Ne0eN June 19, 2012 June 19, 2012 Hello again! After a 4 year break from the hobby, I'm finally ready to start on a new nano adventure. The reason I'm going nano this time is that there is a perfect spot in my living room wall for a small tank. Couple of months ago a Fluval Edge 6gal aquarium caught my eye. It's not exactly intended for a reef set-up, but apparently I wasn't the only one who was thinking SW reef. There have been some success stories on RC and I was up for a challenge. So here we go, a very simple set up - no sump, just a HOB unit, 50W heater, built-in 21 LEDs lights, 8 lbs of live rock, 10 lbs of my old sand and a bit of reef rubble from another Wamas member who sold me the live rock. (thanks again Nathan!) I haven't yet decided what life stock to put in there. Right now I'm thinking mostly softies and maybe 1 or 2 small fish (purple firefish?) I definitely will have a cleaning crew and a cleaner shrimp or two. The tank is still cycling, and I'm looking for some live sand to seed some life back into it. Down the road, I may upgrade the lights depending on how softies are doing. A 20-30% weekly water change should counter the lack of skimmer. Set-up day: Sand storm: The next day:
icecool2 June 19, 2012 June 19, 2012 Looks really nice. You might be shooting a bit too large for your livestock. You could go with maybe a clown goby or two. I would steer clear of the cleaner shrimp, they are far too big for a tank that size. You could go with a few sexy shrimp though.
Ryan S June 19, 2012 June 19, 2012 I think that a clown goby and sexy shrimp would be great in there. Either way, that little tank looks super sharp. Good job so far!
smallreef June 19, 2012 June 19, 2012 in this months CORALS there is a whole list of nano gobies! and a few sexy shrimp or maybe even a goby/pistol pair? (depending on the gobies needs of course)
Ne0eN June 20, 2012 Author June 20, 2012 Looks really nice. You might be shooting a bit too large for your livestock. You could go with maybe a clown goby or two. I would steer clear of the cleaner shrimp, they are far too big for a tank that size. You could go with a few sexy shrimp though. Thank you. Not sure about a goby. Don't they just sit perched on a rock and do nothing? I'd like some movement around the reef. I think my kids would enjoy that. As far shrimp, I've had 2 sexy shrimp in a refugium in my old system, and they are pretty cool.
Ne0eN June 20, 2012 Author June 20, 2012 I think that a clown goby and sexy shrimp would be great in there. Either way, that little tank looks super sharp. Good job so far! Thanks! So I guess I should put the inverts in first, and then fish, to sloooowly add to the bio-load?
Ryan S June 20, 2012 June 20, 2012 Clown gobies do tend to just sit there; same for sexy shrimp for that matter (with their sway movement of course). If you want movement, I am not sure what is a tiny fish that would work for you. After you have cycled, I would add a couple small snails for your CUC. Then add the shrimp. Then the fish.
icecool2 June 20, 2012 June 20, 2012 At 6g, you'll be hard pressed to find an active fish. There are some sandsifters that stay small, but I don't think they'd work in a tank that small. Clown gobies certainly do spend most of their time perched. MAYBE one or two long-spined cardinals? They aren't very active, but they don't perch, they swim around slowly.
Ne0eN June 20, 2012 Author June 20, 2012 At 6g, you'll be hard pressed to find an active fish. There are some sandsifters that stay small, but I don't think they'd work in a tank that small. Clown gobies certainly do spend most of their time perched. MAYBE one or two long-spined cardinals? They aren't very active, but they don't perch, they swim around slowly. According to nano-reef.com, firefish can be held in a 5gal nano. They only get to 2.5" and are reef friendly. I think this is my current top candidate. http://www.nano-reef.com/fish/?fish=7
icecool2 June 20, 2012 June 20, 2012 According to nano-reef.com, firefish can be held in a 5gal nano. They only get to 2.5" and are reef friendly. I think this is my current top candidate. http://www.nano-reef.com/fish/?fish=7 I personally wouldn't put a firefish in there, but that's just me. Still not an active fish though of that's what you are looking for. Nice colors though.
dipg June 21, 2012 June 21, 2012 my fav. nano tank. I kept a pair of clowns for more than a year in the edge. here is a pic of them week before they were moved to my current 36G tank.
rocko918 June 21, 2012 June 21, 2012 According to nano-reef.com, firefish can be held in a 5gal nano. They only get to 2.5" and are reef friendly. I think this is my current top candidate. http://www.nano-reef.com/fish/?fish=7 Now there is a Name i have not see in a long time! welcome back. I think the biggest issue with the firefish and your tank is when they get scared they jump.
Swimboy123 June 21, 2012 June 21, 2012 That may not be a huge problem. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the majority of this tank is covered right? Except for right in the middle?
Ne0eN June 21, 2012 Author June 21, 2012 Now there is a Name i have not see in a long time! welcome back. I think the biggest issue with the firefish and your tank is when they get scared they jump. Hey Bob! Yeah, I'm kinda back. We'll see how far I can take this Nano. And yes, Edge has a unique top glass cover, so jumping is not an option.
Ne0eN July 6, 2012 Author July 6, 2012 A quick update... Not even 3 weeks old, and my nano-reef seems to be teeming with life - I'm seeing a ton of marine plankton - copepods, amphipods, isopods, etc. As a matter of fact, I may have too many amphipods. Every square inch of live rock is full of these little critters. Some of them are approaching 1/2" size. I've also got a few softies which seem to be doing fine. Next week I think I'm ready to add a fish. (still deciding on what to get...)
Ne0eN July 18, 2012 Author July 18, 2012 I've upgraded the stock 1W LED lights to something more powerful: 12W Aquaray MiniLED 500HD. (4-10,000k white lensed Cree XP-E & 1 blue unlensed Cree XP-E LEDs) The difference is quite amazing. For my lifestock, I've added 2 mated firefish. They are quite active and seem to be doing well. I also have 2 hermit crabs: blue and burgundy legged, and 3 Nassarius snails. Also, I'm not cleaning the back wall, as the white specs visible in the pic are some sort of isopods.
rabbit September 6, 2012 September 6, 2012 Just wanted to note how funny it is (to me, anyway) that I too have just returned to the hobby after a four year hiatus, and have done so with the purchase of a Fluval Edge 6G with a lighting upgrade. Great minds, I suppose...
smallreef September 6, 2012 September 6, 2012 Hows this tank been going? Havent seen an update in a long time...
Ne0eN March 20, 2014 Author March 20, 2014 Sorry about not updating this build. I have dropped off the forum for a while, but I'm slowly making a come back. The tank has been going well, but in the past 6 months I have been fighting a case of bryopsis algae which slowly took over the Live Rock. This was a good excuse to start a new build, and hence I went a slightly different direction and purchased a CAD Lights 8G Mini-II reef system. Stay tuned for some pics under a new build.
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