Small Salt Tank

[angelocarusone]

Hey Everyone:

On my desk right now, I currently have a 6 gallon eclipse set up on the right side and I love nothing more than looking over to my right and watching my Betta swim around. This tank has motivated me to start doing research on a tank for the left side of my desk. I've been doing lots of research lately about nano-reef set ups and what that would entail and a few questions came up about non-coral tanks.

1) Is keeping a FOWLR easier than keeping a reef aquarium?

2) Is a FOWLR cheaper?

3) Can I set up a FOWLR with a 6 or 12 gallon eclipse?

4) How many fish can I have with a 6 gallon? With a 12?

5) Which one will be easier to maintain?

6) Does anyone out there currently use an eclipse system for FOWLR? Are there any mods that are necessary or can I just run it straight up?

7) Any other words of advice? Thoughts?

 

[angelocarusone]

Any takers?

 

[ambulocetus]

In the store i work in we use the Nano-Cube (12 gallons) which are really outstanding for small saltwater tanks (nice design and great use of a PC light). We also have used the Eclipse 6 and 12 for small marine tanks. We usually have about an inch or two sand, a couple lbs of live rock and manage to keep xenias (which love the nano-cube) small leathers, green star polyps, other polyps and a couple damsels very successfully. Small saltwater tanks is definitely a viable option. However it is HIGHLY likely that you will want to upgrade and so it might be worth sizing it up before you start - just a thought

 

[luntiz]

1) Is keeping a FOWLR easier than keeping a reef aquarium?

FOWLR will be easier than a reef, no corals to make you worry about Nitrate (Althought it is less toxic to fish, enough of it will aggitate the fish).

2) Is a FOWLR cheaper?

Will be cheaper because of the corals, or lack of.

3) Can I set up a FOWLR with a 6 or 12 gallon eclipse?

Tough one...the bigger the better. Problem with nano's is stablity. With a larger tank there is more room for error.

4) How many fish can I have with a 6 gallon? With a 12?

I'm going to say 1 for both 6 and 12. Really depends on the fish, you can keep a pair of clown in the 12, in the 6 probably only one, and it must remain small.

5) Which one will be easier to maintain?

12, more room for error but still not a lot of room.

6) Does anyone out there currently use an eclipse system for FOWLR? Are there any mods that are necessary or can I just run it straight up?

*shrugs*

7) Any other words of advice? Thoughts?[/quote]

Its going to be tough, a lot of nano's are runned by experienced reefers. If I had to do a nano, I would take my time and make sure things are stable before adding expensive. You could let it cycle and then place a damsel in there to "test" the tank out for a month or so, see how the temp and pH swings. After it looks stable to maintain life you can get rid of it and get that one fish you really want.

 

[malkore]

all I'll say is that it seems like nano tanks are something created by experienced SW people as a 'challenge' to have small, stable tank that they can maybe keep at work or in the kids' room.
For the novice, bigger IS better.

 

[jackdp]

For SW a bigger tank is better for beginners. The lower oxygen content of SW makes maintaining high water quality crucial. In a smaller tank if something goes wrong, it goes wrong fast before you can correct it. That being said, it can be done. If you do regular small water changes and pay close attention to water tests a 6 or 12 gallon is very do-able. As far as fish though, I'm not sure I would put any fish in a 6 gallon tank. A shrimp maybe and some polyps or corals but not many marine fish would do well in such a small tank.

 

[luntiz]

Tell that to my LFS that put a clown into a 1/2 gallon tank...Thats right, HALF GALLON!!!!!!! Oh brother...sometimes I just want to smack them upside their head...

 

[steve-s]

Tell that to my LFS that put a clown into a 1/2 gallon tank...Thats right, HALF GALLON!!!!!!! Oh brother...sometimes I just want to smack them upside their head...

That's actually quite sad. I have the ¾ gal and there's no way.

That said though there are a few select types of goby that would do okay in a 6 gal. I kept a sharknose in a 5.5 mini bow without issue.

Cheers
Steve

 

[fishstixs05]

Currently I have a 6 gallon eclipse tank set up with 2 damsels, a yellow, and a yellowtail. It was just the yellowtail at first, but I had too remove the yellow from a community tank. They have done very well for a few months now. It is FOWLR and LS, with some halimeda. The tank has a small PH, and hermits/nassarius snails. one of the secrets, in tank refugium. I didnt mean to happen, it sort of just started. THe fitler setup have become a refugium type thing. When I added the sand, som got sucked into the filter and sank to the bottom. now i have a wide range of pods (amphipods especially) bristle worm, and tube worms living within the filter pad and sand of the filer. It is the same for m 30 gallon that has an eclipse hood. My advice if you want corals, rip out the current fixture, and put in a incadescent fixture with a coralife 50/50 20 watt CF bulb. Good Luck!