New Saltwater 5 Gallon Nano Reef Tank

Here are some photos of my new saltwater tank, a 5 gallon nano reef that will feature a small clean up crew and eventually corals. It's a 5 gallon cube, technically a 10" x 10" x 12" (height) pico created by Ecoxotic (the company with the hardest name to pronounce, ever.) Right now it has 5 pounds of live rock sitting on top of 5 pounds of live sand. I used Nutri Seawater saltwater to start and also added some bacteria. My lighting is a lamp that has an arm that sits about 8 inches above the top glass, which is left uncovered for now. I was able to find the perfect hang on back filter, a Tera 10 gallon filter that rotates the water at a 90 gallon per hour rate, which is just about perfect for a nano reef tank this small. It's incredibly quiet and I am impressed. I am also using a 25 watt heater, which I think is made by Hagen or Aqueon or one of the large companies. It's fully submersible. The thermometer is a JW magnet I bought from Big Al's that I really like for tanks. Does a fine job and can be placed anywhere easily. Inside I have 2 scarlet reef hermit crabs which may have been added in a bit early in the process.

 

Here is another photo of the tank. You can see the brown diatom bloom a bit more closely in this one, as well as "the uglies" stage at the beginning of the tank cycling. The lighting is a tad bright and white. Currently I'm using a stock LED bulb that probably has a 40 watt intensity, more than enough for this aquarium and there are no corals that need the light. The tank cycle was supposedly done and I discovered that the "short cut" which rarely ever works is encountering its own limitations. The live rock was out of water for about 30 minutes and in a sealed bag. I'm guessing even that short period of time may have killed off a good amount of bacteria and the nitrate bloom may also be a result. Checking water is extremely important in the early stages when you have livestock in your reef tank.

 

Thanks. I actually decided not to put fish into the cube because it's too small for any of them to live comfortably. While a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp is also a bit of a tight fit, shrimp are much more tolerant of the smaller area and can perform more clean up work and be less obtrusive. The corals are really starting to look great and I will add an entire gallery of the different amazing corals.

The Euphyllia Torch Coral is growing like crazy and is stunningly beautiful. My green star polyps are sweet, waving lightly in the current. The zoas look really beautiful, especially the radioactive green zoanthids (I think they are called "dragon eyes" too.) I got a few more colors, have several polyps, and will probably create a giveaway here on the site for some of the growing corals. The torch coral looks like it is growing 2-3 new heads and I barely have it for more than 2-3 weeks. Here's a photo of the tank, with my scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp in there.