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Coral Vue Hydros

Help With Invert-only tank


NewDiviide

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Hey guys,

 

For my very first marine aquarium I decided I want to set up a very small Invertebrate-only habitat.

I currently have a 22L (5 gallon) tank with a light, filter and heater. I have enough sand to make the base 3.5cm (1.5 inches) deep.

I'm planning on purchasing some live rock in the next few days, after I have my salt mix.

 

What I need help with the most is picking which species of inverts would be best, as I want the tank to look as active as possible (i.e. as many creatures as is reasonable given the size of the tank).

I also have my eye on a few coral frags that I like as well - specifically;

Ultra Electric Platygy

 

Sun Coral - Tubastrea aurea

 

Blue Peppered Sea Fan

 

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide, I really appreciate it. :)

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Ok my first advice is to nail down the parameters. Specifically salinity and temperature. Small tanks tend to fluctuate by the hour, depending on the climate in the area you live in. You will need to monitor the temperature, since inverts are EXTREMELY sensitive to temperature and salinity fluctuations. Both which change drastically throughout the day if your equipment isn´t doing its job. Once you figure out how to get the temperature as stable as humanly possible, focus on your salinity which should be aided by an ATO or strict ATO practices, as well as a super nice Salinity Refractometer. Check these two several times a day, until you reach the point of complete stability. This is the only way you can achieve success (years of enjoyment).

Only then would I advise on adding ANY type of invert.

 

Of course, all of this can be done simultaneously with your cycling (usually 1-2 months). So while you cycle your tank, make sure you OWN these parameters.

 

Having said this, you have plenty of time to select your inverts.

 

I personally would suggest having a school of Sexy Shrimp, like 7 or 9 of them. They are hella cool. If you choose to do this, down the line (like in another 9 months) you can add an anemone (with proper lighting of course) so they can host it. What lighting are you considering? The new Kessil A80 seems like it would be a great choice for this little pico. Also the AI Prime HD, but maybe a little bit of overkill, but you can always use the AI Prime for a future build if you ever decide to upgrade (:

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I agree with anizato. Also, when you get to the point of wanting to add corals, make sure you do plenty of research. Not to be too discouraging, but I would advise against the sun coral. They need to be fed quite heavily to keep them happy since they're non photosynthetic. With a small tank, this could present problems with water quality. Also, the blue peppered sea fan or blueberry gorgonian is next to impossible to keep alive in captivity. Absolutely beautiful but I haven't come across any posts yet of anyone keeping these alive for more than a couple months. Again, a non photosynthetic coral so it relies on food in the water column and this type of gorgonian needs pretty much constant food. I would suggest starting with easier corals that have proven success in nano tanks as I feel that those two in particular are just going to lead to a lot of frustration and water quality problems down the line.

 

Good luck and welcome to nano-reef!

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All great advice given so I won't repeat it :)

 

When you are ready and the tank is stable some good critters are:

 

Scarlet hermits and halloween hermits

Pom pom crabs

Skunk shrimp

Sexy shrimp

 

For corals, some easy choices are:

Xenia, frogspawn, zoas, hammers

 

You could add feather dusters too.

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