6gallon tank, new to SW

[Luke]

I have an eclipse 6 gallon tank. It has a bio wheel filter built in to the hood, as well as a 60hz, 120 VAC .16 amp light built into it. it is small, but VERY bright.

The flow rate on the filter is 75GPH, and i also have a small powerhead in there with a flow rate of 120 GPH. I've got another device for it on order called an ECO aqualizer, wich through ionization is supposed to work similar to a protein skimmer, just without the bubbles and cup(I'll let you know how that goes).

I've got 6 lbs of live rock in it, and an aragonite substrate depth of anywhere from 2 to 4 inches. I ended up having to make it shallower on one end. It looks neat that way though, not all the same depth.

I leave the light on it off when i am at work, and it is on from the time i get home until the time i leave for work. I figured the algae in there would need it. In total the light is on for just over 12 hours.

Is this sufficient to support corals? I can literally see the surface ripples shadows on the face of the live rock. It's super clear water in there. At first i turned away from the idea of nano reefing simply because of the lighting requirments. Seeing how bright this light is and how well lit the tank is though, coupled with the fact that i have it on when i am here anyway, has made me reconsider...

What do you guys think? If i have sucess in keeping fish, could it be nano-reefed in time?

 

[eatsomepopcorn]

My opinino is that tank is a disaster waiting to happen. A 6 gallon marine tank is just too delicate of an operation to keep everything in balance and the lighting is insufficient.

 

[Luke]

Plenty of nano reefs out there that are 6 gallons or smaller.

 

[Aquarium1]

We need to know the wattage of the light and what kinds (actinic, white, etc.). Starting with a tank that small is possible, but not recommended. What ever you do, you'll need to do some really thorough research.

 

[skae310]

Its hard to start into saltwater with such a small tank. Water quality can go bad fast. It is however possible and thats how I started (however my was almost twice the size of yours). You just will need to do weekly water changes for sure. I cant tell by your description of the light if it can support corals, but im assuming it cant if its not really built to be a nano reef tank. You could upgrade, but keep in mind the amount of work its going to take to keep a 6 gallon with good enough water for corals before you invest too much. Also you cant really add too much as for fish. First off its tiny, and second thatll make your water quality even worse. There are cool inverts though that IMO are just as entertaining

 

[Zer0]

There are no SW fish that can be housed in a 6G tank.. so i hope your thinking of an inverts only tank. Plus, that lighting will get you no where if you plan to have coral. 6G is ridiculously small, and the one thing that your not understanding is that yes, there are 6G nano tanks, and even smaller. But the people running those small tanks are experts who have been in the SW game for years. They know how to compensate for little errors that will inevitably occur from such a small tank. Water quality will go bad fast if you slack even a little bit on the time you have to dedicate to the tank.

Honestly, you are new to SW and a 6G tank should not be an option for you. But of course you can do whatever you like. If you succeed, then awesome! But if your tank crashes, and you lose your inhabitants, and its a sad scene, don't say we never told you this was a bad idea.

 

[Aquarium1]

There are no SW fish that can be housed in a 6G tank..

Except a clown goby lol

Plus, that lighting will get you no where if you plan to have coral. 6G is ridiculously small, and the one thing that your not understanding is that yes, there are 6G nano tanks, and even smaller. But the people running those small tanks are experts who have been in the SW game for years. They know how to compensate for little errors that will inevitably occur from such a small tank. Water quality will go bad fast if you slack even a little bit on the time you have to dedicate to the tank.

Honestly, you are new to SW and a 6G tank should not be an option for you. But of course you can do whatever you like. If you succeed, then awesome! But if your tank crashes, and you lose your inhabitants, and its a sad scene, don't say we never told you this was a bad idea.

+1, good advice.

 

[Zer0]

Clown gobies shouldn't be put in anything under 10G's. Anything less and your just torturing the fish, even if it does survive.

If you gave someone food and water, they could "survive" in a closet that is 4x4.. but how happy will they be that they are living in a 4x4 closet...

