Thinking of starting a Nano

[Libtech]

Hi everyone, I am thinking of starting a Nano Tank, I have a small unused 5 gallon tank.. 16x8x10 Inches at my house. I currently have a 55gallon with my African Cichlids, and I cant afford to chagne that thing over to Salt.


So I was thinking this small 5 gallon would be great for a nano Reef with a few fish in it? I have na Aqua clear 150 that is brand new but would I need it for that?.. basically I have no clue where to start on this. I have done some research and went to a store as well and relaized that the lights are massive ammoutns of money? is there any cheaper way to do this?

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Libtech, brace yourself! A storm of frenzied responses is coming!
Thats a pretty open-ended question there, sir!
Well first of all, Id like to say welcome to RDO (reefs.org), and I bet youll find this place pretty useful! Watch out for no-no questions, though...
Anywho, sorry senor, but 5 gallons is only enough room for one saltwater fish, and that fish is going to have to be the smallest fish I know of; a clown goby! See, the reason these tanks are so cool for reefs is cause' you leave the whole "fish" thing behind, and enter the world of the diminuitive workings of a coral reef. Yes, coral. Many people on this forum that have nanos consider fish to be too much for even 10 or 15 gallons, but you should see what their tanks look like anyway! Essentially, what youre doing is taking small invertebrates--sessile and otherwise--and arranging them in a way that makes them look teh awesomest. What you would probably want to do for your little five gallon their is talk to people like Brandon or Matt, or even Hwarang, Lord of Niftyness! These people have been doing nanos for a long time, and they know every part of this facet of an intriguing trade--from aesthetics to chemistry to what is cool--like they know how to sit down.
My advice is two-fold; read books that give thorough and *clear* explanations of complex issues and whats to be expectec from you as an aquarist, and get out and get to know the "reef community" that is in your immediate area. The forum counts too, but dont rely on any single source; such is the basis of formulating a clearer, more enlightened method or means of progressing.
Lights = expensive, but theres ways around that that any of the guys above can help ya with, along with the rest of the motley crew around here!
Filter sounds good, but obviously youll get more info from the others. Im just here to take up space and nod my head.
Hope that helps in some small way! Again, welcome and heres your helmet!

 

[brett3735]

check out http://www.reefcentral.com and http://nano-reef.com for lots of information also

 

[brett3735]

you could do a pretty cool dwarf seahorse tank with that 5 gallon

 

[ricky1414]

you could do a pretty cool dwarf seahorse tank with that 5 gallon

No offense, but there is no way he could provide enough live food to sustain the seahorse, dwarf or not.

 

[Anonymous]

You can fit a couple fish in a 5 gallon tank, but they have to be small. A firefish and small goby could work, or a pair of neon gobies, or a single "larger" fish like an Amphiprion ocellaris clown or Royal gramma. There are dozens of choices available to you. I suggest finding a good marine fish book at your local fish store or bookstore, and create a list of fish you like that are under 2" or so. Then come tell us what you're thinking, and we'll help.

You'll also want to check out this link: http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=33928
..for basics on reef keeping.

DIY lighting systems are pretty cheap at www.ahsupply.com and www.hellolights.com

 

[ricky1414]

Not to hijack your thread Libtech, but do you think a neon goby would overload a 3/4 gallon pico?

 

[Anonymous]

hey Ricky Im thinking of going Neon goby too for my 3/4gal....anyways..hey Libtech, welcome to RDO and there is no such thing as a no no question (shame on you Dewr)..If you have a question ask it, we all started out new to this so feel free to ask any question you want even if you feel its redundant or stupid...There are some small gobies out there..Dwarf gobies to be exact...In the family of Eviota, Trimma, Trimmatom these guys are the smallest of the goby group..(less than an inch)...if you are lucky enough to find one at a reasonable price, that would be your best bet...Personally ive never seen one except in mags but i know theyre out there...I agree with Matt Wandell..a small goby and a fire fish would be ok or a small percula clown fish...you have a Aqua Clear 150? Ill suggest something neat with that...dont use the carbon media for that..place some live rock in instead along with some macro algae..go to www.bigalsonline.com under Art Deco lighting and purchase a 7Watt PC clip on light and turn the Power filter into a refugium...that is one of the best DIY(do it yourself) projects for these nano tanks..Matt Wandell also has a neat project too for a DIY protein skimmer...ask him to link it cuz i dont remember where its at...Good luck

 

[ricky1414]

I say go with a clown goby. They are cool to watch, as well as being simply hte smallest fish I have ever seen. Very little bioload.

 

[Anonymous]

I liked my clown gobies. I miss them. I want to find a green one to put in my nanocube.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Neon in my 3/4gal..pretty cool..need to keep the bioload light though...im in process of building a cover to keep salinity normal and the evap low...

 

[CanadianGuy]

you could do a pretty cool dwarf seahorse tank with that 5 gallon

No offense, but there is no way he could provide enough live food to sustain the seahorse, dwarf or not.

There is absolutely no reason that a 5g tank couldn't be used to house dwarf seahorses. In fact a 10g tank is generally considered the maximum reccomended size for a dwarf tank. Once you go beyond 10g it becomes too hard to control the food density. A 5g tank would be ideal.

Dwarves require BBS, which are extremely easy to hatch and keep a continuous supply on hand.

Ricky1414,
I'm curious as to why you think that there is no way someone could supply enough live food for a seahorse? It's quite easy to obtain live foods for seahorses from your LFS or you can collect them yourself from the wild. That is if they even require live foods. The dwarves of course do as they won't eat frozen, but other CB seahorses, and some WC horses will gladly accept frozen food.

 

[ricky1414]

Ricky1414,
I'm curious as to why you think that there is no way someone could supply enough live food for a seahorse? It's quite easy to obtain live foods for seahorses from your LFS or you can collect them yourself from the wild. That is if they even require live foods. The dwarves of course do as they won't eat frozen, but other CB seahorses, and some WC horses will gladly accept frozen food.

Perhaps I was under the impression that they needed copious amounts of live food to thrive. Guess I was wrong. My apologies

 

[CanadianGuy]

No need to apologize. There's a lot of misinformation regarding seahorses out there.

 

[Anonymous]

CanadianGuy,

Can you please clarify what you mean by "dwarf seahorse"? What species exactly are you talking about?

 

[CanadianGuy]

Sure Matt,

I was refferring to Hippocampus zosterae aka the Dwarf seahorse. There are other seahorses that are just as small, or even smaller, but none of them are suitable to keep in our home aquariums. I menion that because sometimes "dwarf" is used incorrectly to describe other species as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Is H. zosterae the one that lives on and mimics gorgonians? Do people actually keep those?

 

[Anonymous]

If so, where on Earth would you get them? I'd be very interested to see a place that carries them regularly...

Peace,

Chip

 

[CanadianGuy]

Is H. zosterae the one that lives on and mimics gorgonians? Do people actually keep those?

No, you're thinking of H. bargibanti - Pygmy seahorses. They're smaller and as of yet, not able to survive in a captive enviroment. At least not at the hobbyist level. I believe that there are some public aquariums that have some.

Here's a Pygmy.