First Time Saltwater 5 gallon

[GodFan]

This is yalls chance to win over one of the freshies! I have a 5 gallon tank that I was planning on planting like crazy but..... I think saltwater is pretty and have considered a nano tank. SO i have bunches of questions! Are you ready? I ask ALOT of questions because I am VERY thorough lol

So first thing is first. These are my must haves. If I cannot do the following things than please tell me and I will gracefully bow out now. I must be able to keep colorful corals. And not just one. I want to have like a coral reef. Not like 100 species but a couple and enough to cover the live rock. I need to be able to do this without spending an enormous amount of money. I really dont want to get super complex either. I want to keep it pretty simple.

Now what lighting is good for saltwater? (i will post my coral wishlist at the bottom of this post if that helps) I need to know exact specifics: wattage, type, kelvin temperature, etc.

What additives will I need? How do I prep the water? I have heard you cant use prime so what options are there?

What kind of fitration is needed? I have 2 filters I can use (a top fin 20 and a marina slim 10). I know I will have to buy a powerhead.

Do I have to use special sand?

Finally here is my coral wishlist. I am copying from live aquaria. Items with a * are my "I really really want it".
*Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Giant Green Polyp Duncanopsammia - Aquacultured
*Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Tube Coral, Yellow, Tubastrea sp.
Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Birdsnest Coral, Green - Aquacultured
*Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Birdsnest Coral, Green - Aquacultured
Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Long Polyp Leather- Aquacultured
Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Colony Polyp, "Flaming Sun", Zoanthus sp.
Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Birdsnest Coral, Green - Aquacultured
Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Colony Polyp, Yellow
Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Colony Polyp, Orange/Green

I could be ok with just the ones with a * but I would like maybe one smaller one that stayed short without the flowing arm things....

Anyway thanks for the help and God bless!

 

[oneball]

good luck! i just started a 5 gall this week also. sadly i dont know a whole lot to be of much help, just hope it goes well for you!

 

[GodFan]

Thanks!

 

[oneball]

haha i just noticed. sorry for all of the exclamation points haha

 

[Adam10045]

Gooooooood luck. 5gal is hard for even us advances saltwater keepers. Keeping water stable is extremely hard to do in such a small tank.

Not trying to discourage you, just be careful not to put too much money into it. With sw aquariums the saying: bigger the better is 100% true. The larger it is, the easier it is to take care of and maintain.

 

[carey]

I spent more time working on my 4g pico than I did on my 125g reef tank. lol

Also, some of those corals like the birdsnest will require a good light. And pickins are slim for a tank that small. Youre looking at a single led par38 bulb or something like that.

 

[joy13]

There is a couple of decent 70 mh lights out there 70W Metal Halide Pendant Lights or Viper 70 Watt HQI Clamp on Light - jbj-viper-light-70 - AquaBuys.com the down side of mh is the heat. I don't know that much about leds I am still hearing things like it is you need more red spectrum than just the standard white and blues give off. There is also the par 38 that I know a few people have been using for a year or so Aquarium Lighting & LED Lights: Ecoxotic PAR38 LED Aquarium Lamps at the next reefsmart I hope to find the people there that has been using them so I can find out the pros and cons. T5 lights are just to long for your tank and compact fluorescent isn't an option with sps coral imo.

You will want an ATO so you can keep your sg as stable as possible. There is a couple of brands JBJ has a decent one and AutoTopoff.com

You will want to use a large filter I like the aquaclear mod that a lot of people use that turns it into a fuge.

For a powerhead get a small koralia.

Two of the most important things to get for a sw is a refractometer and a good quality liquid test kit.

Saltwater isn't cheap and the more time you take doing it right the first time the more you will save. Do as much research as you can before you buy and ask options.

 

[GodFan]

I think I am going to wait on saltwater lol One day though.... with a bigger tank!

 

[oneball]

I think I am going to wait on saltwater lol One day though.... with a bigger tank!

the biggest thing that scared me was the live rock prices... 1 gall to 1 lb is what ive read. they charge between 9 and 12 bucks PER POUND for the rock at my LFS.

