First SW - Nano Chi 5G

[Autumnsky]

Started with the tank today!!!

Tank will be a 5G Fluval Chi

Bought 5lbs of CaribSea Oolite sugar sand. 13.
5G tote with "free fill" of Salt water 15
2lbs of live rock. 12

This met my budget of $40 spending $ today.

I didn't want to mess with mixing SW today so I spent $ on the tote, Figuring I would need one anyway to store the extra water.

Since it didn't happen unless there are pics. Here they are but there really isn't anything to see, still happy though!

Got the rocks in and sand and partially filled...

Very cloudy

Here it is all done!......Sort of. JK Here it is just after filling

Since I really liked 2 bigger pieces of rock I already had, I decided to seed them. Tomorrow I will get a piece of shrimp. Today I plan on adding a little crushed flake food.

I also have to set up the filter.

One of the live rocks smelled a little like ammonia. The others didn't smell like anything other than water and brown paper. Guessing something on it died.

 

[Fresh2o]

I heard you were going salt. Interested in seeing what it looks like when things settle down.
What equipment will you be using on this?
Dumb question but I'm guessing that the nitrogen consuming BB found in FW are different than in SW? Just a thought

 

[picokeeno]

Following!

 

[dingusplease]

Very exciting! I'll definitely be following.

 

[Autumnsky]

I heard you were going salt. Interested in seeing what it looks like when things settle down.
What equipment will you be using on this?
Dumb question but I'm guessing that the nitrogen consuming BB found in FW are different than in SW? Just a thought

Yes correct, different BB and mostly the rocks are the BB holders unlike FW filter pads/media which hold the BB. I am big NOOB here at SW.

To clear up the water I added a HOB filter on the tank, it is huge, compared to the tank takes up the entire back panel of the tank!

Here is the pic this morning!!!

As for other equip, the light is the big thing here and I am trying to find the best but very economical light. I have a few ideas and have been reading up on lights the past weeks.

Right now keeping the lights off is best anyway due to the parameters while cycling, encourage algae growth.

The live rocks, and somewhat so, the live sand, give a kick start to the tank and some people have a cycled tank just by using awesome live rock.

The two large whitish rocks were already in my possession and I like them and wanted to use them so I got a bunch of small live rocks to add here and there to give it the seeded start.

Next week I should figure out what I want and order the light.

The critter I for sure will have is Sexy shrimp, they are hilarious and cool looking.

Otherwise there will be an assortment of snails and other shrimp as I can pinpoint the entire stock list.

I will likely be doing a 35G before long, that seems to be the size when you can actually get real fish which can live in the smallish tanks.

So I might get a little Goby to start out as a baby in the 5G but only if I am sure I can do the bigger tank. I was sorely tempted with a posting of a 72G bowfront SW tank for $200. If I had had the cash in my hand I would have run down and picked it up!!!

Here is a pic of a tank at the reef store, an hour away, so not that local!!!

 

[dingusplease]

Your rock work is well designed and very clean! Just make sure you can clean everywhere you will want to (you may not even want to clean the back if you have a black background, which will hide any algae)

 

[10gal_nano]

What thoughts did you have for lighting? Par38 by reef koi would be great

 

[Autumnsky]

Your rock work is well designed and very clean! Just make sure you can clean everywhere you will want to (you may not even want to clean the back if you have a black background, which will hide any algae)

Thank you for your comments about the rocks. It is much more difficult to do the rocks in a little 5G SW then a FW.

Originally i had pictured the rocks in a much different configuration. Though in the little cube they didn't look right.

Also I really liked the idea of the rock work coming from the side of the tank aesthetically. I kinda feel the look when it happens and go with it. It took a while to get to feel happy with the display.

The girl at the reef store suggested doing a coral tree or something with a big piece of decorative coral in the center held up by rubble, and it looked kind of cool in the tank they had on display in the store.

I am wondering about the cleaning of course, not having complete access to the sides...

Yes there will be a background, I haven't decided which color, likely graduated deep blue as I already have that. I did notice it is easy to see smudge marks on the inside of the tank, and I noticed, I missed cleaning a few spots

What thoughts did you have for lighting? Par38 by reef koi would be great

If those were the 2-300$$$ ones that will not be part of the set up lol!!!.

I need suggestions of ones which will cost MUCH less, like $50 if that is even possible. I had seen some a couple weeks ago around that range. Not totally sure what the lights will be yet

Still looking for suggestions for very economical lighting.

The water cleared up even more I was gone for a few hours and it is even better than this AM.

 

[10gal_nano]

The par 38 and fixture is around $100. A wave point clip would be good and cheap but no sps

 

[Macscale]

The par 38 and fixture is around $100. A wave point clip would be good and cheap but no sps

A par38 would be overkill. A par30 maybe. I would rather go with a clip on, I'm sure there are ones powerful enough.?

 

[dingusplease]

Par38 would be a little too much for 5gallons, the spread would be pretty odd too.

IMO a par30 for coralcompulsion.com would be perfect, you can keep anything.
For softies and maybe LPS a wavepoint clip on would probably do the trick.

 

[Autumnsky]

Par38 would be a little too much for 5gallons, the spread would be pretty odd too.

