planning my 5 gallon minibow (I'm kinda wordy)

[charm]

So I finally bought the tank and some other stuff. I want to make sure I'm on the right track and ask some questions to steer me on some stuff before I get off track...

First the system...
As mentioned it's a 5 gallon minibow. I have two minijet 404s to act as a closed loop inside the tank. I like the fact that they're small and I can hide them very easily behind even a modest amount of live rock. Each minijet will have its flow split to provide current to both the bottom of the tank and to the back of the rock work.

I also have a Tetratec HOB filter, it was on sale, that I have been toying with the idea of using as a fuge or returning...more on the fuge question later.

For lighting I was going to use a Corallife 50/50 20 watt screw-in bulb in a desk lamp.

For livestock I was planning on simple. I'm going to add some green star polyps and let 'em go nuts. I'll also add something stalked, prehaps a finger leather, I'm VERY open to suggestions here. I'll also be adding a modest cleanup crew, a shrimp, and perhaps a fish...again, I'm open to suggestions because I have no clue what fish I want or if I want a fish.

So now for the questions...

First, let's face it, I've got a lot of flow for such a small tank. I was thinking a wavemaker might be a good idea. Do the minijets hold up well to wave timers? Are they noisy?

Second, like I said I'm debating the fuge. The first question here is is a fuge even useful on a tank this size? If so, would I be better off returning the HOB and going with a little 2.5 gallon AGA as my fuge? If that's the option, I would run 2, 1-inch overflows out of the tank and run 3 minijet 404s as returns through several (6) 1/2-inch bulkheads in the tank...I would drill for the overflows as well.

So, lay it on me. What do you think? Am I on the right track? How would you modify the plan?

 

[Rosseau]

It sounds pretty good to me.

As always, the more water volume you can cram into the system the better. For this reason I would encourage the 2.5 AGA fuge. Though you could certainly get by without it. I think that having a fuge will be great for the system, throw a little chaeto algae or something in and you're set. I would encourage this also - even if it was the HOB filter modded into a fuge, this would be very useful. Especially when you decided.. ok, just 1 fish.. ok, maybe 2! etc.

Other than that, it seems ok to me. I don't know much at all about the minijets, can't help there in any way.

 

[nano7joy]

I could be wrong but doesn't the TetraTec pulse ie make waves...I have one on a fresh water and it does.

The 404 that I use in my 7gallon minibow likes to not restart its mags freeze if it looses power while in the tank. Which means i need to pull it out and give it a shake. This isn't because it isn't clean. I clean all my impellers monthly. However I like it very much and won't change it because it is a very powerful pump for its small size. Becides I got it for free in a salt bucket years ago. :lol:

I'am partial to using a surface skimmer in all most all reef systems. Due to the build up of surface film which greatly impacts the way lighting can penetrate into the tank so if you decide to go with a sump I would suggest that get the surface removed in the deal.
I have to turn the tank completely down and use a paper towel to suck up the stuff prior to my water changes every week.

Hope some of this may help you.

JJ

 

[charm]

Good point nano, that's one of the things in favor of switching to the 2.5 sump. The drilled overflows I would either do with just upturned elbows or with a small coast to coast, either way, I'd get surface skimming that I won't have with the Tetratec.

I'd keep the Tetratec for water polishing but the minibow came with a small intake filter that would work great for the occasional water polishing. I'd keep it out of the tank when the water didn't need it and put it in for an hour or so after a water change.

I think the surface skimming idea has me steering towards switching to the sump. As a bonus, if I switch, I'd get to play with lots and lots of bulkheads. I hope there's room for 8, 6 1/2-inch and 2 1-inch, on the back of a 5 gallon minibow!! I'll lay it out tonight or tomorrow night and see how it comes out.

 

[charm]

Good point nano, that's one of the things in favor of switching to the 2.5 sump. The drilled overflows I would either do with just upturned elbows or with a small coast to coast, either way, I'd get surface skimming that I won't have with the Tetratec.

I'd keep the Tetratec for water polishing but the minibow came with a small intake filter that would work great for the occasional water polishing. I'd keep it out of the tank when the water didn't need it and put it in for an hour or so after a water change.

I think the surface skimming idea has me steering towards switching to the sump. As a bonus, if I switch, I'd get to play with lots and lots of bulkheads. I hope there's room for 8, 6 1/2-inch and 2 1-inch, on the back of a 5 gallon minibow!! I'll lay it out tonight or tomorrow night and see how it comes out.

 

[charm]

quiet overflow?

quiet overflow?

So, I boxed the HOB back up to return tomorrow. I'll be doing a sump design, probably a 2.5, but I'm thinking perhaps a 5.5...I gotta measure a few things and see if it will work.

I'll be drilling for 2 3/4-inch overflows as it seems a single overflow will handle the return of 3 minijet 404s and I want the redundancy incase some snail decides it'd be a good idea to hang out in an overflow AND figures out a way to get through the screening. I'm thinking that using an upturned elbow off of the bulkead in the tank for surface skimming and then, with the fuge sitting right behind and a little below the tank, I can simply take some flexible PVC and run it into the back corners of the fuge. The result is that my overflows will be barely sloped, only losing maybe 4 or 5 inches in about 10 inches, the entire length of the overflow at most. I figure this gentle slope will keep the splashing down, but will in result in slowing my flow so much that the overflows won't be able to keep up?