Summary so far - 6 weeks, nearly 7 so time for a resume. In terms of the nitrogen cycle this tank is cycled, but that doesn't really meant it's stable or complete yet.. There are undoubtedly new populations of organisms growing, and old ones are still dying, and this is likely true in a micro scale too. My main concern is that I have brown algae on the top of my sand bed, which may or may not be diatoms. This is the only problem algae i have now, as my coralline is developing , and i have a couple of clumps of caulerpa (nummilaria?) growing. I am disappointed by the rate at which my sand bed is NOT becoming live - not much apart from a few worms are visible. I wil likely have to make an effort to seed from an established reef somewere locally.
The original aim of this project was to produce a viable long term relatively low maintenance marine aquarium for as little cash as was possible, but somewhere along the road it grew a bit. However the original aim was good, and I think possible.
An original list of kit was
Juwel rekord 110 litre with dual light hood, 40 watts fluorescent light
Swap out one bulb for 12000 K NO
Extra powerhead (Juwel kit comes with 600 l/h pump + heater)
Aragonite sand (dead) - adequate for 1 inch base
Salt
Hydrometer, test kits, esp pH, kH, ammonia, nitrite
10 - 15 kilos live rock
And I reckon you can run with that lot as long as you are diligent in waterchanges, not overfeeding, not overstocking and generally being smart. You're relying on liverock and extensive water movement to filter the tank, but you have to understand this is quite limited though it will be a lot better than a UGF filtered system or one filtered in a style similar to FW tanks. Of that lot the tank kit and live rock were the most expensive parts. This , for me, is a baseline setup. I have no idea how much this would be in the US, but I don't think you can go much lighter and get good results.
However after adding a skimmer and upgrading the lighting, the 2 logical steps, and adding some polyps I guess I'm now close to a reef in setup though that isn't what I would call it - it still feels like a FOWLR to me. This isn't really important.
This has been an interesting progress, and I suppose I should make an effort to keep this up to date over the coming months, though frankly there won't be a lot to say...
Lessons so far
KNOW YOUR ENEMY - research, research, research. Don't trust your local store unless they're obviously good. Once you've done your research properly you'll know what to look for, what not. UGF's, damsels to cycle and a Moorish Idol sir - give that store a miss! 5 fish inc. a tang and an angel in a 10 - you're on the wrong planet. Know what you're buying before you give away your money. Don't trust the internet - do the classic paper reading. I see the same questions again and again on different sites, including this one. If you can't be bothered to do this reading, don't expect success. You can't expect to fix stuff repeatedly - prevention is the best cure, especially in small tanks.
BIGGER IS BETTER - yes it is. I'm trying to stock a 30 now, and do you know, not many fish work long term in a small tank like that, so god only knows why so many people try small tanks like 10's. My list is going to be a clown or 2, six line wrasse, a small centropyge and maybe a banggai cardinal and that's it. I'd like a tang, but my tanks obviously too small, ditto butterflies, larger centropyges and so on. I'd like Rainsfords goby, 2 1/2 inches, but guess what , the tanks too small to support a pod population for it to live, ditto mandarins. The list goes on... So the criteria for going into a tank of this size (32 inches long, 80 cms) is small, relatively inactive or at laest not pelagic, peaceful and can be fed artificial/frozen foods. That isn't many. Damsels for example - not really for the long haul, too aggressive.
I can tell you right now, though I like this tank ,I wish it was 4 feet long as you can use so much more stuff. The only way this can work is by concentrating on inverts to keep the interest level up. The concept of a 10 gallon fish only is a joke, you can't keep anything except 2 small fish in it! Long term , that isn't too interesting. Note that if you put much more than 10 lbs of rock into a 10 there isn't much room for a fish! 8 gals real volume, minus a gallon or two for the rocks volume....
Cost shouldn't be an issue here, though it undoubtedly is. However the exact same equipment and quantity of rock for a 10, put straight into a 20 long is going to be a lot better for you and the fish for a negligible increase in cost, just thro the increase in size.
This project has been a lot of fun so far and very interesting. At the moment I'm trying to figure what a bunch of small pink blobs with lilac tips are - chordates, or some kind of primary polyp. I wish this was larger, but I'm glad I have this setup
