1 gallon help!

bmw_zoan · 01/21/2011, 06:23 PM

Hey guys, I have this one gallon tank on my room with just a ballon belly molly, I was wondering if I could turn this one gallon tank into a saltwater tank. It has a 7 watt incandesent bulb, and an airline going in it to supply the fish with oxygen, the fish lives fine in there. I was thinking buying a samll piece of live rock and put it in there just as a source of filtration and later add some zoanthids or such.. I dont plan to add any fish it is to small. Is this possible? Just have the tank running with the 7 watt bulb and the airator and add some live rock and zoas or mushrooms later? Some of my concerns is that the airstone with the airator won't create as much water flow but the tank is fairly small so I am not sure thats why I need some help. Thanks

P.S. If this does happen the molly will be transfered to my freshwater molly breeding tank so no worries he will be happy in there

igazoo25 · 01/22/2011, 06:48 AM

I dont know if I would go that small for a salt water tank. I dont know if the airator is enough water movement, and the water level will need to be kept very consistent because any change at this small amount of volume of water will have a wider effect on all your other levels.

jtinoco · 01/22/2011, 08:04 AM

It can be done. I had a 2.5 gallon tank for a while and had coral in there. You just have to set yourself to "super expert mode" lol. There's a thread somewhere on here with pics of my tank.

Like igazoo said you have to stay on top of the water level. A few times I had about a 1/4 inch of water evaporate and the salinity would go up like 1 1/2 - 2 points. Also, the aerator may not create enough flow. You may want to add a small HOB filter just remove the media and replace with live rock rubble. That's how I had mine. I also trimmed the tube on the filter to get more flow.

Also, not sure your light will support the coral. I used one of those fluorescent spiral bulbs. I found one that was a 26 watt 6700K. It was bright but not blue enough to my liking but it kept the coral growing and healthy.

If you do set it up, good luck and get some pics on here.

bmw_zoan · 01/22/2011, 11:44 AM

thanks guys and yea I had that very well in mind.. not to have the water level drop, I might do it in a 5 gallon instead not sure yet on what I am going to do but I am staying positive, and I replaced the 7 watt bulb with the 15 watt... The thing where the light goes still has a lot of space so I might put in some LEDs in there

bmw_zoan · 01/22/2011, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtinoco

It can be done. I had a 2.5 gallon tank for a while and had coral in there. You just have to set yourself to "super expert mode" lol. There's a thread somewhere on here with pics of my tank.

How long did you have your tank for? And why did you take it down? Thanks

jtinoco · 01/22/2011, 03:52 PM

It ran for about 6 months. It crashed at about 5 months when my heater cracked in the tank. Killed my Xenia and my clown fish. I took the tank down to focus more on the big tank.

This is what i was told when I had my tank: if you have two tanks. A 1 gallon tank and a 50 gallon and you put a drop of food coloring. Let's say blue food coloring. Which tank's water will turn blue the fastest? The 1 gallon of course. Now imagine that the blue food coloring is a disease. In other words, the smaller the tank the harder it is to maintain.

bmw_zoan · 01/22/2011, 06:09 PM

Yea I am keeping that in mind.. I'm not adding a lot I just want a nice decorative piece for my room

just some LR and sand and maybe some zoas and mushrooms, and I am thinking of making it a 5 gallon instead

deehz · 01/23/2011, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmw_zoan

Yea I am keeping that in mind.. I'm not adding a lot I just want a nice decorative piece for my room

just some LR and sand and maybe some zoas and mushrooms, and I am thinking of making it a 5 gallon instead

You might be able to find it here on RC, but on RS (the evil site

) there is a forum for nano's. There were some individuals, or group of, that had vase's as tanks. Yes, a vase or a super pico!

The key from what I read is water changes daily. This is your tanks water stability. They would do about 1-2 quart water changes daily. And once a month, do full on water change. So it can be done. It was an air stone, a hang on filter wheel thingy, an LED light (1 white/blue), and as small as you can get heater inside of the wheel thingy. Some actually had great success by putting the tank on a window with lots of sunlight. You get the sun's energy in 2 ways--light and heat.

