Tropical Fish Forums

[Scipio]

Tank: Standard AGA 5.5 Gallon

Lighting: 8 watts= 1.5 WPG

Rock/Sand: Planning on getting live rock and sand, or live rock and aragonite sand and let the "live" spread into the sand over time. Which option is better?

Other equipment: Ordering a refractometer, Visi-Jet Skimmer(70), and AC 20 Powerhead, and I already have a 25 watt heater.

Stock: Only inverts and a few easy low light corals(suggestions?)

I do plan on upgrading to a 15 or 20H in a few months and will stock them with a few small fish. I would like everything from this tank to be used in the larger tank, this is just basically a jump start into SW for me, and also to get some material established for the larger tank.

I have these tank sizes set in my head, due to limited budget and space, I also already have these tanks so please don't tell me to go larger, because I physically can't right now.

[Sacrophyton]

it seems to me that everything could work out, if you are careful. with a tank that small, you might be able to fit 2 or 3 small soft corals in there, but they would almost certainly grow too large. I would recommend corallimorpharians (mushroom corals) because they only spread across the tank, not up. they are bullet-proof, and can survive a quite a few mistakes.
what kind of lighting do you have? Watts is very general, and doesn't provide enough information... is there a link to the system you are going to use?
As you know, small tanks are much more suspectable to sudden changes, so do you have a plan for water changes?
You could fit a shrimp in there, but seeing that they are not part of a "clean up crew"
you would need too feed it with frozen food.
I would put a diffusing outlet on that powerhead, it could turn out too be too powerful for the tank.
It looks like it would work, as long as you don't rush ahead and buy everything in one day. Good luck, and welcome to the saltwater side of fishkeeping!

[Scipio]

Hey Sacrophyton, thanks for the quick reply!

The light is a pretty cheap and basic system that came with the tank, like this:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+3803&pcatid=3803

It is very difficult to find good lighting that won't overheat for a tank this small, which is a reason why I plan to upgrade later on. I plan to get this for my upgrade(24" Marine):
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+9871&pcatid=9871

Good to hear I can at least grow some Corals in such a weak light, will there be a problem for them when I upgrade their lighting?

For water changes, I was thinking maybe 10-20% a week, I also ordered a glass top to prevent a lot of water evaporation.

What is a diffusing outlet? Can you give me a link?

For the shrimp, I really like Scarlet Cleaner shrimp. Would they be fine in this tank? How many should I get?

[rfosgategt]

unless money is a true deciding factor on your size small tanks are a lot harder to get started for the first time person. My friend has a 12 gallon that he has stugled with since day one, you have a lot less water for error, with a larger volume you get learn the water parimeters a little easier and work down from there.

good luck...I have love my 33 long, I have started neglecting my planted tank since I started it some time ago.
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[Scipio]

I don't think I should have many problems. My neighbor has a 12 gallon eclipse nano that he has breed Percula Clowns in. He also has a 125 reef tank. If I have any problems, I could always come here, go to him, or my SW specialty forum.

For water parameters, I plan to get a glass top to prevent a lot of water evaportation, do 10% water changes a week, get a skimmer thats rated up to 70 Gallons, and lightly stock it with only a few small inverts and 1-2 Mushroom Corals.

[rfosgategt]

[Scipio]

[nes999]

I think a skimmer rated for 70 gallons would be to strong for a 5.5 gallonmight be wrong but it will be huge and take up most of your tank
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