Rick's 5.5 Gal Nano

Steadyreef42 · Oct 1, 2016

Very excited to start 5.5 gal reef tank. Which will be my second tank. I had a few things already on hand such as:

Aquaclear AC30
Caribsea dry rock
Fritz RPM salt
Coral Box Moon LED - currently used on sump
2 part reef safe epoxy
glass thermometer
Leftover black paint from my other tank
stand for back glass

So far I've purchased:
1 lbs piece of Fiji live rock
1 cup of sand from LFS
And the star of the show a 5.5 AGA
tank from petco.

This was during petcos 1$ a gal sale so it was funny when the girl at petco said "instead of paying 13.99 on a five gallon you can have a 10 gal for 10$" lol no thanks. I'm still unsure if this officially would be considered a Pico sized tank but either way the idea of a miniature reef sounds like fun.

The fact that I have a little more than a year of experience with marine tanks is a huge help. (Nowhere near pro) and also having equipment for my regular tank such as a refractometer and Salt mixing buckets and rodi filters has made this little budget build possible.

Messing with epoxy

Rests perfectly on my dresser

Side view

Steadyreef42 · Oct 1, 2016

The coralbox moon led that will move to the 5.5 when the cycle is complete. I'd hate to lose it on my other tanks sump with that macro algea growing extremely well . I'm hoping I can find a decent refugium light at Home Depot or something .

jsker · Oct 1, 2016

Very cool

Steadyreef42 · Oct 1, 2016

I've been cycling for three days so far and am pleased to find sphaghetti worms in the sand that probably came from the lfs . I still need a heater as the tank has been running at a consistent 74 degrees. Trying to decide which one will be best and compact enough for the 5.5

jsker · Oct 1, 2016

EHEIM seem to be pretty popular with members. I have a sump and run a Finnex using my controller, great heater also

Steadyreef42 · Oct 1, 2016

jsker said:
EHEIM seem to be pretty popular with members. I have a sump and run a Finnex using my controller, great heater also

Thanks ! There is a finnex controller on premiumaquatics.com that can be used with any heather that looks sweet. As with Reefing the spending never stops lol

Steadyreef42 · Oct 1, 2016

One thing I forgot in my first post . I purchased a 10 pound bag of of aragonite from petco . Seeded with about a pound of sand from one of my lfs. I really like this sand. It doesn't move around with flow from the hob filter even though I can see all sorts of stuff moving through the water in the tank.

I got a very decent 1.5 in to 2 in bed and still had some leftover

Steadyreef42 · Oct 22, 2016

Alright! I've been cycling for three weeks without lights but today I was finally able move over my coralbox moon led to the pico. The light is more than enough and I'm very pleased. I have a hydor 25w coming Monday. No ammonia or nitrite showing but a little more nitrate than I like . Before I add any coral I'll do a good water change. It's neat to see that I have various tube worms and , sphagetti worms and tiny Copepods on the glass presumably from the cup of live sand purchased from the lfs. I have a lonely hermit crab helping take care of food I throw in every now and then .

Mr. Crab aka Chief Crab

Lighting schedule so far

Skrilla · Oct 23, 2016

lookin good so far

Steadyreef42 · Oct 27, 2016

Picture from today

Steadyreef42 · Oct 29, 2016

Equipment to add to list
- Hydor 25w heater
- Aqueon 15 quietflow internal filter.

The heater has kept a solid 78 degrees and my fingers are crossed that all will be will until I can dive into a controller option.

I've had the aqueon internal filter for quite some time back from my first very first aquarium which was freshwater. Way back in early 2015 lol.
I'm running it with a sponge and filter fiber. In one week I noticed that I didn't have much flow and considered buying a hydor pico 180 power head but after removing the used up floss and replacing it I'm up and running again.

Together with the aquaclear 30 , I really like the flow . My new torch is loving it. I got some really amazing deals on a torch and zoas from a local reefer.

Steadyreef42 · Nov 26, 2016

I moved the torch coral to my larger tank. It was doing well . Too well . I had all my zoas far from it as extended quite a bit . now I have them spread here and there and I love it. In just a months time my single polyp orange rainbow, sunny d , red people eater zoa last have all sprouted more polyps . wish I could get a better picture. I've been running all blues. I may switch on a smidge of white .

Steadyreef42 · Jan 15, 2017

Unfortunately I have broken the 5.5 down . Although I had a slight algae problem and zoas weren't thriving , I'm sure that could have been remedied . What I found was that having an AIO is probably the best option for me to run such a small reef. I'll be able to hide the heater and not rely on the HOB filter and internal filter I was using for flow and filter floss. Also I've moved livestock to my 40 gallon with 20 sump. I will say that having to maintain one tank will be much easier. The main reason I got this pico running was that my 40 was infested with Dinos and I wanted something pretty to look at. Plus I have this awesome light . I will have to put the coral box moo led aside for awhile. One tank I've been eyeing is the nuvo fusion 10. Man that tank looks sweet. Dimension ,clarity, and price wise . Well in a way I'll miss the tank but at least i I got some lessons in running a small reef. Less Stability! Lol