IMO a par30 for coralcompulsion.com would be perfect, you can keep anything.
For softies and maybe LPS a wavepoint clip on would probably do the trick.

Thanks for the recommendation. When you mean anything do you, are hard corals LPS? Or are they something else. Would a light like that bleach stuff, and could you still have sponges?

Now that I am trying to learn about light, I haven't quite got to the learning all about how the light completely affects the little animals, and each types light requirement.

For that matter I am still having a hard time not thinking of them as plants.

 

[bribo12]

"Hard" corals refer to any corals that build calcium carbonate skeletons so yes lps fit under this as well as sps. Sps and lps are hobbyist terms to lump corals into groups basically. It works though as lps are easier than sps corals. So lps=hammer, torch, Duncan's, acans, anything with big fleshy polyps and a skeleton. Sps=acropora, montipora, seriatopora, anything with tiny polyps and they ususally build large colonies that branch out. There are some that are hard to distinguish like cyphastrea being lps not sps but for the most part it's easy to tell what's what.

They're not plants because they're colonial organisms. If it helps think of them as tiny jellyfish that build huge calcium based homes haha.

 

[dingusplease]

+1 everything bribo said.

Also, to give a short explanation corals are cnidarians just like jellyfish, so the two are very closely related.

In fact, the only evolutionary difference is the body form - Medusa (free swimming) and polyp (fixed position). These are the two body forms of cnidarians. Corals of course are of the latter category.

 

[Autumnsky]

"Hard" corals refer to any corals that build calcium carbonate skeletons so yes lps fit under this as well as sps. Sps and lps are hobbyist terms to lump corals into groups basically. It works though as lps are easier than sps corals. So lps=hammer, torch, Duncan's, acans, anything with big fleshy polyps and a skeleton. Sps=acropora, montipora, seriatopora, anything with tiny polyps and they ususally build large colonies that branch out. There are some that are hard to distinguish like cyphastrea being lps not sps but for the most part it's easy to tell what's what.

They're not plants because they're colonial organisms. If it helps think of them as tiny jellyfish that build huge calcium based homes haha.

+1 everything bribo said.

Also, to give a short explanation corals are cnidarians just like jellyfish, so the two are very closely related.

In fact, the only evolutionary difference is the body form - Medusa (free swimming) and polyp (fixed position). These are the two body forms of cnidarians. Corals of course are of the latter category.

Well these explanations have helped a bunch! Last week I finally found what the L and S stood for, so I am gaining ground!!! And no wonder they sting, ouch! lol Very interesting to know!

Ok I have asked this before and I wasn't satisfied with the answer really. In a different thread.

Speaking of stinging things, and also of toxic things, which type, if any specific variety, are non toxic and non stinging? And by aggressive corals, they mean very stinging (as in their neighbor corals).

If I could have some that were non toxic, I understand that many generally don't bother your hands, and I remember being at Sea World, long ago, as a kid, and petting and handling the critters, but what are they, if some varieties, only a couple might not be a issue?

 

[bribo12]

Lps tend to have nasty sweepers that kill other corals. Euphyllia(hammer, torch, frogspawn) are the main offenders as well as galaxea. None will really sting us though. I think you'd be fine with a hammer or frog, torches can be jerks. Acans are awesome and don't really sting anything unless it falls on them. Sps tend to duke it out with each other but lose to everything else. Softies just release chemicals that inhibit stony coral growth. I'd start with easy stuff like zoanthids and shrooms and then get some lps like a hammer, some acans, a Duncan. Then maybe do some encrusting montis. You could do plating or branching sps but they'd need to be fragged a lot in that small of a tank

 

[Autumnsky]

A quick question, I was looking at some overstock stuff at reefs 2 go, and they have an orange sponge and it says it needs 60G tank! Really? Can't you feed it I have a big AquaClear HOB filter on the back atm, and it is almost a gallon of water there, I used all 5 gallons of water from the 5G tote.

Also there are shaving brush and Tufted Joint algae and water lettuce. Would any of those be good in the 5G? To start out at least? I am planning for a 35-46G in the next 2 months.

 

[bribo12]

The sponge is very difficult because it needs low light and several times per day feeding. Hence the large tank as more water volume to dilute all the food/phosphates. In a 5 you're gonna have serious algae issues trying to feed it a ton. They tend to not do well in captivity. The macroalgaes are great. They help just like fw plants and make a tank look unique.

 

[Autumnsky]

Thank you. They have some on sale. It depends on shipping cost. There seems to be a bit of a shortage of the stuff around here right now, could be weather, still freezing temps, like tonight, .

 

[Autumnsky]

I saw this Eagle Eye last month and this month it is on sale, would this be a good price for this item, all are wysiwyg?

-anyone have any thoughts on these in a couple weeks after a good light? Yhis place I have heard good things, and it is near by.

https://www.mindblowingcorals.com/store/p405/Eagle_Eye.html

And these?

https://www.mindblowingcorals.com/store/p418/Teal_Trumpets.html

https://www.mindblowingcorals.com/store/p457/Bam_Bam.html

https://www.mindblowingcorals.com/store/p457/Bam_Bam.html