# First Salt Water Tank



## mdmorash (Jul 4, 2009)

Hello All,

I am getting ready to start a 10 gallon salt water tank. I have a complete tank, minus the filter. What would be a good, yet reasonably proved filter for a small tank?


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## drhank (Aug 3, 2009)

I'd recommend that you read this thread first and see if you are still interested in a 10 gallon salt water tank.

http://www.aquariumforum.com/f67/first-salwater-tank-3764.html


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## phil_pl (Apr 10, 2009)

Depending on what you are wanting to keep in this tank i would throw somethign like a AC 30 on the back, if you want something more extreme i would use an overflow and run a sump


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## mdmorash (Jul 4, 2009)

Okay, so a 10 gallon tank is not a good idea. What would be a good size for a beginner?


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

The bigger your tank, the easier it will be.


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## Imaexpat2 (Jun 17, 2009)

I used a AquaClear 30 on mine which is in the process of being upgraded to an SPS nano tank after spending 17 months as a Soft/LPS coral tank. Note...this tank had no fish in it, strickly corals and CUC only, other than a Waratah Anemome.

Aquarium Filters: Hagen AquaClear Powerfilters

Here are a few pics of it about 6-8 months into the project...


Full Tank Shot, not the best but due to the lenses I have and its location in my home this was about the best in focus shot I could get











Here is the shot of the Waratah Anemone shortly after feeding it a morsle of cut shrimp.










This is a shot of the front right corner with a Kenya Tree coral that survived a move from Japan, there is also a cluster of Mini Feather Dusters I robbed from one of my sumps and a Elephant Ear Mushroom thats metallic Green.










Although it wasnt a jaw dropping tank at this point, It was a pretty easy to replicate tank thats a good launching point for jumping into SW. You just gotta pay attention to detail, keep things on a short leash maintenance wise and water parameter wise. This can sometimes be a bit challenging for the novice just cutting their teeth on a SW tank with a tank as small as this 10 gallon. If you want fish I would suggest something larger to start with though, cuase with a 10 gallon tank you will be very limited on what fish you can put in it.


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## mdmorash (Jul 4, 2009)

That's an awesome tank!


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## drhank (Aug 3, 2009)

It depends a lot on what you are after. Generally speaking, the larger a tank is the more stable the environment becomes and the easier it is to maintain. Unfortunately, the larger the tank is, the more expensive it becomes to set up and maintain. A general rule of thumb that has never served me wrong (unless I chose to ignore it) is 1" of fish per five gallons of salt water. Many folks will argue that you can have greater fish density than that and they would be right. As you gain experience you will learn where you can cut corners.

I normally suggest the largest tank that you can afford to set up properly. Doesn't have to be new. Many folks in the hobby sell their old equipment as they move to larger tanks. In addition to the tank you will need filtration. For this most of us use live rock and a skimmer. You need between 1 and 1 1/2lbs per gallon. You will want a good skimmer capable of handling twice your water volume. Finally you will want lighting. In this area if you choose to have just fish and possibly some mushrooms or low light soft corals, power compact lighting (PC) will do. A much better choice would be to opt for T5 HO lighting. This will allow you to keep a much wider variety of corals.

Now that I've thrown all this information at you I'll finally get around to answering your question. As a minimum I would choose a 29 gallon set-up. I would personally recommend a used 75 gallon set up. I wish you luck and will be happy to help with whatever you do choose.


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## reefcrazy (Nov 10, 2008)

I would say a small tank would not be good for your first tank.I would start off with a 55 gallon. Get one used to save you should get one for around $250.00.It might not be top of the line but this will let you no if its something you want to do.My first setup was a 180 gallon 12years ago and still love salt water.Sometimes someone will set a small tank and get all upset with it because it don't work out and give up on it and say salt water is to hard. Keeping a salt water tank is not hard you just cant rush them. I tell everyone for the first 6 moths don't go out and buy alot of live stock. First get your live sand and live rock in. Next get some cheap fish (use chromis or clowns not damsel) its such an pain to get unwanted damsel out after the rock work is in *y2 and let that go for the first month. Next put some hardy coral in then let it ride for a few months. If it all goes well then you can add all your coral and fish that you like.Now don't throw 100 fish and coral in at same time just a few at a time.......Stay up on all your water changes and your normal maintenance and it will all work out........Good luck with all and keep us updated with it....... THANKS REEFCRAZY


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