Newbie 5g pico build

[Fitzy&theFishies]

Hi there! I’m finally doing a reef tank build! And I’m so excited! I’ve chosen the marine land 5 gallon Portrait tank.

I decided to remove the built in filtration, and replaced it with the aqua clear 20 HOB filter.
Other additions include:
Hugger mini wave maker
Icecap ATO EZ
A preset heater - debating on switching this out or adding an inkbird controller

As for light I’d love any suggestions, I’m currently looking at a hygger light, or possibly a Kissel A80

For the aquascaping I went with Fiji pink by Caribsea

And a large dry rock, and two wet live rocks from my LFS. I used superglue gel and JB water weld to attach the pieces.

There is at least an inch all the way around the base of the build and the walls of the aquarium.

And RO-DI water and salt water from my LFS

Photo is before adding the filter and wave maker : utilizing the pump that came with the tank for water flow in the mean time

All advice is welcome! I love learning and I want to do this right!

 

[ladz]

An inch is pretty tight. As long as your glass cleaning method can be done easily then I guess it won’t be an issue.

 

[Narideth]

I have the Hygger mini wavemaker on a 13 gallon and it's got a lot of push. Don't be surprised if it takes some tweaking to find a configuration in a 5 gallon that doesn't blow your sand around. Get it to splash around the corners or against the rock etc to break up the direct flow, but it's a great little wavemaker.

I have a pico tank in the Marineland 3 gallon that I did the same thing to, tore out that back filter area and made a new one. These little tanks are delightful. A light is going to vary based on your goals - fish only, corals? You can really easily blast a little tank with too much light and then you get algae problems, etc.

Live rock is great, biodiversity in a small tank will really help it cycle and stabilize. I love your rock selection

 

[kevgib67]

Scape looks nice and adding some live rock was a good move.

 

[Fitzy&theFishies]

An inch is pretty tight. As long as your glass cleaning method can be done easily then I guess it won’t be an issue.

Yeah I can’t remember exactly which YouTubers I was watching that said at least an inch but I was pretty nervous when I placed the build in but it seems to work okay with my magnetic floaty scraper thingy ma bob I’m just concerned with coral placement and it being that close

 

[Fitzy&theFishies]

Yeah I can’t remember exactly which YouTubers I was watching that said at least an inch but I was pretty nervous when I placed the build in but it seems to work okay with my magnetic floaty scraper thingy ma bob I’m just concerned with coral placement and it being that close

I have the Hygger mini wavemaker on a 13 gallon and it's got a lot of push. Don't be surprised if it takes some tweaking to find a configuration in a 5 gallon that doesn't blow your sand around. Get it to splash around the corners or against the rock etc to break up the direct flow, but it's a great little wavemaker.

I have a pico tank in the Marineland 3 gallon that I did the same thing to, tore out that back filter area and made a new one. These little tanks are delightful. A light is going to vary based on your goals - fish only, corals? You can really easily blast a little tank with too much light and then you get algae problems, etc.

Live rock is great, biodiversity in a small tank will really help it cycle and stabilize. I love your rock selection

Awesome thank you for the great advice on the wave maker! I deff plan to take my time and play and adjust things for a while, I honestly didn’t even mean to get the rock yet but I saw these pieces and didn’t wanna take the chance on not finding something I like as much later.

For goals, mostly corals maybe A fish like a goby and a shrimp and a snail?

 

[ladz]

Yeah I can’t remember exactly which YouTubers I was watching that said at least an inch but I was pretty nervous when I placed the build in but it seems to work okay with my magnetic floaty scraper thingy ma bob I’m just concerned with coral placement and it being that close

Yeah I went through the same thing my first nano and realized I wouldn’t be able to put zoos or mushrooms on the rocks without it becoming an issue.

 

[kevgib67]

Awesome thank you for the great advice on the wave maker! I deff plan to take my time and play and adjust things for a while, I honestly didn’t even mean to get the rock yet but I saw these pieces and didn’t wanna take the chance on not finding something I like as much later.

For goals, mostly corals maybe A fish like a goby and a shrimp and a snail?

I would recommend some rock flower anemones and a bunch of sexy shrimp for them to host , it would look awesome.

 

[Fitzy&theFishies]

I would recommend some rock flower anemones and a bunch of sexy shrimp for them to host , it would look awesome.

Ohhh good idea! Sexy shrimp are on the list of potentials!

 

[Fitzy&theFishies]

Yeah I went through the same thing my first nano and realized I wouldn’t be able to put zoos or mushrooms on the rocks without it becoming an issue.

