Simple 5g invert tank

[StephLionfish]

Thank you, and yes I will. I doubt this little light can support ricordeas, so I'm going to hopefully go with some LEDs. Just not sure on which ones, yet... I thought about Par38's, but those cost quite a bit, and I think I'd need two. The TrueLumens one I mentioned, I've read that they don't grow pest algae, which is something that I want for my algae eating hitch hikers. Hm...
I'm going to a frag swap on the 25th. It's going to be held at a LFS, so I'll get some appropriately sized filter pads then.

Thanks for the sub!

[StephLionfish]

Changed out the filter pad for one that's a more appropriate size, finally. I saw a pretty silver blue maxi mini anemone today that was gorgeous. I have the feeling it's between 60-80 dollars, though. I'm going to go back to ask how much it is... I'm tempted to get it and maybe another one. I wish they wouldn't move around and sting other corals, though. I still want to have rics in this tank. Any opinions?

[StephLionfish]

My first "after cycle" purchase!
Nassarius snail

[StephLionfish]

I want this little guy. Pederson Shrimp at the LFS. I might get it tomorrow.

Sorry for the huge pictures.

[AlexS95]

I got those in at my LFS a few months ago, they were being hosted by some of the anemones in one of our tanks; really cool shrimp. :]

[StephLionfish]

They are fun The guy stuck his hand in the tank, and the little shrimp went full scale cleaner mode. Started waving it's arms and antennas around and started hopping all over the place before it jumped up onto his hand.
Here is a video of my new Nassarius burying into the sand. I can't figure out how to put videos on here, so you'll just have to click the link.
http://youtu.be/OMPphetkOoU

[SushiGirl]

That shrimp would be a very cool purchase!

[StephLionfish]

Just tested the water on the 5g. Nitrates are around 50-60, and ammonia is about 15 O.O
I've been feeding the tank filter feeder foods twice a day ( small amounts ), but two days ago I accidentally poured way too much in the tank. I think it's just now pouncing back.
Doing frequent, small water changes.
I'm thinking about putting some chaeto in the HOB filter.
Still not sure what I want to do on lights.

[StephLionfish]

So, I finally fixed the filter.
Top down

[burnah]

looking nice, are you going to get a maxi mini for that commensal shrimp? greetings

[StephLionfish]

Thanks. Yep, the tank is going to have maxi minis. Not sure how many I want, but I definitely want some.
Pederson isn't mine. It's at the LFS, and will have to stay there until I can get the params down. I'll probably test the water tomorrow.
Got a little pink duster for the tank, but it's sitting in my mantis tank right now. Will get pictures of it soon.

[Jacob042426]

You could definitely do 5 sexy shrimp! I don't see any reason why you couldn't!

[StephLionfish]

I'm afraid that the shrimp would fight. A part of me doubts it, but as expensive as Sexies are, I'd hate to get them home and they start having problems wit my future Pederson pair.
I have the LFS ordering me in some Maxi Mini Carpets!

[HaKs310]

Subscribed!

How much are Sexies around your area? They're about $7 here....but on the other hand we don't get $5 yumas lol

3 Sexies and the Pederson pair sounds good though.

[StephLionfish]

Thanks for the sub!!

The Sexies are more than $7 here.. I forget how much. I mean, they aren't terribly expensive.. But, I'm cheap.
Eh, I think I might go with three now. Pair of Pedersons, three Sexies, and a Porcelain crab.
This guy is for the 5g. It's sitting in my mantis tank right now.

[HaKs310]

Gotcha. Yeah, every dollar adds up in the end.

You think the Porcelain will host a Mini or Yuma? I was going to throw out the idea of a Pom Pom crab earlier.

[Cirrhitichthys]

Subscribing.

I'm planning on doing the exact same thing as you are later this year. I'll be using a 12" cube however and a diy led light setup. Good luck with the tank, I hope the nitrates come down and I look forward to seeing where you are going with this.

[BlueFyre]

My porcelain crab lived in a ric before I got a rock flower anemone. Now he lives there



He totally ignores the maxi mini I have and prefers the rock flower nems.



Love the tank My 25 gallob cube is full of all kinds of inverts. IMO they make saltwater so interesting.

[MidwestReefa]

Very cool so far, keep it up!

Could you get away without the HOB filter, If you had a powerhead instead?

