Nano Plans, Critique Please

[amm]

Hey all, I'm new to nano-reefing, but not to marine aquaria, I've been doing research on creating a 7.5 gal nano and here are my plans:

 

7.5 gal Bowfront aquarium

 

Lighting:

2-13W PC

 

50W Ebo Jager heater

 

Rio 50 Powerhead

 

8-10 lbs. Live rock, 2.5 in. bed w/ live sand and crushed coral

 

Livestock:

6-9 astrea snails

1 pistol shrimp

1 Watchman Goby

Button Polyps

Green star polyps

Pulsing Xenia

Yellow Leather

Gold Crown toadstool

Mushrooms

 

Is the lighting or biolad too much/little? Can more coral be added or do I have enough and if so does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Comments are greatly appreciated

 

Thanks

[MikeB]

I'm new to this too so don't take everything word for word.

 

1 Most of the 7.5 bowfront's Ive seen have 32w retro kits in them for lighting. Check out other's in the members pages.

 

2 That is the right size heater.

 

3 RIO PH's I've heard have a big failure rate for being loud and give off more heat than others. Do a search to see what other's use on their 7.5G in the members section. Mini-jets might be better.

 

4 Should be enough LR, and aragonite seems to be the choice over the CC. You could seed it with the LS or use all LS or let it become live after time with the LR on it. Any sand sifting gobies will probably like sugar size aragonite better than the CC IMO.

 

5 I can't say about the livestock if it is too much or if you could add more.??? Seems like it would be the max for a 7.5 IMO. And it does look like a nice choice.

 

You said that you are new only to reefing so you probably have books on marine fish keeping. But buy some book's on corals like

The Reef Aquarium Vol. 1 & 2 by J. Charles Delbeek and Julian Sprung . Seems to be the popular ones. There is another thread on what people have as books check it out.

And like I said check out the members page and see what other's have in there 7.5's for livestock and equipment.

 

Hope this helps you out a little.

[MikeB]

Here is the link to the thread on the book's http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...=&threadid=7017

[gobies]

Actually, I think you'll be okay with that lighting for softies.

 

Ditch the Rio and go with a pair of Microjets. You want turbulent current, and you can't get that with only one powerhead.

 

Try to get a variety of snails. Different species eat different things. Deffinitely get a few nassarius and cerith snails, not just astraeas.

 

Get a small filter of some sort for carbon. With multiple softies, you may need it when the biochemical warfare starts in your tank.

 

Whether the number of corals you list is "enough" or "too much" or if you could add more is somewhat dependent on the size of said corals... try adding one or only a few at a time to see how they work out together.