10 g nano reef help

**splitadams** · 07-28-2009, 07:27 AM

last week i came across a 10 gallon tall tank
its around 1ft wide by 1ft back and 1.5ft tall
so i decided i would set-up my first nano ever

i have
api testers
a hob filter i was going to fill with live rock and live sand
a thermometer
a hydrometer
a 50w heater
a small plastic refugium (going to use it to keep copepeds plentiful)
reef salt
and just picked up an ro machine for quite cheap in the trading post

i still need to pick up a power head and lighting but waiting till i know
exactly what my tank will require before i do so.

i plan on first adding live rock and sand untill the tank is completely cycled then work from there

so just a few questions

im hoping to keep some corals and mandarin gobies

what corals would anybody here recomend with mandarin gobies?
how strong should the current be?
what lighting would i need?
would you recomend a skimmer?

thanks for the help in advance

oh and i know mandarin gobies arent recomended for a nano, because of the lack of copepeds, but i will be seeding copepeds straight from a culture kit and feeding the mandarins manually

**travie** · 07-28-2009, 02:41 PM

How big of a copepod culture are you planning on growing? It will need to be a huge population, since you will have to put copepods into a 10 gallon daily to even have a chance of keeping mandarins alive. Power compact lighting will work for a 10g. Definitely get a skimmer.

**splitadams** · 07-30-2009, 08:34 AM

ive changed my mind about the mandarin gobies,
will most likely stick to just corals for now and
maybe a couple inverts eventually, ive read that
keeping just corals, theres no need for a skimmer
just regular water changes, because a skimmer
can filter out nutrients they need to thrive?

**MCHRKiller** · 07-30-2009, 08:47 AM

Even if you cultured copepods IMO it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to support 1 mandarin goby long term muchless multiples in a system so small. Your tank is very small and due to its very limited footprint you are restricted greatly in what you can keep. The fact that your using a refugium is excellent, also are youplanning on running a protein skimmer? I would suggest the Fission Nano skimmer is about as small as you can go and honestly Ive heard some pretty decent things about them, unfortunatly no experience myself. But hey its a cheap investment at less than $30 and any skimmer is better than none. Your also going to need a pretty serious light fixture to penetrate the 18" depth with only a 1ft surface to do it in, its going to be challenging. Personally I would go with one of the 70watt clamp on metal halide fixtures...the JBJ K-2 Viper http://www.marinedepot.com/JBJ_K_2_V...FIMHCO-vi.html would be my choice for lighting. For circulation definatly get a Koralia nano pump...they are excellent especially if you plan on going reef. I would personally stick to easy and fairly hardy polyps and mushrooms especially in a nano they offer alot of color and are easy to keep.

**splitadams** · 07-30-2009, 10:10 AM

i do like the look of polyps
i'll look into a skimmer asap

**Tigerbarb** · 08-13-2009, 07:26 AM

Before you decide on what lighting you are going to get, you are first going to have to make a list of the corals you intend to keep. For polyps and mushrooms, 30 or 40 watts of power compact light should work.