# 10 Gallon Saltwater FOWLR



## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

How much would one cost? I have a tetra whisper 10i and play sand, I would need better light and the live would be the 'center piece' of the aquarium, plus any kind of fish that could go in it. Is a UV sterilizer necessary in a such a small tank? And how often and how big for water changes?
Just an idea I've been thinking of for a bit. Thx peeps


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Pearl2011 said:


> How much would one cost? I have a tetra whisper 10i and play sand, I would need better light and the live would be the 'center piece' of the aquarium, plus any kind of fish that could go in it. Is a UV sterilizer necessary in a such a small tank? And how often and how big for water changes?
> Just an idea I've been thinking of for a bit. Thx peeps


 No need for a UV light.
10% water changes weekly.
Play sand has a crap load of silicates in it, I would no trecommend using it.
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/saltwater-aquariums/cost-marine-hobby-107785/#post1166820


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

wow good news you wanna do a sw tank  since its a tetra tank i'm guessing the internal filter is a small one on top of the tank am i right and it come with a cover and a light already fixed inside.if that is the case 2-3 fishes depending on size of the fishes and how much lr is in there coz the amount of lr needed to keep the tank balanced and will take up quite a lot of space and water volume and it will be less then 10 gallons for the fish.marine fish are more sensitive to changes in the water.10-20 % wc just like any other tank will suffice but the time to cycle the tank is way much longer then fw and is necessary. 10 gallons is 37.85 litters. a 1 kg bag of marine salt will make 10 litters of salt water with a 0.21 salinity reading at 25 degrees. you would need at least 3 kg of salt 30 litters of water for starters and depending on how much lr i think you'de either have leftover or need to make more.making extra is ok coz you need time to fully dissolve the salts before adding to the tank during wc. btw you'll need a hydrometer to do the salinity test.you would also need a skimmer but i don't know how you're gonna add it.in a small tank i personally believe a skimmer is important but there are others who beg to differ.so it's up to you


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

kitten, I ended up buying everything separately when I had my first goldfish. Got the tank, then the filter a couple weekes later and then I got a cover for the tank. So my cat wouldn't get in it. . . clearly it was my second fish tank.
I have 4 bettas in it now and am thinking about moving them to by 25 gallon eventually. More like a couple of years down the road, and if the bettas can play nice (yes Ruby, I'm looking at you).
This is the filter: Internal Aquarium Filter | Tetra Whisper: No Hassle No Noise
The light I have on it was a lid for a 2.5 gallon I put on the cover, now I have a lid for my 25 gallon on it with 1 25w bulb. 

Reefing Madness, how would silicates affect the water or hurt the fish? Just curious since I have it in 3 tanks.


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

OMG kitten!!! How many tank do you have!?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Silicates from the play sand will not do anything to the fish. But there is bacteria that grows on that stuff, such as Cyano Bacteria. And, you have it in 3 Fresh Water tanks, totally different animal there.
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/member-submitted-articles/cyanobacteria-23633/


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

So crushed coral would be used for the substrate? And does it have to be white?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Pearl2011 said:


> So crushed coral would be used for the substrate? And does it have to be white?


 You could use Crushed Coral, yes. And no, it doesn't have to be white.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

lol i still have all the tanks that is written in my signature list.if you don't want to use crushed coral you could use coral sand.the more expensive ones are rounded and wont hurt borrowing fishes.plus coral sand buffers the water naturally.btw when using this kinds of filters the sponge needs to be changed or thoroughly cleaned.lots of bacteria breeding in fw is good but in sw it's not very good.always change the filter sponges will help in keeping po4 and no3 levels down.this causes cyno and other unwanted.bacterial and unwanted algae to bloom in the tank. regular wc also help top up the trace elements needed to grow a red type of algae "this is the pretty good type you want" if there is not enough trace elements the red wont grow and the unwanted ones will.plus red lr looks much better then brownish dirty looking rocks.having a cover will most probably heat up your tank when you leave the lights on so you shouldn't turn on the lights for a long period of time.putting a digital thermometer will help get a more precise temperature.


