first saltwater aquarium

[bdp242]

Its much better! The sand Will be great. A royal gramma basslet would do ok, just get a baby for sure. Small fishes only please

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Yup!

Here is what I am thinking

2-3 turbo snails
2-3 hermit crabs
1 neon or hectors goby

 

[Sawyer_Peyton18]

If I were you as a beginner, I would not keep anything smaller than a 30 gallon aquarium. Larger aquariums are easier to keep stable.

 

[FrightyDog]

He is starting to understand that, but he will upgrade the tank size, this is temporary

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Sawyer_Peyton18]

Oh okay I was just checking

 

[Mebbid]

Ok well do you plan to cycle your tank? And turbo snails can go in, I think two would be fine, one even. You can even get a small nassarius or cerith snail to dig into the SAND. I love my nassarius snails <3. Get a few dwarf hermits too , like 3. And a cleaner shrimp or peppermint shrimp.
@bribo12 true. I try planting my tanks (for mandarin purposes) but they wont need it.

Turbo snails are waaaay too big for a 5 gallon tank.

Your CuC (Cleanup Crew) can look like this
1-2x Turbo Snail
1-2x Nassarius Snail
3-4x Dwarf Red Tip Hermit Crab
1x Cleaner Shrimp
Optional (in addition to those ^)
1x Emerald Crab

Replacements: Instead of Mexican Turbo Snails you can get (same amount of ):
Margarita Snail
Astraea Turbo Snail
Banded Trochus Snail
Nerite Snail
Turban Snail or
Zebra Turbo Snail
Instead of 1-2 Nassarius, you can get:
1x Super Tongan Nassarius Snail
1-2x Cerith Snail
Instead of 1 Cleaner Shrimp, you can get (same amount of):
Peppermint Shimps
(maybe) Fire Shrimp or
1-2x Sexy Anemone Shrimp

The shrimp suggestions are all fine. However: The turban, trochus, and turbo snails are all very poor snails for an aquarium like that. The turbans and trochus tend to die in droves when put in standard reef aquariums. They just aren't suited to the temperatures we keep them at. The turbo snails are far too large and will starve in a tank that size.

Get a royal gramma Basslet!

Very no

Its much better! The sand Will be great. A royal gramma basslet would do ok, just get a baby for sure. Small fishes only please

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Royal gramma is far too large for a 5 gallon tank. They need a 30 minimum.

 

[Mebbid]

Yup!

Here is what I am thinking

2-3 turbo snails
2-3 hermit crabs
1 neon or hectors goby

Switch out the turbo snails for Astrea and you will probably be okay. It's not an ideal tank size to keep any fish in at all but if you insist on having one then one of those two would be your best choice.

 

[FrightyDog]

Turbo snails are waaaay too big for a 5 gallon tank.



The shrimp suggestions are all fine. However: The turban, trochus, and turbo snails are all very poor snails for an aquarium like that. The turbans and trochus tend to die in droves when put in standard reef aquariums. They just aren't suited to the temperatures we keep them at. The turbo snails are far too large and will starve in a tank that size.



Very no



Royal gramma is far too large for a 5 gallon tank. They need a 30 minimum.

As to the turbos algae clips would do fine, i use those. And as to the gramma it is temporary and i said a small one, long term no way, but this is for a couple of months. Just make sure to get the smallest neon goby you can find

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[FrightyDog]

Switch out the turbo snails for Astrea and you will probably be okay. It's not an ideal tank size to keep any fish in at all but if you insist on having one then one of those two would be your best choice.

I agree those snails would be fine. These inhabitants are only temporary.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Sawyer_Peyton18]

From what I understand most gobies stay quite small. One would be sufficient for a few months but then you will have to upgrade to a 10 gallon or more.

 

[Mebbid]

I agree those snails would be fine. These inhabitants are only temporary.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

"Temporary" That's the word you keep saying. But from my experience here on the forums "temporary" all too often becomes eventually and then from there turns into never. Stock for the tanks you have not the tanks you want.

 

[TheTodd]

+1

Why not step up to a 10g now? Petco does the dollar a gallon sale and the tank will cost about what you want to spend on snails. Small tanks are tough due to all the parameters that can change quickly with so little water volume.

Also...why get a CUC for a tank that is brand new and will not have fish? What are they going to "clean up" at this point?

 

[Sawyer_Peyton18]

I agree with TheTodd. You should upgrade to at least a 10 gallon.

 

[bdp242]

Im waiting to get a bigger tank until I buy a house hopefully in about 6 months. I plan on turning my 30 gallon freshwater tank into a saltwater tank. I do have the bigger aquarium. I also have 2 filters on it. One made for 55 gallon and another for 20 gallon so I will have alot of water flow! I just want to hold off until I get a house here pretty soon. I just want to experiment with saltwater right now and just see what it is like!

 

[carey]

If this were my tank, and I have had a few tanks under 5g I would go with this:

2 nacrissus snails (spelling is wrong, i know lol)
1-2 nerites or something similar
PLUS some shrimp....
either a fire shrimp or a cleaner shrimp. OR you can go with 3 sexy shrimp. they are awesome. Tiny, but they dance a sexy dance.
Crabs: I would skip the usual hermits and maybe get a strawberry crab, pom pom crab or maybe an emerald crab.

Now for fish, which is the big topic here. I would, and have, kept clown gobies in a 4g tank for quite some time so I think that would be your best bet. I like the green ones and the yellow ones. They will swim a little bit here and there but usually perch. No way for the gramma, clowns or other gobies. (unless you research and find SMALL gobies)
I have a pink spotted goby that started at maybe an inch long and he is every bit of 5 inches now. Hectors gobies stay small, hi fins stay small....you still have some options.

 

[bdp242]

If this were my tank, and I have had a few tanks under 5g I would go with this:

2 nacrissus snails (spelling is wrong, i know lol)
1-2 nerites or something similar
PLUS some shrimp....
either a fire shrimp or a cleaner shrimp. OR you can go with 3 sexy shrimp. they are awesome. Tiny, but they dance a sexy dance.
Crabs: I would skip the usual hermits and maybe get a strawberry crab, pom pom crab or maybe an emerald crab.

Now for fish, which is the big topic here. I would, and have, kept clown gobies in a 4g tank for quite some time so I think that would be your best bet. I like the green ones and the yellow ones. They will swim a little bit here and there but usually perch. No way for the gramma, clowns or other gobies. (unless you research and find SMALL gobies)
I have a pink spotted goby that started at maybe an inch long and he is every bit of 5 inches now. Hectors gobies stay small, hi fins stay small....you still have some options.

How hard have you found it to keep up with the 4g?

 

[bdp242]

update: I have bought flurval sea hydrometer and I have it inside my tank and the salinity level is above the max number. How much of the saltwater (5 gallons) should I take out than replace with freshwater? I bought the saltwater pre made from the store.

 

[tangs27]

You have the hydrometer inside the tank? Or do you mean you have tank water inside the hydrometer?

 

[TheTodd]

If it was pre- made, it should not be too high. I can't see why a LFS would do that. What is the actual reading?

Usually you get a swing arm hydrometer and fill it up to get a reading. You said it is in the tank? Is this one of those floaty ones?

With a small tank, it is gonna be important to know your salinity. A little evaporation and salinity will go up.

 

[bdp242]

You have the hydrometer inside the tank? Or do you mean you have tank water inside the hydrometer?

I have it inside the tank attached to the glass. Tank water is inside of it too. Is that the right way to use it?

 

[tangs27]

It depends what kind it is. The swing arm ones do not go in the tank you fill them up and sit them on a flat surface.