Minimal requirements for simple tank

[dilbert]

Hi all,

Sorry if this is the thousands question of this kind but I haven't really found in other threads what I am looking for.

I got really limited space at least for a location in the house where I would sit having time to watch the tank so I would like to go for a really small tank, maybe 3 gallons or so.

The only thing I know for sure is to put some live rock into it, probably cured live rock from Fiji.

I am now asking for the minimal technical setup to house the best suited invertebrates. Nothing fancy maybe some shrimp or a crab or maybe only a snail. The basic thing I am looking for is at least some sort of life to watch at and getting the algae on the glass removed if there would be any.

So, I am looking for the minimal setup to run this system balanced on a long run. It should use not much light and water changes should be limited to a maximum of twice a week in the long run.

I am also willing to keep this minimalistic setup once it has been chosen. The main problem I see is to have algae eaters and getting their waste removed.

Should I buy a fully fledged starter kit (like this: http://www.aquariumsdelivered.co.uk/catalog/orca-tl450-nano-marine-reef-aquarium-p-810.html) intended for much more inhabitants like fish and reef dwellers or start only with a powerhead and maybe a filter?

My aquatic experience isn't great. I almost finished cycling a 15G (60 liters) brackish water tank that I bought a month ago and that is intended for a few livebearers and shrimp.

[snailrider]

Well, I am a cheapskate, so I set mine up different. Minimalist to me was doing it cheap and still working. Look like the space issue is your limiting feature.

But my rule of thumb, just watch and pay attention to the tank and give it what it asks for. Like a painting, you can start with an idea, but be flexible in how you procede, ten years from now it may not look anything like you started out as.

I watched my dirt for awhile, then added live rock, then some algea and now some fish. Everything seems happy

I like your siggy. I have a http://piggysplace.com LOL

[TomToro]

Here's a 12gallon I bought used that only has a powerhead and heater. I do use chemipure in the first chamber and cheato in the second, but that's it. I do 2gallon water changes every 10days to 2 weeks. Been up since March.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o242/TomToro/002.jpg

[ChangDriX]

wow I really like that tank, is that with no sandbed?

[TomToro]

wow I really like that tank, is that with no sandbed?

Thanks! Yeah, no sandbed. I just make a dust storm with a baster in the dead areas before I do a waterchange and it cleans up nice.
Tom

[dilbert]

Thanks for your replies.

@snailrider
Did you add the algae or did they come by themselves?

What is the "dirty" substrate you have :) and why did you wait with the live rock?

@Tom
Well, that's not a SIMPLE tank. It looks wonderful but I think that's too daunting for me to start with.

Is it a great adavantage to have no substrate at all?

[TomToro]

It was kind of an experiment that worked. I did initially seed the thing with LR and water from my established tank so I never had a cycle or nuisance algae to speak of. Not sure what would have happened if I'd started with raw rock and let it cure. I really don't know enough to say if it's an advantage. I've read both arguments.

These nanos are really pretty easy if you use the chambers in the back in the best way. The only real modification I did was use a larger return pump and peel the plastic off the back so I could get a cheap shop light to grow some macro algae(cheato).


@Tom
Well, that's not a SIMPLE tank. It looks wonderful but I think that's too daunting for me to start with.

Is it a great adavantage to have no substrate at all?[/QUOTE]

[snailrider]

Well I picked up a 30 gallon tank used at a garage sale, it had been weathered in the sun, so I just rinsed it out ($8.00).

I bought a bag of salt at the LFS and mixed the salt with tap water and filled the tank 2/3rds. I let that stew for a couple days with an over the edge filter circulating it.

Then I went across to the base of the hill (park preserve) and scooped up some sand/dirt and dumped it into the tank. What a mess. I let that stew and settle a little then added live rock just a few small chunks and some spagetti algae and a mangrove.

I watched that for a couple of weeks I guess, while the feather dusters worms, and little critters made tracks in the dirt. I'm working towards a substrate that can handle plants.

All the while reading about fish and other things to throw in the tank. Listening to the peeps at the fish stores tell me all the different stories, on other boards on how my tank is only good for tadpoles etc.

Well I added more rock, and some damsels, and everything is still fine. Nobody went into shock, tank is clear (I also added more "rinsed dirt/sand")


It all ads up, but at least it didn't break me the first day.

[Grins]

I'm still not understanding your approach to a marine tank.

[dilbert]

Well, I see it now.

I'll try to stick with this you have written.



But my rule of thumb, just watch and pay attention to the tank and give it what it asks for.


As I don't want any plants (got them already in the our low-end brackish tank), I guess I'll start with a very thin sandbed.