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3.5 gallon TRU VU, need suggestions


beetlejuice

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Hi,

 

I have this tank on it's way in the mail. I am looking for ideas as to what I should stock it with. I am going to run an AquaClear Mini on the back and have a 13 watt 50/50 pc for lighting, might add another eventually. Suggestions?

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Beetlejuice,

I had one running succesfully for 1.5 yrs. It is such a small tank, that heat and evaporation are MAJOR issues. what you need to do is create a custom overflow box that goes down to at least a 10 gallon sump.

 

that way instead of 2 gallons of water (with displacement) you will have 10+ gallon, and therefore your tank will be that much more stable. And you can put a skimmer on the ten so water changes only have to happen once every 2 weeks instead of twice a week.

 

also, DO NOT put anything more than a small goby in the tank and feed as little as possible as that little volume of water will be quickly polluted.

 

I had 22 watts (coralife?) PC lighting 1 13 watt 10k and 1 9 watt actinic in the hood. That was enough for brain coral, bubble coral, green spaghetti leather, zoos and rics.

 

That is my suggestion.

 

Here is a pic of the tank. The overflow I made using acrylic with a 3/4 " bulkhead inside. It went to a 20 gal sump/refugium with a cpr skimmer. There was quite a bit of live rock in the sump so I didn't have to overcrowd the display tank in order to accomplish proper biological filtration.

 

It was also nesessary to add an extra powerhead for better water movement.

 

I dosed with b-ionic b weekly to maintain proper alk. and calcium levels.

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also make (or buy) a drip top off system so you dont have to monitor evaporation levels twice a day. With 5 gal. drip top off system I checked the water level twice a week!

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I have a 70w over my 3.5 and evaporation isn't an issue. The Truvu tank comes with a plastic cover, or you can make a glass shield like I did. The only reason speez is bringing up evap for his 3.5 is because hes running 13.5 gallons, and much more surface area than we are.

I actually suggest against the sump because the intank overflow and powerhead seem to take a lot of room in such a small tank. I know you've seen my thread and that I am also running an AC Mini. Toss in the smallest heater you can find into it to save tank space.

Get at least 1 more 13w pc under that thing. Or get the 19w PC's, I believe they fit too.

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