Alrighty, well I am in the process of shopping for equipment, and doing research on what corals I want to put in this.
I plan on sticking with Softies and LPS. I've read that they're the easier to maintain and are forgiving(as far as corals go) to n00b errors.
Here's the list so far of equipment that I plan on purchasing...
Tank
6.5gal
24 x 7 x 9
Skimmer
AquaC Nano Remora
Lighting
Coralife 24 Inch Aqualight With 1-65W Actinic / 1-65W 10,000K Lamp Straight Pin Base (with fans)
But do you think this would cook such a shallow tank with softies and LPS? I really wanted something with an actinic light as well... If anyone has a better suggestion, please tell!
Heater
Hagen Thermal 50watt 6" mini heater
And this is where it gets tricky. With such a small tank, and lights, plus a heater, will this tank seriously cook? I'm sure the lights will keep it fairly warm during the day, but what about at night when the lights are off? I'm worried about the flux in temp.
Filter
The tank kit comes with a small HOB filter that I plan on using carbon in periodically(like maybe once a week?). Anything else recommended?
Circulation
Eheim 1212 Aquaball Powerhead (Would this model be too powerful?) or a
Tunze Turbelle NanoStream Pump 6025
Substrate
I really would like to use CaribSea Aragalive Indo Black sand. But is buying live sand in a prepackaged bag worth it? Or is it just going to be loaded full of dead bacteria and nitrates? I might also just snag some sand from a friends 240gal reef as well since I'll only need 6-7lbs of it. I just really like black sand. lol
I also plan on buying prepackaged natural seawater, packaged by Catalina Water co. Main reason why, is my tap water here SUCKS and looks like a public swimming pool in a bucket. And I can't afford a nice RO unit at the moment ontop of setting up this tank.
Also, any good recommendations as to test kits? Especially calcium?
Now for what i'd like to stock it with.
I'm thinking Frogspawn, Hammer, Mushrooms, Ricordea, and green star polyps.. For shrimp i'd like a Fire shrimp. And 1 goby, species i'm still deciding on. I wanted a Catalina REALLY badly, but alas they're a cold water fish. So I might end up going with nice green clown goby, or maybe a red headed goby.
And I know everyone is going to explode when I say this, but i'd like to try to keep a young maxima clam, once the tank is firmly established and all the bugs are worked out. I'll be giving it to my friend with the 240g after about a year or so(or as soon as the clam gets too big). I understand all that is required for keeping clams, so no worries. I know what i'd be getting myself into. lol. The question is lighting. Is it at all possible to keep soft corals and LPS in such a shallow tank along with a clam?
Anyone, any wise words or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
I plan on sticking with Softies and LPS. I've read that they're the easier to maintain and are forgiving(as far as corals go) to n00b errors.
Here's the list so far of equipment that I plan on purchasing...
Tank
6.5gal
24 x 7 x 9
Skimmer
AquaC Nano Remora
Lighting
Coralife 24 Inch Aqualight With 1-65W Actinic / 1-65W 10,000K Lamp Straight Pin Base (with fans)
But do you think this would cook such a shallow tank with softies and LPS? I really wanted something with an actinic light as well... If anyone has a better suggestion, please tell!
Heater
Hagen Thermal 50watt 6" mini heater
And this is where it gets tricky. With such a small tank, and lights, plus a heater, will this tank seriously cook? I'm sure the lights will keep it fairly warm during the day, but what about at night when the lights are off? I'm worried about the flux in temp.
Filter
The tank kit comes with a small HOB filter that I plan on using carbon in periodically(like maybe once a week?). Anything else recommended?
Circulation
Eheim 1212 Aquaball Powerhead (Would this model be too powerful?) or a
Tunze Turbelle NanoStream Pump 6025
Substrate
I really would like to use CaribSea Aragalive Indo Black sand. But is buying live sand in a prepackaged bag worth it? Or is it just going to be loaded full of dead bacteria and nitrates? I might also just snag some sand from a friends 240gal reef as well since I'll only need 6-7lbs of it. I just really like black sand. lol
I also plan on buying prepackaged natural seawater, packaged by Catalina Water co. Main reason why, is my tap water here SUCKS and looks like a public swimming pool in a bucket. And I can't afford a nice RO unit at the moment ontop of setting up this tank.
Also, any good recommendations as to test kits? Especially calcium?
Now for what i'd like to stock it with.
I'm thinking Frogspawn, Hammer, Mushrooms, Ricordea, and green star polyps.. For shrimp i'd like a Fire shrimp. And 1 goby, species i'm still deciding on. I wanted a Catalina REALLY badly, but alas they're a cold water fish. So I might end up going with nice green clown goby, or maybe a red headed goby.
And I know everyone is going to explode when I say this, but i'd like to try to keep a young maxima clam, once the tank is firmly established and all the bugs are worked out. I'll be giving it to my friend with the 240g after about a year or so(or as soon as the clam gets too big). I understand all that is required for keeping clams, so no worries. I know what i'd be getting myself into. lol. The question is lighting. Is it at all possible to keep soft corals and LPS in such a shallow tank along with a clam?
Anyone, any wise words or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
