Ideas

Discussion in 'Jacksonville Reef Club' started by TMartinez, May 6, 2011.

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  1. TMartinez

    TMartinez Bristle Worm

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
    Messages:
    135
    Location:
    Mandarin, Fl
    So I have a friend who called me up yesterday and says "Hey, you looking for another tank". I say "sure, what is it?" He says "a 10-15g hexagon" I'm was like cool... plus its free

    Well he brought it over and I did some math. The walls are 6.25" each and the height is 12.5"... so by my math it's a 5.5g setup (someone double check my work please) It's made by Marineland. I have seen people use the 2g Fluval Spec to make nano reefs so I figured I would give this a try.

    What can I keep in a 5.5g tank? I was thinking maybe a pistol and/or sexy shrimp and maybe a small Goby and a helfricki firefish??? It has a pump and light assemble (one piece hood thing) already on it. It will be a fowlr tank for the time being but I'm guessing the CF lights are junk for coral growth and I will need LED? Or is there a decent 50/50 CF I could use? Also what about circulation pumps? I am running the filter right now just for flow. I'd like more though.

    I pulled about 5 lbs of LR from my main tank (replaced it with base rock i went and bought today). I'm gonna see if I can find live argonite somewhere in a 5lb bag...

    I think it would be a cool desktop tank If I can set it up right. Any advice or thoughts would be nice
     
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  3. Zeyphon

    Zeyphon Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2010
    Messages:
    91
    I think a 50/50 CF could grow stuff well in the tank, as far as I know their problem isn't so much with initial light output, but how quickly PAR drops as the tank gets deeper(ie- they don't have the "punch" of T5, MH or LED). A firefish will probably be too large/active for a 5.5 Gallon, but I think you could do the goby+pistol shrimp. I believe Hydor has a Koralia specifically designed for nano sized tanks, you might want to check that out if you want more flow.

    Good luck!
     
  4. ComputerJohn

    ComputerJohn Panda Puffer

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    Location:
    Massachusetts
    As for the sand. Just use dry argonite sand, then take like 2 cups of live sand from your other tank & seed it. Live sand isn't cheap. That's what I did on my 29gal Frag/QT tank.
     
  5. TMartinez

    TMartinez Bristle Worm

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    Location:
    Mandarin, Fl
    Nit a bad idea. Plus there is a decent amount of lr in the tank which will be a big kickstart to the nitrogen cycle so dry sand may just be fine in general
     
  6. TMartinez

    TMartinez Bristle Worm

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
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    Location:
    Mandarin, Fl
    I've been trying to post pics but it won't let me upload
     
  7. thepanfish

    thepanfish Flying Squid

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    Jan 1, 2010
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    Location:
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    I would go LED, cf will not have the punch as said above. A boostled PAR30 would probably be enough light according to their PAR graphs. Is this one of those marineland AIOs? I would remove the hood and clip on an LED bulb, and drill it into your main tank (if it has a sump) using some UniSeals Aquatic Eco-Systems: Aquarium Supplies - Uniseals® and do an overflow like this: http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/4-5g-nano-vase-96576.html Post #15, #17 #40. If this seems like too much work I would get a small HOB but remove the hood. Add sand from your DT. I would also add a small pwerhead such as the top one on this page, it is about 2 quarters across: http://www.aquaglobe.com/select02.html#prod01
    Ask Pickuman66 he has a bunch.
     
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  9. ComputerJohn

    ComputerJohn Panda Puffer

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    If your digital camera is greater than 5MP (megapixel), then the file size will be too big.. You have a few options. One resize the pics on the computer or two reduce the camera resolution/picture size & that should do the trick. 2MB files are going to be the limit. I upload all the time & my file sizes are about 1.38MB to 1.68MB.