Help me with my first Nano !

[CrazyBeagle]

Hello all, I am looking to start my first Nano. I have a 10gal tank, a Remora C skimmer with a Rio800, Current Orbit 2x40 Sunpaq light, and a Eheim 300 pump. I was thinking of ordering "the package" from TBS . I would like to know if I have enough water flow, light etc.. What can I keep/not keep in this tank. Thanks for helping a Nano noobie.

[mightymouse]

does tbs sell a nano package? with this small of a tank if i were you id buy rock locally so you can get exactly the shapes and pieces you want that you can aquascape how you want it to look tbs has great rock but if they give you pieces that dont work for u then what will u do ?

[CrazyBeagle]

Yes good points. My LFS has the WORST LR (dead rock) you have ever seen. Plus it costs more than TBS. TBS does sell a 10 gal package. I dont want this thred to be about TBS, but I have read good things , and I was hoping they would hook me up with some nice rock. Since it so small, it would all have to be choice rock.

[CrazyBeagle]

Bump :)

[JR719]

Sounds like you are on your way. I would add a small powerhead somewhere to disturb the water a little more. I am about to set up a 10g also. My daughter has a 10 we set up as fowlr. It is a little over populated so no corals. My other daughter wants one, I think we are going to set it up for softies. you should have not trouble with softies but I would feel uncomfortable with sps or lps without halides.

[CrazyBeagle]

So the only way to keep sps,or lps is with halides? The light I have has one dual actinic 420+460, one sunpaq 6700+10K . For a 10 Gal you need more light than that? I was hoping this would work. As far as the powerhead pump, what size pump do I need? The Ehiem 300 is not enough by itself( plus the skimmer) ?Thanks for all your help.

[mazdaspeedzoom]

80w of pc over a 10g seems pretty sufficiant for I would say most corals. Most 10g tanks aren't very deep and the depth to light ratio does play a major role. There are people running 40w over a 12g nano cube and keeping lps and shrooms without a problem and a 12g nano cube is a pretty deep/tall tank. I have 96w of pc over my 12g bow. I say first get it set-up and cycled, take your time, be patient and go from there, I think MH are overkill unless you want to keep an anenome or sps corals.

[CrazyBeagle]

Thanks Mazda, I will take it SLOW.But as far as the flow, do you think I would need more?

[mazdaspeedzoom]

Well from what i've read you want about 10x-20x water turn over per gallon. I'm not sure what the output on the ehiem 300 is but I had a rio 200 that I didn't really like and went with an ac301 but since I added some coral I turned that down a bit. I'm not really too fimiliar with the remora c skimmer, is that just a protein skimmer or is it also add some sort of filtration to it?

[CrazyBeagle]

Its just a skimmer, hob design. From what I have read, it is a pretty good one. My LFS wants to sell me a Skilter filter. I dont think I will buy that .My LFS also sold me a SeaClone 100 :rolleyes: as at the time I didnt know any better.

[skipm]

Another option instead of the powerhead would be to add a hang on powerfilter that you could either use as a mini sump or modify into a refugium. If used as a sump you could place your bags of carbon and other media in it and maybe even your heater if its deep enough. To make it a refugium you would need a light, some LR rubble, and some macroalge. Either way you would add more flow without having to look at a powerhead and if you went with the sump option you also may be able to remove even more distracting equipment from your tank. HTH, Skip

[CrazyBeagle]

Thanks Skip. Do I have to use a HOB filter? I wanted to hide the pump , and I dont have much room behind the tank.

[skipm]

If you can't use a HOB filter and just want to hide the pump you could hide it in your LR, you could also add a line to the discharge if needed to direct the flow from the powerhead. Make sure you have an intake screen on the powerhead so none of your tanks inhabitants get sucked up. Skip

[mazdaspeedzoom]

You don't have to have a filter one the back, but it's always beneficial and adds water movement to the tank. If you can't not a huge deal just make sure you have a good amount of live rock/sand that will be the primary filtration in any system and the main filtration in your system. You may also want to look into possibly attaching somesort of sponge/filter material to the intake of one of your powerheads to help catch some of the larger things floatin around in the tank. Just make sure to clean it once a week like when your doing your water changes.

[sharrison]

make sure you get a good skimmer. they make all the difference