That’s was I am most nervous about I was hoping for at least one or two zoa’s

 

[Narideth]

These small builds are perfectly capable of keeping practically any kind of coral with the right setup, but soft corals like zoas do particularly well with their lower, easier requirements. You could also do so many LPS. I stuffed my 3 gallon full of acans and I love looking at them.

Rock flowers are a great suggestion, they instantly add a pop of color and they're so easy to take care of. They also have a really fun and active feeding response if you decide to feed them.

You're not going to need a super duper crazy light for this tank. At most you're looking at 14 inches of water depth to get through with a roughly 9x9x14 total tank dimension, so you don't need wide angles or a heavy duty light. Budget is often the deciding factor for these smaller lights in my experience, but there's a light to meet practically every level of budget and need, with higher prices generally giving you a greater degree of controllability and power.

 

[Fitzy&theFishies]

These small builds are perfectly capable of keeping practically any kind of coral with the right setup, but soft corals like zoas do particularly well with their lower, easier requirements. You could also do so many LPS. I stuffed my 3 gallon full of acans and I love looking at them.

Rock flowers are a great suggestion, they instantly add a pop of color and they're so easy to take care of. They also have a really fun and active feeding response if you decide to feed them.

You're not going to need a super duper crazy light for this tank. At most you're looking at 14 inches of water depth to get through with a roughly 9x9x14 total tank dimension, so you don't need wide angles or a heavy duty light. Budget is often the deciding factor for these smaller lights in my experience, but there's a light to meet practically every level of budget and need, with higher prices generally giving you a greater degree of controllability and power.

Awesome! I’ve seen mention of a light thread on here so my goal is to find that one day after work this week, I currently just have the light that came with it on which I know is not suitable but I figured it was better than no light for the live rock it has 6 blue and 9 white but I’d love one with a timer and adjustability! I really went with this smaller build because our house is not even 900 square feet, so I know that the small guys are more maintenance but it’s all I really have space for ( though the day we upgrade I will be getting my freshwater dream tank and salt water dream tank! ) until then though nanos will have to be it for me!

And I am really loving the sexy shrimp and rock flower suggestion! I just love the sexy shrimps little dance but I was planning to to more soft corals since it’s my first saltwater tank, I’ve got a while to decide though while it cycles which I’ll be using the fritz water test kit for now and refractometer but I do plan to get salifert test after the first cycle - this is what my LFS suggested, does that sound like a good plan? I’ve heard the salifert test mentioned in a few YouTube videos ( most though that I can find are 5+ years old so I’ve been rechecking everything with forums in here )

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Fitzy&theFishies]

Just wanted to share a picture with the filter added, the wave maker should be here next week and I’m hoping to make a light decision this week as well and get that ordered! Turning off the lights for now!

 

[jeffmr4]

Hello Fitzy!
Looks great. For lighting I use a ReefBreeders Pico LED v2. I really like the coloring of the light and it is adjustable to some degree. It has 8, 10 and 12 hour timer settings and two channels (blue and white) that you can turn up or down. The only down sides are that it doesn't ramp up or down and there is no moonlight. They also have a v1 pico that has some of the features missing in the v2 and a nano light (not sure if that would be too big). I don't have experience with either of those but the quality of the light I got is pretty good. Good luck whatever you decide!

 

[kevgib67]

Awesome! I’ve seen mention of a light thread on here so my goal is to find that one day after work this week, I currently just have the light that came with it on which I know is not suitable but I figured it was better than no light for the live rock it has 6 blue and 9 white but I’d love one with a timer and adjustability! I really went with this smaller build because our house is not even 900 square feet, so I know that the small guys are more maintenance but it’s all I really have space for ( though the day we upgrade I will be getting my freshwater dream tank and salt water dream tank! ) until then though nanos will have to be it for me!

And I am really loving the sexy shrimp and rock flower suggestion! I just love the sexy shrimps little dance but I was planning to to more soft corals since it’s my first saltwater tank, I’ve got a while to decide though while it cycles which I’ll be using the fritz water test kit for now and refractometer but I do plan to get salifert test after the first cycle - this is what my LFS suggested, does that sound like a good plan? I’ve heard the salifert test mentioned in a few YouTube videos ( most though that I can find are 5+ years old so I’ve been rechecking everything with forums in here )

Salifert is all I have been using.

 

[Narideth]

Awesome! I’ve seen mention of a light thread on here so my goal is to find that one day after work this week, I currently just have the light that came with it on which I know is not suitable but I figured it was better than no light for the live rock it has 6 blue and 9 white but I’d love one with a timer and adjustability! I really went with this smaller build because our house is not even 900 square feet, so I know that the small guys are more maintenance but it’s all I really have space for ( though the day we upgrade I will be getting my freshwater dream tank and salt water dream tank! ) until then though nanos will have to be it for me!

