Setting Up A 10 Gallon Reef

Hello all I have a 10 gallon I've just broken down that I had up for a while for my freshwater fish. I'd like to turn this into a nano reef tank. I wouldn't mind just keeping with a single or a pair of clowns in it. As well as some shrimp and hopefully get a little reef situation going. I have a powerhead that I was using on a 55 gallon freshwater tank and I have a HOB for the 10 gallon that is rated for 20 gallons. What other equipment would I need to reset this up as a reef tank?

 

Glad you made the jump.
"Needed equipment" is kind of relative. Some folks run a lot of equipment, some run the bare minimum.

To give you an idea of what you will need to at least get your Saltwater tank going, check out my Saltwater build, I listed out my equipment down to sand/rocks. I did something similar to what you are doing and have evolved since.
Nart's 15 Gallon Sw Nano Setup

 

10g sounds a little tight for a pair of clowns to me, others will say different. I'd say one fish and inverts. You will need 10lbs live rock. 1-2 inches of substrate, a good quality filter, and a good quality heater. Eventually I would get a skimmer, but you should be fine without it at first if you don't overstock.

 

I run a 10 gallon nano reef. its a bit more work than my larger one. I run an HOB rated for 30g, and a powerhead. and an adjustable heater. a good light. sand and live rock. snails, shrimp etc to keep it clean and my fish. I am growing out a diamond goby in there- he moves sand everywhere and hes still a baby

 

Thank you all for the excellent information. It appears I have a good friend who is giving me a pre drilled 40 gallon breeder. So it looks like I'm going to be converting the old 10 gallon into a dump for said 40 gallon. He's also giving me a protein skimmer that he isn't using. I'm thinking I'm gonna get a pump that will be at least 500 gph. Are there any extra sections that will need on the sump for a marine system?

 

The key is weekly water changes at 20%. I kept a 10 gallon for 10 years. I maybe did 15 water changes total in that ten years and my clown made it through everything. He is now 12 years old but don't count on that happening. Have a really good light, and add weekly water changes to that and that should be all you need. Wouldn't hurt to have a skimmer and HOB filter and heater. Don't get more than two fish, preferably only one. For your HOB filter, take out the actual pad because it only adds nitrates and put carbon in there and phosban to keep your water having good quality.

 

Our sump design is pretty simple. The first chamber has filter socks and then the protein skimmer. For protein skimmers, the water level needs to be consistent so we have a baffle that does that. After that baffle are the bubble trap baffles and then the return pump chamber.

40B are a great size for a first saltwater tank!