[Cirrhitichthys]

Originally Posted by MidwestReefa

Very cool so far, keep it up!

Could you get away without the HOB filter, If you had a powerhead instead?

Well, the filter takes out particulates as well as adding water flow. In a large system water flow over LR normally does a good job at keeping water quality high, though normally you also want other means of filtration to keep it polished. But in a small tank, small fluctuations can do big things, so LR as the only source of filtration probably isn't the best idea. Also, as the HOB filter takes out waterborne particles it keeps the water clear. With only a powerhead you'd see detritus build up in places, as a water change can only remove so much. The constant filtration keeps these detritus' from building up too quickly and allows the detritivores to keep up. Plus, you can see Steph has chaeto growing in her HOB, thus adding more filtration. Also, as small aquariums typically require weekly water changes, I doubt you'd want to do any more, when you could just have a little filter hanging on the back. Just my $.02.

[badbreath]

I think that weekly water changes in small tanks is a myth, especially if you don't have any fish. I rarely change the water in my picotope I just top off with fresh water.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[Cirrhitichthys]

Originally Posted by badbreath

I think that weekly water changes in small tanks is a myth, especially if you don't have any fish. I rarely change the water in my picotope I just top off with fresh water.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Either way this thread is not the place to talk about it. I'm not just speaking to you. I'd rather not change the topic of Steph's thread into a debate over pico ethics or whatnot.

[Butchhe]

Cool little tank. Subscribed.

[ange062]

Originally Posted by StephLionfish

Thanks for the sub!!

The Sexies are more than $7 here.. I forget how much. I mean, they aren't terribly expensive.. But, I'm cheap.
Eh, I think I might go with three now. Pair of Pedersons, three Sexies, and a Porcelain crab.

Sounds like a nice assortment! If I wasn't tearing down my pico I was considering doing something similar (5 sexies, bunch of maxi mini's, and a porcelan).

[StephLionfish]

Originally Posted by HaKs310

Gotcha. Yeah, every dollar adds up in the end.

You think the Porcelain will host a Mini or Yuma? I was going to throw out the idea of a Pom Pom crab earlier.

I'm not sure if I will go with a Pom Pom crab.. I want to keep this tank, if anything, understocked. Just a very simple little invert tank.

I think a Porcelain crab would take to Rics, and I hope they take to Maxi Minis. Originally, I was going to use Rics instead of MM's, but I changed my mind.

Originally Posted by Cirrhitichthys

Subscribing.

I'm planning on doing the exact same thing as you are later this year. I'll be using a 12" cube however and a diy led light setup. Good luck with the tank, I hope the nitrates come down and I look forward to seeing where you are going with this.

Thanks, man!

Originally Posted by rollinlowgsxr

that's a really nice little set up

Thank you.

Originally Posted by BlueFyre

My porcelain crab lived in a ric before I got a rock flower anemone. Now he lives there



He totally ignores the maxi mini I have and prefers the rock flower nems.



Love the tank My 25 gallob cube is full of all kinds of inverts. IMO they make saltwater so interesting.

Cool pic. Was the maxi in the tank when the Rics were? Did he choose the rics over the nem?
Thanks. I actually prefer inverts over fish.

Originally Posted by MidwestReefa

Very cool so far, keep it up!

Could you get away without the HOB filter, If you had a powerhead instead?

Thank you.
Well, looks like you already have an answer I agree with him.

Originally Posted by badbreath

I think that weekly water changes in small tanks is a myth, especially if you don't have any fish. I rarely change the water in my picotope I just top off with fresh water.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

I feed this tank pretty heavily. That's why the params are so high. (I didn't do my water changes, because I couldn't get water when I wanted to.) I'm glad you don't have to do the water changes, but my tank requires them.

Originally Posted by Cirrhitichthys

Either way this thread is not the place to talk about it. I'm not just speaking to you. I'd rather not change the topic of Steph's thread into a debate over pico ethics or whatnot.

Thanks for this.

Originally Posted by Butchhe

Cool little tank. Subscribed.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ange062

Sounds like a nice assortment! If I wasn't tearing down my pico I was considering doing something similar (5 sexies, bunch of maxi mini's, and a porcelan).

I appreciate it. Stinks you're tearing the tank down. Should you decide to keep it running, definitely put some sexies and MM's in there.