Sunshine518
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2018
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 4
- What state or country do you live in
- New York
First a little about me-
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
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
