19Mateo83’s 5 & 14 gallon builds

[19Mateo83]

After being out of the hobby for over a decade I decided to dip my toes back into the reef. I had been looking for a all glass rimless nano sized tank with integrated filter system. I stumbled upon the “glofish” brand tank (exactly the same as the marineland one) that met my criteria and it was less than $100

luckily for me I never get rid of useful things and I still have small my supplies equipment and rock from my 75 gallon that crashed and burned back in 2010…. So this tank will have all Tonga rock. It is bleach curing as we speak. It will be ready to rinse and de chlorinate this weekend. I went ahead and bleached a whole bucket full to give me plenty of options to work with. I figured may as well do a lot if I’m gonna do a little.

 

[19Mateo83]

While I am waiting for the Tonga to bleach out I went ahead and set it up with a few pieces of un used Marco rock I had laying around just to have something in it to look at. I also went ahead and got the water going. I added about a 1/4 bottle of fritzyme

This was 1 week ago.

 

[19Mateo83]

After letting it sit for a week with just the bacteria today I added 2 blue leg and 2 red leg hermits and the smallest clownfish I could find to kick off that nitrogen cycle.

 

[19Mateo83]

The game plan for this tank is a zoa and lps dominated tank with a Monti on the back wall and possibly a tiny birds nest frag up high. First order of business…. Upgrades! I have a kessil A80 BT and controller on the way along with some acrylic to add partitions to the filtration area in back to change the way it flows to allow me to add and ceramic rings to add more surface area for nitrifying bacteria. I also upgraded the return pump to a sicce nano pump (130gph).

What I am having difficulty finding is a controllable DC wave maker pump that will fit this little tank and not break the bank. Anyone have and suggestions?

 

[JFinlay]

The game plan for this tank is a zoa and lps dominated tank with a Monti on the back wall and possibly a tiny birds nest frag up high. First order of business…. Upgrades! I have a kessil A80 BT and controller on the way along with some acrylic to add partitions to the filtration area in back to change the way it flows to allow me to add and ceramic rings to add more surface area for nitrifying bacteria. I also upgraded the return pump to a sicce nano pump (130gph).

What I am having difficulty finding is a controllable DC wave maker pump that will fit this little tank and not break the bank. Anyone have and suggestions?

Hey! Love the build and welcome back to the hobby! Hope you have better luck this time around. I have the Hygger mini wavemaker 1600GPH DC controlled in my 40G, it was about the cheapest DC controlled fan I could find, it was simple to setup and you can adjust power so it's not too much for the little tank. it's on amazon.

 

[19Mateo83]

Hey! Love the build and welcome back to the hobby! Hope you have better luck this time around. I have the Hygger mini wavemaker 1600GPH DC controlled in my 40G, it was about the cheapest DC controlled fan I could find, it was simple to setup and you can adjust power so it's not too much for the little tank. it's on amazon.

I have been eyeing those. How big is the part inside the tank? I read mixed reviews about it also, the biggest complaint was that it’s a pain to clean. Have you had any issues with cleaning?

 

[JFinlay]

I have been eyeing those. How big is the part inside the tank? I read mixed reviews about it also, the biggest complaint was that it’s a pain to clean. Have you had any issues with cleaning?

It is TINY! I'm surprised by the flow it's capable of pushing out, it's probably 3-4 inches in diameter, and sticks out maybe an inch and a half from the tank wall. I'm coming from the 40G thread you replied on, can't give cleaning updates because this is my first day having the tank up.

 

[19Mateo83]

It is TINY! I'm surprised by the flow it's capable of pushing out, it's probably 3-4 inches in diameter, and sticks out maybe an inch and a half from the tank wall. I'm coming from the 40G thread you replied on, can't give cleaning updates because this is my first day having the tank up.

If you wouldn’t t mind, can you get some pictures of it in your tank when it clears ?

 

[JFinlay]

If you wouldn’t t mind, can you get some pictures of it in your tank when it clears ?

Probably half the size of my other powerhead, here’s pics

 

[19Mateo83]

Probably half the size of my other powerhead, here’s pics

Thank you! From everything I have heard it may be too powerful for my little 5 gallon… but… I’m going to be installing the Upgraded return pump tomorrow and I will see how that helps the flow first before I order one to mess with.

 

[19Mateo83]

Here it is shining under the kessil A80 TB.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Nice build!

 

[19Mateo83]

Nice build!

Thank you kind sir! Me and this little tank have a long road ahead of us but we will get there.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Thank you kind sir! Me and this little tank have a long road ahead of us but we will get there.

I have my little 3.8 gallon pico I have recently set up with a little pictus blenny, a little yellow clown goby, a Pom Pom crab, a bumble bee shrimp, 3 sexy shrimp, 2 small electric blue hermit crabs and 2 small bumble bee snails, so I will be following for updates

You should get a little goby and some shrimp too

 

[19Mateo83]

I have my little 3.8 gallon pico I have recently set up with a little pictus blenny, a little yellow clown goby, a Pom Pom crab, a bumble bee shrimp, 3 sexy shrimp, 2 small electric blue hermit crabs and 2 small bumble bee snails, so I will be following for updates

You should get a little goby and some shrimp too

I have thought about a purple firefish goby if I can find one when it’s time to add another fish. I’m trying to keep the bio load really light in this one.

 

[1epauletteshark]

I have thought about a purple firefish goby if I can find one when it’s time to add another fish. I’m trying to keep the bio load really light in this one.

I feel like a firefish is a bit too big for a tank this size especially as they are rated for 10 gallon aquariums but I am sure if you get a small one you would go good to go for a while.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Here it is shining under the kessil A80 TB.

Congrats on the new build!!! I love small little tanks like that, so I am looking forward to seeing the progression of your tank!

 

[19Mateo83]

first off upgrades came today and were installed. Upgraded heater and upgraded pump.

 

[19Mateo83]

Now that the easy stuff is out of the way it’s time to start thinking about upgrading the filter. I had the foresight to remove a couple of the supports from the rear compartment in preparations for adding a bio media chamber. The plan is to change the way it flows and add about 40 cubic inches of bio media. This will require a bit of acrylic fabrication but that’s easy peasy. This is the layout of the rear filter section as it was out of the box.

this is my vision. Instead of the water just going through the little filter area and on to the return pump as illustrated above it will now pass through it and be channeled back up to the top where it will flow over a divider and back down through ceramic bio media. Then on to the return pump. The box holding the ceramic media will be removable for maintenance. Seems like a sound game plan? Any suggestions or anything I’m missing here?

 

[19Mateo83]

Plans may have changed today. The LFS had the tank I originally wanted on sale and the clerk gave it to me with his employee discount. For $29.99 I couldn’t not get it…SO…. Instead of reworking the back of the little 5 gallon I am now going to make this 14 gallon rimless cube into an all in one. While I get this the way I want it I am still going to enjoy the 5 gallon.