Basic Breeder Tank

[matasw]

At a recent local marine meeting they had a presentation on breeding clowns and peppermint shrimp. I'd like to try this, the only avialable tank I have is a 10g Tank, with a FW Aquaclear filter, and a 12w light. Would this be okay? If i bare bottom it and throw a little bit of LR in it with maybe a little crushed coral from my current tank to help seed it? I want to do a bare minimum breeder tank nothing fancy no corals or anything just want to try and get some clowns and peppermints to breed.

[sir_dudeguy]

well if you bare bottom it, you wouldnt have any substrate...so if you put cc in there, you're no longer bare-bottoming it lol :) But no i wouldnt put the cc in there..it just traps stuff and will cause nitrates and whatnot. Just run BB or sand...for breeder tanks bb is prolly bettter i'd think. Just get about 8-10 lbs of live rock in there and put that hob filter on there running empty...oh and what model is the filter?

[matasw]

Nah i meant put a nylon of CC in there to help it cycle? I figured this might help it cycle some. it is an aquaclear mini, the kind with the sponge and the carbon should i just take all this out? How will filtering be done, just LR and water changes?

[matasw]

also what kind of clean up crew should their be? If i do BB should i just throw a few snails in there for algae? I'm assuming there should be minimal inhabitants other than those i intend to breed?

[Poorcollegereef]

i have a 10 gal clown breeder and I have a cheap prizm and a ac70 diy refugium and everything is quite good. nitrates are never higher than 5 with weekly to biweekly waterchanges of 1 gallon. I have justa dusting of sand on the bottom to barely cover the glass (personal visual choice and to add a slight biofilter) I also have a dsb and live rock rubble in the ac70 with about 40ws overhead

[Poorcollegereef]

i added two astra(sp? im blanking) and a hermit

[matasw]

i'm looking for even cheaper than that :) would prefer to not have to buy a filter if possible. I've got an extra powerhead. Can i just put some cheato in that AC and do water changes?

[sir_dudeguy]

use the powerhead for sure. That mini ac wont give enough flow for the live rock to filter the tank.

oh, and that cc will not be needed. If you're using live rock, it will cycle on its own...just get about 10 lbs of rock and it will be all you need, along with the powerhead to actually get the water flowing thru it...what type of powerhead is it btw? That cc wont do anything that rock wont do (and the rock will be better)

[sir_dudeguy]

oh, and for cleanup...i'd not do hermits for sure. I personally hate them cuz they kill my snails that actually clean (and the hermits dont clean) but in a breeder tank....i wouldnt even chance it..they're oportunistic creatures, and if they see a whole load of eggs...

[matasw]

So no filter at all? Just water changes, PH and LR? PH is a Maxijet MP 200, 230GPH.

[sir_dudeguy]

live rock IS your filter. It will do all that is needed...if you have about a pound of it per gallon of water. So in your case about 10, but you MIGHT be able to go with less since you'll have a very small bioload. All you need for the live rock to filter your tank is flow going thru it, which is what the powerhead will be for.

And are you sure that the mj 200 is 230 gph? I got a 900 and i thought it said 230...idk.but i'd use that.

[Shagsbeard]

With a tank that small, I advise you to read up on Nanos in the nano forum. Small changes can have devistating effects in such a small volume.

Your "live sand in a sock" isn't needed to help cycling. Your live rock will have a far greater impact on the bacteria growing in the tank than a handful of sand will. Just go bare bottom, and put as much live rock in as you can afford.

Get a cheap skimmer. They work, just not so great. I have an old prizm that I'm saving for a similar project some day. I'll probably go with a 20-40 gal with a sump, but that's just the way I'd do it. Without some form of physical filtration you are going to be spending more money on water than you save by not buying a filter. I guess if you use waste water from a main display for your water changes it could counter that cost.