Nano reef around 5-10 gallons

I've been thinking of doing a nano reef. I read the stickies on starting a sw tank, but they are based on a normal sized aquarium. I'm not so much interested in fish, although it is possible that eventually I'd want to go that way. I want a "Live Picture". I'm interested in the anemones and corals and the reef life.

Ideally, I'd like to use a 5-10 gallon tank.

Questions
1) I read an article stating that with a nano reef a protein skimmer wasn't necessary. Is this true?
2) Do I need a HOB for this? A powerhead? Both?
3) Any other important information that I need to research?

Thanks!

 

Well all depends on what corals you would like if you use a protein skimmer or not. The goal to owning corals is you have to A.) Have a nice current for them you want a current that makes them feel at home not batting them around. B.) RESEARCH the corals you will like some well just get to big or well be to fussy for a Nani. C.) Coral love a tank with NO ammonia,nitrites,nitrates, and very low phosphates. Yes technically you don't need a protein skimmer but ideally you well want one. And here Mike did a review on some of them( The reviews are at the bottom of the article I would still read it it is a great article ) https://www.fishlore.com/proteinskimmer.htm

As for a Powerhead I would get one just to make sure you have no dead spots in your tank( My friend who just started her Nano 10 gallon has two to keep the flow going so there is no dead spots)

For HOB filters I have no clue hopefully another saltie can answer that question.

I would rearesearchsearch all you can about keeping a salt waterresearchingrching everything never hurts.( I am reading stuff I do not plan on doing but hey I figured it could huresearchsearch it)

One key thing to remember no question is a stupid one if you ask it.

 

Thanks. Can I just buy DI water, or do I need natural spring water, or should I go to my LFS and buy RO water?

I also read that a tank loses 1% of it's water per day. I also read that the salt does not dissipate, that it's just the water. If I end up topping up every day, will that be ok or should I do 2-3 PWC's per week to make up for topping up?

 

Maintaining stable parameters in a nano is the biggest challenge. It can be done, but you need to be vigilant.

JessI is correct, research the corals you wish to keep. For newbie to SW, and a nano reef, I would try and stick to the softies, zoanthids and mushrooms. These corals tend to be more tolerant of less than perfect water parameters. Some SPS corals may be ok, but SPS would be too difficult in a nano.

As for a HOB, I wouldn't bother, unless you want it for mechanical filtration, but you'll need to keep it clean, any build up of detritus and you may start to experience a nitrate problem. That said, if you're not going to run a skimmer, then the HOB would add to the oxygen levels in the tank.

Powerheads, yes definitely. I'd go for 2 little ones to keep the water flowing. You're going to want around 20x water flow in your tank.

Protein Skimmer - up to you. I highly recommend skimmers be used on all reefs. It basically comes down to a skimmer or more frequent water changes. If you have no intention of livestock (fish/inverts), then you can probably get away without a skimmer as the waste and feeding levels will be low.

I highly recommend distilled water as a minimum, RO is better still, RO/DI is the best choice IMO. Don't use tap water, it's not worth the risk, especially for a reef environment.

Evaporation - always top up with RO/DI water (or RO, distilled). As the water evaporates, the salt remains, increasing your salinity. If you were to add more saltwater on top of this, your salinity increases even more. So you need to top up with fresh RO, and still perform your regular water changes using SW.

Additionally, the amount of evaporation will vary from tank to tank, house to house, area to area. 1-2% a day seems to be the common ground though.

Have you considered lighting for this tank? The lighting you choose can have a big impact on temperature.

 

Aaaah, the lighting question. I have considered it. I'm horrible with lighting. The biggest question on that is how would I get an appropriately sized light on such a small tank?

So ideally I should run a skimmer and 2 powerheads and skip the hob?

 

Ideally, yup, skimmer and powerheads. Depending on the skimmer, it could double as a powerhead, but definitely two sources of flow.

Lighting - I would strongly consider LED, they are cheaper to run, lower temperature thus they don't heat the water as much. There are number of good reef LED setups suitable, depends on the dimensions of the tank. I'd be looking for a 50/50 white/blue mix (royal blue), with 3W LEDs.

 

Lighting - I would strongly consider LED, they are cheaper to run, lower temperature thus they don't heat the water as much. There are number of good reef LED setups suitable, depends on the dimensions of the tank. I'd be looking for a 50/50 white/blue mix (royal blue), with 3W LEDs.

Do you mean 3w per bulb or a total of 3 watts?

 

3W per diode

 

So, to do this fancy led lighting.......do I buy an LED hood or is there an LED bulb I can place in it or should I buy a glass lid and get an LED strip light or? Like I said, I'm not good with lighting. I'm surprised I could even pick out half way decent t8's for my fw tanks. It took me FOREVER to figure that part out.

 

First you need to decide on the setup size

The dimensions of the tank will help steer your available LED options, but generally speaking, you can buy good Reef LED Lighting off the shelf.

 

Well on the setup size....I've had a breakthrough. My husband told me I should use the empty 10 gallon I have. The only catch is that I have to move it from it's current location of the bathroom counter. So 10 gallons it is. Dimensions are...20wx10dx12h

 

I'd start here:

 

I'll look into some of those. Do I need to get a glass top for the tank?

Also, what are some quality brands for protein skimmers and powerheads that I should look into?

 

Glass tops aren't necessary, but like freshwater, help reduce evaporation, stop things falling into the tank, and reduce the chances of live stock escaping.

Brands to consider:
Skimmers: Bubble Magus (if they do nano), Deltec (again if they do nano), Tunze (do a great great nano), Reef Octopus
Powerheads: Tunze (might be too big), Koralia, Eheim - kind of depends on the flow rate you're after, and who makes what, but anything from these brands would likely be good.

 

Ok so when you said 3w per diode....what exactly is a diode? And I know you said to do a 50/50 white blue mix for lights. I'm seeing the royal blue at 480-450nm, but I not all of the lights in the link you provided offer the white lights. If that's the case, would I have to buy 2 different lights? Also, some of them say something about retrofitting to my current setup. I do have a regular hood, but the light fixture in it doesn't work. Are they inferring that I can retrofit the LED's into my stock hood?

 

LED = Light Emitting Diode, the diode is the 'bulb'.

True, not all fixtures will be combination fixtures, some will be white only, others blue only. The Ecoxotic fixtures (as an example) are both

Typically you'll find the whites referred to as 12K, and blue is measured in nano-meters, 450nM for example.

Retrofitting your current hood is definitely possible.

 

So if I chose this https://www.marinedepot.com/Ecoxotic_Panorama_Pro_LED_Module_Linkable_LED_Light_Fixtures-Ecoxotic-XX08225-FILTFILDLK-vi.html would 1 be ok or should I get a second one to go with it?

I do realize I'd need to buy the transformer and splitter as well.

 

What about this one, that includes the transformer

For a smaller tank (and shallower), it should do a great job.

 

I think that would work. Is just 1 adequate for corals and such?

 

It should do.

The tank is only 12" deep, so the lights don't have to penetrate too deep.