Pea Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 This is how my new 5.5 gallon tank currently looks (although I've since given the front of the tank a much needed wipe down!). I'm going away for a couple of weeks (back home from University) in a few days so I'm taking things very slowly. In fact, this might just be the slowest developing tank on the forum! I'm new to keeping marine fish after about 8 years of keeping freshwater fish. I'm still uncertain about whether I want to run this as a saltwater tank but I would really like to. So I'm going to be slowly purchasing the hardware to make it a saltwater tank until I'm sure I'm not going to just take the easy option and just set up a freshwater tank. Currently I have a filter system installed in the hood. It was an undergravel filter that I've adapted. Its got a variety of store bought filter media in it at the moment, but I could seal up the gaps in the main trough and modify it further, possibly with some live rock and things instead. I'm yet to buy a heater, the LFS I've found locally isn't ideal but I can get the every day stuff I need. But I'd rather go back to my more trusted dealer to pick a heater out from a larger range. I'm looking for a 25W heater at the moment. The lighting is inbuilt in the hood, but I've just been playing round with a screw driver and browsing the internet and I could quite easily replace the 8W bulb with a 14W hagen aqua-glo one which I'm definitely considering. Again I'll visit my old LFS over the next fortnight to get it. I'm planning on getting a powerhead for either the back right or back left corner. I'm not certain how powerful it should be though. Also, I need a few things like a refractometer and some buckets As for stock, I'm not completely sure what I want to get! I love the look of pom poms, sexy shrimps and I'll probably get a goby of some sort but it really depends on what I can find thats decent quality and works with my tank. I'm being very careful with setting this up at the moment. I don't want to get anything running (even cycling) until I know I'm going to be able to care for it and keep a close eye on it. Don't expect this topic to be very exciting, but feel free to offer me advice (god knows I need it!). And hopefully in a few months time I'll have something to be proud of! Link to comment
ihatesears18 Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Can't wait to see it up and running! Link to comment
Pea Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Me too! I'm thinking this might be the best choice for a powerhead... http://shop.coxwellaquatics.co.uk/koralia-nano-134-p.asp Link to comment
ihatesears18 Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Me too! I'm thinking this might be the best choice for a powerhead... http://shop.coxwellaquatics.co.uk/koralia-nano-134-p.asp I have a Koralia 1 in my tank and it's a beast in the 8 gallon. The nano should be just fine. Link to comment
Pea Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Here's a checklist of stuff I need to get! I've included stuff I've already bought for reference, in case any other new marine keepers want it for reference... - 5.5g tank w/hood, lighting fixture (8W T5 bulb), water pump and overhead filter - substrate (black and white sand-not live) - filter media (sponge,carbon, filter floss) - 4 gallon bucket - siphon - water testing kit (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and PH) - thermometer - salt (need to stock up) - refractometer - RO Water (need to seriously stock up) - heater (25W/50W- Visitherm?) - Koralia Nano powerhead - more filter media (purigen, phosphate remover, zeolite rocks?) - stronger bulb/lighting? - algae magnet - more water testing kits (phosphate, calcium?) - food - live rock - timer adapter for lighting - turkey baster Link to comment
Pea Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Visiting family so went to my old LFS. Turns out they've stopped doing marine stuff completely, they didnt even have marine salt or food! But they've got another store only two miles away thats doing marine now so I'm going to go visit that tommorrow. Still, managed to get an electronic thermometer with a few other functions on it, quite nice and it was reduced. Thats one thing off my long long list. Link to comment
danktank Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 i cant wait to see this thing up and runnin its gonna be SWEET Link to comment
Jake42393 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 before you buy that koralia nano, go to petmountain.com its only 17 dollars there! Edit: my bad, prices went up Link to comment
Pea Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share Posted April 5, 2009 What do people think of me getting a Visitherm 50W Heater for this tank? I was planning a 25W but its the same size and I can get it for the same price. It seems like the sort of heater you can adjust quite easily so I dont think having a 50W in the tank will be any cause for concern. Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I have the exact same one in my 5.5 It works great. I set it at 78 and it stays there day and night. Link to comment
AquaStud Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 looking good! Its exciting watching things come together. Link to comment
Pea Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 My dad has some plug timer adapters spare and a couple of extra buckets and containers I can use for RO water! Going to check out another local LFS tommorrow, the one I went to today was ok, nice little selection of fish but nothing too advanced (didnt even have any powerheads :S) Link to comment
Pea Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 Apparently my last post on this topic isnt here. Anyway I can write it again I've just purchased a 5lb bag of Caribsea Live Sand for £5. Thought it was worth getting as I never see bags that size in LFS's round here. The place also had a nice selection of live rock but not a huge range. Link to comment
ihatesears18 Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Any updates on the tank? Check mine out, it's coming along! Link to comment
Pea Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Any updates on the tank? Check mine out, it's coming along! Been saving up so I can bulk buy a whole load of hardware! More on this soon Link to comment
Pea Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 I had to put this tank on hold for a number of reasons, but I'm going to be setting it up properly at the end of June if all goes to plan. I may be changing it round quite a lot, using an external filter to increase the volume a bit and adapting the hood to fit that and the new solaris 18W I bought. Link to comment
Pea Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 An update! Sort of! I've been buying equipment slowly, in the knowledge that I have a holiday coming up very shortly I didn't want to be cycling a tank and finances arn't great so I've had to be thrifty! I actually ended up buying another tank, a Wave 30 litre cube thing. Looks pretty nice and I got it cheap in a bundle with some equipment I needed! I got 2 x 18w Solaris lights as well which I really needed. So now I have a dilemma, which tank do I set up first and what equipment do I use! (I have three different heaters of varying power and sizes, three different styles of filter etc). I'm pleased to have the options but its causing me problems. If I get a new job I'm applying for and the wage rise that comes with it I may well use the Wave and invest in it properly, but if I don't get it then I'm considering the smaller tank and having a smaller scale project or the far cheaper option of just using the small tank as a desk freshwater tank and slowly purchasing the things I need to have a proper go at a Nano. We'll see how things develop though! At the moment I'm very optimistic about this job, perhaps foolishly but I'll be updating this shortly! Link to comment
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