# 5g set up?



## Price (Dec 11, 2010)

Okay i have a thread over in freshwater, i have a 30 gallon that ive had for 2 years, but im at college so i dont get to see it much(its at home i live on campus) im thinking about putting a 5g tank in my room, ive seen some 5g saltwater set ups. Never done saltwater, i think theyre cool as hell though, how expensive (im a broke college kid remember) is it going to be setting a saltwater tank up vs a freshwater? and what are my possiblities maybe a little coral some inverts and oh boy itd be cool to have just one small fish?? haha Just figured this would be the section to post! 

Thanks


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

I couldn't even guess what a pico set-up would cost if one bought everything separately...sometimes little stuff doesn't necessarily cost any less. SW pico tanks can be incredibly difficult to manage...they are a precise science in and of themselves. But if you think you're up to it, I wish you success! Do your homework though (pun intended)... and it would be useful to have a few bucks stashed away for unexpected occurrences. Sh|t happens.

I have no experience with the OC Reef Pico tank. My husband and I considered it a few months back when we attempted (and failed) to keep dwarf seahorses. I've decided it has a decent light, and that's about all I've decided. Not a bad price at $159 considering it has a needle skimmer and a built in overflow w/pump. There would be other costs as well...substrate, live rock, a heater, probably an itty bitty power head- Hydor Evolution has one and cheapest place to get it is petco website...I think I paid like $12 or something...it's so cute. You'll also need salt and other various chemicals. You'd be lucky to pull all that together for another $100 bucks and I'm sure I forgot some stuff. Fish keeping can really nickel-n-dime ya.

Not to discourage you because I hate it when people do that to me...but...do you think you have room for something a little larger? A few more gallons would be much more forgiving not to mention open the door to a lot more stocking options and probably wouldn't cost much more. I'm not familiar with the all-in-one nano tanks either, but I know they're out there and that some hobbyists are having success with them. Or...I wonder if you could do a 10-gallon long and buy most of what you need separately, used, on ebay. Maybe you could score a sweet deal...lots of people always looking to dump their fish stuff. I wouldn't know where to start with buying stuff separately for such a small build. Equipment truly is my weak spot...the SW guys in this forum will do a much better job of advising you about that stuff. Another thing to consider would be a simple little FOWLR tank- "Fish Only With Live Rock". A FOWLER would get your feet wet, (okay, no feet in the tank) and it would be a cheaper investment. You wouldn't necessarily even need a skimmer. And if/when you decide to keep coral, you could add a skimmer later on...as in Christmas. Hint Hint.

*What's your dream fish?* I wanna know. Don't Google it. Just tell me what you already see swimming in there.

5 Gallon Pico Aquarium


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## Price (Dec 11, 2010)

Goby said:


> I couldn't even guess what a pico set-up would cost if one bought everything separately...sometimes little stuff doesn't necessarily cost any less. SW pico tanks can be incredibly difficult to manage...they are a precise science in and of themselves. But if you think you're up to it, I wish you success! Do your homework though (pun intended)... and it would be useful to have a few bucks stashed away for unexpected occurrences. Sh|t happens.
> 
> I have no experience with the OC Reef Pico tank. My husband and I considered it a few months back when we attempted (and failed) to keep dwarf seahorses. I've decided it has a decent light, and that's about all I've decided. Not a bad price at $159 considering it has a needle skimmer and a built in overflow w/pump. There would be other costs as well...substrate, live rock, a heater, probably an itty bitty power head- Hydor Evolution has one and cheapest place to get it is petco website...I think I paid like $12 or something...it's so cute. You'll also need salt and other various chemicals. You'd be lucky to pull all that together for another $100 bucks and I'm sure I forgot some stuff. Fish keeping can really nickel-n-dime ya.
> 
> ...



Oh man lots of great info there, but the 200 bucks is out of my range haha, for the tank im looking at 20-30 bucks itll need a new light for even freshwater so another 10-15 then substrate/plants 10-15 so id be looking at probly 50=80 bucks on my freshwater depending on how i go about it, so 200 on the saltwater thats a bit much for me haha, and dream fish would be diff than a fish id like to put in there i had googled when thinking about it and just saw that gobies would be the only fish suitable for that small of a tank so i would have to look at some sort of goby would be the fish i would see in it! 

Thanks!


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Dry rock is cheaper than live rock.No need for a filter on such a small tank if you can do waterchanges(you will need salt).A circulation pump as Goby mentioned will do the trick.If you weren't thinking corals than the price difference between salt and fresh may be 50-$100.If you want corals you'll never find a light for $18 and there will be other things necessary.
Salt,dry rock,hydrometer,will get you started.
Fish are as you said very limited in such a small tank ,but there are many gobies that are beautiful.Goby is money with starting out fowlr and if things go good then upgrade to reef status.
Here's a link to a little help thanks to RM;
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f67/what-you-might-need-start-your-41978.html


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Sorry guys but after sand and rock displacement, your looking at 2 galllons of water. I'd not advise any fish but inverts and coral only. There's simply no room for a fish to swim in there.


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

Price said:


> Oh man lots of great info there, but the 200 bucks is out of my range haha, for the tank im looking at 20-30 bucks itll need a new light for even freshwater so another 10-15 then substrate/plants 10-15 so id be looking at probly 50=80 bucks on my freshwater depending on how i go about it, so 200 on the saltwater thats a bit much for me haha, and dream fish would be diff than a fish id like to put in there i had googled when thinking about it and just saw that gobies would be the only fish suitable for that small of a tank so i would have to look at some sort of goby would be the fish i would see in it!
> 
> Thanks!


If you went with a used fish-only set-up, I believe you could get by for less $. That's why I suggested a 10-gallon instead...they're very common and can be picked up super cheap. Again...10g versus 5g will open up a lot more options with regards to stocking. Only $50-$80 bucks though? Hmm...that's a tough one. How thrifty are ya? :good-news:


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

coralbandit said:


> Dry rock is cheaper than live rock.No need for a filter on such a small tank if you can do waterchanges(you will need salt).A circulation pump as Goby mentioned will do the trick.If you weren't thinking corals than the price difference between salt and fresh may be 50-$100.If you want corals you'll never find a light for $18 and there will be other things necessary.
> Salt,dry rock,hydrometer,will get you started.
> Fish are as you said very limited in such a small tank ,but there are many gobies that are beautiful.Goby is money with starting out fowlr and if things go good then upgrade to reef status.
> Here's a link to a little help thanks to RM;
> http://www.aquariumforum.com/f67/what-you-might-need-start-your-41978.html


I'm suppose to be sleeping so I'll be quick. What's the most affordable substrate for SW? I forgot all about a hydrometer...I better just send him one.


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## Price (Dec 11, 2010)

Okay as i was about to say well give up on the saltwater idea, ive found a tank on craigslist, 5gallon mini bow front tank, comes with live sand and they have kept water in it to keep the good bacteria or so they say, the person has used the tank as a quarantine tank for 2 years, they want 20 bucks for it all and it comes with a hood but the light is out! Are there potential problems with the tank being older? It being a quarantine tank? 

I think i can get them to throw in a power head for not much more as well. 

Let me know i mean 20 bucks is cheap even just for the tank and hood so i could always switch it to freshwater if i needed too haha

EDIT: also has a built in filter in the hood with biowheels and such!


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