marks nano build.... starting over(livestock suggestions?)

Yea good idea but it raises it pretty quickly. It will probably take quite a while for the sps to need any type of dosing unless he buys larger colonies.

 

True, very true. In a 5 gallon full of frags though, wouldn't it deplete trace elements quick in such a small volume?

 

In my 5 gallon i do about a measuring cup a day for water changes. Granted im not sps dominated. Every two weeks or so i did a larger change like maybe 4 cups or so just to make sure i was taking care of nutrient export. I run a aquaclear 70 on it modded into a fuge. My tank is doing well.

I actually dont really do this anymore, i do maybe just the 4 cup change once a week and that seems to be just fine. Just make sure your up on your top offs, that the biggest issue with a tank this small.

 

He will have to do water changes pretty routinely if he keeps any fish or inverts, to keep the sps alive. That should do it until the tank matures and gets dialed in. Honestly I would not attempt to try to keep sps in a 5 gallon tank, the dosing would prove too much for me. An ATO/Dosing pump with a slow kalk drip would be more appropriate.

 

Hey bvb just get a modded filter basket from inTank for the aquaclear.

 

He was planning quite a few fish, possum wrasse and panda gobies. Couldn't he just dose through the 5 gallon ATO? Add some elements to that?

 

i wasnt planning on a few fish, simply a panda goby and most likely a possum wrasse, i know i will have to dose trace elements and i know it will be pretty hard to keep sps thriving in such a tiny tank. i have done it in a 16 gallon tank so i know im not entirely unprepared. i think im just going to do water changes tho, my dads friend is a very experienced reef keeper and he said water changes on such a small tank are often times much more beneficial than a normal filter.

 

I feel like you are wanting to keep everything with spending little to no money. This will not work.

Buy a nice filter and a small skimmer. Your fish and corals will be happier. Constant water changes don't allow tank parameters to stay steady. These constant fluctuations cause by water changes will keep your corals stressed out and growth rate low.