New Tank! Very Nervous and in Need of Mentoring

[_bsafarijoe]

Hi guys! My name is Berg and I’m from Colorado. I am very new to reef tanks, The only reason was because I am working with a genus of freshwater goby (Stiphodon gobies) that mature in saltwater for a thesis paper. I set up a 1.5 gallon with live rock and sand and water from a friends mature tank. The only purpose was to raise the baby gobies. I noticed a lot of what I thought was possibly corals on the rock, I texted him and asked and he said they were zoanthid corals! I asked him if she wanted it back and he said that they’ve been spreading in his tank like wildfire and I should consider it a gift, after observing them in the tank for two days and seeing the process of them opening and closing, eating (he came over and showed me how), and just being in the tank I was totally hooked. I’ve started putting together a 10 gallon tank, and I have a list of things I’m buying for it, can anyone give me opinion or advice on it?
List:
Carib Sea ACS00110 Crushed Coral
NICREW 30W Reef LED
Salinity Refractometer
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals bucket
MarineLand Penguin Bio-Wheel 150 gph
DaToo 50 watt heater

Anything else I should get? Anyone willing to help mentor me? I’m very excited but very nervous.

 

[Spare time]

So what sorts of questions are you wanting mentoring on? The biggest difficulty with 1.5 gallon tanks is evaporation. I personally would also get a heater controller like an inkbird but that is just because heaters are one of the most common things to break. I like these for all tanks.

Out of curiosity, what is the water change schedule like?

 

[Timfish]

Welcome to the hobby and to R2R! It certainly is addicting! Couple sayings have been floating around for years and are related:

"Nothing good happens fast in a reef system"

"Patience is your friend"

Here's some stuff you'll find informative

Aquabiomic's article is a good start to understand how live rock will help establish a healthy microbiome

Establishing a Healthy Microbiome in a New Aquarium Using Live Rock

Studying the effects of live rock in a newly established aquarium shows that high-quality live rock promotes the rapid establishment of an effective biological filter and a microbial community similar to those found in mature reef tanks.

www.reef2reef.com

Here's some links by scientists studying reef ecosystems you might find informative:

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)


Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

 

[fachatga]

Look up Randy’s formula to make your own calibration solution on this site to calibrate your refractometer. That’ll be my addition here. Good luck!!!

 

[adittam]

If you have the space for it, get a 20 gallon long tank instead of the 10 gallon tank. Twice as much water means twice as much stability, and the cost difference is negligible.

 

[Zach B]

Welcome Berg! Great advice above

 

[adittam]

Also, I’d recommend one of the Seachem Tidal HOB filters instead of the Marineland. Go AT LEAST twice as big as the rated size for the filter. Bigger is definitely better for the filter. More water movement = more aeration, and a bigger filter has more space inside for filtration media flexibility.

 

[WVNed]

If you are going to raise baby fish power filters will suck them up. Use sponges on all the intakes.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

So what sorts of questions are you wanting mentoring on? The biggest difficulty with 1.5 gallon tanks is evaporation. I personally would also get a heater controller like an inkbird but that is just because heaters are one of the most common things to break. I like these for all tanks.

Out of curiosity, what is the water change schedule like?

So a few things, thank you for your help. It will be moved to a 10 gallon, and I am ordering a heater from a company I like! I’m new to corals and so I don’t know what to expect. So far I do not have a water change schedule because I haven’t had it for very long.

 

[adittam]

So a few things, thank you for your help. It will be moved to a 10 gallon, and I am ordering a heater from a company I like! I’m new to corals and so I don’t know what to expect. So far I do not have a water change schedule because I haven’t had it for very long.

He’s recommending an Inkbird temp controller in addition to your heater. It acts as a fail-safe in case the heater thermostat fails in the on position (one of the most common fatal failures in aquariums).

 

[Spare time]

So a few things, thank you for your help. It will be moved to a 10 gallon, and I am ordering a heater from a company I like! I’m new to corals and so I don’t know what to expect. So far I do not have a water change schedule because I haven’t had it for very long.

Zoanthids are super easy corals. They just need gentle flow, low to moderate light (relative to other corals), and some method to replace elements (water change, dosing, etc.).

Do you have any test kits? It's handy to keep a few.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

I do not yet, other than a freshwater api. I decided against the 10 g and instead I had a company reach out to me because of my TickTock and offered to send me a fluval flex 15. That takes care of the filtration and flow requirements because of the great system it has. I am still in need of a better light and possibly a surface skimmer, I have the heater taken care of. I’m thinking I’ll steal the idea from a guy on another forum and use Acrostar 20k pro 24watt and a fan. Is that a good idea?

 

[_bsafarijoe]

He’s recommending an Inkbird temp controller in addition to your heater. It acts as a fail-safe in case the heater thermostat fails in the on position (one of the most common fatal failures in aquariums).

I have an inkbird thermostat already! So perfect, I am however going to need to do a different light than what I had planned, I decided to scrap the idea of doing a 10 and instead a company reached out to me because of my TickTock that is very popular and offered me a 15 gallon fluval flex for this project. I’m thinking of going with the original light that I had planned for it or possibly 3 Acrostar 20k pro 24watt lights, what do you think?