LordJoshaeus
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2018
- Messages
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Hi everyone! It has been a LONG time since I have posted here...and even longer since I have tried my hand at the salty side of the hobby. My mum and I have recently been doing a lot of oogling over reef tanks on youtube, though, so I am TEMPTED to try my hand at a 10 gallon reef setup with mostly soft corals (perhaps with some LPS thrown in for good measure). Here are the specs I was thinking of;
LIGHT; Nicrew reef light, 30 watts. Tried to post the amazon link, but it didn't work right.
FILTER; an internal filter primarily for mechanical filtration (I was hoping the rock would do most of the biological work). I was thinking of adding a second internal filter or perhaps a powerhead on the opposite corner of the tank to ensure sufficient flow through the tank (how much should I shoot for with softies/LPS, by the way? Should I just use powerheads instead of the internal filters?) I am hesitant to use HOBS because they would prevent me from covering the entire tank with a lid, and in my freshwater hobby most of the fish I have kept in recent years have been jumpers that have required completely covered tanks. I have never used a canister filter.
WATER; Premade seawater from a local petco (shooting for simplicity at the expense of my wallet), 3 gallon WC's a week. Distilled water for top-offs.
FISH/MOBILE INVERTS; No clue yet.
MACROALGAE; Maybe? I am in the early stages of planning this tank...nothing calcified if I go this route.
CORALS; Mostly soft corals, maybe a few LPS (only a few, though...don't want to deal with dosing). I am a sucker for sun corals and have kept one in the past for a while, but I am concerned their food requirements would unbalance the tank in the long term.
SETUP; Cycle the tank in the dark, then add copepods + lights, then start adding corals, fish, inverts, possibly macroalgae.
What do you think of my plans? Any important edits you would recommend? I thank you for your thoughts on my plans.
LIGHT; Nicrew reef light, 30 watts. Tried to post the amazon link, but it didn't work right.
FILTER; an internal filter primarily for mechanical filtration (I was hoping the rock would do most of the biological work). I was thinking of adding a second internal filter or perhaps a powerhead on the opposite corner of the tank to ensure sufficient flow through the tank (how much should I shoot for with softies/LPS, by the way? Should I just use powerheads instead of the internal filters?) I am hesitant to use HOBS because they would prevent me from covering the entire tank with a lid, and in my freshwater hobby most of the fish I have kept in recent years have been jumpers that have required completely covered tanks. I have never used a canister filter.
WATER; Premade seawater from a local petco (shooting for simplicity at the expense of my wallet), 3 gallon WC's a week. Distilled water for top-offs.
FISH/MOBILE INVERTS; No clue yet.
MACROALGAE; Maybe? I am in the early stages of planning this tank...nothing calcified if I go this route.
CORALS; Mostly soft corals, maybe a few LPS (only a few, though...don't want to deal with dosing). I am a sucker for sun corals and have kept one in the past for a while, but I am concerned their food requirements would unbalance the tank in the long term.
SETUP; Cycle the tank in the dark, then add copepods + lights, then start adding corals, fish, inverts, possibly macroalgae.
What do you think of my plans? Any important edits you would recommend? I thank you for your thoughts on my plans.
perhaps there is a place that sells RO water and you could get some and test it to see if it is decent quality then mix your own salt in until you have a full on set up the way you want?
