10 gallon reef set up

[Anonymous]

I have this 10 gallon QT that will house a damsel for at least a few months and I'm thinking that it would be nicer to turn it into a reef rather than have a silly castle and a fake plastic plant in it. I'm sick of looking at it like that and I'm sick of the 10 watt light in the hood.


I would like some suggestions on equipment to make it a reef. Notably lighting, filtration, and circulation.

I can take a few chunks of live rock from my main tank to create the main structure. And since I'm always on a budget, I would frag off some coral from my main tank too.

Not looking to grow anything too difficult. I could take some star polyps, some zooanthids, and maybe some easy mushrooms.

I'm thinking it would be just the one fish, a couple of hermits and snails, maybe a decorative invert, like a cleaner shrimp, about 10 pounds of rock, a couple inches of sand, and some of the soft corals from my main tank.

What kind of light fixture could I buy for that kind of set up. I guess I would have to DIY a hood for the tank right? Or would it be better to have it as an open tank? The damsel lived in an open tank for over a year, so he's not a jumper.

I'm pretty handy. Could I buy just a ballast and some end caps and DIY some sort of rig to sit on the 10 gallon tank?

How about a filter? I just have a hang on now. Do I need a mini skimmer?

I should add at least a power head for some increased circulation right?



Thanks for the advice. And Matt...I expect you to contribute since I'm posting in your section! :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I think you could use the powerhead for circulation

A skimmer would be great cause then you could get away with a bit of overfeeding, always a joy with damsels...

 

[Anonymous]

Manny, have you seen my ultra el-cheapo hood I had the the Nano Buildoff?

Instead of an IceCap ballast you could easily use a Workhorse ballast and wire in a pair of PC bulbs. I used VHO but the 18" VHO are not a lot of bang for the buck like PC would be.

 

[Anonymous]

Manny, have you seen my ultra el-cheapo hood I had the the Nano Buildoff?

Instead of an IceCap ballast you could easily use a Workhorse ballast and wire in a pair of PC bulbs. I used VHO but the 18" VHO are not a lot of bang for the buck like PC would be.

I saw your set up. It's incredible. Very nice. But $600 is not el cheapo. :wink: The hood design is el cheapo and I plan something similar for the reflector, although I think I'll build a box style hood with a lid, like we would for a full sized reef, because this tank is in my wife's den/office and she'll demand finished wood to match the table the tank is on. I plan on spending less than $150 to convert my 10 gal into a decent reef by canibalizing coral and rock from my main tank.

I decided to get as much light as you have. Initially, I won't need that much light. I probably could have settled for 40w total for my needs, but I figured if I could get 96w for cheap, it would be worth having in case I want to turn the reef into an SPS tank in the future.

I got a 96w PC retrokit with the 50/50 bulb on ebay for $57 (including shipping and it is not used). Pretty good huh? Check it out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7749105410&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1


I liked your DIY skimmer. That is a design I would like to copy. Hope you don't mind answering questions when I tackle that.


I also particularly liked your auto top off. I won't be able to do something like that for my little tank because of it's location, but I figure I can copy the design, feed the syphon hose into my mouth, attach the rig to a hat, and use a bottle still filled with crown royal! :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

On second thought, it looks like I have to partition a back corner in order to DIY a skimmer. Since the tank is already set up and I have nowhere to put the fish, I have to either use a hang on skimmer, or I have to find a DIY plan that allows me to drop the unit in without having to seal off part of the tank.

Any ideas for DIY or recommendations for a model of HOT skimmer that would work with a standard 10 gallon tank?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

On second thought, it looks like I have to partition a back corner in order to DIY a skimmer.

That's not really true. An easy DIY rig is to use the deep chamber in a hang-on powerfilter to set a skimmer in. A seperate powerhead can venturi water into the skimmer from inside the tank and the skimmer dumps into the powerfilter behind the pads. It typically needs to be covered by a hood 'cause it's not attractive, but it is very functional and the pads eliminate the bubbles from the skimmer. All of it will be external except the powerhead feeding the skimmer.

Many LFSs will give you a broken powerfilter really cheap. If not, many fellow hobbiests will have a non-functional powerfilter somewhere in their cabinet. All you really need is a container to hang on the back that dumps the water into the tank but old powerfilters are ideally configured for the job.

 

[Anonymous]

On second thought, it looks like I have to partition a back corner in order to DIY a skimmer.

That's not really true. An easy DIY rig is to use the deep chamber in a hang-on powerfilter to set a skimmer in. A seperate powerhead can venturi water into the skimmer from inside the tank and the skimmer dumps into the powerfilter behind the pads. It typically needs to be covered by a hood 'cause it's not attractive, but it is very functional and the pads eliminate the bubbles from the skimmer. All of it will be external except the powerhead feeding the skimmer.

But then I have to get a deeper hang on filter. The one I have now is the basic kind that comes with these 10 gallon tanks.

What do you think of that nano-skimmer that sits inside the tank?

 

[Anonymous]

What do you think of that nano-skimmer that sits inside the tank?

I think functionally it will work fine. Aesthetically I think it will take up a lot of space, be difficult to hide, and possibly create a lot of microbubbles in the tank (maybe not).

 

[Anonymous]

What do you think of that nano-skimmer that sits inside the tank?

I think functionally it will work fine. Aesthetically I think it will take up a lot of space, be difficult to hide, and possibly create a lot of microbubbles in the tank (maybe not).

I visuallized it's size. It's only two inches in diameter and 6.5 inches tall.

I figure I can hide it somehow. I create a pile of rock against one side of the tank and hide it behind that pile of rock. Maybe I can grow some caulerpa in front of it.

I know, I know, "don't put caulerpa in your tank." But my wife likes grape caulerpa and she is dead set on growing some in this little reef. :roll: Might as well put it to good use!


Anyway...how attractive can this tank be. It's not like I'm doing what you did. I'm just tossing some rocks in. About the only thing I'm doing right is getting a decent light on the tank...and that only happened because I got a good deal on it. :lol:


Being broke and into this hobby is not a good combination.

 

[Anonymous]

Manny...amazing to see you topside...just amazing.



Anyway, was wondering what brand of powerquad bulb you got. I have the Coralife 96W 20" Aqualight and the light is so yellow it drives me nuts.

Just giving you a heads-up.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

Manny...amazing to see you topside...just amazing.



Anyway, was wondering what brand of powerquad bulb you got. I have the Coralife 96W 20" Aqualight and the light is so yellow it drives me nuts.

Just giving you a heads-up.

Peace,

Chip

Mine came with the retro-kit I bought. Since the rig was so cheap, I didn't bother to care who made the bulb that came with it. It's a 50/50 though, and I don't really like 50/50s that much, but since it is only one bulb, that is the only option for the set up.

Thanks for the info though...I will file it for future reference when the time comes for a replacement bulb.

 

[Anonymous]

Here's my contribution:

Any pics?

 

[Anonymous]

Here's my contribution:

Any pics?

All I have now is a ten gallon tank with an aquarium castle, a sponge filter, and a striped damsel.

I'll post some pics when I get all the stuff I ordered and set the damn thing up. :lol: