Tom

I was at the pet store today to pick up some more cardinals and take my lone bumblebee goby back and the owner said to me if I can catch the blue demon he had in one of his tanks, I can either have it for free or he will feed it to his larger fish. He needed to get rid of it since it had killed over $200 worth of tangs and surgeon fish in the past month or so. I decided to try it, no harm, right, free fish or let it become lunch. I have it in the tank that held the goby. At first it didn't show any color, but now it is just showing tons of color. I am very happy with my free gift from the guy. I am thinking of getting a few turbo snails for the little nano tank just for some extra decor other than sand, snail shells, and a large filter sponge with a large hole in it(hiding place for the gobies and the demon seems to like it so it stays). I don't want to spend tons of money on this tiny little tank(about 5 gallons) so please don't tell me I need a protein skimmer, and other stuff for SW tanks. I just want that small fish, and a couple of inverts(snails). I will have pics tomorrow, the lights are all out for the night.
Tom

Peterpiper

Hey, good score. Free blue demon. Small tank = small water volume = Protein Skimmer if you want to keep your Nitrates down... or you could do a 50% water change every day. its up to you. And as you asked not to be told that you need a Protein Skimmer.. I won't ( But you do )

Tom

Do they make skimmers that small?
Tom

agsansoo

What size is the tank ?

Tom

5 gallon nano.
Tom

pistorta

You don't need a protein skimmer. You need a bigger tank. (I can say that, right?)

Tom

Yes, you can say that.

I don't really have any more room for a larger tank and my parents were ****ed at me as it was for bringing home a free fish. They think that once I start with SW, that is all I will want, but I am really happy with my FW tanks and just want this to be a very small experience for me.
Tom

Tom

Here are some pics of the little guy.



Tom

agsansoo

Nope to the protein skimmer. Just water changes and a small power filter.

Tom

And I have/do both. So I guess I am set. I don't have a heater, but I checked the temp and saw it was at about 80F since we are keeping the house warm through this cold weather.
Tom

Gozer_1

Fish of Satan. Have fun. Yeah I'd just change the water a lot. Truly though you should try to go atleast 20 as soon as possible. Then a skimmer would help. Still water changes will do more for you than the skimmer. Anyway, good luck with your new friend.

Tom

Thanks. Why else do you think I got it for free?
Tom

Gozer_1

LOL Yeah I gave away a nasty mean little snail eating wrasse once. I know exactly why you got it for free. lol

You realize you've infected yourself with a terrible condition by accepting this fish. One damsel next thing you know your mixing 20 gallons of ocean in your kitchen\living room once a week. lol Everytime I look at my 55 theres a little twitch in my brain that makes me want 1000s of gallons.

Tom

I know that. I still have an empty 28 gallon that would be nice for that(I kept it for either discus or SW). lol My parents think that I will just stay with FW, but no, I am slowly going to SW and I already like this experience. The only thing I don't like is the fact that you need to keep buying the salt or the fish won't live much longer. lol
Tom

Mike

Yep, mean little boogers but those blue devil damsels are sure beauties though. They don't take from any other fish. I predict that Tom will be a regular poster on the saltwater side soon enough. You've done been bit by the salt bug and there's no turning back now. LOL!

Gozer_1

Yup guaranteed to be posting VERY soon. Enjoy the wealth of info you'll find there Tom. Atleast the SW bug bite only stings the pocket book. (Except of course the stinging live stock you may one day have )

Tom

I probably will, it's just right now I don't really have too much time for even my FW due to so much important homework and a final exam.
Tom

Tom

An update, the little devil is doing great but is a little jumpy when I go near the tank.
Tom

agsansoo

What are you feeding him ?

Tom

Frozen bloodworms and brineshrimp. With some BBS.
Tom

agsansoo

That's perfect. Any snails in the tank yet ? One or two small one will help keep any algae from taking over the tank.

Tom

No snails yet. I plan on getting some in a couple of days or next week.
Tom

atmmachine816

Congrats, found your other thread now. Sounds like you are headed down the right path of sw and fw. Lucky your parents aren't so strict about fish, I think mine would drive me right back up to the fish store and return the fish if i got one for free. Are you going to add any llive rock or hermit crabs? I can see tom posting on the sw board lots now too, one thing isn't enough, i can see him making his tank more like mine soon, only a matter of time.

Turbo snails would get much too big for the tank, go with cerith, astrea those are the one's off the top of my head. Stay away from the one's with black shells and silver swirls in them, margarita snails, they like cooler temps and are hard to keep alive.

Tom

No live rock or coral, don't have proper lighting for anything except a fish only. What would be a good snail(with a link prefered) to get for that small tank?
Tom

atmmachine816

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/inver...d-animals.html Cerith, nassarius, and astrea are all good snails. I'm not sure of the others. Turbo get large and I've read bumblee bee can be mean but I think with just your it might be ok, but a little research on those would be good. Not sure if anybody else knows of any other snails. what lighting do you have?

Tom

Just a regular incandescent bulb. Why?
Tom

atmmachine816

o because live rock can go under most anything. Not sure of incadescent though, maybe somebody else would know that, though you can buy fluorescent bulbs for incadescent fixtures. Live rock adds places to swim and hide along with decoration and natural filtration and is fun to look at. Not sure if you could or want to get it.

Tom

So LR is good to go in that small of a tank and with that poor of lighting?
Tom

Gozer_1

I'm not sure but I think the lighting may cause some brown algae problems. It seems like I heard it does better in low light. On the other side, my coraline does MUCH better in the shaded areas of my tank.

Tom

I might get some LR(small bits at a time).
Tom