10 gal fish only setup - Suggestions

C

CodyRay

[My buddy and his wife want a saltwater tank. After explaining mine, i think it might be a little overbaring for him. So i want to start him off with just a 10 gallon, fish only tank with LR and a pair of O clowns. ill probably let him have a few mushrooms too, since they are hardy. im thinking, LS (seeded from my tank), About 10 lbs of LR, clean up crew, and a powerhead. What else would i need. How often would they have to do a WC if it ran skimmerless. How deep should i make the sand bed. Im open to all ideas. Let me know. Thank you.]
 
[I would put a thin layer of sand since real estate is few. I would think a couple of snails and blue/red leg hermits would be fine. I would run a little hang on filter with a little carbon bag in it. Top off would be one of the most important factors, seeing how there is already so little water that just a lil evaporation could really screw with the SG. A tank that small...I would do a water change every week or so of a lil less than a gallon. As long as overfeeding doesn't occur, the bioload is small enough that the water shouldn't get too bad.]
 
[hard to tell...depends on what kind of lighting and the heat put off from the pumps and so on...I don't know in gallons, but I would around half an inch a day ???]
 
[Don't forget the heater. And teach them to top off daily. Have a 1g jug of RO/DI water near the tank that they will actuallly pick up and use to keep the salinity stable.]
 
[I figured the heater was a no brainer. I guess i shouldnt have left it out. So i dont need a protien skimmer then? I didnt think i would.]
 
[It always helps, but you do not need to use one.]
 
[This is always a touchy one.

You don't NEED a skimmer but it makes everything easier.

Your comment that you think it might be to much for them makes me very nervous with a small tank. There is no doubt there is more husbandry required without a skimmer! I have a 20G that has been skimmerless for over 6 months now but I do weekly 25% water changes, run carbon 24/7 and topoff at least every other day! In a tank that small it would be easy to neglect a 1G evaporation which would screw up your salinity.

I'm not trying to discourage it as I love my 20G but small tanks in general require much more TLC then big ones!]
 
[until last week I had a 10g freshwater tank in my kitchen, and evaporation was about 1/4" per day. Top off not obviously as important in freshwater, and just running a basic system with 4 2-3" tetras and a 1.5" algae eater required 25% water changes at least every other week.

Keeping the temperature swings under control was harder on that tank as well ... it just seemed to warm up faster and cool down faster than the bigger tanks in the house.]
 
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