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New to reefs. Coral selction help?


nikkifro8994

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Hello! I'm looking to tur my 5 gallon invert tank into a reef. I kept a 29 gallon FOWLR for 5 years but had to break it down when I moved. Currently I have a 5.5 gallon tank with 8-10 pounds of live rock and 1 inch of sand. It houses 6 turbo snails that are virtually useless at stirring sand, 2 blue leg hermits, and 1 scarlet reef hermit. I've got a little macro algae, but the blue leg hermots have pretty much decimated it in the last 2 weeks. Also, I think I still have my brittle star, but he may have been on a larger rock that I took out of the 29 gallon I haven't seen him since I moved. For equipment, I have an aquaclear 20 HOB filter, a 50 watt heater thats used November through early March, and 2 40 watt PC bulb, 1 white and 1 actinic. I'll be upgrading to Finnex FugeRay LED with Moonlights in December. I have a nano protien skimmer that run on an airstone, but I haven't installed it yet. Do I need to instal it with a reef this small, or will weekly water changes do that same thing?

 

This tank has only been running for 4 months, but everything came from the 29 gallon that ran for 5 years. So it's technically a 5 year old tank.

 

I won't be adding corals until January, but I'm doing my research now. I know I definitely want zoanthids and possibly a couple mushrooms. Here is what I've been looking at:

Acan Brain Coral

Blastomussa Coral

Bubble Coral

Frogspawn

Hammer Coral

Green Star Polyps

Greem Striped Mushroom

Flower Mushroom

 

I want to avoid SPS corals, but I love the look of most LPS corals. I would love to have a few corals that mimick the look of an anemone swaying in the current which is why I've been looking at frogspawn and hammers. Any other corals I should look at, or any of these I should avoid? I don't have a lot of money to spend at one time on coral, but I am very patient. My LFS sells zoanthids that are 3-5 polyps for $10. I'll likely do something like that and just let them grow and multiply.

 

Also, I want to add a little more life to the tank, but I don't think I can have a fish in a tank so small. Maybe an emerald cram or peppermint shrimp?

 

Thanks for any input!

Nikki

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You can have a small goby / blenny in a 5 gallon tank. A tailspot blenny or yellow clown goby are popular choices. Your list of coral is great but be careful with the bubble coral. They can be aggressive and sting nearby corals. You can also look into plate corals, ricordeas, and trumpet corals.

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I'd rather get the clown goby than the blenny. That way I can feed the fish and corals the same thing. The corals shouldn't need to be fed more than once a week, correct? Or do I have some nonphotosynthetic corals? I want to avoid ones that only eat mysis shrimp or krill.

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Good selection of corals. Although, I will say, unless you have a good strategy for placing your coral in a way that is very sturdy the turbos will constantly knock them over. I would also be nervous with having more than 1 small hermit crab in a 5 gallon. They are opportunistic and will also knock over corals that aren't well grounded and attached. I have found the red leg hermit to be the most peaceful. I would suggest finding new homes for the turbos and blue legs. Nacarius snails and cerith snails will keep your sand stirred up. A small fighting conch would be good for the sand but may be too big for a 5 gallon. I recommend astrea snails and trochus snails for you live rock and glass. nerites are also great but lay lots and lots of eggs on the glass. And definitely a few bumble bees to help control nitrates

 

I definitely agree with a plate coral. I would personally prefer;

Snowflake Coral

zoas

Colt coral

Blastomussa

Green stars

Duncan coral

Pavona

Red mushroom

And either a frogspawn , hammer, or torch (if you still have room)

Bubble coral is beautiful but too big and aggressive for a small pico.

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Alright. No Bubble coral, one of either the frogspawn or hammers. And I'll check out plate coral too. How do I securely attach coral to my live rock so the crabs can't knock it over? I'll try to remove the turbos as I see them. And how many of what type snail is best for my tank? I want to try to keep all three hermits.

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How about this list?

1 Blastomussa

1 plate coral

2 mushrooms

A few colonies of different zoanthids

1 of either frogspawn or hammers (I don't like torch so much)

 

What about inverts? I want to try and keep all 3 hermits and maybe add a yellow clown goby. How many of which snail shoukd I get? The PClight were giving me some bad bubble algae from slightly elevated nitrates that I cleaned off pretty well should I add an emerald crab just in case the bubble algae comes back? I'm much better about keep water parameters in check now. I could let water changes slide a little in the 29 gallon but not at all in this tank.

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Full tank shot with my plan for coral layout. I'll take out the arching rock in the center and the one on the top right as well. Then add corals where the circles are. 2 colonies of zoanthids in the left, one in the right. A mushroom on each side, Blastomussa on the right, plate front and center, and hammer/frogspawn in the back center. Does this look good?

 

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg2_zps16a59362.jpg.html'>imagejpg2_zps16a59362.jpg

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Full tank shot

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg1_zps7dbef0be.jpg.html'>imagejpg1_zps7dbef0be.jpg

 

Sebastian (scarlet reef hermit)

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg5_zpsda8da8ea.jpg.html'>imagejpg5_zpsda8da8ea.jpg

 

Jetsam (blue leg hermit) His friend Flotsam is hiding in the rocks somewhere.

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg9_zps80496580.jpg.html'>imagejpg9_zps80496580.jpg

 

He likes to climb the silicone in the front corner. I swear one day he's either going to fall out of his shell or cause a nasty leak. Does anyone else's crab do this?

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg3_zps239bdff6.jpg.html'>imagejpg3_zps239bdff6.jpg

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg4_zps127da9af.jpg.html'>imagejpg4_zps127da9af.jpg

 

Found my serpent star! He's living in the rock in the back.

