Noob 5Gal Nano design

[sandstorm77]

I am going to start a 5.5 gal nano tank with a false wall.

If i use a 65 watts power compact 50/50( Half Actinic and half 10,000k ) with moon light, what kind of carals can i get?

 

[bleedingthought]

First of, :welcome:

With that much lighting over a little 5 gallon, you might be able to keep mostly everything. Is this your first tank? If so, try some softies and see how they do in there. From there, you can try some LPS. SPS aren't really my cup of tea (at least, not yet...), but you could do well with some of them. There are others, but start with that. Hope that helps a little.

 

[sandstorm77]

This is my first tank. I want to do a false wall with multiple chambers. One for some bio balls, one for carbon, a fuge and a skimmer. Any suggestions in the order i should put them in?

 

[bleedingthought]

Are you using live rock? I definitely would recommend that above all. I would also do away with the bioballs. They are just like bio-wheels from power filters and are meant to produce nitrifying bacteria, which your live rock would take care of. Therefore, the bioballs might produce an extended amount and might cause nitrate problems. Is the skimmer going to be in one of the chambers or just hang on? I would probably go TANK-->FUGE-->SKIMMER-->CARBON-->TANK. That way, the fuge is getting raw water to "filter out" and also to feed the critters in there.

If it is your first tank, run it with just live rock for a while, so you get the hang of the possible swings in a tank that small. Temperature and salinity are the most likely. You can also keep track of how much evaporation you get and all that. Then, once you're confident and have everything stable, give some mushrooms or zoas a try as they are nice (in my opinion) and hardy. Xenia, green star polyps, and some kenya tree leathers are also easy and grow fast.

And last but not least, make sure you post pictures! :wink:

Good luck!

 

[sandstorm77]

I was thinking mabye doing bio balls in chanmber A (mabye some cheteo)

In B would be my fuge with live rock, live sand, heater mabye a nano skimmer

And C would be room for carbon

 

[sandstorm77]

Any suggestions on how i can improve this design. Feedback would be great

 

[bleedingthought]

It looks good, but like I said, I don't really care for bioballs. IF it were me, I'd take the baffle between A and B and have the fuge a little larger. In it I'd put the sand, the rocks on top, the chaeto on top (good choice ), and a light over it.

OR leave section A for the nano skimmer pump. But then again, I have a 5 gallon nano with no skimmer on it and I can't justify spending the money on one since it's doing good. :wink: