Someone teach me about reefs

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NatureFish

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Can't have fish so I started thinking... What if I got a 5 gallon and had a mini reef without any fish? Is that possible or am I wrongly mistaken?


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Some teach me about reefs

The key to reefs is good salt, strong lighting, and patience. While a 5 is definitely do able, it honestly won't cost much more to start up a 10-20g which would be easier. Also allow you to have a few fish too, and trust me space runs out quick in a nano ;). Just my $.02 though.

Edit: add lots of research to the list :)
 
Well the only reason I couldn't get fish was because my parents said no but they surprised me with a 10g literally 5 minutes ago! Yay!!!!!


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I go through the set up of my of my 10g reef in my thread "operation clown goby rescue" in the nano reefs section, should give you a good idea of what goes into setting up a nano. Tanks pretty simple set up and is on auto pilot, weekly wc and filter cleaning is all.
 
What is better sand or gravel?


NatureFish
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Sand. Please research a lot before you get started. I messed up a lot when I first started. If this is your first tank, a freshwater may be a lot easier. And if your on low funds, a 10g will be wayy cheaper too.
 
Thanks for all the info! I'm starting out with my first freshwater tank so we will see how that goes but I wanted to get a 5g later and then use it for just a nano reef but no fish.


NatureFish
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So, are these coral like plants do they need sun? Are they considered plants or animals? And what's a coral that can tolerate low light and still water (if there's one at all).


NatureFish
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They all need water movement but some can take pretty low light. They're animals but have symbiotic algae in their flesh that feeds them basically lol. So yes they use the sun for energy through symbiosis.


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Hmm, I don't think they are considered plants or animals. They are corals and very few can survive without lighting (There are some non photosynthetic ones, hard to keep) there are many different types of corals too so research is the key, some like more light than other, some like more flow than others. Some need to be fed, some are considered expert only. You would definitely need flow...


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They're cnidarians. Closely related to jellyfish and sea anemones. So they're 100% animals...


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Yep, def animals. :) In my mind, if you can kill it and it eats and breathes then its animal. lol

Mushrooms are the lowest light needing corals that i can think of, maybe some xenia? But they still require water movement. They make very small powerheads that would work in a 5g......As well as tiny little hang on filters. I had both when I had my 4g pico running. Not expensive at all either, check out amazon.
 
Ok. Would it be easier to keep them in a 10g or 5g? I heard small salt water tanks are hard to maintain.


NatureFish
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I'm still confused about coral.... Do they have roots to keep them in place? Can you house just one? I like how anemones sway a little bit (I don't want it to sting me though), are they any others that move a little but are harmless? They are sooo pretty but if I get one I'll probably kill it. :(


NatureFish
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A 10g tank will be much much better than a 5g. Still really small and a bit more work than say a 20g tank. You could get 2 tiny fish, preferably gobies or blennies as they dont swim much.

Corals will be attached to ceramic plugs, called frags. You can get some corals with a skeleton, like brain corals that stay put at the bottom of the tank, on the sand due to their weight. Others can be removed from their frag plugs and glued to rockwork.

Look at LPS corals, like hammers and torches, they sway just like an anemone and are ALOT easier to keep. People always mistook my lps for anemones, they can look very similar. Alot will depend on the lighting too, as LPS corals will need more light than say mushrooms and zooanthids.
 
Can you keep a single mushroom? It looks like there's a lot of mushrooms In one clump in the pictures I've seen.


NatureFish
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I looked up hammer coral they are SO COOL! Now I want one!!!


NatureFish
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I know it may be strange but I'd like to have just one coral to admire. Something like an anemone. So it's more like a pet coral rather than pet fish with coral.


NatureFish
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How long do coral live? What exactly is involved for hammer coral?


NatureFish
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