5 Gal tank - Help

[cinciboy]

I got a five gallon acrylic tank which I want to convert to salt water. At present it is fresh water with two gold fish. I want to transfer the gold fish to my new 10 Gal aquarium and want to convert the five gallon to SW aquarium.
What equipment I need to buy. At present I have a Whisper filter and an air pump.
Also do i need a living rock to keep the aquarium going. Can somebody suggest some fish for this setup.

Thanks

 

[tripper]

I think you are going to have a lot of trouble starting a SW tank that is only 5 gallons. Smaller tanks are very difficult to keep stable. If you have the option, i would go with nothing smaller than a 20G if it is your first attempt at SW. Of course, the bigger, the better.

For equipment, it depends on if you are going FO, FOWLR, or reef tank. At a minimum I would recommend 1lb of LR per gallon and a sand substrate. You would then have to chose lighting, protein skimmer, and a couple powerheads for circulation.

For livestock, in a 5G you would only be able to get away with 1 fish, and even that would be tough in such a small system. You could maybe get a small clown or a damsel. Typically the rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons of water.

Hopefully this will help. There are many others on this site that will be able to help you as well.

tripper

 

[cmonkey]

I think you should move the goldfish to a 30gal tank min.

 

[steve-s]

A small tank is really not the best place to enter the hobby. That siad though it is more than do-able. I have a 5.5 mini bow that does just fine. As far as your current set up, it will need to be stripped down and cleaned. The current substrate will need to be replaced with a good oolitic aragonite sand. You will most likely need a heater as well.

LR would be a definate plus that I would strongly urge you to get, about 5-10 lbs worth. Try to get smaler pieces as they will be alot easier to stack to your liking. The Whisper can be used to help with water flow but with the LR, it does not really need any media in it. I like to keep mine on for the occassional polishing in which I find Polyfilters to work best. I would also get an additional powerhead. A MaxiJet 404 or 606 would work quite well.

Does the little tank have any lighting? LR without coral additions can be easily maintained with NO lighting but if your eventual goal is a mini reef, you'll need much more intense lighting.

Don't forget to <<cycle the tank>> properly and be very chooseyif you decide to add a fish. It will only support one and very small adult size at that. Personally I prefer mobile inverts to fish for smaller tanks.

Other equipment you will need....
Refractometer (swing arms are too clumbsy on smaller tanks)
Basic test kits... ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH

Cheers
Steve

 

[cinciboy]

I also have mini bow with basic lighting. I have a heater. So the new stuff to buy is a power head. What difference it makes between my whisper cycling water when compared with power head. Invert means kind of shrimp or crab ?.

 

[cinciboy]

I have seen in my LF store a setup similar (5gal) to mine with two clown fish (small) in it. How do they keep it ?.( atleast for the last one year I am visiting). They have live rocks and sand and good lighting. How easy it to move to a larger tank after some time ?.

 

[steve-s]

What difference it makes between my whisper cycling water when compared with power head.

Depends on what model Whisper you have. The flow in SW aquaria is quite important and needs to be about 10x the tank volume or higher. With smaller tanks, higher is better. They are easily affected by poor gas exchange and will often succumb to dinoflagellate blooms if too low. I would strongly suggest you use both.

Invert means kind of shrimp or crab ?.

They would be mobile inverts (invertebrates). Sessile inverts would be corals and such...

Cheers
Steve

 

[steve-s]

I have seen in my LF store a setup similar (5gal) to mine with two clown fish (small) in it. How do they keep it ?.( atleast for the last one year I am visiting). They have live rocks and sand and good lighting.

Alot of water changes. Two fish in such a small tank is not a good idea. Even one can sometimes be a challenge. If you wish to keep a fish in the tank, I'd be sure it is well established first. After a few months you can careful choose a small growing species. Be sure to avoid most goby species though.

How easy it to move to a larger tank after some time ?.

Quite easy. The animals simpley need acclimating to the other tank the same way you would a newly purchased critter. Just be sure the new tank is properly cycled first and more sensitive animals are not transfered until the new tank has had a bit of time to mature.

Cheers
Steve

 

[blorkiemom]

Cinciboy, I know you weren't asking about the goldfish, but I loves me my goldfish so I have to throw this in--goldfish are really dirty fish that need a minimum of 10 gallons each . . . cmonkey's suggestion of 2 in a 30 gallon is perfect. With 2 in a ten gallon you'll have serious water quality issues (which lead to all kinds of problems with the fish--ask me how I lost my first few goldfish) and will be far too cramped for them no matter what. I hope you'll reconsider!

 

[fireman26m]

Steve,

Couldn't a Clown Goby be a possibility in a small tank. They are usually smaller than a clown and don't dig in the sand like other gobies. Just wondering. I was considering starting a nano also in a few months.

Fireman

 

[steve-s]

It really depends on the species and at what stage of it's life. I find many to do quite poorly in smaller tanks, Clown gobies included. Mostly the small younger ones which feed quite a bit on pods and such. As they age and become accustom to tank life they tend to do better. There are TR available if you can find them that would be better suited.

A newly aquired goby placed in a small tank right away will waste quite quickly unless it adapts to prepared or you feed live foods. Every attempt I have made about 50%+ end up being transfered to a larger tank (or returned) due to a sunken belly.

Cheers
Steve

 

[fireman26m]

Good to know info...thanks Steve!

 

[cinciboy]

Thanks for your info guys.