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Fluval Spec V College Build->Test Result Consult Needed


Varano14

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Hi everyone after months of research and reading through all of your logs I think it is finally time for me to start my own. This will be my first journey into the realm of saltwater but I have two freshwater tanks that have gone well. This tank will go on my desk at college to replace the 2.5g freshwater tank I had last year. This will likely be a slow thread as I am going to allow the tank to cycle over the summer and not really add anything living until I move it to school. This tank is the result of several months of researching and equipment gathering and even now I feel I don't know nearly enough but we shall see how it goes.

 

Equipment:

Tank-5.5g AGA--------------------------->Fluval Spec V!!

Filter- Aquaclear 50 with Cheato--->Chemi-Pure Blue+Purigen

Heater- ---------------------------------->Hydor 50W

Return Pump----------------------------> Hydor Centrifugal 100gph

Flow-------------------------------------->Hydor Pico 180gph

Light-------------------------------------->Current Orbit 18in-24in

ATO- ------------------------------------->Tunze Nano

Temperature Controller-------------->Reef Safe Solutions

Liverock---------------------------------->10ish pounds

Sand-------------------------------------->CaribSea Ocean Direct

 

Stocking:

Scooter Blenny

Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

CUC

 

 

Corals:

Frag Unidentified Zoas

 

Current FTS:

 

 

 

 

Thats all for now.

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There is literally zero point of wasting the money/energy on a light during the cycle. The bacteria required for the cycle are not photosynthetic, and gain nothing from the light being on.

 

As for a controller for a pico, that's up to you. I think it's a waste of money and I think that learning to care for a small tank without all the bells and whistles will teach you a lot about reef husbandry that will benefit you in the long run. Controllers are great if you have lots of dosing and stuff to monitor and control, but in these tanks, all the work is so minimal and very manual, I'd save your money.

 

I like the look of the tank. As for sand that's up to you. The longest pico we have on the forum (http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/240866-my-first-pico-dymax-iq3-now-4-years-old/) is bare-bottom after many problems with his sand. I'm setting up an office pico and going bare-bottomed myself.

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Thanks for the info! Thats how I felt about the controller right now. I'm thinking unless I come across a steal on one I will hold off as for the sand initially I thought I would hate it with out sand. But with the rock in its growing on me so we'll see.

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music4life87

I like it. I was thinking about starting a 5.5 gallon myself. Something to put on my night stand in the bedroom. ATO is a must but I don't think you need a controller. Sometimes keeping it simple is the best idea.

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Thanks guys! The DIY ATO will do for know but I am still looking for a good deal on a used one. Also will be making a vented lid to help cut down on evaporation.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update and a few more questions as always:). Its been a little over a week since I have added a raw shrimp to the tank to get the cycle going and I know a week isn't that long in cycling terms but I have yet to register any ammonia. I searched around online and found people saying they started seeing it after just a few days. Now the rock was sold as live rock so is it possible I wont see an ammonia spike? If that is the case should I keep adding shrimp to feed the bacteria until I put livestock in?

 

Secondly I think I am starting to get so pretty solid algae on the rocks so should I be thinking about getting a clean up crew? Now obviously this is contingent on the cycle being done early due to live rock. I'm not trying to rush adding them its just from what I remember the algae bloom usually comes towards the end of the cycle. My main concern is if I wait to long and the algae gets out of control and it takes awhile for CUC to catch up.

 

As always thanks for the help everyone!

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Tunze Nano ATO on its way! no more sketchy DIY top off.

 

Any thoughts on the status of my cycle as mentioned above??

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It is very possible that your tank is already cycled, or at least at the very end of its cycle period. If you want to be 100% sure, get your hands on some ammonium chloride. If you add 2ppm of ammonia chloride, and your ammonia test kit reads 0 after 24 hours, then your cycle is complete.

http://store.drtimsaquatics.com/Ammonium-Chloride-Solution-for-Fishless-Cycling_p_190.html

 

With that being said, I do not think it is necessary to even do that. It looks like diatoms, which would indeed signal the end of the cycle. This isn't really hard to believe as you started with LR and its only about 4-5 gallons of water. You could add a CUC now, and just lightly feed the tank with something like pellets every couple of days until you add more livestock. This will keep you bacteria colony going and the CUC will keep the tank clean for the most part until you are ready to move forward.

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Thanks for the response I really felt like that had to be the case but I just wanted to be totally sure before I put the order in at Reefcleaners for a CUC. I will continue to closely watch parameters to be sure. Pretty exciting to get a little life in the tank. Although this will make it very hard to wait until I head back to school in the fall to add other inhabitants.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Updates!

 

1. CUC is in! Ordered from reefcleaners and shipping was super fast, and some of the snails are already moving around. I am excited to have something living in there even if it is just a handful of snails. It will make checking on the tank a bit more interesting.

 

2. Also since the last update I added sand. I was considering going bare bottom, but I just really like the look of sand much better.

 

3. Finally I received and set up a Tunze Nano ATO to replace the DIY one I had been using. So far it is way nicer and I have more peace of mind with the time off feature. Only issue is the magnet mount for the float doesn't fit under the rim of the tank so either the water level is really low, or the magnet is half on the glass half on the rim. So any suggestions on a solution to the float mount would be welcome I am going to try and come up with something.

 

Thats all for now, updates may be slow for awhile unless I cave and buy something living before I move it back to school, which I swore I wouldn't do but the temptation will be strong. Either way I will let the CUC settle in for a week or so before anything else is added.

