10 Gallon Mini-Reef Build

kbuser92

kbuser92

Breeder
Well, I'm guess this is the place for tanks to be shown-off so here goes!

Tank/Equipment:
5.5 Oceanic
Tetra PF10 - 90 GPH
20" T8 8,000K *Note: Will be upgrading to 18" T5HO x2 20, 10,000K/460NM with addition of corals
Current USA 3 Blue (453NM) LED Lunar Lights
Aqueon Adjustable 50w Glass Heater (for now)
Coralife Salt Mix

Rock/Sand:
CaribSea Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand
Live Rock (will be from LFS but I don't have it yet.)

Livestock:
x2 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs
x2 Turbo Snails
x1 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
x1/2 Goby(s)?

I have everything I need for now (heater, tank, filter, media, sand and salt) to get the tank running. I plan on letting the tank sit for 4-6 weeks with just sand and rock (which I will hopefully getting this weekend, along with a couple other final maintenance supplies) before I add anything, but by that time I'll be ordering the upgraded light and the lunar LED's. At that time, I plan on my first inhabitant(s) being the two hermits, then the shrimp, then the snails and lastly, the fish.

Question:
-I would like to put a small fish in there, but my question is if I were to get a Red Spotted Goby who's max adult size is 1", could I put two in there? Otherwise I'll get a little Orange (Spot) Prawn Goby.
-If I were to add livestock in 2 week increments, would it be overloading if I added everything in pairs (except the shrimp, which would be single, and the goby if I don't get the Red Spotted)?

Any advice, pointers, suggestions, etc... would be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance! I hope you all enjoy!
 
I think one goby would be pushing it, plus two gobies in the same tank is never really a good idea, especially if its small.
But see what everyone else thinks.
 
Sadly, gobies will fight with other gobies, so you can only have one per tank. And one fish in that tank is plenty
 
I agree with everyone on this one, I'd only do one fish. You have any pics of your tank, we'd like to see the progress. :)
 
I have a six gallon fluval edge at the office with a diamond goby and a false perc clown, plus various cuc like snails, hermits, sexy shrimp... had a cleaner shrimp but he died when we lost power a couple weeks ago. I'd like to add a third fish.
 
Unfortunately, no. It seems as though somebody misplaced my camera and I dont know how to upload via my cell...I have a crappy camera on here, though, that I can get pictures on, but it will be tomorrow before I get anything up.

5 gallons at 1.0275. A little high, but Ill add another half gallon tomorrow if it needs it. I need a thermometer, too, so it might change after the temperature stabilizes.
1.5" of Live Aragonite sand

Everything is plugged in. : )
 
Uhm...question...its really cloudy and I know it may be partially from my sand, but could it also be from having a little too much salt? It settled to 1.027 or so, but will it clear up? Is that something to worry about or will it be fine?

Also, is the sg too high? Ive heard 1.024-1.026 is perfect. If I add a half gallon, how much salt should I put in there? (1/2 cup per gallon makes 1.021-1.023.)

Thanks and goodnight.
 
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Kbuser92
 
Yep, your salt level is kinda high, but it's not the gascon if the cloudiness. New tanks will do that, so give it a few days to clear up. I believe the rule of thumb is 1/2 cup of salt per gallon of ro water. Also, try uploading your pics to photobucket.com to post pics to the site, because we still can't see them.
 
Okay. The bag actually said 1/2 cup to gallon to get 1.021-1.023, but isn't that a little low? I think I tested at 1.023 and then added another 1/8 cup to the 5 gallons hoping it would raise it and I guess I know now, lol. If I were to add another half gallon with 1/4 cup, would that lower it into the "good" range?

As for the pictures, I did upload them to photobucket last night/this morning, but I tried to do everything on my phone so I must've done something wrong or it could be that it's not phone-friendly. I'll try again. : ] I apologize for the poor photo quality, they were taken on my phone. I don't think they're that good, but at least you can tell the BIG difference 8 hours makes.
 
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YES! Haha I'm using Coralife salt (I was going for the Reef Crystals from Instant Ocean, but the 25 Gallon box was $12.xx and this 50 gallon bag was on CLEARANCE for $8.07!) and I also bought a Coralife Deep Six Hydrometer. : ]

Yes, I got it! I'm really excited, I've never done saltwater before.

Here's my final stocking list:
x2 Scarlet Hermits
x2 Turbos
x1 Scarlet Skunk
x1 Goby - My LFS has one that I want, I just can't remember the name...oh well.

If not the goby, would a 6-line or a Longnose Hawkfish be a possibility? The more I see and think of each, the more I like them...How big do they each get?
 
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if any thing personally I'd go with 2x Catalina Goby's and call it a day on fish. I've seen them at my LFS in 5.5's and they do just fine. I'm actually getting geared up to do a 5.5 for the office at my ladys place with them. But hay good luck on the micro build cant wait to see how it all comes out :D

as for the hawk that would not work in a 5.5 it would get stressed and probably die

six-line same thing 5.5 is to small for them
 
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