weeks I added my skunk cleaner. For my clean up crew I have 2 small Astraea Turbo snails (they’re not as big as the Mexican or margarita snails), a Scarlett legged hermit, an electric blue legged hermit, (Both look pretty cool and I paid extra for that, regular reef hermits would be fine too) and a nassarius snail to take care of my sand bed. I’m not too much worried about Algae as I have some Vibrant that I’ll drop in every couple of weeks. I’m more worried about left over food and detritus clean up, the nassarius is awesome at taking care of any extra frozen food that settles near the bottom, the skunk cleaner and hermits handle anything that gets left over on the rock work. I recommend adding clean up crew as needed, so that they balance out with their food source. You don’t want to go overkill on snails just to have your tank so clean that they starve and die.