My daughter wants a tank in her room. I want to build a nano reef. Long story short, my daughter is going to get a nano reef in her room.
I understand that buying cheap equipment up front leads to regret, rebuying, and an overall increased expense. That said, I'm looking to construct a reef on the cheap. I'm not looking for difficult or expensive corals or a wide array of life. Just some basic, pretty colors and maybe a single fish with a small clean-up crew.
Here are my basic thoughts:
A standard 10 gallon tank with a handmade acrylic "coast to coast" overflow in the back. A powerhead in the overflow with a pvc splitter sending out 2 srteams back to the tank. I think it should produce enough flow and with frequent water changes I won't need a skimmer or filter. I'll pull some chaeto from another tank to add to the overflow.
I've got quite a bit of manmade rock that has been in my other tank for about 6 months. I'll add some of that to the new nano. to get things started. I will probably go barebottom, but am not opposed to some argonite substrate. I may add a little "Garf Grunge" to get a little extra life in the tank.
My big concern is lights. What would you suggest for cheap lighting? With the cheap lights and basic setup what livestock would you recommend? Pictures of your recommendations would be appreciated. I don't really have my heart set on anything and I'm very open to suggestions.
If you are currently running a budget build like this I'd be very interested in seeing pictures.
Thanks for your input.
I understand that buying cheap equipment up front leads to regret, rebuying, and an overall increased expense. That said, I'm looking to construct a reef on the cheap. I'm not looking for difficult or expensive corals or a wide array of life. Just some basic, pretty colors and maybe a single fish with a small clean-up crew.
Here are my basic thoughts:
A standard 10 gallon tank with a handmade acrylic "coast to coast" overflow in the back. A powerhead in the overflow with a pvc splitter sending out 2 srteams back to the tank. I think it should produce enough flow and with frequent water changes I won't need a skimmer or filter. I'll pull some chaeto from another tank to add to the overflow.
I've got quite a bit of manmade rock that has been in my other tank for about 6 months. I'll add some of that to the new nano. to get things started. I will probably go barebottom, but am not opposed to some argonite substrate. I may add a little "Garf Grunge" to get a little extra life in the tank.
My big concern is lights. What would you suggest for cheap lighting? With the cheap lights and basic setup what livestock would you recommend? Pictures of your recommendations would be appreciated. I don't really have my heart set on anything and I'm very open to suggestions.
If you are currently running a budget build like this I'd be very interested in seeing pictures.
Thanks for your input.