I was at the LFS on the weekend and noticed this absolutely lovely 5.5g glass aquarium with nice looking seamless rounded corners on the front edges like cubes have. It was pretty cheap so I picked one up.

Following the wild success of my 5.5g with built in refugium that started a lot of people off
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=132714

I was considering doing the same kind of mod to this tank, but the real beauty of this tank is the front rounded edges, & to section it off like I did with the AGA tank would really kill it's looks. So I thought of building a refugium/pump area at the back, but I like the back of my aquarium to be transparent and not blocked off with a wall running all the way along the back.

The solution I came up with requires modifying one of those Marina/Pen Plax 5 Way Breeding Traps which seems ideal to house the pump and act as a refugium for the chaeto macro-algea. They look like this:

All of the internal partitions are removable and one entire face of it has long thin slots to let water circulate - perfect. Here is one at marine-depot for reference:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~cat...MIBN~tab~2.html

I also picked up a Aquarium Systems Premium Maxi-Jet 400 Utility Pump which is significantly smaller than the maxi-jet 400 powerhead that I'm using in my current 5.5g and has the same flow rate. It looks like this:

and comes with a similar long intake nozzle attachment (not shown in the picture) as the regular maxi-jet's have.

Basically all I had to do was melt a hole in the side of the breeding trap for the pump out nozzle, melt a tiny hole for the cord to get out, put the pump into the trap with it's nozzle sticking out the hole, remove all the internal partitions of the breeder, fill it with chaeto macro-algea and you are all set. I've placed it vertically in the back left corner of my new tank with the intake slot wall facing the front of the tank and the pump out nozzle facing towards the right of the tank. Placed vertically, it does not take up a lot of space and leaves the majority of the tank free for coral placement. The Breeder is big enough that if you wanted you could even place a small titanium heater inside if you want, something I might do down the road.

As it stands the tank looks great so far and has that same uncluttered look at the back while providing a completely open front. If everything works out, I'll slowly migrate my coral island and inhabitants from the old 5.5g to this new home.

I'll post pictures of what the tank looks like soon, it's been running for a few days now.

looks promising.


wait, i don't see any tank pictures?



sounds promising

Watching.

interesting idea

nice idea!!!

very creative, cant wait to see more.

This is what the tank looks like, I just love those curved seamless round corners on the front. Those decorative clips on the top and bottom corners are plastic, not metal so no chance of corrosion. I don't like acrylic tanks, so I'm very happy to find such a nice tank design in glass.


Here is what the converted breeder looks like in the corner. As you can see those slots on the front will allow for easy circulation and turned on it's side like that it's almost the full height of the tank which is great. The maxi-jet is very tiny but powerful.


This is what it looks like from the back. The entire back comes off so you only need a tiny hole at the top edge for the pump cord to get out. As I mentioned the pump comes with that long traditional intake like you find on maxi-jet powerheads and that's what I'm using.


You can see my SAIO tank behind. So far I've just got some live rock and a xenia in the tank, I'll add in a hermit crab in a few days and then in a week or two if things look good I'll make the big move of bringing over the coral island from the SAIO to the new tank.

I like the idea but think you are going to have problems getting chaeto in the pump and clogging it.

I've had chaeto surrounding my maxi-jet 400 intake in my current 5.5g with built in sump/refugium. In over a year of operation, I have not had any issues with the macro-algea clogging the pump intake. The chaeto is slow growing and pretty wirey. As long as you clean the intake every few weeks it's never become clogged.

Looks real good there.


Adolfo

looks like one of those soap dishes!
love the tank. how much did it cost?

Are you going to try to cover the breeder with rock or do you like the look of the chaeto showing?

thats very clever...nice build thus far.

Tank cost only $20 Can, about $15 US with glass top.

Covering up the breeder with rocks would cut off the light to the chaeto for photosynthesis, I'm going to leave it as is, better circulation through the breeder that way too.

you have a boyu tank! now i want one .

Thats a real nice tank! Cool idea with the breeder, too. I might have to try that in the future.

looks like a great start

Just curious because I'm looking at a similar tank...if you wanted to, could you take those corner plastic things off?

Yes the plastic corners come off quite easily along the top of the tank. They are just held in place with a bit of silicone underneath and can be removed if you want that open rim look. I'm keeping mine in place to provide a bit of structural support to the glass at the corners.

I successfully completed the migration of my coral island with all inhabitants from my 5.5g AGA to this new tank over the weekend and it went well. I'll post pictures soon.

My coral island and all inhabitants have now been successfully moved over from my 5.5g AGA with built in sump/refugium which has been shut down to this new tank. Here is what the tank looks like now:

Very cool. Why did you change the light fixture?

beautiful! looks amazing as always!

awesome setup. inhabitants look great too, how did you get the elegance? did a larger colony drop it?

btw, your original 5.5 aio inspired mine, which has been a blast, thanks.