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

So rinse the filter weekly change it monthly should suffice? 
Why do people alway keep clownfish in a 10 gallon? I thought they got to 4 inches, which is too big for a ten gallon, right? Is there some kind of gobie or other small but hardy beginner fish, _captive bred_ fish I could get for under 30$.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Ideas for Nano fish
Nano Fish


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

depends on the type of clown actually.they are hardy and easy for beginners cause they take pellets after a few days.it's normal for them to not eat in the first 3-4 days in a new tank.after that just put the sinking pellets in and they are more then happy to feed on them.plus most of the time they just stick a anemone in there and the tank look complete.

just imagine lr scape, anemone, pistol shrimp and 2 clowns and you have a perfect pic nano reef ^.^


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

this is a very good site i use to find info and prices of ls esp corals


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

kitten_penang said:


> depends on the type of clown actually.they are hardy and easy for beginners cause they take pellets after a few days.it's normal for them to not eat in the first 3-4 days in a new tank.after that just put the sinking pellets in and they are more then happy to feed on them.plus most of the time they just stick a anemone in there and the tank look complete.
> 
> *just imagine lr scape, anemone, pistol shrimp and 2 clowns and you have a perfect pic nano reef* ^.^


 10g tanks are not a very good idea for Clowns and any Anemone that I know of. The only Nem that would fit in a tank that small would be a Max Mini. WIth Live Rock and a Substrate, the water displacement, you rtank is not going to be even close to 10g, more like 4-5g.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

well i've seen at least 1 person do it but i'm guessing they were pros and wanted to test their skill.from what i remember there were no lr in the main tank the anemone was set low could have been stuck to a base lr but i couldn't see it.the lr used for filtration could have been in the sump area.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Right on. Sump with all the LR coulda done te trick. But still, Anemones get really Big in diameter.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

yeah i know.i have one and once it spreads out it gets huge much bigger then when you first brought it back home.


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

What is a sump? I've heard people talk about it but cant figure it out. Same with an overflow. I get the point that it i for extra water, but why wold there be that much?

Are Gobies good for beginners? The Catalina Goby is freaking AMAZING!!


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

a sump is an aquarium used as a filter.just imagine your whisper filter but with 2 feet worth of space to put in filter material.
an overflow is a compartment in the tank where the water from the tank over flows into and is sent to the sump underneath the main tank.

if you can get a tank with a sump.i 100% guarantee you will love yourself for getting it in the first place.as you can stock up a little more in the main tank without stressing the system as the sump is of ample space for filtration.if you make the sump a refregium even better.a refregium is a sump that has live algae (the good type)or cheeto that helps with biological filtration it is once of the best filtration for a sw tank.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

in short a 10g tank with a 10g sump will make it a 20g and that will give you 10g++ for ls in the main tank.the temp is easier to control as well as it gets to cool down before being pumped into the tank.no wires here and there,no fans on top of the tank either.
instead of a 10g tank alone which will give you only 4 gallons tops just like reefing madness said because of all the lr and equipment that displaces a lot of water in the tank


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

So a tube or PVC would go into the tank, and the water would empty into the sump, and would somehow be pumped back up? Trying to picture it . . .


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

So I would use the sump for sure to get all that extra water space.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Easy read here: Read carefully, its not as easy as meets the eye. There are precautions needed.
Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

well the piping is trick for a newbie but once you get used to it it's a snap like everything else =)


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

My dad would probably help with that. He is really good with handy work.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

You can use rubber tubing for the whole thing.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

reefing madness has a huge sump and he's kinda good at it too.so in doing diy stuff guys are always better.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

kitten_penang said:


> reefing madness has a huge sump and he's kinda good at it too.so in doing diy stuff guys are always better.


 Ah, come now. Thats not true. Anyone can do it. Not that hard.:-D


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

well to some yes.i ended with ecotech on hair and fingers while gluing zoas yesterday


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

kitten_penang said:


> well to some yes.i ended with ecotech on hair and fingers while gluing zoas yesterday


 :doh!:


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

yeah homer simpson style :frustrated:


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

Im guessing eco tech is glue?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Pearl2011 said:


> Im guessing eco tech is glue?


 Yea, its a sticky glue formulated for glueing corls into place.


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

I thought my hair was a disaster this morning _without_ glue in it. Yikes!


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

you should try having ecotech in it.it's not runny more like rubber in consistency but when it get's on your fingers and hair it's like super glues plus it's water proof.you can stick this glue in water and it still works


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

Oh god that would be terrible!


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

yeah i snipped it off straight away and regretted it coz i found out the next day it is actually very easy to remove after 24 hours.


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

Seriously?? That sucks!! Its like dont mien my bald patch, I was just glueing coral together.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

hahahaha yeah something like that


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