Fluval Spec 5g Crustacean tank
 

Hello!
This is my first salt water tank so i thought seeming that my brother uses Canreef all the time for his 55 gal. Tank i would post my tiny 5 gal tank here. It's been running for 3 months now, i used live sand, dry rock with a piece of 'seed' live rock from my brothers tank to get it started. I really like my Fluval spec. Water levels have been awesome, no complaints there.

Currently i have 2 pom pom crabs, 3 sexy shrimp and a snail. (snail came from the live sand if you can believe it or not!! Lord only knows now long it was in that bag before i placed it in my tank but now it has a forever home)

As far as coral goes i have a purple mushroom, a water mellon mushroom, a rock full of some sort of mushroom and a star polyp rock. :)

Plans for the future include just adding more coral to it, i was hoping to put in a piece of frogspawn possibly add some life to the tank, any thoughts on what i should add would be appreciated. No plans to add any more crustacean's i think this amount of life in the tank is enough.

BIGGER plans for the future are to get a second fluval spec 5 gal, put them end to end and create an external sump under both tanks to help with stability and allow me to have a porcelain crab tank beside my pom pom tank. :) Any thoughts on how i might be able to get that to work would be helpful to as this is my first salt tank. Many thanks for checking it out. -Mel

-What my tank currently looks like-
http://i.imgur.com/8YtU7GO.jpg?1

-my pom pom crab pair-
http://i.imgur.com/z9WNKgj.jpg

-sexy shrimp enjoying the mushrooms (not sure which kind)-
http://i.imgur.com/m8DwONE.jpg

-Not sure if anyone's observed this but in the mornings when i turn on my light my sexy shrimp are blue, here is a side by side comparison of morning and 10 minutes later!-
http://i.imgur.com/MwQgmkA.jpg

Very nice!I have the same tank on my desk:biggrin:

Thank you! It's an awesome little tank and oh so quiet! We call it cat TV in our house our two black cats adore the fishtank.

I've got a 5 G spec as well!

I currently have:

1 pulsating xenia
GSP
Birdsnest
Crocea Clam (really small one)
Frogspawn
Ricordias
Mushrooms
2 hermits
2 turbos
1 nassarius
1 clown goby
1peppermint shrimp

note! ---> i use supplemental feeding for my clam and SPS
I also added additional lighting for my SPS coral!


Happy Reefing!:biggrin:

This is So neat! Not many people have a fluval spec in my area (that i know of) set up with salt tank. It sounds like you have some lovely things in your tank how long has it been running for?

It's been running since christmas, but the rock, water, and half the critters were all from a larger tank (hence cycle time was shortened).

Most people are afraid of nano and pico tanks, but the reality is if you pay close attention to params and weekly water changes you should have little to no issues IMO.:biggrin:

I love little tanks! I have a 2.5g that is my favourite tank to maintain in my house, admittedly because water changes and cleaning are super easy to keep up with :biggrin:

That is crazy with the sexy shrimp! I've never seen that before. I have 2 and now I'm curious if mine are the same way and I've just never noticed, I will have to make a mental note and check in the morning. I also love the pom pom crabs, they're so cute!

Very odd right?! I havent been able to find any information on it so i thought i would try here and see if anyone had seen it happen before. They are only blue for about 3 minutes after the lights go on then they quickly change to blue. They are happy, eating exploring all the time and it happens to all of them so hopefully its nothing bad. :cry:

Yes the pom pom crabs are my pride and joy! I LOVE them, i cant wait to have a second nano tank with a pair of porcelain crabs they are my second -very close- favorite crab. :smile:

Are you using the stock light or did you switch?

Currently using the stock light, i have been trying to figure out a good replacement but havent found one yet. My brother uses a EcoTech Marine Radion XR30w (Gen 2) LED Light Fixture which i love but... clearly thats a bit too intense for a 5 gal. haha any thoughts as to what might work?