Moogled's 5 Gallon Fluval Spec V

[Moogled]

Hey folks, I've been out of the game for a while....but the bug bit me again and now here I am!!

Gonna try my best to update this thread as I progress with my Fluval V build.

A huge thanks to Evan (UBOMW). He generously gave me a bucket of seeded rubble LR for my build!

Equipment:

- Fluval Spec V - 5 gallon
- Hydor Koralia Nano 245 (may switch this out for an MP10 if I can get my hands on a used one....I prefer having the wire outside as the Spec V lid gets in the way).
- Current USA Marine Orbit LED 18w fixture (72 LED's @ 0.25w each)
- Stock return pump (some opt to swap it out to an Aqueon 600 and only use that pump)


Filtration:
- Filter floss (top)
- Chemi-pure Elite (middle)
- Purigen (bottom)
- 1" Arag-Alive Reef Sand
- 5lb live rock

I also picked up some Chemi-pure Blue which combines Elite + Purigen in one bag. Will consider running this so I have some extra room in the filtration chamber.


Pending budget:
- Biocube Nano skimmer
- ATO system for nanos


Planned livestock:
- 1 (2 max) nano gobies. Was thinking a Yellow Clown Goby as they seem to be a good pico fit.
- Small CUC
- Softies and maybe LPS.

I plan to keep my bioload relatively low to minimize water changes.



Day 1:
All parameters at zero.

Day 2:
All parameters at zero.

Day 3:
All parameters still at zero. I started thinking that the LR must have minimal to no die-off. I added some fish food in a micro-bag and hung it inside for a couple days.

Day 4 and 5:
Finally, an ammonia spike of 0.33! Added some bottled bacteria to help the cycle along.

[Moogled]

Update!

I checked my parameters today:

Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 ppm

Never had a cycle like this one before. It's probably because I've always used LFS live rock which had fair amounts of die off. First time I had a 33g tank my cycle took at least 3 weeks. I've never had nitrates this fast before but I think I'm getting close.

I stopped by local store Pisces with my girlfriend and they had a Tarantula Day! We ended up learning about tarantulas and we both got to pet/hold one. Pretty cool! Love when stores host events like these.

I would have preferred my NH3 to be nil before adding anything I've been getting a bit antsy so I ended up picking up a cerith snail and red scarlet hermit. They settled in well.



My plan was to start the tank as bare bottom but I decided to take the plunge. I added half a bag (10lb bag) of Caribsea Arag-alive Reef Sand for a 1" sandbed, threw in some carbon and the tank cleared up in a couple hours.

I'll get down to getting creative with the aquascape tomorrow. Can't wait!

[Myka]

Nice start! I'm surprised you got a cycle at all with rock from someone's tank.

[Moogled]

Thanks Mindy!

I actually met up with the forum member during my lunch break so it was out of water in a sealed damp bucket for about 4-5 hours.

I'm not sure if it mattered but I've read that bacteria die off can occur anywhere between after 10 minutes and an hour of being out of water.

I re-scaped the tank today. It still isn't quite where I want it to be but it looks good enough for now. I wanted the make the right side taller but the pieces are smaller which made stacking a bit difficult.

[Moogled]

Update:

I got a diatom bloom in the tank. I think the cycle may be coming to an end or it's also due to a longer photoperiod.

Currently I'm running a 12 hour light cycle with the LED's at 100% intensity from 10am to 10pm. It's just too much considering I only have a snail and hermit in the tank with no other livestock.

I'll have to program a shorter 8 hour light cycle and reduce the intensity to maybe 80%.

[Moogled]

Update:

It's been a couple weeks now. The tank is still going through its algae bloom but my CUC has been keeping it relatively in check.

CUC consists of:

3 Scarlet legged hermits
1 Margarita snail
1 Cerith snail

Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all 0 ppm.

I had a Yellow Clown Goby in there for a week but traded him in for a Bangaii Cardinal which has always been one of my favorites.

I also made a media basket using plexiglass and egg crate. I am running filter floss, chemipure elite, and purigen in that order.



I purchased a few frags this week and got to meet several forum members like SteveConn, timmmmy55, and BC564 (Blaine).

Blaine even hooked me up with free frags! What a fantastic community.

Here they all are spread out in the tank. I haven't glued anything down because I plan to rescape the tank soon.

[Moogled]

Moved thread over to Nano-reef.

Doesn't seem to be much interest for pico tanks on this forum haha.

[Reefrandybar94]

you should post a link