New 6 Gallon Tank, a few questions!

[lbrench]

Hi!

 

After having my 55 gallon cichlid tank about a year I decided i wanted something small and SW to go in my kitchen, I went down to my LFS and bought the JBJ 6 Gallon Nano Cube for $80 (was on sale). I also got

 

5lbs of Live Rock

5lbs of Live Sand

3 Gallons of water from their filtration system on their main tank (they recommended mixing this with my water as it will help the cycle along.

 

I set it up and removed the ceramic rings and bio balls so the 3 compartments go 1. sponge 2. bag of Carbon 3. 106bph pump retuning water back in. After it has cycled I plan on adding a small CUC.

 

I plan on doing 20% water change per week after the cycle is done to keep up with maintenance.

 

I have a few questions about the tank and any help would be appreciated

 

1. Is 5lbs of LR enough in a 6 gallon tank?

 

2. I want have something like a small frogspawn and some easy to keep mushrooms, the lighting is a 18 watt 50/50 CF lamp for daylight operation and (2) Nite-Vu LED moonlights, is this enough to keep a very small frogspawn (for my clown to host) and some basic mushrooms?

 

3. I want to remove the carbon bag from the 2nd filter compartment and have maybe 1lb of live rock rubble in there so the compartments will go 1. Sponge/polyester filter floss 2.one pound of LR Rubble 3.return pump. Is this a good idea?

 

4. I want my live stock to be a small CUC, 1 clown and 1 skunk cleaner shrimp. Is that too much for this tank?

 

Pictures of the tank just sat there doing its cycle

 

 

any info would be amazing!

 

thankyou!

 

Lynden

[wenhamjj]

1. Is 5lbs of LR enough in a 6 gallon tank?

YES

2. I want have something like a small frogspawn and some easy to keep mushrooms, the lighting is a 18 watt 50/50 CF lamp for daylight operation and (2) Nite-Vu LED moonlights, is this enough to keep a very small frogspawn (for my clown to host) and some basic mushrooms?

YES

3. I want to remove the carbon bag from the 2nd filter compartment and have maybe 1lb of live rock rubble in there so the compartments will go 1. Sponge/polyester filter floss 2.one pound of LR Rubble 3.return pump. Is this a good idea?

I would run the carbon and change it out every month. The LR rubble will do more harm than good in a tank that size and become a nitrate trap.

4. I want my live stock to be a small CUC, 1 clown and 1 skunk cleaner shrimp. Is that too much for this tank?

Shrimp will be fine but maybe a yellow clown goby and a blue neon goby. The clown gobies are fun to watch.

I like your rock layout. Good start!!

[charnelhouse]

I started a year ago with this same tank (see the 6 gallon thread in my sig). I have recently upgraded to an IM Fusion 40.

 

I had a lot of evaporation, although some of that was probably due to my drilling holes in the lid for heat reasons. Evaporation was a big issue and took constant attention to keep salinity from swinging all over the place. Get yourself an ATO if you are serious about keeping this thing long term.

 

Another thing about this tank is that it does not lend itself well to putting the lighting on a timer of any kind. It takes a lot of vigilance to maintain any kind of lighting cycle with the stock light.

 

I used the center chamber as a refugium with some live rock and chaeto. If you dig around a little in my build thread there is a link to another thread that shows how I did it. It is still up and running growing pods and chaeto.

 

This tank is a little small for an adult clownfish. I kept a Citron Clown Goby in it and that is about the max I would try to keep in this size tank. The shrimp might be ok if you can stay on top of the water parameters. I had a couple of crabs die on me because I wasn't as diligent as I should have been.

 

Hope this is helpful.

[cindyp]

hello! congrats! i have an 8g cadlights that

is mostly shrooms and RFA. i have two sexy shrimps

and currently a purple fire fish. before, i had a yellow

clown goby that was very adorable and much loved.

 

i wouldn't recommend a clownfish as i hear they are aggressive.

pushing it for an 8g and definitely not enough space in a 6g.

 

we're limited in our fish and critter choices when it comes to size.

i'd recommend peaceful corals as well as critters.

 

i think 5# of rock is too much. i know the "rules" but unless

you know how to scape well, your entire tank will be rock. with

carbon filtration and weekly water changes, i don't think you need

that much rock. just my opinion though.

 

good luck and have fun!

[charnelhouse]

One thing I forgot to add - Here is IGreen's Guide to Nano Fish it's a great guideline to what fish can be kept in a given display. Bear in mind that your NC6 can't really be looked at as a 6 gallon. You have to take the volume of the display only into consideration in regards to fish stocking. The NC6 is ~4.5 gallons in the display.