6.6 gal pico start to finish

[Prowland]

Well I have a few updates.

 

First...

 

I put water in the tank and some crushed coral as substrate. I used a 10 lb bag from petco (8.99)

 

Water was RO from local walmart (0.38/gal) not bad

 

Here is a few pics of substrate and water movement:

 

 

 

I Let that run for one night to let it clear up and then went to the pet shop to get some live rock!

 

Here are some pics of the tank now:

 

 

 

And this little guy came with the rock I found him on the floor of my bedroom and put him in the tank! I believe he is a blue leg hermit crab... anyone?

 

 

So I am going to do the testing and see how everything goes with the new additions... I have also decided to get a 35W fixture since i am down to 4 gal of water with the new addition of LR and substrate.

 

I was thinking of getting a clown goby for the tank. I saw a really nice one that was green and purple at the pet store.

[Prowland]

pH is 8.2

Temp is 78... going to go get a heater

Ammonia is .25 ppm

 

I hope the crab survives!

[irishtexan]

So the cycle begins. Keep us updated on how it progesses. Rock work looks cool. What are you planning on as far as corals go?

 

texan

[pico1]

ditch the crushed coral replace it with live sand, ditch the internal filters and replace them with maxi-jet 300's, add a background, and replace the powerfilter with an aquaclear with a fuge mod.

[Prowland]

texan: Yeah it is great to get this going! I was thinking of getting another chunk of LR to go where the dead sps is in the middle to add another shelf. As far as corals go... I am going to a LFS to get some ideas. I will let you know when I have a game plan!

 

pico1: I am looking at some smaller, better looking powerheads but was using these to get things going. As far as the substrate goes... I like the look of the crushed coral. Is LS that much better? And Can I switch the crushed coral out after my tank cycles?

[Prowland]

So I am getting a light from Premium Aquatics here in Indianapolis. The people there were very helpfull.

here is a link to the light I am going to get:

 

Satellite 24" 65W

 

I also bought some more live rock. Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

As Far as stocking I am looking to purchase some cheeeeeeep starter frags of almost anything. So if you have any to spare then i would be glad to talk and would gladly return the favor when possible!

 

I still would like some suggestions for this tank! All comments are welcome.

 

I am also getting some plastic cut to make a fuge on one end along with another one to hide the heater and what not.

 

I was also considering a skimmer? any suggestions on that would help.

[irishtexan]

The rockwork looks awesome! As far as stocking goes you could try a clown, or some types of gobies. Keep us updated!

 

texan

[Prowland]

Thanks Texan! How is your 2.5 comming along???

 

I have a few updates no pics this time.

 

The pH is still at 8.2

Ammonia is at 0

Nitrites 2.5

Nitrates 0

Salinity is at 1.019 What is the best way to raise this

SG is at 20

 

I have added 4 lbs of rubble from Premium aquatics. I put about a half lb in the hob filter and the rest in the tank. I also got a used 350 magnum for $10... i am going to put that on my 40gal FW tank as an extra filter. Hope it works!!

 

Total for rock was $8.00! I like that place. premiumaquatics.com It is right close to where I live.

 

I am going to do a 2.5 gal right under my other tank for a quarenteen tank. I am using sand on this and a wisper 5-10 gal HOB

 

I am officialy addicted to this!!!

 

I believe my total for the 6.6gal is about... $220 and i am still getting my light for $60. Has anyone used the Satellite light before?

[Daemonfly]

Crushed coral is fine. The only real downside to it in our nano tanks is that it can trap detrius pretty easy. Some find they can just do a gravel vac when they change water, this can suck out certain critters though.

 

 

I prefer a 1/2-1" fine sand bed, and then I just hover a hose over the top to suck out anything thats collected on the bottom that the flow hasn't kept in suspension to be taken down to the fuge.

 

 

And, yes, Premium Aquatics kicks ass. I buy their rock & I'm a few states away

[NanoClown]

Hey good job!

im setting up a 5 gal acyrlic tank

so far i think ur doing better on the budget the n me! lol

 

tank- $30

HOB Millenium 2000- $30

live sand- $13

live rock- $35

damsels- free

4 astrea snails- $4

2 hermits- $2

= $114

ur doin a better job!

[Prowland]

Thanks for the tips daemonfly

 

You sound like you keeping to a good budget right now as well nanoclown!

 

I was thinking that I would get the AC70 and do a fuge mod with that. I will post pictures when I get around to that. They are $33 at pet-co right now.

 

I was thinking about getting a Hi Fin Red Banded Goby or a pair of Red Striped Gobies. Any comments?

 

Also if i switch to LS wi the tank start its cycle over or will it stay on track???

[irishtexan]

How the cycle coming. Prowland, I have some things together and I hope to start getting things up and running soon.

 

texan

p.s how long has it been cycling?

[NanoClown]

i think that u should go with live sand instead of crushed coral

IMO i think that LS does a better job

 

i have about a 1-1.5 inch sandbed

[Prowland]

I have been cycling my tank since june 10th... so 10 days now.

 

I am going to go get the live sand here in a few days. Does anyone know if this will start my cycle over???

