Plans for starting new Nano

[fishtank88]

So i havent been fishtanking for a while now and realized how much i miss the hobby. So today during saturday school i decided to read and catch up on reef tanking, my last reef tank was a failure after i tried to add some coral i bought from an online website (plus i hadnt been doing adequate water changes or water testings) its been about 4 yrs, maybe more and i really want to get back so i came up with a list of things i need and things I'm possible going to get, please tell me of any revisions i should make.

Reef Tank and Materials

• About 2-6 gallon nano
• Power heads
• heater/ thermostat
• protein skimmer
• coral sand
• marine salt
• hydrometer
• thermometer
• live rock
• phosphate remover
• light starter unit
• RO water (friend may still have RO machine)
• (might go with nano cube which comes with most of these things)

Possible Critters

• peppermint shrimp
• blue leg hermit crab
• scarlet reef hermit crab
• astraea snail
• nassarius snail
• (but dont know how many i should have of each in there and which ones should i have the most, snails?)

Possible Fish

• yellow clown goby
• percula clown fish
• yellow watchman goby
• neon goby
• royal gamma
• firefish
• (which would be the best fish to put in my tank? I know at least 1 clown and probably yellow watchmen goby and a neon goby cause it sifts sand)

Possible Nano Corals
Im checking out the sticky for this one and going to start off with hard corals


Tell me what you guys think, i feel like im missing some things but i left my list in the car.

[Loverotties]

It's hard to start with such a amall tank,and that's to many fish for that size tank.

[Dragonist]

I say hit up craigslist and get u a bigger tank!

[HD Fatboy®]

No not RO water...either DI or distilled...

[Mr.Peanut]

Originally Posted by HD Fatboy®

No not RO water...either DI or distilled...

RO/DI is what you really want.

I am getting ready to do a nano also. Probably 10g's. At first I was gonna get an all-in-one, now I am not so sure.

[Nano Reef]

I think you should seriously consider going to a 10 gallon for a couple of reasons, I think you will have a wider range of possible fish, not that there will be a lot but at least more than with a 6 gallon or smaller. Also I think you will have many more options for lighting in the future. As for your list, make sure you add a full set of testing suplies as with a new tank you will need to test often but it's even more important with a nano.

I would do 1 snail per every two gallons and 1 hermit per gallon but as the tank and fish get settled you will see if you need more or less of either one. Peppermint shrimp are good but I think I would reccommend a scarlet cleaner for when you add your fish. I had issues with ich that were quickly fixed by that little $30.00 beauty! Except for the Neon Goby and Firefish I would say that a 2-6 gallon tank would be too small. I think you could get away with any of the fish listed with a 10 gallon.

Have you considered a Barberpole Goby and Pistol Shrimp?

I would seriously consider going with the best lighting and skimmer you can get right from the beginning. I am running seven 6" power compacts (some 9 watt some 13 watt) for a total of 71 watts or 7.1 watts per gallon and I am thinking of upgrading more. Also my skimmer is good for tanks up to 60 gallons and I wouldn't want anything less.

[YLChik]

In a 6 gallon you could do one fish MAYBE 2 if one was a clown goby.

Nanoreef has made some great suggestions
and good for you for research before you buy!!!!

Keep asking questions!

[fishtank88]

i wasnt planning on having all of those fish in my tank at once, i was just planning on having one or two of the fish on the list and that would be it.
i dont really want a 10 gallon tank because thats what i had before and for some reason im just kind of scared to go for a 10 g tank again so i want to go smaller
i had added some coral to my tank and next thing i knew there were some little pods eating up my whole tank and all my corals anyone know how to prevent that?