Reefs.org Forums

[sdbarton42]

i! I am starting up a 10 gallon nano reef tank and just need some god advice. I'm not really sure what products are the best. I have some ideas from tanks I've seen online. I want fish, inverts, and corals in my tank. I had a 29 gallon saltwater a couple of years ago and had 1 pound of live rock per gallon of water. Does that pertain to a 10 gallon? Any suggestions on set-up would be greatly appreciated because I am kind of in the dark about a reef tank.

Thanks!

[seamaiden]

You already should have the 'basics' down since you've done salt before. That amount of live rock is fine (1lb/gallon), but it really depends more on quality, weight, shape, etc. as far as what you'd actually use in a 10gal setup. Sump would be recommended if you need more room for additional live rock. In my experience with nanos a good foam fractionator can be your bestest friend. Outside of that, be prepared for lots and lots of water changes.

As far as what corals are best, I'll leave that to those who are current with the trade at this moment, it's been too many years for me. I can say with some degree of certainty that you might wish to avoid things such as leathers that can take over the tank and could kill other occupants. I happen to love green star polyps, but they can encrust everything and other folks don't like them so much.

Most important to what benthic inverts you'll keep is type and intensity of lighting you'll be using.

[sdbarton42]

Thanks for the advice! I'm not so sure about the sump because I don't feel too comfortable with drilling into the tank I have. Plus, I don't really have much room for an overly large setup or any good places to hide things (I live in a small one bedroom apartment). I looked up some protein skimmers and saw two that came highly recommended, but their prices are EXTREMELY different. What are the differences in the two? One is the Red Sea Prizm Hang-on Protein Skimmer and it is $125. The other is the Taam Rio Nano Protein Skimmer and it is only $45! Personally I like the $45 one better, but why is it so much cheaper? I still need a filter with a protein skimmer correct? The pics I saw (especially the Taam Rio) look very similar to a normal filter.