TSkinner's 5.5 Gal Reef Tank.......news pics added....01 July 09

[tskinner]

Hey.  I've recently set up another tank.  It was suppose to be a 5.5 Gal with a false wall but two chambers in the back but I had it running for a month and sprung a leak in the glass so I bought a new tank and decided to run a HOB fuge instead of an intank style one. Specs are located below and I'll post acouple pics later. Its been up and running since Boxing Day and I plan on adding some new coral soon and as well transfer some from my other tank to this one. 

5.5 Gal AGA Aquarium
Nova Extreme T5HO X2 (2x18Watt T5H0) Fixture70 Watt MH Sunpod
AC70 Fuge(Running Cheato, Carbon, Heater), lighted by 6.5k desklamp
5 LBS of Indo Rock
5lbs of LS
3 Astrea Snails
1 Blue Legged Hermit
1 Scarlet Red Hermit
1 Yellowtail Blue Damsel1 Yellow Clown Goby

I'm not certain on keeping the damsel in the tank though.  I'm looking for other fish than I can keep in this tank.  I understand its small and don't want to have something in there that shouldn't be in there. So if you have any ideas on something I could keep, please feel free to post and comments are always welcome.

Pics to come shortly.

[tskinner]

A few pics.  Not much yet.

[xenon]

Nice and clean!

Do you plan to keep this a FOWLR tank or will you be adding corals?

[tskinner]

Yes I will be adding corals.  Probably in about 2 weeks or so.  The tank has been running for around around 2 months(4 more days) so either this weekend or next weekend I'm gonna get some livestock in there.  Just need to get another heater cause the one I have is too tall for the fuge.  And get a black background on there to hide to equipment in the back.

[xenon]

Yes I will be adding corals.  Probably in about 2 weeks or so.  The tank has been running for around around 2 months(4 more days) so either this weekend or next weekend I'm gonna get some livestock in there.  Just need to get another heater cause the one I have is too tall for the fuge.  And get a black background on there to hide to equipment in the back.

Sweet!

How do you plan to maintain cal, alk, mag? I know with my 29g nano my alk drops 3dkh in 24hrs if I don't dose.

[tskinner]

Sweet!

How do you plan to maintain cal, alk, mag? I know with my 29g nano my alk drops 3dkh in 24hrs if I don't dose.

Don't plan on dosing.  Just maintain it through regular weekly changes.

[BChamp]

Hehe.. nice fish.  I have the same.   Sweet little setup though.

[drew_tt]

How are you finding the evaporation so far without having a glass top on that size of tank?  Are you topping it off once a day?  Twice a day?  Every other day?

Looking good so far

[yaserrahim]

Well done, very nice and clean. What are you using for the fuge light?

[THEKINGCOBRA]

pg 3 of your other topic on you 20 gal...the first pic of the Zoo's...is the nicest and brightest I've seen.

If you ever sell it or frag it I want first dibs!

[tskinner]

Drew_tt: Evap seems to be very minimal so far.  I top off once a day with about 700ml or so.  I may try a glass top but not likely.

yaserrahim: I'm just using a regular desktop for a fuge light but I'm looking for a submerisable LED light or some type of small fixture since that one seems to produce alot of heat and its big.

THEKINGCOBRA: I'll be fragging probably in the spring/summer.  I have flatworms and need them gone and not to see them for awhile before I would consider selling frags to anyone.  Thanks for the comments on the zoo's.

[tskinner]

Well I started adding corals over the past few weeks.  Most of them are coming from my 20gal since I'm closing in down in acouple months and want to keep some of my favorite pieces.  So far I've added an aussie acan, candy cane, duncan, 2 orange yumas, green striped mushroom rock, a some various zoo frags.  I've also added an anemone crab which you can see in the pics below.  I've been battling cyano in this tank so what I've done so far is I swapped out impellors in the fuge to give the tank more flow, cut back on amount of food put into the tank, and maintain weekly waterchanges.  It seems to be slowly dissappearing but some days are better than others.  Thanks for looking and pics below.

[pminister]

man that is sweeeeeeeet. tank looks wicked..................i will sure be messaging you in the near future. i would luv to get a mini nano setup, for a low scale/budget SW tank. i want a mini ocean now. 

[tskinner]

Yeah it was fairly cheap to setup.  The hardest part about a tank this small is keeping the water parms stable but with the T5's, there is minimal heat so water loss is very low.  I generally go through about .5 to .75 of a L daily of topup water.   

[pminister]

Just few quetions...

What is in the HOB filter ? and... Why do you have a seperate light for the HOB Filter ? and...Do you have two heaters one in the tank and one in the HOB filter ? If yes why other wise no i gues. lol. and.....i think that sums it all

Nvm i got few more. What is "Running Cheato ?" ... and What is the carbon for ? guess it is just to remove the pollutants in the tank..hehe maybe i just answer my own question here. and... Why slow the flow in the tank ?

In your opinion what about be the easiest SW fish i could keep, i mean hardy for beginners i guess you get the idea. As well as for hard/beginners corals, and if i can run it with a simple setup like yours?

So that way i might start lil research............and possible get a SW setup by the end of this summer?

[pminister]

Id appreciate your insight. thanks.

[tskinner]

Just few quetions...

What is in the HOB filter ? and... Why do you have a seperate light for the HOB Filter ? and...Do you have two heaters one in the tank and one in the HOB filter ? If yes why other wise no i gues. lol. and.....i think that sums it all

Nvm i got few more. What is "Running Cheato ?" ... and What is the carbon for ? guess it is just to remove the pollutants in the tank..hehe maybe i just answer my own question here. and... Why slow the flow in the tank ?

In your opinion what about be the easiest SW fish i could keep, i mean hardy for beginners i guess you get the idea. As well as for hard/beginners corals, and if i can run it with a simple setup like yours?

So that way i might start lil research............and possible get a SW setup by the end of this summer?

1 - In the HOB I run Cheato.  Its a marco algae that helps absorb phophates from your tank.  The light is to provide it with maximum growth.

2 - I only have one heater running and its located in the HOB to keep the tank clutter free.

3 - Running Cheato in #1

4 - I run carbon acouple days a month to help clear the water up and remove any nasty's

5 - The easiest saltwater fish.....hmmm....damsels are about it, any type which includes clownfishs.  Just do your research first.

6 - You can pretty much keep anything as long as your the tank size, lighting, flow, and correct water params.  The easiest being zoos, mushrooms and softies.  I'm going to try some easy SPS later in the tank but not yet.  As for now its just zoos, lps and sofies

7 - Oh and the question for slowing the flow in the tank.  The filter is an Aquaclear 70.  Its rated for tanks 40-70 Gallons and I have it on a 5.5 gallon.  What I did was trim the impellor so there isn't so much flow.  It it was at max, the tank would a constant sand storm and everything would be blowing all over the place.  You want the biggest HOB possible since it increases water volume in your tank, you can run cheato and carbon here, and its a place to hide your heater.  Hope that answers your questions. PM me if you have any more.

[tskinner]

Well my new light is in.  I found a 16.5" 70 Watt Current USA Sunpod in the US.  I'm currently running it was the stock 14K bulb and it also has 4 Blue and 4 White LEDS.  I mounted it using a DIY Lamp Tree similar to the ZeroEdge Lamp Tree style except it cost 200 bucks less.  I'll post some pics later of the new setup and some of the Livestock since its a been awhile since I updated.

Tyson

[Bob the Nano]

I'm looking forward to seeing the new light..nice find! Do you have to acclimate your tank to the more powerful light?

[LittleX]

Very nice setup
Keep us posted on the progress