 

 

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Here is the CUC during acclimation and then after being dumped into the tank. Hopefully they get started on the algae right away

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  • 1 month later...

+++Update+++

 

It's certainly been awhile but the tank is still going strong. Still dealing with a bit of algae but nothing to severe. As I get closer to moving the tank to school I have a few questions. Main one concerns the filter. I modded an AC50 to run cheato in and while the cheato is growing slowing it is constantly getting mashed against the inTank insert and clogging up waterflow. This makes the water nearly overflow the filter. Originally I had the heater in the vertical slot of the inTank media basket but have recently started using filter floss to collect some of the large particles that are floating around/breaking off the cheato. So what I'm wondering is should I continue using the cheato or ditch it all together and go with something else? If so what?

 

Also as it is nearing the time when I will be adding fish! I would be open to any ideas on what to put in it.

Initial thoughts were a skunk cleaner and possible on other small fish or a single baby clown with the intention of moving up to a bigger tank as the clown got bigger.

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So big news today! After a lot of thought I have decided to purchase a Fluval Spec V and use that as my desktop tank. Alot of things influenced this decision but the two main factors are that it is a peninsula tank and also it is slightly narrower which will leave more room to work on my desk. So I went ahead and ordered one from DrFosterSmith along with chemi-pure blue and purigen. My filter set up is now up in the air but I see alot of people using those two product so I went ahead and ordered them so maybe some one can chime in about them.

 

With the ordering of a new tank I will not be taking the AGA 5.5 but I will leave it at home with water and some live rock with the ac50 so that when I come home for long breaks I can simply bring my fish and maybe a few pieces of equipment with me and use that tank as a sort of temporary one while I am home. That way I will only really need to move everything home when I come home for summer.

 

Thats all for now hopefully this thread will get alittle more exciting in the next few weeks as the tank arrives and I prepare to get everything set up at school.

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Tank is here!!

 

Literally came in as I was going out the door but I did a quick unboxing and so far I am very happy with it.

 

I know most people block off the lower intake hole which I plan to do but should I also add a divider so the middle wall of the rear chamber also extents all the way to the bottom forcing the water to travel up and over it? I want to be able to use an ATO sensor and it was my understanding that the water level will only change in the return chamber so could someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Finally I will be doing so fresh water testing hopefully later today to adjust water level so I will try to post pictures of that process. From this point forward this thread should get a little more exciting.

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Following along. Maybe I'll get inspired to do an office tank.

Do it! I have a 20l freshwater planted that I love but my biggest complaint is that I don't really spend a ton of time in my bedroom, so I don't get to watch it much. But being in college I spend hours sitting at my desk so I'll be able to really appreciate this tank. Also I feel having it right in front of you makes it easier to care for because it shouldn't take me long to notice any issues.

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More progress!

 

So today I got a few things done as well as solved some problems.

 

1. Siliconed in a piece to cover the lower intake hole. Pretty simple yet effective.

2. The magnet mount for my Tunze Nano ATO would not fit inside the tiny return chamber so I had to come up with something else. After looking around I decided I didn't want to pay $30+ dollars for one. I figured I could make one with stuff I had laying around. It ended up being rather simple and it works perfectly. It may not be pretty but no one will ever see it. In the picture of it you can see how it works, also the additional notch was made so the power cord for the return pump could fit through and not hit the float.

3. That brings me to the return pump. The stock one is pretty weak and I already had a hydor pico from before but it didn't fit.... big surprise <_<. So in the other picture you can see how i ground down the intake guard to make it fit. It is still pretty snug but this keeps it from vibrating, which makes it almost silent.

 

In doing this I had a question where should the water from the ATO be flowing into? Rear chamber, return chamber, or the display? I had it going into the rear chamber while I was testing it and it seemed to work out. If anyone has one of these tanks I'd love to hear where you have your going.

 

That's all for now :D

post-87661-0-93769600-1439569006_thumb.jpg

post-87661-0-52089600-1439569768_thumb.jpg

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More progress!

 

So today I got a few things done as well as solved some problems.

 

1. Siliconed in a piece to cover the lower intake hole. Pretty simple yet effective.

2. The magnet mount for my Tunze Nano ATO would not fit inside the tiny return chamber so I had to come up with something else. After looking around I decided I didn't want to pay $30+ dollars for one. I figured I could make one with stuff I had laying around. It ended up being rather simple and it works perfectly. It may not be pretty but no one will ever see it. In the picture of it you can see how it works, also the additional notch was made so the power cord for the return pump could fit through and not hit the float.

3. That brings me to the return pump. The stock one is pretty weak and I already had a hydor pico from before but it didn't fit.... big surprise <_<. So in the other picture you can see how i ground down the intake guard to make it fit. It is still pretty snug but this keeps it from vibrating, which makes it almost silent.

 

In doing this I had a question where should the water from the ATO be flowing into? Rear chamber, return chamber, or the display? I had it going into the rear chamber while I was testing it and it seemed to work out. If anyone has one of these tanks I'd love to hear where you have your going.

 

That's all for now :D

Pretty cool keep it up. :) Rear chamber is probably fine for the ato.

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Alright thanks!

 

Any chamber for ATO return. No matter where you put it (media chamber, display, etc) the water in the return chamber will rise when water is added.

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Alright thanks thats what I thought would happen from what I observed, but I just wanted to be sure since I don't want to flood my desk.

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No third year actually I've had a tank both other years thankfully my roommate like have a tank as well. Which led us to go overboard and buy a 50g for our living room:)

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