 

[GodFan]

Holy cow! Yea Im out! I have a plan though. I am going to suceed at a low light tank for awhile, then get a high light high tech tank, and then try saltwater lol

 

[Photoevangelist]

I didn't realize it when I bought it, but my 35g is probably just right for a noobs. Maybe 29-55g is best with the larger being more recommend. I read local fish shops (LFS) try to get new aquarists to buy larger tanks over smaller tanks, because they are easier to maintain and you'll be a repeat customer. If you start a small tank and it fails big they've lost a potential customer.

Water perimeters change more with a small tank. If I had done anything smaller I would be having nightmares because of water evaporation. My tank is at work and have to top it off on Friday before I leave. If there's a three day weekend, I run the risk of having the water all evaporate in my sump section that has the return pump to the main tank. Then it's blowing air into the tank-not good. Auto top off (ato) is my solution for this, but what I'm saying is over 56 hours I'm losing about 3g of water. For my tank the salinity isn't rising a lot because it's medium size tank, but even a tad bit of water evaporation on a 5g would be bad. Cost isn't too bad for ATO but you will spend lots of money on your tank overall. Just by a coral fragment one at a time. Also my tank doesn't have a hood. A hood on your tank should keep evaporation down, but it will also warm your tank up in the summer. Temperature for the tank should be constant all year round.

My parents have been into fresh water for ages. But my dad bought a 10g nano and made it reef with a few fish about three years ago. He kept it up until he passed away and it got pretty nasty. There was some die off with fish and inverts but my mom got to know the tank and has brought the tank back to life. She's gone sometimes for weeks at a time. I don't know how the tank survives (after I panic for a 3 day weekend). I want my tank to flourish not just survive.

Don't get to nervous about the hobby though. Have fun! I read about an aquarist that had corals in a 4g glass flower pot being lit by the lights next to his larger aquarium and only using an air pump for a filter. Try easy to keep corals that are hardy and can handle a little neglect if need be.

This hobby is really addictive and fun. Hope you join us and we can see some pictures of your tank and hear tales of your experiences too!

 

[GodFan]

I didn't realize it when I bought it, but my 35g is probably just right for a noobs. Maybe 29-55g is best with the larger being more recommend. I read local fish shops (LFS) try to get new aquarists to buy larger tanks over smaller tanks, because they are easier to maintain and you'll be a repeat customer. If you start a small tank and it fails big they've lost a potential customer.

Water perimeters change more with a small tank. If I had done anything smaller I would be having nightmares because of water evaporation. My tank is at work and have to top it off on Friday before I leave. If there's a three day weekend, I run the risk of having the water all evaporate in my sump section that has the return pump to the main tank. Then it's blowing air into the tank-not good. Auto top off (ato) is my solution for this, but what I'm saying is over 56 hours I'm losing about 3g of water. For my tank the salinity isn't rising a lot because it's medium size tank, but even a tad bit of water evaporation on a 5g would be bad. Cost isn't too bad for ATO but you will spend lots of money on your tank overall. Just by a coral fragment one at a time. Also my tank doesn't have a hood. A hood on your tank should keep evaporation down, but it will also warm your tank up in the summer. Temperature for the tank should be constant all year round.

My parents have been into fresh water for ages. But my dad bought a 10g nano and made it reef with a few fish about three years ago. He kept it up until he passed away and it got pretty nasty. There was some die off with fish and inverts but my mom got to know the tank and has brought the tank back to life. She's gone sometimes for weeks at a time. I don't know how the tank survives (after I panic for a 3 day weekend). I want my tank to flourish not just survive.

Don't get to nervous about the hobby though. Have fun! I read about an aquarist that had corals in a 4g glass flower pot being lit by the lights next to his larger aquarium and only using an air pump for a filter. Try easy to keep corals that are hardy and can handle a little neglect if need be.

This hobby is really addictive and fun. Hope you join us and we can see some pictures of your tank and hear tales of your experiences too!

Thanks for your reply! I have decided to bow out and stick with the fresh water lol. One day though...one day....

 

[Shark_Bait]

Wish me luck GodFan...I'm jumping into my first SW experience with a 24gal nanocube...IM TERRIFIED!!

 

[GodFan]

Good luck! i wanna see pics!

 

[Shark_Bait]

You got it. I got a build thread now under the getting started called Diving into my fear of Saltwater

 

[Crabs]

There's a couple things

 

[Crabs]

Sorry I stepped on ur thread