And I am really loving the sexy shrimp and rock flower suggestion! I just love the sexy shrimps little dance but I was planning to to more soft corals since it’s my first saltwater tank, I’ve got a while to decide though while it cycles which I’ll be using the fritz water test kit for now and refractometer but I do plan to get salifert test after the first cycle - this is what my LFS suggested, does that sound like a good plan? I’ve heard the salifert test mentioned in a few YouTube videos ( most though that I can find are 5+ years old so I’ve been rechecking everything with forums in here )

Salifert are great test kits - I have several of them myself. I've never used the Fritz test kits, but you will want more than the basic 4 tests of PH Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate - but you seem to be on top of that already. Waiting until after the tank cycles is a good recommendation, the other kits won't really be of benefit to you before you get corals or other delicate critters.

You can 100% keep rock flowers and corals together. They're not like other anemones, they -usually- find a spot and settle in, and their favorite places are around the bases of your rockwork and in the sand. That being said, you definitely should just get what makes you happiest, and the myth that smaller tanks are more difficult to take care of has been fairly busted. They only REALLY need stability to flourish, and that's readily achieved with maintaining the salinity via freshwater topoffs or an ATO, and regular water changes while not putting too heavy of a bioload or overfeeding. It's all about balancing the waste in/waste out (in my opinion!)

Lights are such a topic, I have the Reefbreeders pico LED V1, real quality light, but the V2 allowing for adjustability for white and blue separately will really make a difference in the look. There's going to be a point between what you think looks awesome, and what your corals find to be good. An adjustable light will get you in that sweet spot.

 

[Fitzy&theFishies]

Salifert are great test kits - I have several of them myself. I've never used the Fritz test kits, but you will want more than the basic 4 tests of PH Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate - but you seem to be on top of that already. Waiting until after the tank cycles is a good recommendation, the other kits won't really be of benefit to you before you get corals or other delicate critters.

You can 100% keep rock flowers and corals together. They're not like other anemones, they -usually- find a spot and settle in, and their favorite places are around the bases of your rockwork and in the sand. That being said, you definitely should just get what makes you happiest, and the myth that smaller tanks are more difficult to take care of has been fairly busted. They only REALLY need stability to flourish, and that's readily achieved with maintaining the salinity via freshwater topoffs or an ATO, and regular water changes while not putting too heavy of a bioload or overfeeding. It's all about balancing the waste in/waste out (in my opinion!)

Lights are such a topic, I have the Reefbreeders pico LED V1, real quality light, but the V2 allowing for adjustability for white and blue separately will really make a difference in the look. There's going to be a point between what you think looks awesome, and what your corals find to be good. An adjustable light will get you in that sweet spot.

When I go to the reefbreeders website there is only one pico LED there, I am assuming that’s the V2 as it’s got the moon light and sunrise and sunset features as well as adjustability, but I wanna be sure before I order it. Cause yall have convinced me to go that route especially after reading the specs of it on their website I think it will be the perfect little light! But is that a correct assumption?

 

[Narideth]

When I go to the reefbreeders website there is only one pico LED there, I am assuming that’s the V2 as it’s got the moon light and sunrise and sunset features as well as adjustability, but I wanna be sure before I order it. Cause yall have convinced me to go that route especially after reading the specs of it on their website I think it will be the perfect little light! But is that a correct assumption?

The Reefbreeder's pico v2 doesn't have the sunrise/sunset dimmer. They traded out the sunrise/sunset for the individual channel control. It still has a timer though so you can set it for 8/10/12 hr intervals. I've included a link to the v2 version. It'll very specifically say V2 since they still sell both.

https://shop.reefbreeders.com/products/pico-led-v2

This light will be more than enough to light your 5 gallon I'd recommend starting off with it set pretty low so you're not feeding new algae as your tank cycles. Some people don't even turn on lights during the cycle but I like to see even my empty tank!

 

[Fitzy&theFishies]

The Reefbreeder's pico v2 doesn't have the sunrise/sunset dimmer. They traded out the sunrise/sunset for the individual channel control. It still has a timer though so you can set it for 8/10/12 hr intervals. I've included a link to the v2 version. It'll very specifically say V2 since they still sell both.

https://shop.reefbreeders.com/products/pico-led-v2

This light will be more than enough to light your 5 gallon I'd recommend starting off with it set pretty low so you're not feeding new algae as your tank cycles. Some people don't even turn on lights during the cycle but I like to see even my empty tank!

whaaaat that’s awesome I didn’t even see that one! Just this one https://reefbreeders.com/reefbreeders-pico-led/