new 7 gal nano ??

[lj1064]

I have a 75 gal reef...thought I would try a nano. Bought the all glass mini bow 7gal. It comes w/a 14watt florescent and the whisper filter rated for 5 to 15 gallons. Looking for some advice and suggestions for stocking.

I would like a couple of Percula Clowns and/or possibly a goby or 6 line wrasse.

Can I use the water change from my 75 in the nano to avoid the cycle time?

Is a coral banded shrimp OK?

What size cleaning crew?

Will the lighting that’s included support any type of soft corals?

What would need to be added to support an anemone for the clowns?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

imo a clown pair would prolly be too much for a 7...just not enough room.

No you cant use water from established tank to avoid a cycle...you can use the water, but its not gonna do anything. All the bacteria lives on the live rock and sand, not in the water...they just break down the amonia and nitrites that are in the water.

Coral banded shrimp...they're awsome looking...but pretty mean lol. So you cant keep other shrimp for sure, and i think i saw wehre they'll go for other inverts and corals...but i might be wrong so i'll let someone else answer that.

cleaning crew...i'd go with about 7 cerith snails to start. Then just go from there. Dont go for hermits tho. Mine dont do anything besides kill my snails off.
If thats not enough, just get a couple more untill you find that they're doing the job.

I dont think the light that comes with your setup will be able to handle any corals...i dont think they make a reef bulb for that fixture, but i dont have one so i could be wrong on that. But you need to get a bulb thats 10,000K. Most of those freshwater bulbs are like 5000K or somethig like that.

I wouldnt even think of an anemone for now...first they need a well established tank, so you shouldnt get one right away anyways. Also, the clowns may not even take it. They'll also take other stuff...just depends. Mine like my magfloat in the top right corner lol.

 

[jmac4978]

I agree, I think 2 clowns is too much. Hell, 1 is too much IMO. But keep in mind that fish produce waste. I have a 5 gallon nano and with the water volume being so low, I dont have any fish in it because its hard enough to keep the params in check.

Sir_dudeguy is the man, you'd be wise to heed his advice. When you cycle the tank, you are not cycling the water. You are cycling the live rock and sand to have them retain beneficial bacteria. If you want to shorten the cycle, throw in some live rock from your established tank, it already has the bacteria on it. You will still go through a small cycle, but not as severe or lengthy.

I like coral banded shrimp too, but I am sorry I have him now. I like peppermint shrimp as they will help to clean up, while coral banded just sit on my rock upside down and look at me. I cant put a peppermint in there now since coral banded will eat him. If you want the shrimp to do something helpful in the tank, go another route. If you want the shrimp to look nice when hes out, definately get the coral banded. Also, I've seen my coral banded pick and peck at the hermits with his claw arms, but nothing too serious as he just goes after their shell.

Size of clean up crew I would say is get a handfull of critters first and then if you need more, buy more. I am pro-hermit so I'd say one or two of each red and blue. Scarlet are pretty, but I have the worst time keeping them alive.

Definately upgrade the lights. Definately!

I wouldnt put an anomone in either, they need a bigger house too!

 

[sir_dudeguy]

If you want to shorten the cycle, throw in some live rock from your established tank, it already has the bacteria on it. You will still go through a small cycle, but not as severe or lengthy.

Probably wouldnt even see one actually. That rock will be 100% cured (which means cycled) so theres not gonna be any die off from the time you move it from one tank to the other. I'd be very surprised if you saw any cycle at all.

I am pro-hermit

thats a new one lol

I'm the other way around tho...i hate my hermits. I've got 3 types and they all go after my ceriths.

 

[Drewpdog]

Anems are made up of like 90% water from your tank anything under 20gals total water volume just dosnt have the stablity for an Anem and you need a realy nice lighting system

i my self am pro hermit but what i discovered is they realy like the hair algee if your tank has None then yea they may go for your snails my nano has a zebra and a halloween hermit and they will walk the tank looking for any hair algee or any algee growing off the rock they arnt rock suckers like snails and them killing off the snails is just them removing compitition for food

 

[jmac4978]

:lol: He said rock suckers :lol:

 

[lj1064]

Thanks for the feedback...I think we will just let the cycle happen and be patient.

any ideas on any good inexpensive lighting alternatives?

 

[lj1064]

Thanks for the feedback...I think we will just let the cycle happen and be patient.

any ideas on any good inexpensive lighting alternatives?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

them killing off the snails is just them removing compitition for food

them killing off the snails is for their shells. Theres plenty of hair algae in my tank and the hermits dont even touch the stuff.

And 20 gallons can be stable enough for an anem...yes its harder, but quite a few people put them in small tanks and have good luck with them. Just make sure the tank is going good. You obviously dont wanna add one to a tank who's SG is swinging a ton day to day, or something else like that.

 

[Drewpdog]

i said under 20gal total volume and then killing off snails for shells your supposed to stock shells for them i have like 50 shells behind the rock of my 12 gallon tank and then its nice to have them so you can set them near your zoa colonies for easy fraging ^ ^

 

[lessthanlights]

I've had my minibow 7 for three years with a clown and a shrimp in it no problem. I wouldn't go much more than that in it . . Changed 1 gallon every 10 days or so. I have a hob ac filter and a powerhead for circulation. I run carbon for a week once a month. The lighting is a 10k 70w mh and 28w actinc. Watch out for heat with a mh on a mb7. Just swapped to a ten gallon because I got a crack in the bottom. Check out http://minibow.com/ for some good info- lots of broken links but still good stuff.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

then killing off snails for shells your supposed to stock shells for them i have like 50 shells

lol, tell that to my hermit! i put a ton of shells in there...must be about a hundred or so..idk..i got them at the beach, but they're all the same exact shells as the hermits. Some are a tad bigger, some smaller, etc.. I guess they just like killng my snails or something then lol.

and ya i know you said "under" 20 gallons, and i also meant for smaller tanks than that, sorry...and like i said..of course its gonna be harder, but not too bad if your water is good.

 

[Drewpdog]

would ahve to have an auto top off cause the ammount of evap on my 12 causes too high a salinity flucuations with out one

 

[sir_dudeguy]

imo, top offs arent and shouldnt be a problem. If you make sure that its topped off every day (on smaller tanks probably 2 times per day) then it shouldnt change. At least my 2.5 never changes and all i do is pour in a glass of water in the mornings and evenings. (just one of those small 8 oz ones)

But you're definately right...topoff units help a ton, specially if you're only home for certain hours.

 

[Gbeef]

im the same as you im starting a minibow 7 also. there is another website out there by OC its just minibow7s. the light in a minibow stock blows.

you can look into smartpaq's lighting 32watts as alternative. and retro fit it. heat will be an issue but should be as bad as 70W halide. Im going mostly softies and maybe one LPS. 1 fish max....

Im going to be running a MB7 with a AC300 fliter and a remora nano. i have everything already just waiting on lighting. Im also considering going barebottom (personal perference) plus i have the skimmer.

Im going to start a thread on these fourms pretty soon as soon as i purchase the rock. Thats just a sneak peek of what my setup is doing.

Also ive consider hooking up a 10K 14watt stock blub with a 32Watt smartpaq.. but ive seen people get great results with one light.