Nano tank - 5G - Advice

So being a noob to the SW arena, I guess what I want is some advice. I have a 5G marineland crescent 5 tank. I have a couple guppies in it, but I have a friend who will take them if I want to try this. How hard is a nano reef? I was thinking about just getting some easy corals to start, maybe a mushroom or a low light softie? The light system for it is the one that came with the tank, a 16 bulb LED light, would this be powerful enough to support coral?

How often would i need to do water changes?
How hard is it to keep such a small tanks chemical readings stable?
It has a filter built in, but would i need more flow than that? Would a very small koralia powerhead work?

Just an idea right now, but thought i would gauge some responses. Thanks for the help!

One more thing, I will be away for two weeks for christmas... would a 'non-reefing' friend be able to do a simple water change to keep it going or would it make it? I have an ATO and feeder for my 55G for that period as well as a friend that will check on it every couple of days, but I'm worried such a touchy system would need an experienced eye to keep it going.

 

I searched marineland crescent 5 and could not find it in any of the known salt water online outlets. That being said, the chemistry is harder to control in smaller tanks as far as I know.

As for the water change in a 5 gallon tank, all your friend would really need to do is siphon out 1 gallon and replace with 1 gallon of new water. I would leave that pre-mixed and ready for him in a gallon jug. In fact, I would make two jugs, one full, one half full.... One so he can do top offs for you and the one for the water change. Just make sure the salinity is right and that he will shake it thoroughly before adding it. Since you'll have probably a couple of soft corals, like shrooms and pulsating xenia (another easy to keep, but fun to watch coral) you won't need any extra additives, since todays salt mixes do come with most of them included and can definitely keep up with the demands of a few soft corals.

I won't advice on the LED lights, since I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject. Soft corals don't require a lot or intense lighting, so you'll probably will be fine, but don't quote me on that and wait for someone else to confirm. I had softies at the beginning and they were doing well with only 2 fluorescent bulbs... and they were pretty old.

Hope this helps some.

 

dealing with the easy aspect 1st

if your going away for 2 weeks at Xmas then dont worry about a water change
do one before you go and 1 when you get back - missing the odd week every once in a while does not spell the end of even small set ups IME
ATO will be ideal as 2 weeks without top offs would have been an issue and a friend visiting daily to add a a pint or so of RODI would have been required

LEDS - I ran a 5 gallon reef with mostly Zoas and softies (2 softies in actual fact) on 2 white SMDS and 1 blue SMD and everything fared really well under that lighting

water quality and parameter consistency are the 2 things you need to keep an eye on
and staying away from demanding corals in that type of set up should increase your chances of success IME

good luck with it

Steve