Potential 5 gallon reef, question...

**koaladarshana** · 12-19-2012, 06:04 AM

I'm interested in keeping soft corals and shrimp (possibly a single clown goby too) in my now spare Fluval Spec V. However, all my experience in keeping fish is in freshwater... so my question is would I need a small circulation pump for the corals to survive?

I know the tank's built in filter puts out quite a bit of circulation on its own, but I am unsure as to how much it's circulating...

*EDIT* I realize now this should have been posted in the begginers section... I don't know how to move it though. Sorry!

**sheamurai** · 12-19-2012, 01:06 PM

Hi

You have a bit of reading to do ahead of you. I don't know what the specs are for your spare tank, but if it was used previously for FW then likely you will have a bit more modding to do than just flow.

Have you read any of the stickies in the beginner section? Are you planning on using live rock for filtration?

FW lighting is not sufficient to keep corals, you'll have to upgrade those as well, tho you can delay that by starting as FO tank and adding the corals later when your parameters are stable and tank has cycled.

Also, minimum tank size recommended for a goby is 10gal, not 5.

My suggestion would be to read the stickies and articles here (there's a good sticky on tank equipment, an article on clown goby care) and see if you still want to convert this tank into SW or get a tank you can build on.

good luck!

**koaladarshana** · 12-19-2012, 05:21 PM

Thanks for the speedy reply but I already know about the other equipment necessary... What I can't seem to find is how much GPH is appropriate for a 5 gallon tank. I think it's 20-30 x gallon but I'm not sure. Also that's good to know about gobies since I had seen one in a 5 gallon setup at my LFS.

**sheamurai** · 12-19-2012, 05:55 PM

this depends on what corals you want to keep. Some do well in high flow, others won't open if they are directly in the current. In a 5gal, the flow will be fairly direct.

I have around 1400gph in my tank, a 50gal reef, and that's fairly low for reef tanks.