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg8_zpsa28e2e28.jpg.html'>imagejpg8_zpsa28e2e28.jpg

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Cool set up! I have three hermits in my tank and the corals are fine. I super glue gel/epoxy everything to the rock though (aside from the hammers, palythoas, shrooms, GSP's). I think your selection of corals are good. You'll love frogspawn.

 

As for the protein skimmer, with the rock that you have in your tank, it is not necessary (not necessary at all regardless in a 5g IMO).

 

I'm not sure what city you are in, but see if you have local reefing forums/craigslist. You will get a LOT more for cheap/nothing at all from fellow hobbyists.

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I'm in the Talahassee area

 

Nice - probably a decent reefing community there. Definitely check out local forums/craigslist for corals. You'd be surprised what people are selling for next to nothing prices.

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I think there's an aquarium club at FSU. I got my light off craigslist from a guy that was taking down his tank. There's bo corals on Craigslist, but u can call him and see if he knows someone willing to sell me a few little frags. I only need a couple polyps of the zoanthids. They'll multiply in time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally have pics uploaded! Sorry it took so long. Crabs are happily decimating the mussel I gave them this morning.

 

Full tank with lights

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg4_zps121dab9d.jpg.html'>imagejpg4_zps121dab9d.jpg

 

Light

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg1_zps8527e85b.jpg.html'>imagejpg1_zps8527e85b.jpg

 

Makeshift stand (a literature book from freshman year and the shipping box from the bulb)

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/nikkifro8994/media/imagejpg2_zps6e205ae3.jpg.html'>imagejpg2_zps6e205ae3.jpg

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the crabs in our 55 gal like to climb the corners too.... the eventually climb back down or fall down... they have never done damage and its funny to see...

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Looks nice!! Don't brush your teeth with saltwater though :)

Hahaha! The toothbrush is what I use to get algae off the corners of the tank.

 

the crabs in our 55 gal like to climb the corners too.... the eventually climb back down or fall down... they have never done damage and its funny to see...

Good to know mine isn't the only crab that does that.
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Two things.. First, are you sure that is a serpant star and not a bristle worm? Second. Some people (including me) have gotten rid of their hermits for eating coral polyps so watch out.

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  • 2 months later...

TANK UPDATE!

I finally started my reef today! Acclimating 2 small zoanthids colonies now! I'll post pics when they're in place. Also, I moved the light so it shines better in the entire tank. I can't find my little blue leg hermit anywhere! Hopefully he's just hiding very well, but he didn't come out when I fed them seaweed yesterday. Maybe he'll come out for a muscle tomorrow.

 

Should I feed the corals some food as well? I usually just give the crabs a square of seaweed (nori used for sushi rolls) or a muscle or clam. I have frozen fish food, but it's hard for the crabs to catch. Could I target feed it to the corals to help them grow? All of the ones I've picked out are photosynthetic and don't NEED to be fed, but would they benefit from weekly or even biweekly feedings?

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TANK UPDATE!

I finally started my reef today! Acclimating 2 small zoanthids colonies now! I'll post pics when they're in place. Also, I moved the light so it shines better in the entire tank. I can't find my little blue leg hermit anywhere! Hopefully he's just hiding very well, but he didn't come out when I fed them seaweed yesterday. Maybe he'll come out for a muscle tomorrow.

 

Should I feed the corals some food as well? I usually just give the crabs a square of seaweed (nori used for sushi rolls) or a muscle or clam. I have frozen fish food, but it's hard for the crabs to catch. Could I target feed it to the corals to help them grow? All of the ones I've picked out are photosynthetic and don't NEED to be fed, but would they benefit from weekly or even biweekly feedings?

 

I don't think you should be feeding anything. You'll run the risk of algae outbreaks, increased nitrate levels, etc... Is there any algae at all in your tank for your CUC? If not, a few fish pellets would be more than enough.

 

You shouldn't feed zoas (or really any softies for that matter).

 

Def. post pics!

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Sounds good. I picked up a hammer coral today from a friend who didn't want it anymore. It's only 2 heads. The polyps are all closed for now. Hopefully they'll open before I have to leave so I can get a few good pics. I did find this hitchhiker on one of my zoas. Any idea what it is? I inspected for others but thankfully didn't find any.

 

It was crawling on one of my zoas and looked bright green, just like the edge of the polyps. But all the polyps were closed. I knocked it off and now it looks reddish brown and white. Any ideas?

post-86440-0-97765500-1423864720_thumb.jpgpost-86440-0-08014400-1423864748_thumb.jpg

post-86440-0-83712900-1423864931_thumb.jpgpost-86440-0-31000700-1423864917_thumb.jpg

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natalia_la_loca

There may be more where that came from. Keep an eye out for eggs, more nudis, irritated zoas. Zoa-eating nudibranch egg sacs look like a tiny white spiral. Consider dipping your zoas with CoralRx.

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I'll keep a very close eye on them. I don't have any coralrx and can't get back to town until Monday. I read a couple minutes on fresh water will kill them. I inspected thoroughly for eggs or another nudi before I added them to the tank. Crossing fingers that there aren't any.

 

In the meantime, a few pics!

Moved the light to above the tank.

post-86440-0-01671300-1423867069_thumb.jpg

 

Anchored it to the wall

post-86440-0-64684400-1423867083_thumb.jpg

 

Much better lighting

post-86440-0-17442300-1423867259_thumb.jpg

First zoa colony

post-86440-0-19514400-1423867306_thumb.jpg

 

Second zoa colony (this one had the nudi)

post-86440-0-99686600-1423867340_thumb.jpg

 

Hammer

post-86440-0-95456000-1423867404_thumb.jpg

 

Jetsam checking out the hammer coral

post-86440-0-32713000-1423867467_thumb.jpg

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