# May I have some suggestions for my 6 gallon



## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

I am running a Fluval Edge
Evenually I want to have coral, 1-2 small fish, shrimp, cuc

Nothing is in a hurry. In fact, my tank is still fishless cycling. I have live rock, live sand. Lighting isn't modded (post office strike), powerhead hasnt arrived (post office strike)
Basically, I am in no hurry.
Even if my tank is cycled, i don't plan on putting in everything at once. first to go in would be shrrimp and CUC, then maybe fish, then coral slowly. (talking in months, not week)

I however, don't have much experience in this. Also, I've done a lot of searching in Toronto, sometimes the selection of livestock or inverts are limited in LFS. For example there are no pistol shrimps and pom pom crabs to be had this time around? If someone can suggest a package of animals + coral (one I could realisticly aquire) that I can put in the tank it would be wonderful 

I want the tank to look as interesting as much as possible with colors and stuff 

(I live like 15 minutes from Sea-U-marine)


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## Kerohime (Jan 10, 2011)

Not sure why this is in the Freshwater section, but I dont think Fluval edges are made for saltwater setups. 

6 gallons is really small, I wouldnt even put any vertebrates (fish) in it, As for corals a nano reef tank at that size is doable as long as you have sufficient lighting and water flow. 
I havent looked into corals for a while, but I dont know if the maintenance is really worth it to set up saltwater in a tank that small and annoying to clean. 

But maybe some members keener on saltwater might have differing opinions.


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

opps sorrry. my bad. I thought i saw beginner's circle and didn't see that it's under fresh water section. Would a mod move this for me please?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Most of the LFS's have a good selection of inverts.

SUM has pompom crabs, hermits, pistol shrimp, etc. in stock all the time.

If you are looking for a small fish for a 6g, you may want to research the different types of clown gobies (yellow seems to be the smallest I have seen).


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

hmmm I've been there recently (last week) since i live like 15 minute drive away. I didn't see any pompom crab~

There are so many varieties ~!! I want to try that pistol shrimp and goby combo (live together). Or maybe cleaner shrimp with small clown (to watch him clean)

or 1-2 sexy shrimp dances on my future corals~

which is most pretty/most fun??


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Up to you what you find the most attractive. If you are interested in a certain invert, ask the staff if they have any. Sometimes they are hiding 

You might also be interested in a harlequin shrimp as well, if you can stomach feeding it starfish.


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

i read that panda goby is best with tank that have pocillopora... that type of coral is hard to maintain in a small tank.

Will panda goby (if i manage to find one) live well without hat specific type of coral?


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## WiseGuyPhil (Jun 15, 2011)

You should not have a problem keeping it in there. Provide it with some porus rock for shade and it will hide near it. 

One thing I have seen on forums is that this type of goby can be a picky eater. Sometimes, it won't take frozen foods and often need to be feed live brine. Just something to consider but I think would be a great choice.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Just one suggestion - go bigger

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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

when i get a job lol. I just graduated last month (not high school)


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## wildexpressions (May 3, 2010)

Hoyuen said:


> hmmm I've been there recently (last week) since i live like 15 minute drive away. I didn't see any pompom crab~
> 
> There are so many varieties ~!! I want to try that pistol shrimp and goby combo (live together). Or maybe cleaner shrimp with small clown (to watch him clean)
> 
> ...


pistol shrimp and goby combo is an excellent choice for your tank. Do some research prior to going looking as some species of Gobies prefer some species of Shrimp. If you can find a pair that are already matched up that would of course be best.

Very entertaining little fellows. I have had a 10 gallon sitting on my desk waiting for a pair for almost a year but every pair I get in get sold.


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

added CUC today~

2 zebra hermit
2 scarlet hermit

2 astrea snail
2 ceriths
2 Nassarius

1 of the scarlet is very small don't seem to be too active. The 2 zebras are very active and playful. One of them kept sizing up a extra shell. I turned around and he crawled into it and started to walk around like he's trying on a pair of new shoes. Just as I was punching myself for missing that moment. Swoohish he goes back into his old home, this time I caught it.

And I thougth snails are slow moving creature. Nassarius are damn fast, they are like a moving puddle with a trunk!

going to let the water stabilize a bit more before adding a shrimp!


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## adrenaline (Jan 17, 2011)

speaking from experience in both freshwater and marine (newer to marine) smaller = harder to maintain. I had some terrible luck doing a 10 gallon set up some years back. I decided to try my hand at marine again and did a 29 gallon set up. It it soooooo much easier to set up and maintain than a smaller tank. just in that size increase alone it has become so much simpler and easier to maintain my paramaters, do my water changes, and it gives you more options for fish/inverts.

I plan on swapping over one of my cichlid tanks to marine later on, but not for a while as it is significantly more expensive than freshwater lol.


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

WHen i started playing with Saltwater, I took the advice of a few Reefers here and their about the Size of the tank and set up.

I had a 29G cube in mind, but heard alot of issues with a smaller tank being hard to maintain, So i went Big(big to some) .

My 135G turned out to be expensive but Very easy to keep going.

The most important thing you need to do is Keep up on the Water changes.

After my cycle, I was changing 80G a month for 6 months, Then slowly changed less. I able to change 40G (10G a week) a month now with No ill effect.

Total volume in my system is 210G.

If i were to start a small tank, I would not add Clown fish like most do, Mine are very active, And like to swim the full tank.

Good luck with the build and take your time.


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

latest picture!


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## bioload (Oct 20, 2009)

Hoyuen said:


> added CUC today~
> 
> 2 zebra hermit
> 2 scarlet hermit
> ...


Looks good...Just curious.......What are they eating?...are you feeding?


