First SW Tank :)

Hello everyone!
I have been an aquarist for about 2 years now and I have decided to switch from fresh to saltwater after seeing a nano reef at my lfs.
I have read a lot about SW tanks, about live rock, filtration, etc. and I think I know enough not to make huge mistakes
Due to lack of space, I am thinking of going with the 10 gallon Aquatic Nature Evolution. It's a small tank but it has an integrated sump in the back which will allow me to turn one of it's chambers into a refugium.
My plan is to have a FOWLR tank and maybe, further down the road add some corals.
I will add aragonite sand and 10 lbs of live rock.
In the sump I plan on making a DSB or adding mcroalgae and a light to one of the chambers, a sponge as a prefilter and another larger sponge for beneficial bacteria to another chamber, a small skimmer in another chamber and a heater and the included return pump in the last chamber.
I will also put a Koralia powerhead of about 250 gph.
The standard light will be switched for 2x11W 10000K.
I will cycle it with live rock, and slowly add inverts after a couple of months if everything will be stable.
I know it's a small tank but in the end I only want 1 shrimp a snail and a damsel. I won't purchase the skimmer just yet and I'll try to keep up by weekly 20% water changes.
What advices to you have and what problems do ou suspect I will encounter? Should I change anything or go ahead with my plan?

 

Hello and welcome to 3reef

 

welcome to 3 reef vladmg

your stocking ideas, sound sensible to me, as does the method you are describing in going about it

water quality is often the difference between success and failure in reef set ups and this is true irrespective of the size of the tank you set up
so provided you can test and then maintain water quality you are in with a great chance

Steve

 

good luck i just started with sw as well. its amazing

 

You've got good plans. Welcome to 3reef.

 

Welcome, sounds like you are off to a great educated start, which is half the battle in the beginning. Too bad about your lack of space, as the larger the tank, the easier it is to maintain swings in params. I started my first FOWLR with a 55g and it was def less forgiving on my newb mistakes. I also went FOWLR to Reef and it's a very wise idea, it gives you experience on the basics and then you can move to corals when you feel comfortable.

Best of luck, keep us updated on your progress!

 

Okay! So, I've got the fish tank, but I have already hit a problem before I have even started. This is because of my location actually, as I live in Romania and reef tanks are quite a new hobby around here. My problem is that the only store I've found to sell live rock has what I believe is bad quality live rock. It has no coraline growth on it, it looks brownish and it's overrun with aptasia anemones. In now way is what they have a colourfull nice to look at reef tank like some I've seen on the forum.
I'm gonna' try to find another lfs which has reef tanks and maybe get some images of what the live rock looks like to have more oppinions whether it is worth buying or not.

 

To be honest I would look for a good dry base rock instead of live rock at 3 times the cost per pound. The base rock will take a few extra weeks during the initial cycle to become "live rock" and as long as you water parameters for calcium, magnesium, and alk are correct the Coraline will soon cover those rocks and you'll never know it started as plain base rock.
I doubt they will ship to Romania but the 3 excellent sources of rock many of us use are:
www.marcorocks.com
www.reefcleaners.org
www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

welcome

 

definitely stay away from the lfs rock you described asking for trouble from the start.....start slow and definitely keep up your water changes