 

Here is what I have going in my tank right now:

 

1 6.6gal tank (24x8x9) $45.00

10 lbs of crushed coral $9.00

10 lbs of LR (about 9 in the tank and 1 in the HOB filter) $58.00

1 Blue leg hermit Free... was on the live rock

2 70pal/hr internal filters $12.00

1 HOB filter with live rock Came with tank

1 6500K light 15W bulb was $7.00

1 Red Sea Test kit $18.00 it was on clearence

3 bags of 5 gal salt mix $11.00

1 small mixing bucket $4.00

1 hydrometer $7.00

6 gal of RO water $3.00

1 thermometer $2.00

 

Total: $176.00 Not too bad!

 

Here is what I have yet to get:

 

1 Satellite Hood 65W with fans and moonlights $60.00

2 Maxijet 400 PH $26.00

1 AC 70 for fuge mod $33.00

10 lbs of LS $15.00

 

Total: $134.00

 

Grand Total: $310.00 Still not too bad right??

[Prowland]

Another question...

Would a 175W MH light be too much for this tank???

 

Thanks!

[montevallofalcon11]

I would imagine that it will be overkill since your talking about 26.6 watts per gallon. Plus you will have to hang that sucker pretty high over the tank to keep it from boiling.

[Prowland]

Okay so here are some updates:

 

First I believe that the cycle has taken place and I was ready for a clean up crew. The LFS by my house sometimes has good prices but they have no idea what they are talking about most of the time.

 

I bought 2 more blue leg hermit crabs @ $1.50 ea. along with this snail:

 

 

Any idea what kind of snail it is. It is about the size of a bottle water cap.

 

I now have 3 crabs and that snail. Any Ideas on more or less for a good clean up crew??

 

I have also seen a few critters crawling around the tank in the morning when I turn the lights on.

 

 

What is that?

 

I was looking up on how to acclimate new additions to your tank and here is what I went with on the snail and crabs:

 

Set the bags in the tank for 30 mins, then I cut the bags open and put the water and stuff into a SW only bucket, then i made a drip cord out of airline tubing and tied a knot to control the drip speed:

 

 

 

I had about 6-10 drips/sec and let that run for about 40 mins till the water level had trippled. I then picked up the snail and crabs and put them in my tank.

Is this overkill??

 

Here is a picture of one of the crabs:

 

 

Here is a picture of the tank I plan on putting new arrivales to make sure they are healthy before adding them to my main tank.

 

 

And for good measures.... a picture of my dog Buddy:

 

[PaulS]

Great job with this setup. I've always liked that 6.6G setup. Looking forward to seeing your tank develop!

[NanoClown]

SWEET!!! Prowland! this is coming together great my new total is like $150 so i think ur still ahead on the budget. i think that u should add at least 3-7 more snails. i have 4 in my 5g and all day they are either on the rocks or on the acrylic cleaning. i also think that you should add a fire/cleaner shrimp, the cleaner does a better job, but i like the look of the fire shrimp, if you dont ecpect to spend $20-30 on one shrimp get a pair of calmelbacks/peppermints

[Prowland]

I was wanting to get a High Fin Red banded goby and get a shrimp to pair with it.... My LFS is going to order it and then I get to look and see if I like it before I buy!

 

Does it have to be a pistol shrimp to pair with that??

 

I am going to the LFS and picking up about 4 more snails on my way home today.

 

 

I was still wondering if the switch from CC to LS would cause another cycle???

 

Any opinions on my setup so far is welcome.

 

Thanks for all the views!

[NanoClown]

im pretty shure goby pistol shrimp combo is good for your tank. IMO i like it. and i think that ull have a great cleanup crew with the snails

[Prowland]

Okay so I have purchased a few more creatures for my tank so here is a stock list:

 

1 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab

3 Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crabs

1 Zebra Turbo Snail

2 Turbo Snails

1 very small snail

10 lbs of LR

I am going to get 20 lbs of LS here in a bit.

 

How Long should I wait while the clean up crew works before I get my hed band high fin goby???

 

Also is it bad to do aqua RE-scaping a lot?? I dont have any corals in the tank yet.

 

Thanks!!

[Prowland]

So I got my Live Sand (10lbs) a did a little moving around of the LR. I took a few pics of the "finished" product haha! Tell me what you think.

 

 

 

 

I have smoothed out the sand. I am leaving the middle for something special... any ideas for it???

 

I am getting a 65W light with moonlights so that will bring me to 13W per gal

I have about 250gal/hr flow so that is around 50X per hour

10lbs of LS

10lbs of LR

 

Please help!!

Any ideas on what corals would go good in a tank like with this setup???

 

My GF is going to buy me the Red banded High Fin Goby for my Birthday!!!

Gotta love a girl that supports your addiction!!

 

I have almost 2,000 views! awsome

[pet_doc]

What is that?

 

its an amphipod...nice choice going with the sattelite.

[NanoClown]

go with some shrooms to start off with... also some colt coral.. i have a rock with about 12 shrooms on it and they are doing great! shrooms are a good begginers coral