My 5.5g Reef...

[MeanGreenEyes]

This is my first saltwater tank that I've had running for about 8 months. Not new to the hobby...just new to sw. I have 4 planted freshwater tanks and needed something different...I have discus, Crs etc. So to make a long story short I'm bored with it. I plan to keep my discus and Shrimp tanks going but my 30g fresh is being converted to saltwater. So in the meantime my 5.5g has been my pet project and sits on my desk...

(F.Y.I. The clown will be going into the 30g...this is just a temp home until I finish collecting equipment.)

Equipment:
5.5g tank
Coralife 11" Aqualight (Planning on upgrading the lighting)
13w cfl
Koralia Nano 240g
AquaClear 30 diy Fuge w/ Chaeto, Purigen, Filter Floss, & Carbon
Marina Slim Filter S15 w/ live rock rubble & carbon w/ a Fluval Surface Skimmer modded onto the filter intake
5lbs live rock
5lbs Aragonite live sand

Livestock:
1 Clown (sold to me as a true perc but need ID)
1 Green Emerald Crab
2 Blue Legged Hermits
1 Astraea Snail
A few Zoa's, paly's and 2 shrooms

I haven't added much in the way of corals b/c I'm still trying to decide which ones I want in the tank...open to suggestions...

 

[NYreefNoob]

welcome to MR

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

welcome to MR

Thanks!

 

[jeffvmd]

Welcome to MR! :biggrin:
Do you have the same username at TPT?

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Welcome to MR! :biggrin:
Do you have the same username at TPT?

Yes...it's me...I came to the dark side. lol Hope all is well with you. Tank looks like crap b/c I'm still deciding which direction I want to go with corals for this tank.

 

[jeffvmd]

Nice to see you here in the dark side.
Definitely a different level of enjoyment in this other side of the glass box.
Nice start so far. Can't wait to see that filled in with corals.
Is this going to be a softie tank?
Good luck with the 30g conversion as well.

All's well so far. Had taken down most of my FW tanks and just retained my 20long, put up a low tech/ultra low maintainance 2.5g and my fluval edge mini reef.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Thanks I love it! I know what you mean I was up to 7 tanks and had to break some down. I'm thinking softie and lps for this tank. Thanks...still trying to decide whether or not to drill the 30...so far I've only got the light fixture and new tank (old one had a few chips)...too many decisions to make on that one right now. I'm even debating on putting the 30g in my room instead of the living room and moving my 20g CRS tank out to the living room. lol Looking for a good place to start collecting frags for the 5.5g. If you know of a good lfs...let me know. Not trying to spend a fortune in corals for the 5.5g b/c I want to get the 30 up and running.

 

[jeffvmd]

Just start out with a few easy corals. That 5.5 will not be really hard to fill out.
Try Manhattan aquariums for some nice cheap $5-10 frags. That's where I get mine from every now and then. I'll send you out some GSP the next time I need to cut it down.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Just start out with a few easy corals. That 5.5 will not be really hard to fill out.
Try Manhattan aquariums for some nice cheap $5-10 frags. That's where I get mine from every now and then. I'll send you out some GSP the next time I need to cut it down.

I know...I'm just debating on whether to keep this tank simple or go ahead and upgrade lighting on this tank.

I'm definitely going to check them out tomorrow! Whoop Whoop! Excited! :splitspin



UPDATE:

3 NEW CORALS (Thanks to my friend Jeffvmd):
pom pom xenia
Green Hairy Mushy
Brown Palys

CRAPPY CELL PHONE PICS:

 

[jeffvmd]

Looks like someone is gonna go frag shopping tomorrow.:biggrin:
Seems like the polyp and shroom opened up fast. The xenia will follow through in a few days for sure.
Start thinking of dosing some supplements once you start adding up more frags. I tried to skip dosing when I was starting but instant ocean salt mix was not enough for the corals. They were ok for a couple of weeks I think then most closed up after that and all sprung back to life when i started adding the seachem reef fusion. Now I do that every pther day or 2.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Looks like someone is gonna go frag shopping tomorrow.:biggrin:
Seems like the polyp and shroom opened up fast. The xenia will follow through in a few days for sure.
Start thinking of dosing some supplements once you start adding up more frags. I tried to skip dosing when I was starting but instant ocean salt mix was not enough for the corals. They were ok for a couple of weeks I think then most closed up after that and all sprung back to life when i started adding the seachem reef fusion. Now I do that every pther day or 2.

Might have to wait until next week on the frags...looking into buying a 75g per day ro unit for a steal...hopefully I'll be able to grab it tomorrow. I'm thinking of switching to Reef Crystals instead of I.O. I'm open to dosing if need be but I've noticed a lot of people shy away from dosing a tank this small.

In the meantime...made a major spur of the moment modification of sorts tonight. My Chaeto wasn't doing to good in my moded AC30...didn't have enough room to tumble and it fell apart. So...I had a 2g acrylic hex tank laying around and decided to turn it into a fuge. Need to go buy some new Chaeto tomorrow. It's ghetto but in my eyes genius. Let me know what you think...

 

[rkaragozler]

welcome to MR, nice set up so far. If you want to swing by SI, I can give you some softies, and lps.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Definitely due for an update on this tank...much has changed...have been extra busy...tank is progressing great imo...

Also...hopefully I won't get flamed for this...but I added a second baby percula clown to the tank this weekend...found him at the lfs hosting a bleached bubble tip anemone and took him too. I know that this tank is too small for the nem and that I'm taking a huge risk here...but the 3 of them will be moved to my 30g within the next couple of months. I couldn't just leave him there to die...he was under crappy lighting...but I'm taking very good care of him. He's eating minced raw shrimp/mysis daily. I am keeping up on water changes/top-off's and monitoring closely. He was completely white but has started to color up slightly. Besides lack of color he hasn't moved from that spot on my live rock. I've been researching like crazy and found a site where a woman rescued nems and brought them back to health in far worse condition than this one. So fingers crossed my green thumb will win out in the end.

The external fuge is working great...chaeto is growing a lot better than in the ac30...have a couple asterina stars in there...and a couple clams/bivalves? Don't know what they are will also post pics...

Here's a few pics...soon after lights came on...which is why not everything isn't fully open/extended...

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Pics...

 

[dherrera83]

Nice amen, its got good form.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Nice amen, its got good form.

Thank you! It seems to be happier in my tank than it was at the lfs...I have a crappy camera and crappy pic skills but the nem hasn't moved from that spot since it's been in the tank Tuesday, it's eating well and seems to be coloring up a little. I'm trying to upgrade possibly to a par38 which will hopefully help as well.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Oh and btw...the first pic where the nem looks really white is the first night it was in the tank and the other pics were yesterday...so like I said crossing my fingers...

 

[rkaragozler]

everything is looking good, how are you doing with the temp swings

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

everything is looking good, how are you doing with the temp swings

The temp swings have been much better since I took your advice and did the gravity fed fuge...the pump is in the tank...did everything as you suggested...works great...cheato growing great. Plus I have that fan...that I turn on high on hot days but put the a/c in the wall...if I need to turn it on.

 

[rkaragozler]

That's great, I am so happy things are working out for you.