Newbie setting a Nano tank.

[tjchan]

Planning to setup a 2ft or 20" tank. roughly 10-15G.

Need help on the following:

Lights: It's either a 4xT5 24W tube config from NA for the 2ft or 2x36W PL 10000k tube config for the 22" tank.

are these either one enough for keeping easy to keep soft corals and maybe some hard corals?

Filtration/skimmer: I plan to use either an Eheim 2215 cannister or Jebo 912 cannister filled with ceramic rings and biohome only for bio filtration. No sponge or cotton. And a cheap Hang On Back filter for increased filtration.

Do you think I will need a skimmer and if yes, any cheap one to recomment less than S$100.

Also, what flowrate Powerhead should I add for optimum water flow. I do not want a bulky one as limited for space. Any brand recommendations? My budget is less than S$30 for this one.

Lastly, what brand of sea salt is good and do I really need RO or distilled water for SW tanks? Can normal tap water with antichlorine be used as well?

I have been in FW tanks for 7-8yrs now but got no clue on SW tanks.

Planning to start soon and hopefully some kind lau jiaos in SW will be able to help.

[jc85]

Lights: It's either a 4xT5 24W tube config from NA for the 2ft or 2x36W PL 10000k tube config for the 22" tank.

are these either one enough for keeping easy to keep soft corals and maybe some hard corals?

Yes. T5HO is gd enough for most soft coral. I'll drop the PL since its much warmer.

Filtration/skimmer: I plan to use either an Eheim 2215 cannister or Jebo 912 cannister filled with ceramic rings and biohome only for bio filtration. No sponge or cotton. And a cheap Hang On Back filter for increased filtration.

I'll suggest leaving the cotton in the cannister to filter big particles. HOB filter is not neccessary. If you wan to create water flow, get one of those small powerhead or wavemaker. A gd one is Maxijet which use little power and emit lesser heat.

Do you think I will need a skimmer and if yes, any cheap one to recomment less than S$100.

I'll highly recommend one. Maybe a weipro or macro will work well for your setup.

Lastly, what brand of sea salt is good and do I really need RO or distilled water for SW tanks? Can normal tap water with antichlorine be used as well?

IMHO, most brands are fine. RO/DI is not really necessary till much later when u venture into Hard Coral. Another method is to buy natural seawater from LFS.

Cheers

JC