So, my boyfriend's 2 year old FW betta finally died from a tumor she had overtake her swim bladder after 4 months. Best we can figure anyways.

So, he looks at my 5 gal. hex on the nightstand and says, I want that on my desk. Said if he got another betta it would just remind him of his friend that he lost.

Well, my 5 gal. hex is a nano SW reef... and baby clownfish and baby YWG growout for the 10 gal. I expect I will talk him into sooner more than later.

So, here's the plan.:
We have a 2 gal. Top Fin aquascene tank from the betta(it's been bleached washed out and dechlored and emptied and rinsed again.). It has a Red Sea nano filter that I added to it for the betta (all my betta tanks are cycled and filtered). Last night I added 2 lbs. of "live" sand (that isn't really alive of course, and 3/4 a gallon of the water that to be added. I have left that to settle overnight. Tonight, I will be picking up 3 lbs. of cured live rock from a friend with lotsa nanos, and adding that and then topping off the water.
I will go 48 hours without fish and then add one black oscellaris baby that my LFS has on hold and snails and 2 blue-legged hermits out of my 5 gal. that have become terrors in conjunction with the scarlet-legged's. They are a snail murdering pack and I'll leave it at that.

I might in the future add a powerhead for additional water movement, but for now the filter will suffice.

I am taking a pinch of chaeto (macro-algae) out of the back of my 5 gal. and putting it in the clear filter. The tank is right by a window and I feel the chaeto will get plenty of lighting to make it happy.

So, this is the plan...
will it be stuck to??? I dunno, we will have to see.

Say, the 2 gallon was easy enough to move for water changes. How is the 5 gallon going to do? That would weight 40+ pounds. What happens if you spill down the sides during water changes? Is the desk wood?
You'll have to get some pics once it's set up.

I don't move the tanks to do WC's... just a gravel vac and bucket and a turkey baster to get it going.
The desk is a laminate thing, just as is the nightstand that the 5 gal. is sitting on.

Here's a pic of the 5 gal:


The two gal. is currently just a 2 gal. hex tank with some sand and some salt water. I will be adding rock and fish this weekend as well as some hermit crabs and some snails.

Oooo! Now the light bulb turns on! I'm a little slow this morning. That 5gal. is really nice! You got a lot in that tank!

I've never had SW before and heard they don't like chemistry fluctuations. Isn't it hard to maintain a stable environment that small?

TEST, TEST, TEST!!
And then test again if you're not sure.
I go through a lot of test strips and test kits.
strips 1-2 times a day and a full kit once a week.
But, once you get it stable, weekly WC's do just fine... that is as long as you test your new water too.
It really isn't that tough.
I just fight the algae all the time. I was told that that is normal for the 7 month old tank.
First the diatoms at around 4 weeks last for around a month. At 4-5 months, red slime algae (cyano bacteria) shows up... you'll fight this on and off for awhile.
At 7 months, green hair algae will be a beast for a few months... regular toothbrush removal keeps it from building up.
At 1 year... supposedly it should all be good...
that is if I make it that long without having a breakdown.
:WOU

LOL! Hope your boyfriend likes it! LOL! Did you tell him he was making a commitment? :OO

He promises to help me with WC's but I can tell you that his commitment will probably consist of looking as his cute lil baby clownfish and going, "oooooohhh!!!"

Quick question. What kinds of fish can you keep in, say a 5 gallon, SW nano? I'm thinking of trying my hand SW but I don't have room for another big tank. ^_^

I have 2 ocellaris clownfish and a Yellow Watchman goby, but Mine are very little babies and will require either a move or an upgrade soon.

You could probably do a sixline wrasse... they are GREAT!!! Look one up... I'm thinking that's what I'm getting when my clowns either move to a friend or get an upgrade.

A clown goby would be another neat idea.
They come in a good number of colors.

You could do a shrimp and goby pair. Alot of gobies form a symbiotic relationship with certain kinds of shrimp. The shrimp will keep a cave clean and the goby will keep watch and not let anyone else in the cave and protects the shrimp... very neat.

Thanks! I'll look those up. :)