First tank noob w/questions

Sunshine518 · Jan 20, 2018

After owning a FW aquarium for 4 years I felt I had finally honed my skills enough to jump into SW. I purchased a 5 gallon kit today with some crushed shell for substrate and a live rock with tons of purple whatchamacallit stuff on it. (Still learning the terms, don't hate! lol) As a bonus I got a sea urchin attached to my live rock for free. (Score!)

The tank is going through it's cycling stage at the moment while I eagerly wait to start adding corals. I plan on just having inverts and corals early on, at least for the next few months while I get the tank established. Eventually I'd like to get a small clown to keep the kiddo happy and maybe a starfish?

I realize 5 gallons is a bit on the smaller side, so before anyone jumps in and cautions not to add too much - I'm well aware of the dangers of over stocking. With that said, I've somehow managed to maintain a flourishing 10g with 12 neons and a pleco whilst avoiding the problems which usually accompany overstocking through use of tons of plants and frequent water changes.

So with overstocking dangers in mind, is there anything I can add which would be akin to my plants in my FW tank to help mitigate hazards?
Do corals clean water or would I need to get SW plants?
Is a protein skimmer necessary?
I notice a lot of SW tanks don't have bubble stones. Are they necessary or does surface contact with air provide enough aeration?
Is there anything I can add to avoid having to change the water so often?

Blah! So much information to absorb. I've been researching for weeks and somehow I feel I've only scratched the surface. Sorry if these questions have been asked before. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
-J

wlittlefield · Jan 20, 2018

With a reef that small I'd strongly recommend that you get an ATO (Auto Top Off) system. I started with a 7 gallon tank and keeping the parameter and salinity stable was way to hard. Evaporation was a killer. While that won't work the same as your plants, which are doing a great job cleaning and balancing your tank; an ATO will go a long way toward keeping things stable which is half the battle with coral.

Also, as I suspect you already know, I'd recommend getting a bigger tank. I lasted about 6 months on the 7 gallon before getting frustrated. I found a smaller tank is much harder and a lot more work. I quickly moved to a 20 gallon and now up to a 30L all in one system which I find quite manageable while still being considered a nano.

AND an RODI machine.

All that said, WELCOME. It's awesome and addicting. Can't wait to see your reef.

Bug235 · Jan 20, 2018

wlittlefield said:
With a reef that small I'd strongly recommend that you get an ATO (Auto Top Off) system. I started with a 7 gallon tank and keeping the parameter and salinity stable was way to hard. Evaporation was a killer. While that won't work the same as your plants, which are doing a great job cleaning and balancing your tank; an ATO will go a long way toward keeping things stable which is half the battle with coral.

Also, as I suspect you already know, I'd recommend getting a bigger tank. I lasted about 6 months on the 7 gallon before getting frustrated. I found a smaller tank is much harder and a lot more work. I quickly moved to a 20 gallon and now up to a 30L all in one system which I find quite manageable while still being considered a nano.

AND an RODI machine.

All that said, WELCOME. It's awesome and addicting. Can't wait to see your reef.

The smaller the SW tank the more attention you’ll need to give it, hard keeping stable but with that said, auto top of a must on a 5 and a weekly 2 gallon water change sounds good to me !!

MSB123 · Jan 20, 2018

+1 On the ATO, for that size tank, a skimmer wouldnt hurt, and is your tank all-in-one?

Sunshine518 · Jan 20, 2018

Yes it's an all-in-1 fluval 5 gallon tank.

I totally hear you guys on getting a bigger tank. Once I get my tax returns I plan on getting one of those nifty lookin' 29 gallon cube tanks. In the mean time I figure this 5 gallon would serve well for me to get my feet wet and could perhaps serve as an isolation tank in the future.

Unfortunatly at the moment I can only afford to shell out 250$ for a SW setup so I'm stuck with the 5g. *Shrugs*

(Double pun post. hah)