Newbie here!

I

illinifish

New member
Hi everyone! Have been browsing around and found your group. I just moved to the STL area and am finally ready to start a saltwater tank. I am going to be taking this very slowly as I am new and a poor vet student with a limited budget :-).

It will be a 5 gallon nano (no fish) and from the research I've done so far I need to get a Coralife Mini Compact 50/50 bulb. Any opinions on if this is a good light? I have a 5 gal Top Fin hex that I will be using, so it needs to fit that fixture.

I am planning on setting up in the next week or so with live sand and rock. Can anyone recommend a good store in the area that sells some frags for a reasonable price? I am thinking about some zoas and mushrooms. I have been to Tropical World but I couldn't locate any prices or anyone to help, although the store seemed nice.

Thanks for any suggestions and advice!
 
You'll be able to get some cheap frags (or better!) from other hobbyists on here. Just post what you're looking for or keep an eye out for someone donating or selling something.

Welcome to the SLASH forum!
 
Welcome to the group. There is a bunch of nice people here, and even another Vet student...

Very helpful people, and not just for saltwater advice. They will also eat your pizza and drink profuse amounts of beer when given the opportunity!

:D :D :D

You grow to love them all the same...
 
so were you from, there are members all around here and can help you out with some frags i have some stuff that does good in low light like pink star polyps, kenya trees, gonna frag up a huge toadstool soon
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10042713#post10042713 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zt444a
Welcome to the group. There is a bunch of nice people here, and even another Vet student...

Very helpful people, and not just for saltwater advice. They will also eat your pizza and drink profuse amounts of beer when given the opportunity!

:D :D :D

You grow to love them all the same...
Click to expand...

Very true :D

Welcome aboard!!
 
Thanks for all the welcomes!
I'm originally from a small town near Springfield, IL, although I have been living in Champaign-Urbana for school at the U of Illinois. My fiance and I just bought a house in the Tower Grove area.
Saltwater is addicting! I just finished setting up my 46 gal freshwater at the house, but now I'm really looking forward to starting the saltwater tank- I have been spending all my free time reading up on it! Gonna go check out the area stores tomorrow on my day off!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10044115#post10044115 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by illinifish
[BI have been spending all my free time reading up on it![/B]
Click to expand...
Best Advise anyone can give you. Read, Read, and Read some more. Don't be afraid to ask question.

This hobby can be very overwhelming at time. Take your time and always ask question before buying Dry goods, along with Fish/coral/inverts to make sure they will go well with the system you are setting up.

Good luck and hope to see you around :cool:
 
Welcome !

Might want to consider moving up to a standard ten gallon because of the tons of lighting available for those size tanks out there.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10044558#post10044558 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trottman
Too bad they wont be the Illini next year....
Click to expand...

Why not?

They're only getting rid of their mascot. They'll still be the Fighting Illini'
 
Hey everyone! Thanks again for all the posts.
Nano7joy, I agree with you and have been considering moving up to a 10 gallon.
The more I research, the more difficult I think it will be to make the 5 gallon work and I think that I would really like to have a fish or two. So I have a few questions:

1. I'll be going back up to school in August and would have to take it with me. My fiance doesn't share my love for the aquariums, and I don't think I could get him to do the proper maintenance on a saltwater one. How hard would it be to move the tank and transport it three hours?

2. What sort of light and filter would be best? The 10gal I currently have has a coralife 50/50 bulb and a HOB biowheel filter. I know that the live rock would be a good portion of the biological filter, but I assume an additional filter would be helpful for the other types of filtration and circulation.

3. If I did a 10g: could I have 1 yellow watchman goby and either 1 clownfish or 1 yellow tail damsel?

4. What snails/shrimp would be a good cleanup crew for this tank?

Ok sorry about the long post. I have pretty much given up on the 5 gallon, so now my research has to start over and hopefully your suggestions will give me some direction. Thanks so much!
 
1. Not too terribly hard, I moved my tanks 3 hours and had no problems. You've just gotta be careful and be very well prepared.

2. How many watts is your light for the 10 gal? You could keep the HOB filter and just put carbon and phosban or something in it, I'd take the biowheel out. You can check the nano reef forum here on RC for more ideas, there are a lot of people running 10 gallons that would be more than happy to help you I would think :)

3. YWG get BIG, just head over to Clayton Pet Emporium to see theirs, he's huge! Damsels get large too, but you'd have a while with them. I would go with the clownfish and maybe some kind of small goby (clown, neon, etc)

4. Since you've got a relatively small tank you won't need too big of a cleanup crew. A few nassarius, cerith, and astrea snails, + a peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp should be good. If you feel like it you can add a few hermit crabs, though I'm not partial to them because they generally like to kill snails either for their shell or for fun.

Once you get your tank up and running I'd be more than happy to hook a fellow vet student up with some zoanthids :)
 
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