5 gal

[Tank]

I have an empty 5 gal and would like to start a sw tank. Is there anything i can do with sw? I know nothing about sw so any advice would be helpful.

[fishfreaks]

i dont know much abour sw either, but i do know you should be prepared to do TONS of maitnence, my guess would be everyday

[TheOldSalt]

My very first saltwater tank, some 26 years ago, was a 5-gallon. It lasted about a week, despite my 5 years of previous freshwater experience.

A 5-gallon tank is a whole lot of trouble. Things just happen way too fast in such a small tank, and you just can't keep up with them fast enough to keep your fish alive.

Of course, that was then, but this is now.
Nowadays it's a lot easier to pull off a stunt like a 5-gallon salt tank, but it still won't be easy.
You won't be able to keep much in such a small tank, either; maybe a pair of small gobies at best, or an invertebrates-only reef tank.

I hope you're starting to get the picture that a 5-gallon tank is a very poor choice for a saltwater tank, especially for a beginner. However, if you are just bound and determined to do it anyway, we can certainly give you all the information you'll need to succeed.
Let us know.

[Tank]

I want to try it

[redpaulhus]

Pick up some good books first -- Bob Fenner's Concientious Marine Aquarist, or Tullock's Natural Aquarium, or maybe Jeff Kurtz Simple Guide to Marine Aquariums.

Plan ahead - decide what you would like to keep, then decide what you actually CAN keep (as Oldsalt mentioned, its a short list).

Offhand I'd go with a very shallow sand bed (less than half an inch) and about 4 or 5 lbs of nice liverock - a small hang on filter and a small (25w) visitherm or similar heater. If you're going to be keeping photosynthetic organisms (most non-motile inverts) then you'll need pretty good lighting -- I'd look into either a power compact setup or even a few of the 50/50 (daylight/actinic) screw-in compact bulbs that Coralife makes.

If you're leaning towards maybe one fish and/or shrimp, then you may be able to skimp on the lighting - go with a normal florescent bulb, but look for a 50/50 bulb for nice color.

Like oldsalt said - its doable but hard. The smaller a marine tank is, the harder it is.

[TheOldSalt]

redpaulhus is spot-on about getting a good book. I'd also add Mike Paletta's "The New Marine Aquarium" to the list. Any of these books will teach you more than you're likely to find on the internet.
( well, at least in a way that'll make sense )

Providing the proper lighting for a 5-gallon reef tank will be pretty tricky, since good 10-gallon hoods are hard enough to find. On the other hand, a smaller tank can use less intense lighting due to the water being shallower. I did see a good candidate in the Foster/Smith catalog.

Of course, this assumes that you want to keep liverocks and light-needing critters. If you just want fish or hermit crabs or something, then lighting isn't going to be such a problem.

Hmm... you know what? There's so many ways to go about it, but they all depend upon just what exactly you have in mind. Once you have a good idea of just what it is you want to do, it'll be a lot easier for us to tell you how to do it.

[Fishfirst]

also remember that a small tank means a lot of changes in salinity, and water chemistry, so your going to need very hardy species. I would say, if you can get a 10 gallon or bigger instead, it is completely worth it.