10 gallon Hex...what shall I do

[drgnbttrfly]

I have a ten gallon hex and a 40 gallon hex and my 125.

My 125 is sumped and set up Euro Reefed etc..

I have the 40 hex in the Living Room as a quarantine tank and I have not added rock yet...but its on the list.

I have a ten hex I was going to set up...I thought it might be fun to set up my ten as a nano...but the 20 was the smallest I have ever done.

It actually already has a T5 light in it...teeny...but its a T5.

I have two other 20 gallons I can set up emergency bare bottom hospital tanks in....since nobody wants to buy the darn things.

So should I set it up...or is ten to small? What could I put in it?

If anything outgrew it..I could put it in my larger tank. I do have a ocellaris clown I think I am going to remove from my display because she is too mean.

Would you say a Rio Nano with the filter built in the skimmer? Use a regular filter and just do water changes?

Forget it and use it for fresh water?

Sell the dang tank?

Store extra water?

Have the salt sand and water...just don't know yet.

Space on the hang ons is an issue because its a hex and not a square or rectangular tank.

TIA!

[jtrux]

It's not too small at all, I had a three gallon set up for a while. I would only keep fish in it that could not outgrow it like all the nano species you can find on www.liveaquaria.com

[Chris]

A small specimen tank would be a cool idea.. maybe add a load of sexy shrimp? 6+ ? and a few softies.

[subsailor]

Just a word about the quarintine tank, You might not want to keep any live rock in there IMO. The reason you are using it in the first place is If there are any diseases or anything brought in with a new fish or what not, you can find out about it prior to adding it to your display. By using rocks if there are any diseases then they pottentially could inhabit the rock and spread to new fish when your quarintine. Additionally if you treat the tank for any diseases with medication it could get in your rock and kill off the bacteria, but also over time certain treatments could leech "Bad Stuff" back into your tank (IE Mercury, Lead, Etc.) IMO The best course of action is to do regular water changes. When you think about a quarintine remember rock is not the only thing bacteria colonizes on, every inch of anything that is submerged has the potential to be colonized. The reason Live rock is utilized is that Deeper inside the live rock, where oxygen levels are nil, anaerobic denitrifying bacteria take hold and complete the nitrogen cycle, breaking down nitrate into harmless nitrogen, however if you stay on top of your water changes this can be accomplished with that. Sorry for my rantings....
Check this link out

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/QuarMarFishes.htm

[drgnbttrfly]

What I was thinking

...and correct me if I am wrong...is that if I find a fish is infected...move all of the fish to a hospital tank and treat it bare bottom because even the sand effects the medication level

...and should anything be on the fish....

after having any fish in there I could leave the tank empty and run it and the parasites would die out if they have nothing to feed on...especially marine ich...like 2 months and its done?

the reason I wanted to have some rocks in there was to make acclimation as easy and stress free as possible because I plan to quarantine 8 week for fish...

I also plan to quarantine my inverts seperately


ok...shoot...

[drgnbttrfly]

WOW...I typed in nano on live aquaria and there was all these teeny little fish

i have one of those neon goby guys...he is soooooo small

you think my one little T5 could do zoas and stuff?

I have never done those...it would be fun!

Still not sure about the filter and skimmer

I had a fission on my old 20...it was a waste of plastic

[des]

Nanos are a little bit more complicated than the larger tanks in some ways and easier in some ways as well. Try nano-reef.com, they have a great FAQ that you can probably learn a lot from. Zoos and other corals are perfect for the right set up, but you have many options how you want the final set up to be.

[drgnbttrfly]

Ok well I have a very deep sand bed two large live rocks one shroom head cuz it came on the rock and I have not managed to kill it in a year

there are some crabs and two emeralds that hide inside one of the rocks that is actually sort of buried in the sand..some of them are supposed to go back to the display but just have not caught em yet

then there is an anemone baby whose foot is the size of a quarter and my mean ocellaris who can't get along in my display

i have no skimmer because i gave my fission to my friend ...we tried the more direct hookup recommended on their site...and go figure it works fine for her...on my 20 trash

I do water changes and there is an Aqua Clear 30 power head pointed at the glass that gives almost a tornado action around the tank and a small ten gallon filter with a 30 gallon motor that pulls the water through carbon and a few layers of floss

[Kristy]

Look at bexarhunt's recent photo thread. She's got three nanos and takes it to an art form! You are guaranteed to be inspired by it.