Need stocking suggestions

[FLESHY]

LR does not absorb nitrates...thats just not true.

LR helps beneficial bacteria make ammonia into nitrite into nitrate so that plants in your sump or tank can consume it.

You can afford enough salt to do water changes dude.

You have a 5.5g tank...stocked with hermits. Monthy 1g change? Thats like I said before...$0.27

 

[Plec123]

LR does not absorb nitrates...thats just not true.

LR helps beneficial bacteria make ammonia into nitrite into nitrate so that plants in your sump or tank can consume it.

You can afford enough salt to do water changes dude.

You have a 5.5g tank...stocked with hermits. Monthy 1g change? Thats like I said before...$0.27

i guess you have a point.

any ideas for the 10gal then?

 

[FLESHY]

Same deal. I would attempt to do an AC fuge. As your parents for an AquaClear filter for your birthday or something. Get some cool macro algaes for in your tank...and then buy a little salt. $8 will go a long way with a minimally stocked 10g with macro algaes and a AC sump mod.

 

[Plec123]

alright, ill see what i can do. when i told my dad i wanted to upgrade to the 10gal, he said the electric bill was too high (not that a 10gal will use that much more energy than a 5gal...). hes going to tell me its pointless but ill try to work at it.

 

[FLESHY]

You can do what you want with a 5...we just have to be careful and work something out. I cant believe you are spending that much electricity on a 10g. Your dad would hate to see the kind of power it takes to run a almost 6000g system.

 

[Plec123]

You can do what you want with a 5...we just have to be careful and work something out. I cant believe you are spending that much electricity on a 10g. Your dad would hate to see the kind of power it takes to run a almost 6000g system.

i know right? he complains about the $200+ electric bill, and im not gonna go on a rant about that because im his son, but its mostly because people leave all the lights in the house on all the time... 3 60w bulbs on a ceiling fan in each bedroom and the kitchen can do that.

im gonna explain the wattage of the equipment to him tonight along with the benefits of upgrading (fish, corals, more inverts) and see what he says. basically im gonna add another 10w CFL bulb and change the heater to a 100w one. later on i can make the modded sump/fuge... i suppose it will only take time.

but im definitely upgrading. im trying to make a list of everything i might want or that may be a possibility... really looking for things thatll grab the family's attention.

 

[FLESHY]

Check to make sure everything you upgrade is worth it. You could probably keep soft corals in a 10g tank with 2x Spiral CFL bulbs...super cheap. 20 bucks will do it if you have a tank cover. I spent about $20 on my setup and I hung my clamp lights from the ceiling.

 

[Plec123]

ive already got a hood that i can put 2 coralife 50/50 screw-in CFL bulbs in. those bulbs are $15 each, and 10w each.

 

[FLESHY]

You are shopping at a strange store. My spiral cfls were less than $3 and 18w a pop.

 

[Plec123]

You are shopping at a strange store. My spiral cfls were less than $3 and 18w a pop.

these are 50actinic/50white bulbs... not spiral but 2 bulbs that are curved...

its petsmart. i like the actinic because the anemones fluoresce green under it, and theyre just brown without it.