1) The light fixture I'm using is the same 18" T5-HO Current USA that I was using on my previous 5.5g AGA.

2) Last year I fragged a large Elegance Coral into five pieces. A really tiny bit of tissue that I hardly noticed broke off and I was about to throw it in the garbage, but got curious so I kept it in my 20g nano to see if it would regenerate, and it did!

Thats a pretty nice tank. Do you know who the manufacturer is?

No the tank does not have any name or label that I can tell.
You can phone my LFS and ask them. They have this tank labeled as an 8g but it's 5.5g according to dimensions which are the same as an AGA.

My LFS: Aquatic Kingdom
Phone (905) 281-1118
Toronto area (Mississauga)

it's a boyu: http://www.boyuaquarium.com/en_index.asp

Anyone know of a US dealer that carries these boyu aquariums, or an online vendor? They have a tank that is 24"x14"x16" tall, glass with rounded front corners. Looks real nice, I would sure like to find one. Sorry to hijack your thread Sandeep. I love your tanks and this one looks great so far.

Does the pump kill off any copepods?
I've been wanting to make a copepod cage,
a pump is just cool

Nope, lots of happy copepods crawling around in the fish breeder.

Sandeep,
Well as usual I am loving your new 5.5. I am actually finally going to be upgrading my 4 gallon to a 10 gallon and I was wondering if I could get your opion on a couple of things.

First do you think your breeder idea would work on a 10 gallon? Or do you think I would need something larger, say do like your old 5.5 with plexi glass?

My 4 gallon is just getting completely over run with my corals and I am looking for the most space possible for them to grow out more in (plus there are a few more pieces I would like to put in there).

Let me know what you think and again I love your new 5.5 .

The fish breeder is ideal for 5.5g tanks, but too small for a 10g.

Good choice, a 10g should make a world of difference for you moving up from your current tank. I would recommend you go with the plexiglass partition in that tank size. It will also not take up as much space as in my initial 5.5g design because it's a lot taller tank, so the compartment for the refugium & maxijet out can be a lot smaller, giving more space for the primary display area. A Maxi-Jet 600 would probably work best on that tank volume.

Thanks this is ingenious!

You mean a Duncan Whisker right? Because it does not look like an elegance to me.

Sandeep, once again you come up with an awesome idea. I actually did something similar in my new tank, only i use a flexible tank divider and connected the ends to make it round and hide in the corner. (You can see pics in my new tank thread)... you've inspired me, however, to try and get my filter in there!

I also noticed you bought that tank at Aquatic Kingdom! Thats my favourite LFS ! I saw those tanks the other day, as well as some with those metal things already removed...i think... looked really similar.
Great place though, i'm really stoked about them setting up the tank with small nano - sized frags! awesome deal..

Anyway, stopped by to say tank looks great! ......again!

-Cheers!

Sandeep another awsome tank. What is going to happen to the old tank?
I am working on using a breeder trap and magnets so loose frags and rubble can have a little place alone till the corals attach.

How is everything settling into the new system? FTS please!

cool idea - and very nice looking

Can we get an Easter Sunday update please? Awesome tank man, love it!

Do you think that the 40 watt t5 HO current fixture would be enough for a 10 gallon. Im trying to decide between that and the Dual Satellite but the t5 being half the cost makes me wonder if its enough for 10 gallons. As i am trying to go cheap as possible at first i might just get one t5 fixture and another one at a later date but who knows. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Tank looks great. I really like the in tank sump. You also have some great looking corals too. Any plans for what fish you are going to put in there?


Bruce

Check out his 20 gallon thread. His elegance takes up about a full quarter of his tank.

Awesome Pico by the way!

WhatIsDarhma, I think the 40w is enough for a 10g tank. That's 4w per gallon and thats good enough for most people. Yes, i know im good at math! lol
You should check craigslist.org and ebay and pawn shops around you. I have a Coralife 20" 96w PC light on my 10g tank and it's awesome! I just hate how the bulbs are $50.

think im gonna go with the 40 watt for now since its only 50 bucks and the bulbs are 14ish. I might add another strip at some point but i think one should be fine for what im starting with, just zoas, rics, and possibly neon green toadstool/frogspawn if the light is enough.

It's been a while since I posted updated pictures of the tank. I'm happy to report that everything is doing great. Enjoy

(I've also posed updated pictures of my 20g nano, see here )

Crazy good tank...Inspired me to start my 5.5!

Beautiful tank!

WOW!, awesome picture!

updates please

tank rocks!