5 Gallon mini bow

[Sharkbait3]

Im getting started on my 5 gallon mini bow, give me some opinions what i should start with?

[Klaunphish]

MUST

 

1) Minibow 5 (of course )

2) Coralife screw-in 20w 50/50

3) 50-75w heater

4) AquaClear 20 or 30 (recommend 30)

 

NOTE - turn the filter into a fuge

 

MAYBE

 

1) A fish that gets no longer than 3 inches and doesn't require any space needs.

2) Some low-light corals

3) A lighting upgrade (recommend a retrofit)

4) 10+ lbs of livesand

5) 5+ lbs of liverock

6) A background

 

Hope this helps!

[Sharkbait3]

what fish you think i should start with? im kind of new at this but i have an idea...my brother has a 24g aquapod, but he has more space to work with...so i would like an opinion on that..

 

By the way thanks Klaunpish for your opnion =)

[Ryan_H]

i'd lose the stock canopy and replace it with a 12" coralife 36w aqualight. for filtration, you could go with the aquaclear 30 with purigen, seagel, chemipure, or all of the above, OR you could go with the aquaclear 110 and modify it into a refugium. i'd use at least 10 lbs of live rock, and a 1/2"-1" sand bed. paint the back of the tank blue or black for a good background. fish wise, you could go with a single true percula clown, or a pair of SMALL gobies like green lines, neons, clown gobies, or high fin (or one of 2-3 different species). a shrimp would be fine, i'd either go with a couple/3 sexy shrimp or a single cleaner shrimp or fire shrimp. cleanup crew wise, i'd go with 3 astreas, 1 SMALL turbo snail, 6-10 nessarius snails, and 2-3 blue leg hermits.

[Klaunphish]

what fish you think i should start with? im kind of new at this but i have an idea...my brother has a 24g aquapod, but he has more space to work with...so i would like an opinion on that..

 

By the way thanks Klaunpish for your opnion =)

 

You're welcome, I'd recommend a clownfish or clown goby.

[Sharkbait3]

MORE OPINIONS PLEASE

 

Thanks, pet fish guy

[t0mmyb0y]

a purple firefish would bring nice color to your tank...and i'd add on a trochus (turban) snail if/when (more like when) hair algae start to appear. those guys made short work of my hair algae prob toot sweet =).

[Sharkbait3]

How do I turn the filter into a fuge ?

[Ryan_H]

to turn the filter into a fuge, you want to remove the media basket and cut the grid out of the bottom of it. attach the grid to the outflow of the filter with silicone. silicone a small piece of plexiglass/acrylic that is the same width as the filter and about 1" below the outflow slightly to the right of the pump assembly (about 1-1.5" away). clip about 1/3 off each impeller blade to lower flow. cut a hole in the lid of the filter to the same size of the light you're using and glue a plexiglass lense under the hole to reduce evap/protect the light. in the larger compartment of the refugium, put about 1-2" of live rock rubble and chips and some macro algae like chaeto or cualerpa. for more detailed instructions and pics, look in the refugium discussion forum for the aquaclear 110 refugium modification thread.

[Klaunphish]

I know you want more opinions, well here they are.

Here are all the fish you can keep in your 5 gallon.

 

But I'd recommend the :

Ocellaris Clownfish -

Firefish -

Purple Firefish -

Clown Goby -

 

Here are the inverts I'd recommend :

Peppermint Shrimp -

Cleaner Shrimp -

Emerald Crab -

Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab -

Dwarf Zebra Hermit Crab -

 

Then once you upgrade your lighting you can keep corals. Hope this will help you.

[Sharkbait3]

i appreciate it klaunphish =) sounds good

[Rudy]

i appreciate it klaunphish =) sounds good

Hey lil nano reefer

[montevallofalcon11]

Hey welcome to the Mini Bow Crowd! I have a mini-bow 7, so mines a bit bigger but still. Check out my thread if you want to read up about mine.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=87462

 

Hope your bow goes well!

 

I second the motion on the Clownfish and Peppermint shrimp. That combo lives happily in my setup.

 

Also I turned an AC 110 into a fuge recently following this design: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=679159

[PaulS]

Looks like this end of the forum is picking up!

 

Your setup sound good - looking forward to seeing some pics. I ended up with the blue legged hermits, cerith snails and an emerald crab. I was thinking about one of the cleaner shrimps and a small clam but wanted to see how the tank did over summer first before adding anything larger than hermits at this point.

 

I picked up a lot of ideas from doncb and several others.

 

This is doncb's thread.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=60382

 

This my extension of doncb's original design.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84797

 

I think doncb added a Scissor tail Goby.

 

Good luck and post some pics!

[Klaunphish]

Once you set the tank, I hope to see some pics and updates.

[Rudy]

This is sharkbait brother i set up his tank yesterday 5 gal minibow i ordered ac30 and corallife screw in 20 w 50/50. How much space does that AC 30 take up ???? If any one has pics i would appreciate it? No moonlights in the screw in 50/50?

[Rudy]

http://www.hellolights.com/1wablmoglled.html

 

Do you think this is a good product any one have it? feedback?

[matter1331]

I can't believe no one has said pistol/shrimp goby combo, those things are so cool to watch. I'm going with a yasha and candy stripe pistol, that is once I find a combo at a good price.

[Klaunphish]

I can't believe no one has said pistol/shrimp goby combo, those things are so cool to watch. I'm going with a yasha and candy stripe pistol, that is once I find a combo at a good price.

You're right, I agree. But I think that a yasha might be a little too expensive. So maybe a hi fin red banded goby, which kind of looks like a yasha.

[Sharkbait3]

i was thinkin of going with a tomato clown, HI FIN banded goby, red pistol shrimp and a firefish with a emerald crabb......any opinions????

[montevallofalcon11]

Tomato will be to big for a 5 gallon.

 

Also you will probably just want a single fish set up with a 5 gallon water volume.

[Klaunphish]

Yeah tomatoes get pretty big, I recommend a false clownfish, or a pistol shrimp + Goby combo. If get the combo get a hi fin red banded goby.

[montevallofalcon11]

I toss my vote for the pistol shrimp/goby combo.

[Sharkbait3]

ok how about an O-clownfish, yellow watchman goby- red pistol shrimp, and a firefish?????

[Fishfreak218]

ok how about an O-clownfish, yellow watchman goby- red pistol shrimp, and a firefish?????

how about a 15g. ???

but seriously.. no Occelaris Clown.. and then pick your favorite out of the YWG and the firefish..

if you want an O.clown and another fish go with a 10g.