Bill's Intro to the Reef - 5 Gallon Rimless

[neeker4]

Great looking little tank... Jumping on board for the ride...

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by neeker4

Great looking little tank... Jumping on board for the ride...

Glad to have ya on board!

[jwh0818]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

Glad to have ya on board!

Ive been on sinve you started. Cant wait for fish! I think im more excited than you!!!

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by jwh0818

Ive been on sinve you started. Cant wait for fish! I think im more excited than you!!!

Believe me, i cant wait for fish!

Well, went looking for a yellow clown goby today or some coral. Didn't find anything at my normal LFS. I've got a few more places I'll check out on Thursday.

Any recommendations for CUC? Snails? Hermits? Will they get along with my emerald? I'd love a turbo snail, they're freakin huge though! Might look silly in this little tank... "Oh yeah, my snail is bigger than my fish..."

[jwh0818]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

Believe me, i cant wait for fish!

Well, went looking for a yellow clown goby today or some coral. Didn't find anything at my normal LFS. I've got a few more places I'll check out on Thursday.

Any recommendations for CUC? Snails? Hermits? Will they get along with my emerald? I'd love a turbo snail, they're freakin huge though! Might look silly in this little tank... "Oh yeah, my snail is bigger than my fish..."

I know nothing about salt. Maybe assassin? I think they breed in salt though. I think you should find a big anemone and throw 2 clowns in there. Be careful with turbo snails. They like to race

[cgthebeast]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

Believe me, i cant wait for fish!

Well, went looking for a yellow clown goby today or some coral. Didn't find anything at my normal LFS. I've got a few more places I'll check out on Thursday.

Any recommendations for CUC? Snails? Hermits? Will they get along with my emerald? I'd love a turbo snail, they're freakin huge though! Might look silly in this little tank... "Oh yeah, my snail is bigger than my fish..."

I think 2 hermits, 1-3 nerites would be good for a CUC. Hermits usually get along we'll with crabs when well fed. Could always go with some sexy shrimp and some neon gobys. And there nothing wrong with owning a snail larger then you fish, my turbo is a ninja

[jmay33]

Originally Posted by cgthebeast

I think 2 hermits, 1-3 nerites would be good for a CUC. Hermits usually get along we'll with crabs when well fed. Could always go with some sexy shrimp and some neon gobys. And there nothing wrong with owning a snail larger then you fish, my turbo is a ninja

+1 on everything but the turbo snails. I hate turbo snails. They knock rocks and corals over.

Nassarius snails are really good too.

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by jwh0818

I know nothing about salt. Maybe assassin? I think they breed in salt though. I think you should find a big anemone and throw 2 clowns in there. Be careful with turbo snails. They like to race

^ I will be doing none of the above...

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by cgthebeast

I think 2 hermits, 1-3 nerites would be good for a CUC. Hermits usually get along we'll with crabs when well fed. Could always go with some sexy shrimp and some neon gobys. And there nothing wrong with owning a snail larger then you fish, my turbo is a ninja

This sounds good, still not sure about the turbo though....

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by jmay33

+1 on everything but the turbo snails. I hate turbo snails. They knock rocks and corals over.

Nassarius snails are really good too.

Thanks! I may try a Nassarius or two. They're good for sifting the sand bed as well, right?

[jmay33]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

Thanks! I may try a Nassarius or two. They're good for sifting the sand bed as well, right?

Yes. I love them! They bury themselves in the sand and they come out at night and at feeding time. They're some of my favorites.

[Rexisbeast]

Just kinda new at saltwater btw what does cuc mean??¿?

[aquandrew]

love your tank already bill i just started a 5.5 myself i will be following!
CUC= clean up crew

[jwh0818]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

^ I will be doing none of the above...

Yeah I know nothing about saltwater so im actually here learning!

[Billbug68]

Thanks everyone! I'm kinda busy today, but I'll definitely be hitting the fish stores tomorrow in search of some live stock. There's a reef store I found that I've yet to visit, gonna go check it out, it had pretty good reviews on yelp... Haha

I still haven't built my auto top off yet, still trying to figure out how I'm gonna build the float mount, and I've been reading that I should have some sort of relay or reduce volts down to 12v at the float switch? Not sure, I guess some more research is needed. If anyone has any experience on the subject, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for the comments and help, the thread started off slow, I was a little worried that maybe the salt side wasn't as active as the planted sub forum I frequent, but it seems to be picking up steam now!

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by jwh0818

Yeah I know nothing about saltwater so im actually here learning!

Haha, no worries! That's what the forum is for. Oh, and ps, my little 5g is way too small for a pair of clowns, or even a single clown. And I believe nems require very high light and a well established tank to survive, as in like a 6 month-a year old tank... I could find some coral with long tentacles or polyps that look kinda like a nem though!

[jwh0818]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

Haha, no worries! That's what the forum is for. Oh, and ps, my little 5g is way too small for a pair of clowns, or even a single clown. And I believe nems require very high light and a well established tank to survive, as in like a 6 month-a year old tank... I could find some coral with long tentacles or polyps that look kinda like a nem though!

Yeah its too small and the anemone does require high light. I think 1 clown needs 10g minimum

[Billbug68]

Originally Posted by jwh0818

Yeah its too small and the anemone does require high light. I think 1 clown needs 10g minimum

Yeah, I've been tempted to get a small clown and use it as my excuse for an eventual upgrade, but money is tight so an upgrade is far in the future. I've seen tons of people keep clowns in a 5g and its extremely tempting because I REALLY want one, but I'm trying to be a responsible fish keeper... :/ guess I'll stick to a small goby, or possibly a firefish.

[jwh0818]

Originally Posted by Billbug68

Yeah, I've been tempted to get a small clown and use it as my excuse for an eventual upgrade, but money is tight so an upgrade is far in the future. I've seen tons of people keep clowns in a 5g and its extremely tempting because I REALLY want one, but I'm trying to be a responsible fish keeper... :/ guess I'll stick to a small goby, or possibly a firefish.

I hear you. I wanna get a tank this friday but nooooo. I had to get a dog and now I need to get her shots. Why oh why cant we have both!

[Billbug68]

Okay, so I THINK I may have figured out the auto top off situation... Since my pump runs on 120v, I'll have to get a 12v transformer to wire to the float switch, then that goes to a relay that uses the 12v to switch on the 120v to power the pump... Ugh, hopefully they have what I need t radio shack... I've seen a lot of people just wire 120 to the float switch, but that seems a little dangerous... I'm gonna do it right, I'll post lots if pics for you guys once the project is underway. I suppose I could use a low voltage pump and forgo the relay, but I like that the aqua lifter pump has a lower gallons per hour, incase of a failure, it won't dump tons of water into the tank, more like a small drip...

Edit: further reading in to the subject has reaffirmed the use of a relay. It also prevents voltage spikes(which can damage and possibly warp or stick the contacts of the float switch) to the float switch that can even be caused by low voltage pumps.