A few quick questions

[WestTex]

Question #1: is a five gallon hex going to be big enough for a Purple-Spotted Mantis (Gonodactylus smithii)

Question #2: would a Whisper 30 (http://www.aquariumguys.com/whisperpower.html) filter be too much filtration for 5 gallons?

Inside the filter i was going to hide a small heater and cram it full of bio-balls or live rock.

Question #3: Any recommended lighting suggestions for this little tank?

Other than the mentioned above the plan was to add about 2 inches of medium aragonite sand and about 5 pounds of live rock with enough left over to fill the whisper 30 filter up.

 

[Finalfire9]

Live rock is fail as a filter for a nano tank it needs a real filter

that filter you mentioned is perfect just jam a ton of media in it blocks you name it.

The main issue with sucha small tank is you need to top off water almost every 4 days tho bc a tank that small water evporation is a problem bc the tank volume is so small just top it off from your freshwater tanks.

If you dont top off weekly at least your tank will choke just a half inch down or a full inch will make the salinaty go thro the roof. My nano tank has a 4 gallon tank volume. i top off weekly to every 3 or 4 days

i would add a half of a inch of sand on the bottom of your tank not 2 inches. you dont want a deep bed in a nano reef tank. The less the sand the less **** can build up over time years down the line you will be thanking yourself for a thin sand bed. you got to remeber also more sand you add = less tank volume you have also.

Also if this is your first reef i would recommend you get a small damsel first for a least a 2 or 3 weeks in the tank so it can cycle then a few hermit crabs then the invert you mentioned. but a tank that size you will be only able to keep one fish or no fish. But with nano reef tanks its not about the fish.

 

[Finalfire9]

When getting started with your nano reef Buy your water at your LFS.. its only like 50cents a gallon do not try to mix it. so much easier to have them to do perfectly for you.

Goodluck with your new money pit XD

 

[WestTex]

thanks for the advice can't wait to get started on it. Hoping with a small Mantis it won't be too bad on the budget. I've always wanted one for my desk here at home next to my computer. I'm going to move to New Braunfels, Texas this next month and I plan to start the thing up then.

 

[BIGgourami]

why would you top off a tiny tank (which would have enough problems with waste build up) with waste water from another tank?

it's like throwing crap into your food...



if it's your first SW i'd go much bigger.. maybe like a 30 gallon or more. of course it'd be more money but it'd be harder to screw up.

the filter idea sounds fine but a whisper 30 (if it's as big as i remember) would take up most of the tank, get like a fluval 1 or 2 internal filter. i have a fluval 4 on my 10 gallon and the thing is badazz



the tank size sounds about right.. it's only a 3" mantid


for a light i'd check out the coralife mini aqualight.. it's a dual 8W PC and would be fine for most soft, LPS, and polyp corals... though keeping corals in a mantis tank can be a PITA

if you didn't want a reef any lighting would work just fine.. though i'd get something kinda bright to showcase the colors of the mantis

 

[Finalfire9]

why would you top off a tiny tank with waste water from another tank? it's like throwing crap into your food...
if it's your first SW i'd go much bigger.. maybe like a 30 gallon or more. of course it'd be more money but it'd be harder to screw up.

Question my methods its ok the reason is I top off my saltwater tank with my fresh its easy safe and works like a charm. Its also bc i dont use a RO filter and dont trust "chemicals" that make tap water safe bc ive had nuke downs with my Reef tank using thos chemicals that make tap water "safe".

Using week long open aged water in 5 gallon jugs next to my reef tank works good also but takes up space

Waste water? The freshwater tanks are crystal clear by no means its waste water. The water is so clean in the freshwater tanks i would drink it. Jesus drinkably clean water

Topping off my Reef tank with water from a freshwater tank is easy safe and works perfect. Ive been doing it for years now with no issues

 

[BIGgourami]

if there's nothing wrong with the water in the FW tanks why remove it?
the build up of nitrates in the FW would be carried over to the SW tank.. being a small tank, and hopefully housing SOMETHING, this would be a bad thing


if you had a FW tank with no nitrates i gues it would be ok.. but again.. why would you change the water?

if you're adverse to using commercial dechlorinators i suggest just picking up some crystalized sodium thiosulfate... it's the primary ingredient in most, if not all, de-chlors and you cut out the filler crap