coral only

[barberking12]

what would be the best way to start a coral only tank using a 10g

[barberking12]

anybody?

[Darbex]

Patience grasshopper we aren't all on.

To answer the question it depends on what you want to keep and how often you plan on changing water. My recommendation is not to do a 10G. To hard to maintain params. Unless you keep softies.

[barberking12]

just some basic hardy corals nothing fancy right now just want to get into saltwater a little bit

[myjohnson]

You will need live rock, salt water, and a power head minimum.

Just get that set up. It will take a month to cycle.

Use that time to read up on corals and equitment set up.

[eklikewhoa]

buy established LR, fill with water, wait a few days and fill with coral.

I don't believe in cycle time.

[barberking12]

buy established LR, fill with water, wait a few days and fill with coral.

I don't believe in cycle time.

thats what i was thinking thanks for the info

[Churty]

Patience grasshopper we aren't all on.

To answer the question it depends on what you want to keep and how often you plan on changing water. My recommendation is not to do a 10G. To hard to maintain params. Unless you keep softies.

Darbex is right, its hard to keep params stable on a small tank, just the evaporation from a light strong enough for coral will put stuff into flux.

[barberking12]

well theres only one way for me to learn is to try for myself i guess

[eklikewhoa]

Take the time before setting up to get the basics down.

My first reef tank was set up within a few weeks but I did my research prior and just bought everything I needed before filling with water. My old 30g was stable right off the bat but to make up for length in time I dumped money to get it going right.

everyone has their own methods that work best for them or for their level of comfort.

[myjohnson]

Darbex is right, its hard to keep params stable on a small tank, just the evaporation from a light strong enough for coral will put stuff into flux.

That's what ATO are for....

[barberking12]

i plan on doing research im not setting it up today maybe in 2 weeks or so

[myjohnson]

buy established LR, fill with water, wait a few days and fill with coral.

I don't believe in cycle time.

Nahhhhh, I'll pass in the nasties from LR.

Plus there is some die off when moving LR and sand.

When i moved my 45f from one apartment to the other there was a small cycle. Not a month long cycle but still took about two weeks.

[eklikewhoa]

The nasty die off is what the skimmer is for, buy one that is rated for 2-3x your tank size and in a day or two and all that stuff will be skimmed out.

I ran the ReefOctopus 300 on my 30g and never had a problem.

[eklikewhoa]

The die off in the sand/LR is what boost the stabilization of the tank. Not everything dies off and what does will fuel the live beneficial bacteria and will get it up to par for stocking your tank.

This has always been my perception of "Live Rock" and the use of it on initial set up, other than that it's just overpriced ripoff since water logged rock will be much heavier and will bring the cost up so in the end you've paid for dirty water.