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I'm gonna be doing something similar soon, so following along :)

Thanks for the advice! It looks like I won't be going Iwagumi then because I want this to be as simple as possible. I think I will use gravel for the substrate or maybe black blasting sand. I've picked up a 5 gallon standard kit from Walmart. Will the stock lighting be enough for things like...

Hey everyone, I'm looking to set up a nano freshwater tank for my college dorm room. I have plenty of experience with saltwater, but I'm a fw noob. I don't remember sw being this intimidating haha :) I really like all of those Iwagumi/Amano inspired aquascapes - is something like this possible...

I'm pretty sure it's the regular old PVC pipes you can get at a hardware store. They will probably settle down after a while but it's good to provide enough hiding spaces so the firefish doesn't stress out.

Yeah that's the PAR30 I was looking at. Seems like it would be enough for a pico and it has the fixture too. I've read so many pico threads over the past few days .. probably way more than I ever researched my FOWLR haha. I prefer the look of a regular boxy light fixture, but the only options...

So the stock 26W CFL provides enough light for corals? That's good to know. I can probably get one of those then or a par30 instead. I'm curious to see what your next build will be!

Welcome to AA! :) You can stick with the dry rock if you have enough of it. The whole lot will become "live" in appearance after a few months. You should aim for 1-2lbs of rock per gallon, so rinse off and use the dry rock you already have and get more live rock if needed. During your cycle...

They're an indicator that your cycle has completed. As alLexX mentioned, they will fade away on their own within a few weeks but if you want you can start to add your clean up crew now. Turbo/astraea and cerith snails are good for diatoms and other film algaes. Nassarius are great for the...

Good luck :) .. planning on starting a pico soon myself.

A Brita filter would probably be better than straight up tap water, because it removes certain chemicals. It can't replace an RO/DI filter, which removes practically everything so you are left with close to 0 total dissolved solids (TDS). An RO/DI unit will be incredibly helpful in the future...

If you can't get them at feeding time, try at night after you turn the lights off. You can use a small flashlight that won't bother them too much. Another option if your tank is relatively small is to drain a large majority of the water out.

I only had a sixline for a very short time but I think you will be fine sticking to your current feeding schedule. 3 times a day seems to be very excessive. It will forage off the live rock for copepods, etc anyway.

Looks great! I like the small caves/overhangs you built with the live rock. I love the lemonpeel too, one of my favorite fish :)

You could probably keep a small goby - I've seen plenty of picotypes with them. Anything else would be pushing it though.

You can try eBay. I know several people here have bought one of those portable RO/DI filters for as low as $60. It will be worth it in the long run, if you want an easier time dealing with nuisance algae and maintaining perfect water quality.

That would be a barnacle. Amazing tank carey, I've been following it for a while now :) I'm thinking of starting a pico myself.

Same here

Hex aquariums aren't very common in sw but technically you can use anything. You read correctly - having a large tank is easier because slight changes and small mistakes do not have as large of an effect. If you have a HOB power filter you can use that for sw.

Wow, great price! I would ditch the crushed coral and pick up some aragonite sand. Sand is much better for saltwater - lets you keep several types of snails for your clean-up-crew and helps buffer pH. Skimmers are great for maintaining good water quality but not absolutely necessary. If you can...

Welcome to Aquarium Advice! Your plans sound great. On a tank that small you won't really need a protein skimmer or UV sterilizer, but since you have them already you can use them. Starfish - I've heard they don't do very well in small tanks, but wait for someone more experienced to reply...

If you just finished cycling, there might be extra nutrients in the tank fueling the hair algae. As your tank matures the levels should settle down. The best procedure with hair algae is trying to reduce nutrients as much as possible - feeding less, rinsing frozen foods, water changes, etc - and...

Chaeto seems to be the most popular variety. It's great for absorbing nutrients but can be a bit of an eyesore. It depends on what your main purpose in adding macro algae is. Gracilaria, halimeda, etc are great for the display tank, while algae like chaeto and caulerpa are better suited for...

You can keep the skimmer going. For the refugium, most people put in rubble rock along with macro algae. Some macro algae require a substrate, others (like chaeto) do not. You will need to buy a small cutting of macro algae to start off. Check your LFS or if you prefer buying online, I have...

I'd suggest getting a new bag of aragonite sand, which will be much better for the aquarium. Stay away from the "live sand" and get the regular dry variety. Also, with a 20 gal you can get away with not using a protein skimmer if you're looking to save on cost at first. As long as you use...

From what I've heard, they are better left in the display tank for decorative purposes. They are calcified and relatively hard compared to other algaes. You can use them for filtration purposes but for a fuge you would be better off with chaeto, certain forms of caulerpa, gracilaria, and similar...