planning for 5.5 gallon nano (should be able to get it this time)

atmachine5

atmachine5

Member
I talked to my mom last night and she wasn't opposed to turning my 5.5 gallon tank into a SW tank. So basic equipment I'll need is:
-aquaclear rated for 20 gallon tank, smallest one
-25w fully submergible heater or can i use my 25w hob heater?
-maxi-jet 400 powerhead 106gph
-refractometer or can i use a floating glass hydrometer?
-bag of salt mix (any certain kind)?
-substrate (live sand or normal sand and how much)?
To start I'd like to go just for fowlr and upgrade lighting later to reef if possible if that's ok so I have a 10w cp fluerscent bulb from wal-mart with reflector if that's ok for now, maybe grow some of the softer stuff?
That's all for now, tomorrow I'm hoping to pick up some equipment but not setup the tank, just like heater, filter, powerhead, salt etc. (equipment)
Hope somebody can help me out here, right now I should be ablet to set it up
Kinda new so any :help: is appreciated
thanks
 
joebob7

joebob7

Member
i had an instant ocean hydrometer and it was off and killed all my fish so if you have the $ i would get a refractometer
live sand would be best because i acts as a natural filter
maybe someone else can help you with the other stuff
 
nudilove

nudilove

Member
Personally, if you have an LFS closeby? It is worth it to just purchase saltwater, mixing can be hard to do right. Usually its a dollar a gallon, and for all the trouble I've gone through trying to keep mixed salt aerated? Its worth it just to buy it. Of course my LFS is about 6 feet from the ocean so I'm able to get heavily filtered natural ocean water.
 
atmachine5

atmachine5

Member
Ya it's possible though I don't know if I can get to it every week, though I'm going to probably get the tank cycled and while doing that figure out how much salt I need to mix and not buy any fish/inverts until I got it down.
 
atmachine5

atmachine5

Member
So I got the for sure ok from my parents, it's my tank I can do what I want, just don't "spend a lot of money". So I'm going SW (unless my betta doesn't do good in my community tank which I'll find out soon, though he should since my last one did. sooo......
Tomorrow my aunt and I are going around to lfs's and I'm gona look for sales and I'm also going to the biggest SW store in my state, so that means I'm gona get the equipment, and if I have enough money LR if that's ok.
So here's what I need
-glass versa-top 10-15$ (need it since my hood isn't covered and can't be over open SW)
-aquaclear filter 10-15$
-maxi-jet 400 15-20$
-bag of salt mix 10-15$
So that leaves me to supply heater, tank, and lighting along with thermometer so I'll then have:
-full hood
-filter
-heater
-thermometer
-salt mix
-powerhead
And still to get
Hydrometer-Will I be ok with this to start off with?
test kit-Do I need this the first month or so while the tank is cycling or would it be ok to buy a bit later
If I don't have to buy a test kit immediately I could get the LR tomorrow and buy the test kit in the beginning of march, unless I find a bunch of good deals. What type of test kit will I need to test what levles, since it will be fowlr to begin with I don't need a reef test kit right?
Remember I'm a kid and don't have a real job so that's why I'm asking can I not buy the test kit till later when I get my allowance because I get money at weird times like shoveling last week.
Thanks, fast response would be appreciated.
O yes I understand I need patience and I have that, it's just that I'm not going to be able to go to the SW store for awhile again and I'd rather get the LR there since they'l have a nice selection.
 
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