Good luck and keep us posted w/pics!

bmw_zoan · 01/23/2011, 02:24 PM

Hey Deehz, yea I have seen the vase one you are talking about on youtube thats why I want to do one, there is also one on a cookie jar its awesome I spent like a whole hour on youtube looking at nanos. I will start my own soon

psuedopimp · 01/24/2011, 09:23 AM

that airstone would make the salt creep go crazy!

01/21/2011, 06:23 PM	#1
bmw_zoan Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: El Paso Posts: 187	1 gallon help! Hey guys, I have this one gallon tank on my room with just a ballon belly molly, I was wondering if I could turn this one gallon tank into a saltwater tank. It has a 7 watt incandesent bulb, and an airline going in it to supply the fish with oxygen, the fish lives fine in there. I was thinking buying a samll piece of live rock and put it in there just as a source of filtration and later add some zoanthids or such.. I dont plan to add any fish it is to small. Is this possible? Just have the tank running with the 7 watt bulb and the airator and add some live rock and zoas or mushrooms later? Some of my concerns is that the airstone with the airator won't create as much water flow but the tank is fairly small so I am not sure thats why I need some help. Thanks P.S. If this does happen the molly will be transfered to my freshwater molly breeding tank so no worries he will be happy in there Last edited by bmw_zoan; 01/21/2011 at 06:51 PM.

01/22/2011, 03:52 PM	#6
jtinoco iPhone Geek Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 620	It ran for about 6 months. It crashed at about 5 months when my heater cracked in the tank. Killed my Xenia and my clown fish. I took the tank down to focus more on the big tank. This is what i was told when I had my tank: if you have two tanks. A 1 gallon tank and a 50 gallon and you put a drop of food coloring. Let's say blue food coloring. Which tank's water will turn blue the fastest? The 1 gallon of course. Now imagine that the blue food coloring is a disease. In other words, the smaller the tank the harder it is to maintain. Last edited by jtinoco; 01/22/2011 at 04:08 PM.

01/24/2011, 09:23 AM	#10
psuedopimp Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: New Mexico Posts: 907	that airstone would make the salt creep go crazy! __________________ Any one can hold the helm when the sea is calm. Publilius Syrus

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01/22/2011, 06:48 AM	#2
igazoo25 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: El Paso Posts: 102	I dont know if I would go that small for a salt water tank. I dont know if the airator is enough water movement, and the water level will need to be kept very consistent because any change at this small amount of volume of water will have a wider effect on all your other levels.

01/22/2011, 08:04 AM	#3
jtinoco iPhone Geek Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 620	It can be done. I had a 2.5 gallon tank for a while and had coral in there. You just have to set yourself to "super expert mode" lol. There's a thread somewhere on here with pics of my tank. Like igazoo said you have to stay on top of the water level. A few times I had about a 1/4 inch of water evaporate and the salinity would go up like 1 1/2 - 2 points. Also, the aerator may not create enough flow. You may want to add a small HOB filter just remove the media and replace with live rock rubble. That's how I had mine. I also trimmed the tube on the filter to get more flow. Also, not sure your light will support the coral. I used one of those fluorescent spiral bulbs. I found one that was a 26 watt 6700K. It was bright but not blue enough to my liking but it kept the coral growing and healthy. If you do set it up, good luck and get some pics on here.

01/22/2011, 11:44 AM	#4
bmw_zoan Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: El Paso Posts: 187	thanks guys and yea I had that very well in mind.. not to have the water level drop, I might do it in a 5 gallon instead not sure yet on what I am going to do but I am staying positive, and I replaced the 7 watt bulb with the 15 watt... The thing where the light goes still has a lot of space so I might put in some LEDs in there

01/22/2011, 06:09 PM	#7
bmw_zoan Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: El Paso Posts: 187	Yea I am keeping that in mind.. I'm not adding a lot I just want a nice decorative piece for my room just some LR and sand and maybe some zoas and mushrooms, and I am thinking of making it a 5 gallon instead

01/23/2011, 02:24 PM	#9
bmw_zoan Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: El Paso Posts: 187	Hey Deehz, yea I have seen the vase one you are talking about on youtube thats why I want to do one, there is also one on a cookie jar its awesome I spent like a whole hour on youtube looking at nanos. I will start my own soon