A return to Fluval: Spec V Reef

[CD_Scapes]

So I head a heart to heart conversation over Christmas time with my GF about post-graduation and I brought up fish tanks and moving. We agreed on a 3 tank limit going forward, which means I am parting ways with 3 of my current tanks. Which left me still on the hunt for the SW tank. It turns out the tank was under my nose the whole time! A Fluval Spec V, I already have one as our dorm desk tank and it is the perfect canvas for a little pico (don’t worry I’ve had MANY tanks before). This scape will be somewhat similar to my old Fluval spec V with more corals like my old UNS 45A. A current co-worker picked up this Spec V over Christmas break off of Facebook for me. Which leaves me with this empty canvas to work with.

Here is a shot of the first Fluval Spec V reef I had:

 

Here is the old 45A featuring a really nice zoa garden:

Now time to talk about ideas/livestock/equipment:

First off equipment; right now the tank has the stock pump rated at 83GPH which will not cut it at all! Ideally I will upgrade to a NEWA MN606 rated at a max of 159GPH. I do also have a spare little 50GPH pump for a temporary fix on flow. In the future though I was thinking of possibly getting a Hygger 1600GPH for some extra flow too.

Next is ideas & livestock; I am almost certain I will be getting a free tiger goby from TBS when I get my rock/sand besides that I was showing my GF the old tanks I had and she really likes Zoas. So I am thinking a sloping/triangular like scape with some zoa colonies, a couple feather dusters, some caulerpa, and a Pederson or spotted anemone shrimp for the main highlights. Possibly adding in a small Springeri damsel and returning it to the LFS when it gets bigger too. That way I have some fish activity on the bottom and a nice, colorful, swimmer to use the 18" of swimming space. The Springeri is also nice because they have been known to pick of flatworms which could be a great benefit as well. Other inverts I plan to add would be some green/blue porcelain crabs and some mime crabs from ReefCleaners when they come back in stock.

Clean-up Crew from ReefCleaners will be as follows:
5-7 x Dwarf planaxis (max size: 0.3")
These are a less common clean-up crew snail that inhabit low-oxygen areas under rocks and crevices, naturally they are also semi-colonial. They do not venture too much and due to the low oxygen environment they stay super small in size. These are going to be my crevice feeders for the clean-up crew.

3 x Black-ribbed limpets (max size: 1")
Most limpets are not considered fully reef-safe, but this species is and it stays small. I will use these snails as the rock grazers in my setup, much like Astraea/Trochus/Turbo snails are used in larger setups.

2-3 x Marginella snails (max size: 0.4")
Marginella snails really do not do much significance in tanks, they are tiny and it takes about 3 marginella to equal the power of one nassarius. These are added just for fun and a bit of biodiversity.

1-2 x Nassarius vibex (max size: 0.6")
This species of nassarius is the smallest commonly available nasssarius compaored to the larger Tongan nassarius or Nassarius margaritifer which gets over 1" long. These smaller nassarius will be great at helping stir the sand and clean up some detritus.

You might be thinking I am crazy for having 11-15 snails in a 5 gallon tank, BUT they are PICO-SIZED snails. The total mass of these pico snails equals a clean-up crew of 2 regular cerith, 1 trochus, and 1 of the larger nassarius. So really not the big of a difference other than body size. I will also add in 2 orders of their pods just for biodiversity and getting closer to an order minimum.

Lastly I am hoping to due an order from Indo-Pacific Sea Farms for Spaghetti worms, Amphipods, and Micro brittle stars.

 

Equipment
Tank: Fluval Spec V
Filtration: InTank media basket
Extra Flow: Hygger 1600GPH
Rock: ~10lbs TBS rock
Sand: ~4lbs TBS sand

Future Livestock as of 1/3/24
Fish: Tiger goby & possible Springeri damsel
CUC: Dwarf planaxis, Black-ribbed limpets, Marginella snails, Nassarius vibex, Stomatella snails, Dwarf chitons, collonista snails, Mysid shrimp, Micro brittle stars
Mobile Stuff: Porcelain crabs, Mime crabs, Peterson or Spotted anemone shrimp
Sessile Stuff: Cluster dusters/Feather dusters, zoanthids, Photosynthetic sponges (maybe), caulerpa
 

I think that is about all the updates I have right now, I will continue to update as more happens.

[CD_Scapes]

Welp surprise surprise I got a Fluval spec V! So the tank will be a spec V and I’ll keep the 45L as a botanical tank.   
 

Here is the Spec after a deep-cleaning it was covered in water spots and a few spiders made a home in the filter chambers. 

 

Is this the stock freshwater version light or the Evo? It looks very blue to the the freshwater version. Either way I will have to upgrade at some point I think, not sure how well this can grow softies and macros. 

[Jaren45]

Is it black or silver? I think the evo's only came in black, and the spec only in silver. The spec light is pretty blue heavy for a freshwater light, but i'd still look at swapping it out for something better

[Staticmoves]

Following along.

great little tank.

[CD_Scapes]

17 hours ago, Jaren45 said:

Is it black or silver? I think the evo's only came in black, and the spec only in silver. The spec light is pretty blue heavy for a freshwater light, but i'd still look at swapping it out for something better

Ahhh, seems like a spec than. I was going to swap it out, with me doing macros and softies only I am leaning towards this Finnex due to the internal timer and channel intensity controls: Light upgrade