HELP First Pico Reef!!!

[Amelia Lee]

Hi everyone! I have planned on starting my VERY FIRST nano reef in a 5 gallon Fluval Chi. I am attaching a link to the tank so you can see the specifications. Yes, I already know many wouldn't pick this as a marine set up but for budget and space constrictions, this is what I'm going with. Please give ANY and ALL suggestions, I am a newbie and don't know anything outside of my research!

http://www.petsmart....36-catid-300065

The tank is 12.5"L x 12.5"W x 12.5"H.

I know the LED lights and filter that came with the tank will not be plausible with what I'm looking for. I am going to go with a canister filter most likely. I want a cheap one that is also very efficient and quiet. I found this one online fairly cheap but not sure if it is worth it. Keep in mind I will be upgrading around the tank as needed. The reviews on this filter seem pretty good so I guess I'll try this unless I get any other suggestions.

http://www.drsfoster...atid=16742&s=lh

I will most likely replace the filter media with something I prefer. I like the idea that it has a spray bar which will help with water flow around the tank. I am adding Kent Marine Nano Reef Start Up Additives. I also have Instant Ocean Bio-Spira Start Up Aquarium Additive. This helps prevent new tank syndrome.


I am ordering live sand (6 lbs) and live rock (6 lbs) for my tank online. I found an All-In-One Reef kit online that includes a good start out Clean Up Crew. They ship the sand and rock first through airline shipping which I will pick up at the airport approximately January 11th. I want to have the water ready just to make the transfer process a little more stress-free. I am headed to the petstore tomorrow to get a salt mix and a bucket to practice mixing saltwater for my water changes and as needed in the future. I am planning on getting a Water Dechlorinator as well so I don't have to use an RO system.


LIGHTING-HUGE questions here
I know I want soft corals, Zoanthids, a feather duster, and some button polyps eventually! I know I will need lighting that is moderate! I also want some actinic lighting to bring out the bright colors of the corals and fish (when they are eventually all in there). I need a clip on light most likely as the tank has no top and is somewhat of an awkward size. I would like to be able to put the lights on a timer if possible! I really like the neon look with the actinic lights and can add these in an extra light accessory if needed.

Help anywhere you can! I am most likely going to start the set up of the tank on January 11th. I will add the live sand and live rock from my online vendor, and the premade saltwater mix from the petstore! I will have the canister filter, protein skimmer, LED lights, heater (if needed), and hopefully an automatic top off system (eventually).

I am planning on letting my tank complete a fishless cycle, although the live sand and rock are shipped in saltwater. I want to prevent any deaths by pH or ammonia spike due to small critters dying. I am going to receive my clean up crew once I have let the vendor know I am ready! I am going to use the additives and to help cycle, not using the light to help prevent too much algae growth. I want to start growing my corals as soon as possible, but also don't want to rush anything. I want very vibrant and bright corals! Please give any suggestions if you think you may have a better idea! I know I want some polyps and Zoanthids, maybe some small mushroom corals. Obviously, fish and corals are going to be much later on! Just trying to get an idea of what I will want in terms of equipment.

Please help!

 

[kimba]

Hello and welcome.
I tried to click on your links to see your tank and couldn't. So I looked up a Fluval 5 gal chi at petsmart. It is a pretty tank. When you say you're a newbie, are you new to saltwater tanks or just pico tanks?

Depending on the answer to that, would probably determine the advice or suggestions I would offer.

 

[mr fixit]

Just putting a suggestion out I wouldn't use tap water its such a small tank use gallon jugs of bottled water or distilled a lot of house waterpipes are one copper and or older rusty corroded steel Walgreens has jugs of ro aquarium freshwater copper pipe is bad especially for corals and it being such a small tank it wouldn't be expensive to go that route

 

[mr fixit]

Maby try nutri sea water I use a marineland biowheel poly pad cut to fit n a bag of chemipure less is more on such a small tank3/4 gallon water change a week u should do good

 

[mr fixit]

My five gallon I started with everything from my thirty gallon except for the sand its been going sence july and seems to be doing good. good luck with ur pico

 

[13jake]

I would lean away from the canister filter without constant work they just become a nitrate farm

 

[Ice]

Okay I have some ideas.

for lighting look into kessil 160 and it's color options, kessil has the best shimmer in my opinion. also deepblue has a affordable led fixture that works great. both clamp on.

media that I prefer is chemipure elite. kinda gives you a little bit of everything needed.

you can use pre-mixed saltwater like nutri water is great and I use it. but it's spacific gravity is around 1.030 which is too high. I use DI or RO/DI to balance it out. DI can be found at your local food store.

I would lean away from the canister filter as it can become a bacteria trap.

hope this helps.

 

[Amelia Lee]

Hello and welcome.
I tried to click on your links to see your tank and couldn't. So I looked up a Fluval 5 gal chi at petsmart. It is a pretty tank. When you say you're a newbie, are you new to saltwater tanks or just pico tanks?

Depending on the answer to that, would probably determine the advice or suggestions I would offer.

New to all Saltwater! I know it may not be the ideal tank size for a newbie but working with what I've got. I have years of experience with freshwater. I have done a lot of research on reef keeping, but there is a lot of controversy as what is ideal for a nano reed!

 

[Amelia Lee]

Okay I have some ideas.

for lighting look into kessil 160 and it's color options, kessil has the best shimmer in my opinion. also deepblue has a affordable led fixture that works great. both clamp on.

media that I prefer is chemipure elite. kinda gives you a little bit of everything needed.

you can use pre-mixed saltwater like nutri water is great and I use it. but it's spacific gravity is around 1.030 which is too high. I use DI or RO/DI to balance it out. DI can be found at your local food store.

