Rimless - Zen/Bonsai 5-Gallon Setup?

On the previous posts about the film...that was what my concern was when I posted the question about the surface agitation. I just finished my 20G long frag tank (not for display) so looks are not on the good side. Basically, I made a built-in filtration area similar to that of a nano cube....maybe it can offer some ideas for you. I also don't plan to run a sump on this tank. Pics below...

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I hope this will help give you ideas....
 
Mangus, I think that looks pretty sweet! To make it a display, I would just rotate it around and have a display fuge in the chamber with the rock. Do you have a thread somewhere with more details on how you did that? It seems pretty straightforward, but some more info on what equipment and everything would be nice (without hijacking the original thread).

Dan, glad to hear that things seem to be going well. I have one of those shells in my tank somewhere as well, I believe it's an Ark shell, but it's hard to get an exact species ID. Mine roams, however. It climbed up my back wall, it was attached to my magfloat for a while, and after i discovered it there and moved it to get some photos it dropped off. I put it up on top of my rocks to see if it would attach there, left for a while, and i came back to find it attached upside down on that rock. The next morning it had wandered off again.

It's a funny little creature, and kinda cool. I wish mine would stay put.
 
Thanks Slakker....I'll PM you the details as I don't want to hijack this thread....I don't have a thread on the build but I can pretty much supply you with my materials list along with the measurements.
 
I honestly feel like it is a really difficult problem trying to clean up reef tank aesthetics. Heaters, black boxes, pumps, tubing, cords, overflow boxes, protien skimmers, etc.. even lights are pretty ugly.
It is really hard to replicate the clean planted tank presentation in a reef tank, the aesthetic is so different. I'm still waiting for someone to get smart and make an all glass protien skimmer.

Good job so far and good luck
 
why would anyone want an all glass skimmer? I wouldn't.

I think Dan can achieve his look because he is used to FW tanks, and does good weekly water changes. Most people will not be able to keep it up like him.

I can leave my tank alone for 1 month, and nothing will change because of automation of topoff, and have nutrient export via chaeto. Other people have skimmers. But without nutrient export, Dan will have to manually remove water to have a chance of a clean reef tank, which is more tedius but doable. And if he grows macro in the display, it will be even better...but he will need to know which macro to use.
 
I totally agree that water changes, choosing the right organisms, etc.. Will make a tank like this work. But without a canister filter and glass pippetes, or drilling the bottom, there is no way of escaping the alien look of equipment. Equipment kills the "zen" aesthetic style aquarium. you simply cannot have equipment, and what little equipment you have needs to be styled in a manner that is aesthetically blending, it is a hard problem. Especially if you want to have a clear back and sides.

Ever seen how nice glass aquarium pippetes look? Anyways, there are lots of reasons why glass is better than plastic, aside from aesthetics and the fact that plastic has a cheap feel to it.
plus glass is a natural material, holds up better to whatever uv our lighting gives off, and doesn't scratch easily like acrylic.

Someone really needs to get on that please and make a glass protien skimmer, lol. jk.
 
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^I agree. This is why ADA does all glass hardware for their FW tanks, even though it can be a pain to keep clean.

Short of upgrading to a drilled tank (perhaps my next project), I think this is as close as I am going to get to minimizing the hardware this time around. I am still playing with the wires, trying to keep them in a bunch. Basically now the heater is along the bottom/back of the tank when you can't see it.

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Quick angle check and I think this is a bit better...

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I added a little Monti Cap frag in front of the PH in hopes that will eventually hide things a little better.

While I had my hands in the tank I decided to use some AquaMend to glue some of the rocks together - and what a PITA! I don't know if there is a secret to that stuff or what, but ugh!

Rearranging things I noticed a couple more creatures that need ID'ed - I am guessing these are sponges:

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And are these good Macro Algaes, or should I rip them out? Halimeda and something else?

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Well, perhaps, you can get some seagrass or mangroves, grow it in that one corner with the wires, and hide it that way.

An all glass skimmer wouldn't do much, the microbubbles through the skimmer will still make it stand out no matter acrylic or glass. It'll just be much heavier, a pain to clean, more expensive and look the same.
 
dapellegrini,
I like the way it is looking. maybe there is a way to get that cord to sit flat against the seam, instead of waving out in the open?

Jimbo327,
Thats ok man, we can agree tthat we disagree on the topic of glass skimmers. lol.
 
I think the mangroves are a great idea. It would be relatively familiar ground, and would work pretty nicely to conceal things.
 
I am starting to see a lot of these feather like strands of algae on my rocks, glass, hardware, etc. What is it, and what will eat it?

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And this brown crap on the glass seems to accompany it on its goal to conquer my tank:

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The top algae has the right shape for halimeda, can't tell on the bottom one.

I tend to leave what grows on live rock alone unless it's positively ID'd as a pest.
 
ooops, I was responding to your previous post.

Post a pic of the feather type algae in the macroalgae forum for the best ID.
 
That appears to be bryopsis. Nothing that will fit in your tank will eat it. The only apparent solution is to raise your magnesium level above normal SW levels: Link.

You need to purchase a few other inverts for your "CUC", namely some cerith and astrea snails. Both scavenge for micro algae, detritus, and other leftovers, on the rocks and glass. I would not recommend any hermits at all, since they are more likely to eat your snails than anything else.

To be honest, you will probably not like what else you find coming out of that rock. You already have quite a bit of nuisance algae, both micro and macro, and nothing to clean it up. You will go through algae cycles: diatoms, cyano, maybe even a hair algae outbreak, and the tank will only look nice if you are diligent in your husbandry practices. At some point you'll probably see bubble algae too, which is absolutely impossible to completely eradicate. Removing algae daily will definitely get tiresome, trust me!

If you want the ADA-look with a saltwater aquarium, you will likely have to start over with a better initial investment, much as you have already alluded to. You can certainly get rimless aquariums from other sources, and there are ways to hide equipment other than a sump. (A closed-loop manifold containing a heater would be one such idea. Water movement and heating capacity with only a few holes drilled; or no holes drilled if you go over-the-back with some lily pipes ;))

Cheers,
Marty
 
Hehe, here's where you see the pain of owning a nano, you can't fit a tang or fish that will eat that macroalgae. I personally use a tweezer for manual removal (which is brittle and spread it more), grow macroalgae, and try to use chemical removers (phosphate/carbon) to try to limit it. It really is a pain in the butt. And the brown stuff are just diatoms, all part of the initial cycle. After diatoms, expect some nasty green microalgae to take over your tank before they all die off after the cycle.
 
Not all hermits are aggressve!

Not all hermits are aggressve!

Fish'InMN not all hermits eat snails. Only blue legged hermits as far as I know
show any aggression and not always. Scarlet hermits are totally peaceful and do an
awesome job eating algae. Red Legged hermits are fairly decent. Same goes with
Zebra hermits too.

The blue legged hermits I have in my nanocube so far have shown no aggression
toward any of the snails in the cleanup crew and its been 6 months.
 
I think you should look at Helfrich's 18g ADA it was July's NTOTM IT'S AWESOME.It may help you with the look your going for.AWESOME FW TANKS:D I've never seen one's that look that good.Sorry I looked back and you have seen it I was just trying to give a little help.:D
 
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