Nano Saltwater tank help...

[trickyteensta14]

Okay so heres the deal. I have a 10gallon tank i just bought about a week ago from yesterday. I bought bottom rocks, plants(fake), a small rock(its not a live rock) wit a hole in it. The tank itself came with a filter and a hood and a heater.So I had been thinking about it and i decided to turn the tank into a nano saltwater tank. So last nigt i put in My hydrometer and started pouring salt. I have a few questions 1st: how long will it take for everything to settle?such as the salt or water 2nd: Do i necessarly need live rock or coral or anything else for my fish to survive? 3rd: Will 2 or or 3 Clownfish be alright in the tank?

Right now this is what my tank looks like with the salt in it:

 

[Lotus]

Welcome to the world of saltwater!

You should take a look at the stickies both on this Nano forum and on the saltwater general forum. I think you've jumped the gun a little by adding salt without doing any research.

It's very hard to run a sucessful tank without live rock. To attempt it would be a mistake, IMO. You'll probably also need to remove your current substrate.

Your tank will need to be fully cycled before you add any fish. Don't let anyone tell you to add fish to "help the cycle."

As you have no fish in the tank, it was OK to add the salt to the tank, but never do that once you have live rock or any living organism in your tank. The salt is caustic when not thoroughly mixed. The saltwater needs to be mixed outside of the tank and aerated for 24 hours before you put it in the tank.

 

[Guysy1110]

i think oyu also might have jumped the gun a little. It looks abit like a freshwater tank, but youve put salt in it.

You will probably need to read all the stickies to get more info on it.

To be sucsessful you might need to change the substrate, add live rock, mx the salt outside of the tank.

What filter are you using and are you going to use any power heads ?

Guysy

 

[CoolWaters]

doesnt that hydrometer need to be 6" below the water??? for long term use?

mine only goes down 5"....


lol did u use kitchen salt???

just to let u know your going to spend around $300 if u want to be successful
and no u cant cheap out since i tried and still ended up paying over $400....

 

[BONGRIPPER0420]

the sticky in the nano section is really helpful. I set up my 29 gal nano just over a week ago and the information on this site has been really helpful. i would definatly re-think the substrate and as stated above dont be cheap! i spent a little over 400 dollars setting up the live rock and substrate. i also spent the money on a quality lighting system. dont go cheap it will be worth it in the long run!

 

[joeyjoeq]

lol did u use kitchen salt???

just to let u know your going to spend around $300 if u want to be successful
and no u cant cheap out since i tried and still ended up paying over $400....

Hey that scared the begivus out of me lol, I still cant put it through my head what that lady did. Ohh yeah you will spend some $$$, any plans of changing to sand? I dont know about the plants either, I'd go with live plants instead of fakies. Good Luck!

 

[CoolWaters]

at least get some live rocks and switch to Live sand or crushed coral

u can try to get some travertine rock and let the bactera from the live rock grow on it. (just to be safe boil the rock to kill unwanted bacteria)

u got any powerheads?

 

[Betta5]

Hi i am by no means an expert, but to say " It's very hard to run a sucessful tank without live rock" is a very misleading statement. Not only a few years ago People were running tanks on UGFs, and having success with that. I agree the tank does need a bit of a rearange. I would chuck the gravel and get some sand (IME "live" sand that has been sitting on a shelf for god knows how long is a waste of money, unless you get it from another reefers tank, i would not bother with that) get yourself some crushed coral or something like that. I think it is possible to run your tank LR less, just keep up on maintanance. Make sure you have a decent filter (Bio, chem, and mech) heater and a few powerheads. Then when you are used to running the tank and how it works you could then add maybe 1 or 2 very small fish such as lemon gobies or neon gobies (really up to you). And if your water quality is good, inverts.
Some people dont have the funds (not saying you dont) to start a full wacked out reef tank. This doesnt mean they cant do a FO (maybe inverts) system. What do you think people used to use before LR? they had successful tanks.
This is all just my opinion, if others choose to disagree thats up to you.
I understand if you are in the position to get LR by all means get as much as you can fit before you start constricing flow and space.

well whatever you choose i hope it all works out for you.