6-gallon NanoReef

Question
QUESTION: I was thinking about purchasing this nano-cube saltwater aquarium (my first saltwater aquarium, currently have 20 gallon freshwater)
http://www.reefsaltwateraquarium.com...2_details.html
Of course after making such an investment, size is limited in such a small tank and I could really use some help / suggestions. The tank is just about 1'x1'x1' and, in this shape, I would need to stack live rock. I was wondering what kind of strategy I should use approaching this stacking technique. Also, I have never kept corals before, and I was wonder if the light (~3 watts per gal) for this particular tank is strong enough for certain corals. Any suggestions for a few (not a lot) of corals I can introduce that can live in this situation? Also, I was planning on keeping 1 clown fish, a young, smaller one and an anemone. I do not know how to care for or "plant" anemone, so if anyone knows of a species that would do well in this situation and benefit the clown fish, and could explain how to introduce the anemone, that would be great. Also, what kind of clownfish stays small and would enjoy this environment? I wanted to add one more creature, some kind of shrimp to the tiny community, and was wondering what species would be best? If I do attempt to create an actual "mini-reef" situation, any suggestions for initial steps in the process of building it would be greatly appreciated. I really could use help as I have only read about caring for such a thing and need to learn from people who care for similar environments. Does this cube seem like a good buy, or does anyone know of anything better?  Basically I am a complete noob to the saltwater world, I know that caring for a reef may be a tough place to start but ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot

Jasonfishy

ANSWER: Hey Jason!

One thing i want to point out first is that its best to start saltwater with a tank around 55g, it allows for more stable water and lets you make a few mistakes, but its fine to start with a 6g as long as you have the right info.

With the live rock, Usually its placed in a pyramid shape towards the back of the tank, make sure theres spaces between the rock for flow so the rock doesnt die. it helps to point a powerhead towards the rock too.

With that lighting, you can get some low light corals, mushrooms and zoas would do well in that tank. Try to place them about mid level in the tank.

and yep, that tank is good for a clownfish, but a bit small for two. i would get a clownfish and a smaller goby, like a clown goby. you could maybe get a smaller shrimp too, like a cleaner shrimp. about the anemone, clownfish dont need them, and anemones need tanks at least 55g big, with 8wpg-10wpg lighting, and a tank a year old.

Now, about setting up the tank. you will need the following

-tank
-lighting
-heater
-powerhead
-substrate (i like aragonite)
-hydrometer (or better yet, a refractometer)
-sea salt
-RO (reverse osmosis) water (i'll explain why RO later)
-Saltwater test kit

First, get a bucket, fill it with RO water, and mix in the salt. test it with the refractometer or hydrometer, and make sure the salinity is around 1.025. after that, get your substrate in, and get the temperature fine tuned. Put in the powerhead, aim it towards where the live rock will be, then add your live rock. To cycle the tank, the live rock will die off and produce ammonia, after the ammonia goes down your tank will be cycled and your rock will become live again.

After the cycle, you can add one or two fish. But this brings me to a important point, tank maturity. its completely different than freshwater. within a month of starting a reef, you will see brown diatom algae, its perfectly normal, and will go away. its just brown goopy/hairy algae. At around 4 months, you will get hair algae, just long green hairy algae, again its normal and it will go away. At about  6-8 months, you will get the cyano stage, basically red goop/hairy stuff allover. Feed less during this time and do water changes and it will go away, after a year your tank will be mature

Now, onto RO water. You definitely need RO water. tapwater contains phosphates and other junk that will cause massive algae blooms in saltwater, with my first reef, a 55g, i filled it with tapwater and i had 2ft long hair algae and the biggest cyano bloom ever, RO water its pure and will not cause any algaes, its best to fill the tank with RO water and do water changes/topoffs with RO water.

Lastly, i just want to point out that stores will try to sell you lots of excess junk. You will not need a protein skimmer, tanks 20g+ need them. I would use a small filter though. Another thing stores will try to sell you are fish that will get too big for the tank, they will do anything to make a buck. If you are unsure about anything, a product, fish, live rock, etc. feel free to ask me another question, i dont mind. Also, if you have any other questions, feel free to post a follow-up question



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks a lot for the help, I really appreciated it.  I was wondering, would any of the circumstances you named, such as the corals I can keep or the things I am limited to change if I changed to a tank such as this?

http://www.reefsaltwateraquarium.com/p05/Aquariums_Nano_Cube_Aquariums_JBJ_12_Ga

I hope that URL worked.

ANSWER: Yep, URL works. since youve got a extra 6g to work with, i would get that tank. you could also get some other larger low light corals, such as Kenya Trees, pulsing xenia, Etc. I really like pulsing xenia personally, it spreads easily and grows like a weed, i bought a 3" frag in october and its now over 18" in diameter

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Since the lights would be closer to the surface since the tank is not very tall, is the WPG actually stronger? In the tank I just showed you, the power of the lights are 24 watts for a 12 gallon tank which makes it seem like the WPG will drop, are all the corals you have named thus far still doable with this kind of power? I was wondering if in a 12 gallon I could add 2 clown fish now, maybe 1 clown goby, a cleaner shrimp (what species?), and the corals. I really wanted the anemone but from what you said it seems that it is not possible. Also, for all the corals and creatures you have named, what are reasonable price ranges and where can they be purchased.  I'm sure I can ask my LFS to order them but is ordering things online cheaper? I never have done that before.  I am trying to keep the cost somewhat low in the end result.  Once again, thank you so much.

Answer
Yep, you would have stronger WPG because of the shallow tank. And yep, the corals will still be fine in the tank, i would just place them medium-high on the live rock. And yep, 2 clowns, the goby, and cleaner shrimp is good stock. Tank raised oscellaris clowns are usually $20 each, clown gobys about $10, and cleaner shrimp about $20 also.

Online, things can be cheaper. however, clownfish are terrible shippers, about 3/4 die when shipped from stress, i would say its safe to order the cleaner shrimp and the goby online.

Another thing to go to is reef clubs, most larger cities have them. People are usually willing to give away some coral frags, and will sell livestock and equipment cheap. I know someone who got a 24g JBJ nanocube w/stand for $20 at a reef club. Reef clubs are also a good place to get live rock, stores usually sell it for about $8/lb, but at reef clubs it goes for as low as $2-$3/lb.

another thing in saltwater, is always wear gloves if you are handling something. For a 12g, usually rubber dishwashing gloves are good, larger tanks you need shoulder gloves. I used to not use gloves, until i touched live rock and got 100 bristleworm spines in my index finger, i also almost got stung by my Volitan lionfish, and i wasnt using gloves, if he had got me i would have been stung and gotten a hospital trip. Gloves are a easy way to prevent plenty of mishaps and are a good idea