2 gallon

[froomite]

O.K. This is my first tank saltwater tank. Yes I know that all of you will say, "you're probably best with a 10 or 20 gallon tank." However, I ran outta money and this is what I have:

 

3 lbs of live rock... I'm wondering if this is too muc, I know you are suppossed to have 1 lb per gallon but I thought that too you can never have too much filtration.

I have a smallish power filter

crushed corral.

 

I have all the equipment for water testing etc. as well.

 

That's about it so far. I need a heater but its hard to find one small enough. the temp in my room is quite high so until I get one in the near future I hope that is enough.

 

Also what corral should I get? Or shall I wait and see if there is any that will grow from my rock. And what critters would be appropriate for it? No fish I know but it would be cool t have some little crabs or something wondering around.

[Physh1]

What lighting system? Also, the amount of rock is up to you...whatever fits the way you want it is how much you should have. The 1 lb per gallon is just a generalization....density and size vary too much for that to be a realistic parameter.

 

Cameron

[froomite]

umm this is kind of ghetto but I think I just have a metal tungsten lamp... its far enough away though that it wont affect the temp

[1fish2fish]

For heat try the Themalcompact heaters. I use a 50 watt in mt 1 gallon and have had no issues. They also come in a 25 watt size as well. Stay away from the 7.5 watt heaters as there is no temperature controler with them. I'm not sure what the kelvin rateing on a metal tungsten lamp is. Make sure that it's above 6500K as a general rule of thumb. Also remember that heat can be a major issue. Some people keep their reef tank at 77F and some keep them at 84F. THe most important thing is to keep it consistent. Rapid and wild fluctuations are going to be very hard on the animals. A fluctuation of 2F per day isn't so great an issue as this can often happen on natural reefs, but a fluctuation of 4 - 5 F over the day is a little extreme.

 

Here's the link to my tank.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=26895

 

I need to update the pics a bit.

 

I went with the two 13 watt bulbs, but you could easily light it with the proper screw in type compact fluorescent bulbs. These can be bought at a very reasonable price from home depot or even a few online stores. Just make sure that they say 6500K on them. They will appear a little yellowish so you may want to suppliment with some actinic, but otherwise work quite nicely.

 

As you are fairly new to the hobby, compact fluorescent bulbs would suit your needs nicely. You should stick with softies to start with. Start with mushrooms, zooanthids etc.

 

One of the most important things is to maintain stability. Temp and salinity are very important. I would recommend making an autotopoff system at some point. There are plenty of threads here on the topic. It can be done for under $10.

 

In 2 gallons you probably should just stick with inverts. Fish are going to increase the bioload a fair bit and they also won't really have enough room IMO. If you must go with some fish I would urge yo to put no more than one in there and to stick with one of the smaller species of goby.

 

Finally,

 

Patience, patience, patience!

Take your time.

 

There is no point in rushing this. The most successful tanks in the long term are those that the owner has taken his/her time. The system needs to cycle and then reach equilibrium each time new animals are added. In such a small tank you should probably only add one or maybe two animals at a time. Also, there is no need to cycle with fish.

 

The last piece of advice I can muster at this time is to double check al the advice that your LFS gives you. If they recommend a piece of equipment, come here , do a search, then ask. The same goes for livestock. The peole on this page are more than happy to assist with the knowledge they have gained through experience and discussion.

 

Good luck and welcome to the hobby.

[froomite]

cheers mate :-)

[froomite]

oh and should I make a refugium in a HOB?