Min BowFront 7 Gallon
- Thread starter 125gJoe
- Start date
Please give us some more details regarding your tank such as filtration, LR etc. Also please let us know what you expect to keep in the tank, FO or reef. Please note that IMHO your tank is probably fully stocked with 2 damsels.
Brian
Brian
The tank has a Penguin 125, which seems like plenty of good flow. One damsel has gone way of the disposal. We put a nice amount of live sand in it. We would like a 'live rock' type tank with small fish, maybe a sci-fi looking crab in it. I heard anenomies are hard to keep; would be nice to have one. I've seen small gobies I really liked. I do know fish in such a small tank would be minimal...
We used Instant Ocean and R/O DeIonized water.
As for temperature - I have no idea what to keep the levels at..
The other damsel seems fine.
We used Instant Ocean and R/O DeIonized water.
As for temperature - I have no idea what to keep the levels at..
The other damsel seems fine.
The biggest problem with small tanks is that you need to monitor and likely top off with FW daily--otherwise, you have widely fluctuating levels of salinity.
It sounds as though you have plenty of waste--the cycling will be fairly quick, but I would still test and do water changes to keep the levels low. Expect about 2 weeks for full cycling, with lots of water changes in between. If you don't do the changes, it' likely to take longer as the high levels will kill off more live rock critters, creating even more ammonia.
Due to the instability of smaller tanks, unless you will be devoting time each day to the tank, I would avoid anything sensitive. Anemones seldom survive long in large, mature systems--not advisable for a small, instable, new tank.
It sounds as though you have plenty of waste--the cycling will be fairly quick, but I would still test and do water changes to keep the levels low. Expect about 2 weeks for full cycling, with lots of water changes in between. If you don't do the changes, it' likely to take longer as the high levels will kill off more live rock critters, creating even more ammonia.
Due to the instability of smaller tanks, unless you will be devoting time each day to the tank, I would avoid anything sensitive. Anemones seldom survive long in large, mature systems--not advisable for a small, instable, new tank.
Hey 7gJoe 
Welcome to salt. When you say a "nice amount of sand", how deep exactly? A hot topic with nanos is the issue of sandbed depth. Current thinking is that with this small of a footprint, it's near impossible to sustain the sandbed fauna needed to prevent oxygen debt in a DSB. I would personally use no more than an inch or so. You should get sufficient denitrification from about 10lbs of high quality liverock.
As for temp, anything from 78 to 82 should be fine. The key is keeping it stable, not hitting a specific number- not always easy in tiny tanks, especially when you take into account heat from lights. You may have to employ a fan to accomplish this. A fan would, of course, increase evaporation which is another major concern. Disasterous salinity shifts can occur very quickly in small tanks. Daily top-offs are a must.
Don't even consider an anemone. They're really not suitable for tanks this small. But if you're looking into one, I would assume you've got decent lighting above the tank? If so, go reef. You can create an amazing display of soft corals and LPS in that tank. One fish is as much as I would do, especially if you're going to do a reef. As for crabs, most non-hermits tend to become problematic in little tanks (in big ones too, actually). If you want something sci-fi looking, a skunk cleaner shrimp would be perfect. They've got tons of personality. Feel free to contact me if you need any help. I've been running a very successful 10g nano fully stocked for close to a year. You may also want to stop by www.nano-reef.com There's a boat-load of folks there dedicated to small reef tanks. Best of luck and have a blast!
Welcome to salt. When you say a "nice amount of sand", how deep exactly? A hot topic with nanos is the issue of sandbed depth. Current thinking is that with this small of a footprint, it's near impossible to sustain the sandbed fauna needed to prevent oxygen debt in a DSB. I would personally use no more than an inch or so. You should get sufficient denitrification from about 10lbs of high quality liverock.
As for temp, anything from 78 to 82 should be fine. The key is keeping it stable, not hitting a specific number- not always easy in tiny tanks, especially when you take into account heat from lights. You may have to employ a fan to accomplish this. A fan would, of course, increase evaporation which is another major concern. Disasterous salinity shifts can occur very quickly in small tanks. Daily top-offs are a must.
Don't even consider an anemone. They're really not suitable for tanks this small. But if you're looking into one, I would assume you've got decent lighting above the tank? If so, go reef. You can create an amazing display of soft corals and LPS in that tank. One fish is as much as I would do, especially if you're going to do a reef. As for crabs, most non-hermits tend to become problematic in little tanks (in big ones too, actually). If you want something sci-fi looking, a skunk cleaner shrimp would be perfect. They've got tons of personality. Feel free to contact me if you need any help. I've been running a very successful 10g nano fully stocked for close to a year. You may also want to stop by www.nano-reef.com There's a boat-load of folks there dedicated to small reef tanks. Best of luck and have a blast!