 

[Aquarium1]

Clown gobies shouldn't be put in anything under 10G's. Anything less and your just torturing the fish, even if it does survive.

If you gave someone food and water, they could "survive" in a closet that is 4x4.. but how happy will they be that they are living in a 4x4 closet...

I've given a similar speech before. Although I've seen a lot of ppl with clown gobies in tanks smaller than 10g, so I just thought they could, but your probably right lol. Sorry.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

To answer your original question... stock lighting on those tanks is nowhere close to enough light to support corals. And if you do some Google searches about the EcoAqualizer, I think you'll get the general idea that it wasn't a good use of money - on any size tank. The good thing though is that it won't hurt anything!

 

[Luke]

There are no SW fish that can be housed in a 6G tank.. so i hope your thinking of an inverts only tank. Plus, that lighting will get you no where if you plan to have coral. 6G is ridiculously small, and the one thing that your not understanding is that yes, there are 6G nano tanks, and even smaller. But the people running those small tanks are experts who have been in the SW game for years. They know how to compensate for little errors that will inevitably occur from such a small tank. Water quality will go bad fast if you slack even a little bit on the time you have to dedicate to the tank.

Honestly, you are new to SW and a 6G tank should not be an option for you. But of course you can do whatever you like. If you succeed, then awesome! But if your tank crashes, and you lose your inhabitants, and its a sad scene, don't say we never told you this was a bad idea.

Ok, so how about i move it all over into a 14 gallon tank that was used for freshwater originally? I can do it as soon as Saturday if you guys think it's a better way to go. That is as big as i can possibly go for the time being. I'd just have to go get some more live rock, and mix up some more saltwater.

Yeah, you would probably like to see me start even larger. Not possible for now. Id like to get to the 55 gallon+ stage someday. I just cant.

I know, clean every surface of the 14g with vinegar and rinse thoroughly.
It would just set my cycle back a week is all, right?

 

[skae310]

14 would be better. I started with 14 gallons and it was my first SW set up. It isnt too hard to maintain, but make sure you arent lazy when it comes to water changes. I start to get problems if I let mine go more than a week. And also realize that although you doubled your original size there still can only be 1 or 2 fish. As for the cycle, im not sure, but you should get a test kit if you dont have one. Thatll tell you if it goes through more of a cycle when you add more rock.

 

[thominil]

Clown gobies shouldn't be put in anything under 10G's. Anything less and your just torturing the fish, even if it does survive.

False, they have been kept in 3g tanks and have been happy and healthy. Clown gobies tend to perch on rock or coral until feeding time or something else of interest happens, and the green clown gobies rarely exceed 1.5". Welcome back to AA zer0.

I agree, the 14g would be much easier. You could stick a few sexy shrimp in the 6g if you used the 14g.

 

[Zer0]

Thanks thom, but i still disagree. I mean.. a 6 gallon tank is not big.. at all. Honestly, how much swim space do you think it would have. I take in to consideration that they mostly just perch on rock or coral, but fish still swim lol. IMO, putting any fish in a 6G tank is like putting 2 clownfish in a 10G tank which is ridiculous. The size is proportional. A clownfish that grows up to 5" in a 10G tank is relative to a clown goby that only grows up to 1.5" in a 6G tank. Do what you may, i still think it's unfair to the fish.

Also, a 14G sounds great. That would make an awesome nano tank and would give you some leniency for any errors that may occur. Also, definitely make the 6G a SW tank anyways lol, just make it an invert tank. That would be awesome. Just keep some coral and shrimp in there like thom said.

 

[thominil]

The clowns that people stick in 10g tanks are typically false percs, or ocellaris, and only get up to about 2.7"-3" which is fine. Anything less than a 10g, yes it is too small bio-load and length wise. A 1.5" fish is fine in a tank that is around 15" long tank, give or take an inch, there will be plenty of swimming room for it even with live rock. HTH.