Desertnano9
New Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2020
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 64
- What state or country do you live in
- Nevada
Hi, finally getting around to posting but have enjoyed following past few months. Lots of great pics and lots of information to sort out .So I'll jump in with tank details and include some budget stuff. 5.5 gallon bare bottom with lfs cured fiji rock. No skimmer or sump. Only plugged in equipment is aquaclear 70 hob $34, lumini pixie 30 led $73, and heater $20. I use a wu yu chi ato $13 on amazon. Lights on 8 hours all blue channels. I change 2 gallons about every 10 days using brs marinemix. Add all for reef daily , acropower weekly. Only test alk 9-10 and salinity 1.026 using 2 instant ocean hydrometers. HOB holds ceramic bio media , nano chemipure blue, and floss. Livestock is LPS and easy SPS , 1 blue damsel , and a few hermits and snails. All doing well so far. Coral growth seems slow but colors, polyp expansion, and health seem fine. I feed flake 2x daily and reefroids weekly. No algae issues but I've pulled rock twice to remove an occasional aptasia or bubble algae. Notable coral failures are alveopora, papaya clove polyps, and ricordia. Also zoas don't do well and I've tried a few. The plan I'm sticking with is to never pay more than $40 for a coral tho I'm often tempted. My only advice is use oversize HOB to agitate surface if you don't use skimmer. Bare bottom allows for lots of flow in small tank.