I would lean away from the canister filter as it can become a bacteria trap.

hope this helps.

Thank you! I bought some Seachem Matrix Bio Media today at the LFS because that was what the owner recommended. I will try chemipure next!

What should I do instead of a canister filter, a regular small filter? I am going back and forth between what type of filter and whether or not I am going to get a protein skimmer. I am new to the whole saltwater thing so not completely sure what I will need besides the natural filtration-live rock and sand plus a clean up crew.

I have bought Instant Ocean Reef Crystals and a large home depot bucket. I am going to practice mixing a couple gallons, overnight with an aerator. I have a hydrometer and want to get the hang of how much to use. I bought some RO solution from the LFS to add to the water so I won't have to go purchase water every time I need to make more saltwater.

 

[Amelia Lee]

Just putting a suggestion out I wouldn't use tap water its such a small tank use gallon jugs of bottled water or distilled a lot of house waterpipes are one copper and or older rusty corroded steel Walgreens has jugs of ro aquarium freshwater copper pipe is bad especially for corals and it being such a small tank it wouldn't be expensive to go that route

Yes, for sure! I will most likely purchase jugs each time since I don't need very much water for the tank. I have heard about additives for RO water and purchased one today at the LFS but I'm not sure how well they work. Thanks! Let me know what you think.

 

[Amelia Lee]

Maby try nutri sea water I use a marineland biowheel poly pad cut to fit n a bag of chemipure less is more on such a small tank3/4 gallon water change a week u should do good

Which filter exactly do you use? I bought some Seachem Matrix Bio Media for whatever filter I pick.

 

[Amelia Lee]

I would lean away from the canister filter without constant work they just become a nitrate farm

what do you prefer instead? a regular filter with my own media?

 

[Amelia Lee]

My five gallon I started with everything from my thirty gallon except for the sand its been going sence july and seems to be doing good. good luck with ur pico

thank you! what filter do you use? have you used a protein skimmer? what livestock do you have?

 

[Ice]

Thank you! I bought some Seachem Matrix Bio Media today at the LFS because that was what the owner recommended. I will try chemipure next!

What should I do instead of a canister filter, a regular small filter? I am going back and forth between what type of filter and whether or not I am going to get a protein skimmer. I am new to the whole saltwater thing so not completely sure what I will need besides the natural filtration-live rock and sand plus a clean up crew.

I have bought Instant Ocean Reef Crystals and a large home depot bucket. I am going to practice mixing a couple gallons, overnight with an aerator. I have a hydrometer and want to get the hang of how much to use. I bought some RO solution from the LFS to add to the water so I won't have to go purchase water every time I need to make more saltwater.

okay so with filtration, rock, sand and water changes can go a long way. every now and then you can run a hang on back filter like a whisper so carbon dose or something simular. for a skimmer the ghost desktop seems to do nothing but good in everyone's tank that I know of. also a minimax desktop reactor can tumble any media you wish. though im sure your okay without this. if you were to get either make sure to get the desktop size.

even though you have a hydrometer make sure it's accurate. I used one for a while and noticed it was off by .04 which is a lot. refractometers seem to be more on point.

 

[Amelia Lee]

UPDATE: Went to LFS in Dallas to ask questions and buy a few things. Bought some Seachem Matrix Bio Media because I was recommended that. Lady steered me away from a protein skimmer as long as I stay on top of water changes, is this a good idea?! That makes me nervous, I don't want overkill but sometimes more is better?! What do I do? She said canister filter would be pretty good to keep tank clean but have also had other suggestions... very confused because I have no idea what will work best!
I bought Instant Ocean Reef Crystals and a large bucket to mix in. I'm going to try mixing a gallon or two and testing it with my hydrometer to practice. I also got some Marine Stress-Zyme just for acclimation etc to try and help my livestock out whenever I eventually get some!

 

[Amelia Lee]

okay so with filtration, rock, sand and water changes can go a long way. every now and then you can run a hang on back filter like a whisper so carbon dose or something simular. for a skimmer the ghost desktop seems to do nothing but good in everyone's tank that I know of. also a minimax desktop reactor can tumble any media you wish. though im sure your okay without this. if you were to get either make sure to get the desktop size.

even though you have a hydrometer make sure it's accurate. I used one for a while and noticed it was off by .04 which is a lot. refractometers seem to be more on point.

do you think I will need the minimax reactor and the ghost protein skimmer to keep it clean? it is only a 5 gallon and I will have 6 lbs of live rock, live sand, clean up crew, and not much other livestock at all. Eventually will have corals.

 

[Ice]

do you think I will need the minimax reactor and the ghost protein skimmer to keep it clean? it is only a 5 gallon and I will have 6 lbs of live rock, live sand, clean up crew, and not much other livestock at all. Eventually will have corals.

honestly no. just have something to dose carbon every now and then. helps keep bacteria down and stops yellow tinting. remeber water changes are your best friend!

 

[Amelia Lee]

honestly no. just have something to dose carbon every now and then. helps keep bacteria down and stops yellow tinting. remeber water changes are your best friend!

do you think i should get one vs. the other? or maybe just a small regular filter to help water flow?

 

[Ice]

I would get a little hang filter to dose for carbon and stash your media but other than that a power head wouldn't hurt!

 

[kimba]

I bought a protien skimmer for my 12 gal and truthfully stopped using it. It was a pain in the butt. Though that was like 10 years ago and equipment has come a long way sinse then! I never used one in my 6 gal nano either. It sounds like with everything else you are doing you will be fine without it.

The only other thing I would suggest is getting a bag of purigen, the only thing is you don't have any chambers in your tank, so I don't quite know how your putting this all together. It will be interesting to see your build.

can't wait for pictures.