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

no i havn't feed anything. I've been 10% watering changing a lot... like every other day.

Today I brought in a harlequinn shrimp!


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## wildexpressions (May 3, 2010)

very very nice 

personally I don't find small tanks difficult at all but you need to setup a system and stick with it. I always suggest having as much salt water pre-mixedas your nano will hold. Easy peasy in your case as 10 gal bucket/rubbermaid/etc with an airstone will do the job nicely.

Love the pictures, keep them coming. How much did you pay for the shrimp?


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

I paid $25 for one!

More picture:

Enjoy 









came home and found them hugging each other.

























Girlfriend and I named them Peter Kwan and Harry Siu!


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Hoyuen said:


> Girlfriend and I named them Peter Kwan and Harry Siu!


Why? Are they always fighting over the best pieces of real estate????


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

HAHAHA we just thought it's funny. having lived here as long as I have, I memorized the commercial sub-consciously.

We really should have named the hermits those names instead. hmmm... 3 hermits. Perhaps the new 3 siblings real estate agents who place their ads EVERYWHERE?


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

I would keep your tank coral only. I love my soft coral tank. My tank is 10 gallon, but it is designed nice so that I have maximized space for my orange skunk clown to swim.

small snails such as naussarius to start, some crabs. basically you want to build up the ecosystem. the crabs were really good at devouring green hair algae that started to bloom. 

your tank will go through many stages as you add more organics into the water. food and animals and corals and rock will all have to reach an equalibrium.

my 10 gallon tank has had nothing die, except a limpet.


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

after 3 days in my tank. both harlequins have molted~ Both of them being male, they have being a BIT territorial with the starfish. the blue-r one gets to stand on the starfish, when the other approachs he'll attempt to shove him away, but no claws are involved. Eventually he caves and the other will have a bite and leaves.


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## Cintax (Jun 16, 2011)

Wow. Looking really nice. I love those tanks, wish they weren't so expensive. I'd like one for my desk at work.


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

Here are some updates on the tank:


























The shrimps have finished their first starfish yesterday. Took about 2 weeks. And I can tell you the star was alive till it had 1 leg left when I saw it's feelers move.

I got some question about lighting...

As many of you may know that Fluval Edge came with 2 sockets that holds MR11 or MR16 at 12V input.

I've recently purchased 2 Aquasunspot online and it says that are 3 watts each, to go in each of those sockets. For those unfamiliar with the LED: http://glassbox-design.com/2010/aquamedic-aquasunspot-led/ Does that mean I have only 1 Watt per gallon?? From what I've read that's not even good enough to house soft coral as it takes 2.5wpg for soft and 3.5 for sps.

I spend like $70 on those leds and I would hate to have them go to waste knowing it won't get the job done. Will I be fine?


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## derekc85 (Oct 23, 2008)

nice tank...

wpg is often used in freshwater in the days of florecent lights, and only a crude and general estimate. 

Measuring light by PAR is a better representation than wpg. Some factors that could affect light intensity - 

height of tank, 
type of lights (MH, point sourced, T5HO, wide spread)
reflectors
clarity of water
so on and so on...

best thing is to read what other people have kept under that light... i believe you should be ok with soft corals, and a some of LPS


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

LED's are much different than CFL's. I have a 9 gallon with 8 - 3 watt LED's and it's probably overkill for the small tank. I would think it might be a little underpowered for your setup but then again, you could always do a little work and try to fit in a few more LED's somehow.

If you need help with it I would be glad to come over

Either way, nice setup!


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

thanks! I've just added 2 blue led strip for moon light. as well as a coco worm (red and yellow) Never realized they were such pooping machine for a filter feeder. I think i've completed my livestock collection. Maybe, just Maybe more featherduster and a firefish down the road.

What I have currently:

1 clown goby (on the large side)
1 coco worm (8 inch long)
2 harequinn shrimps
3 sexy shrimps

CUC:
1 zebra hermit
2 scarlet leg hermit1 Narrarius snail
2 trochus snails
3 ceriths

















bought in SUM.


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

Great news, the LEDs have arrived and they make a world of different. The bad part is that the beam angles are too narrow making a spot light effect. I've unscrewed the lens part and the light became perfect.... Now the problem is that I don't want to expose the LED chips to splashes. These cost me $70 so I wanna be careful.. already had a 2 cheaper MR16 burnt out from water.

Any ideas how I could build a splash guard? material? I am thinking of just going to a glass cutter and cutting a 7 inch by 4 inch glass... silicon some sort of ledge on the tank opening and rest it on. That way I can easily give it a wipe every morning.

Also thinking of putting clear nail polish on the exposed LED board...

any ideas?

[edit]

what if I make a slide thing for the filter so that the water gently rolls into the tank instead of falling in it. Would that produce no splash??








Coco worm under new light































Coral has opened up







harlequinn looks crisp


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## Hoyuen (Jun 23, 2011)

i got a couple of VERY tiny aiptasia and a smallish one sticking out from under a rock. I don't wanna use aiptasia x but adding at peppermint at this point seems risky considering the bio-load. Wish there is a "rent a peppermint" service.


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## ecoleshill (Jan 22, 2009)

Peppermit shrimps are a hit/miss when it comes to taking care of Aptasia's. I found a natural preditor called Berghia Nudibranchs. They can be purchased from a company in the states called Salty Underground (http://www.saltyunderground.com/index.php). I just recently put mine in the tank a couple of weeks ago and where I placed them seems to be almost clear of Aptasia. So far so god.

These are basically small 1/4" sea slugs. They are nocturnal and once you put them in the tank you will probably never see them again. I spot one every now and then, but very rarely.


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