I think I'm ready to start my first tank

[acsproul]

Ok so I have read almost every post on this forum and am getting excited about starting up a nano tank. I have written down what I think I will need and what I have. Right now all I have is:
-10 gallon tank
-Florescent Hood (Could this be suitable if I only want a FOWLR and if so what kind of lighting do i need)
-Play sand from wal-mart (Thought about getting the Geo Marine Aragonite formula: Florida Crushed Coral)
-Underwater heater for 5-15 gallon tanks

This is what I plan on buying:
-Powerhead Minijet 606
-AquaClear 110 (Possibly use it as a refugium later when I learn more about what that is)
-Test Kit for NH3, NO2, NO3, and pH
-Hydrometer
-Digital thermometer
-Instant Ocean salt

As of right now that's all I know that I need to start. I plan to add RO water, let circulate for 24hr, add salt to sp. gravity ???, and let circulate for 24 hr. Add LR (uncured) with sand and check parameters every few days and keep the light of during the cycle. After the cycle completes I would like to add some type of scavenger like shrimp and crab, and when could I add a starfish? My question is what does the pH need to be and the temperature range. Also am i pretty much on the right track to start a nano. Would appreciate the input.

 

[sadielynn]

Hi and welcome :welcome
10 gallon tank great tank to start with .
florecent hood would work with FOWLR...you would need to update the lighting if you would choose to keep corals I would look into several from www.drsfostersmith.com and
www.hellolights.com
you should be able to find a decent light at a good price from there .....you may want to consider that right from the start so as to be able to add corals later on.
Play sand I would skip and get the agralive sand too much chance of having contaminates in it
underwater heater yes you may very well need one.....
powerhead, MJ 606 good power head very little heat transfer but I would sugesst 2 for that size tank to help keep dead spots at bay.....
Aqua clear filter I have no input on these but others here use them sucessfully . I use a penguin filter
Test kit I recommend the aquarium pharma kit as it is a bit easier to use ....salfert is the top of the line but a bit more difficult in use
Hydrometer.....skip that they break too easy and also not that reliable get either a refractometer or a digi lab hand held tester ,
Thermometer we use the coralife one but there is someone selling very similar modals here in the equipment flea market for a fair price brand new check them out .
IO salt is what we use and have had no problem with that brand salt it comes in 5, 10, 20 gallon boxes so you have to just add the ammount of water and then the salt no measuring however if that is not available to you it is 1 cup salt to a gallon add slowly and test the spg frequently ......
Yes you want to let the water circulate for 24 hours before adding the salt and an addtional 24 with the salt ...you may wish to look for cured live rock (it wont smell as bad as uncured can and does)
You may wish to get a dated log book so that you can trend your tests try and test the same time when testing and same conditions (lights on/ lights off) as certin things will be affected like ph and temp . Ph should be ideally around 8.2-8.4 and temp stability is the key but 77-80 degrees we run ours at 71 -73 degrees ....As for adding a starfish not in these size tanks they quickly run out of food and starve to death they are better left to tanks 75 or larger and established ..
A few things to add to your shopping list addtional power heads for mixing salt ....rubbermade tote bin for mixing in . Mini fan from walmart to combat heat if need be and they are small diffrent colors and cheap to get ...
It looks like you have done your reasearch very well.... and are very much on the right track ............HTH :mrgreen:

 

[skipm]

:welcome to the board.
I think Sadie covered your questions pretty well. One thing I would like to correct is on mixing the Instant Ocean salt, its one cup of salt for every 2 gallons of water IME and after it has thoroughly mixed you add more saltmix or water to adjust the salinity. You definitely need to mix this for 24 hours to avoid fluctuations in pH which goes high and then comes back into a normal range.

 

[sadielynn]

thanks for catching that Skip .....I could not remember if it was 1/2 to one gallon or a cup to a gallon :mrgreen:

 

[AlexfromSATX]

As for Tracking your testing I stumbled upon this website: http://www.stugotz.net/log It gives you a day by day log and graphs your results. It Free and you can keep almost everything about your tank on this log. Check it out. I think it's pretty cool, since I now won't always be wondering where I last put my paper log book.

OH and :welcome to Nanotank! I just started too! Good Luck!

 

[Jennie]

It looks like Sadie and Skip covered everything!


:welcome to Nanotank!

 

[islandcreation]

I 2nd the sand. I went to the local hobby store and got lime green sand cause it looked cool.... :sad: It wasn't too cool. It made my tank look cloudy even with water changes, so i had to take everything out and get LS. Its worth it! :mrgreen:
The only thing that no one told me is about when you tank evaporates the waters salinity is increased if you top it off with more saltwater. So add some regular R/O water to make sure the salinity is controlled. I hope I explained it right? :mrgreen: Good luck and welcome