Tell me what you think

[HogWinslow]

I've had a salt water tank for years and now I'm going to try a nano reef. I dug out my 5.5 gallon tank from the garage. I have a Skilter 250 filter that I'm not using because I was wasn't impressed with it's performance on a 55 gallon tank. I'll use the Skilter not for it's skimming ability but just to move the water around. I also plan on putting a carbon bag in it just to polish the water. Oh yea, and a phosphate pad also because I live in Florida and we have tons of phosphates in our water. I'm going to buy a 13 watt PC from AH Supply for lighting. My wife and I really enjoy the colors of corline algae so this is what we are shooting for. A tank that has lots of coraline algae, two yellow tail damsels and maybe when the tank levels out one or two easy, soft corals. Now for the questions.

1. In the 13 watt PC I plan on using a AH Supply 10,000k/ dark blue combo build. Will this be enough?

2. I'm not going to use a skimmer because from what I read they aren't that good in such a small tank. Do you agree?

3. About 1 inch of sand will go on the bottom just for looks. Again, from what I read DSB is useless in such a small tank due to the lack of surface area.

4. In my existing salt tank I use regular Instant Ocean. Will this mix be good enough? Should I plan on using a salt mix made for reefs?

5. Should I use any additives? Or will weekly water changes of 10-20% replenish the tank?

6. Our house is constantly heated or air conditioned. Our other tanks stay at about 78°. Is this warm enough or should I plan on getting a heater? We have no heaters in any of our tanks.

7. Any special foods or just the flakes we feed now?

What test kit do you suggest?

8. Am I missing anything beside about 5 pounds of live rock and 5 pounds of dead rock. Hopefully the live rock will seed the dead rock.

 

Thanks to all that reply. All suggestions will be appreciated. I want my tank to thrive not survive.

 

HogWinslow

[Xwhite]

Not sure about your light. Is it a 13 watt actinic bulb? Is it a blue light? Or is it more toward the daylight spectrum so that it burns more yellowish/white?

 

I think with regular water changes you should be fine without a skimmer in a 5.5. See how things work out and if you notice alot of unsightly algae growth think about picking up a small skimmer or modifying your skilter. For your size of tank, a skilter should work fine as a skimmer if you do one or a few of the many skilter mods out there.

 

The heater, ahh the heater. See the thing is, on a small tank, the temperature (and well just about everything else) can change very rapidly. What you're looking for is temperature stability. I would look into buying a small heater. As a matter of fact, I don't think I'd run the tank without one.

 

As for the rock, I would buy as much liverock as you can afford. Skip the dead rock. You'll be happier with its looks and the life that explodes in your tank.

 

Instant Ocean will work fine. When it comes to salt mix, use whatever works best for you. I used Instant Ocean in my old 55 gallon reef for two years with no problems at all.

 

With regular water changes, you shouldn't have to worry about additives unless you want to accelerate your coralline growth. An additive like B-Ionic works well for that. Simple to use and after you've read this:

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov...ov2002/chem.htm

 

You can get an idea of why you would want to use a two part supplement to get your calcium and alkalinity in a prime range for good coralline growth.

 

If you're just keeping a fish and some easy corals, flake food should be all you need.

 

Other than that, I hope someone else can provide some insight. As I'm not all that experienced in tanks under 15 gallons hehe.

 

John

[zizmans]

Well, many great points. I agree with the heater, hey $25 for a good heater as opposed to possible temp flucuations. I'd say buy one, if you need it fine if you don't return it. I have a 7 gal and I'm using 36 watts. Seems to be about the norm. MH's are a whole other thing that all I can say is "search". Skimmer, I use one, but that is just me. Picollo or other brand about $35, so if you find you need one fine, if not great. Sand, without a refugium a DSB, IMO won't work unless you want half of your tank to be sand, not the prettiest of tank-looks as far as I'm concerned, you end up with an ant-farm look. I have about a 1 1/2 inch sand bed, enough for life not too much for maintenance. (I'm going to stop typing just my opinion after everything now, made my point) Instant Ocean (IO) It's what I use, but after doing extensive reading lately, I am switching. Too many test from various sources just rate IO as not the best product. Not evil or anything, just not tops. If you are going for coraline, you have to use an additive of some kind. I use Calxmax from warner marine. Not cheap $35. It's a 2 part liquid, but as your using 1/3 of a teaspoon a few times a week it lasts for a LONG time. By the way a great way of measuring for small tanks, go to a pharmacy and they give oyt free oral syringes to give medicine to little kids. You can measure out to a 10th of a teaspoon. I like 78 degree it's what I'm at. Flakes, one of many food products. I am a huge proponent of a varied diet. I think if that is all you are using on your 55, you need to make an LFS trip. Flakes one day, mysis the next, brine, #2, repeat. It takes the same amount of time and your only looking at a few bucks to make your inhabitants happy. I'm currently doing reading on phyto-plankton, and I am in no way an expert, but I'm leaning towards live culture or golden pearls. Not happy with shelf life on any of the products, especially as with nanos you use so little at a time. But then again it all depends on what you stock your tank with.

 

Good questions. Hope I've helped. Again...IMO