SnoQ
Active Member
I’ve wanted to set up a small tank at work for a while now and decided a 5 gallon tank was the way I wanted to go. I looked at some cubes but then heard about the Fluval Spec V that was coming out soon and I was really interested in its rectangular bookshelf design. I would be able to put it on my desk without losing too much depth which would be perfect. I kept hearing that there was such demand for the Spec V that they were on backorder everywhere. Then, last week, I heard that PetSmart had gotten them in and making it even more attractive was the fact that they had them for $74.99 vs $99.99 as part of their 25th Anniversary sale. As a general rule I buy from my LFS and had they had one, I would’ve been willing to pay full retail. But since they were told they were on back order with no ETA on delivery, I went to my local PetSmart and picked one up. I then went to my LFS to pick up everything else to get it going.
The dimension of the tank are 17.2†long, 6.3†deep and 10.6†tall and it’s pretty decent quality. It’s glass which I really like. The bottom trim for the tank is black plastic which is fine. The corners are trimmed out in rounded, brushed stainless with black at the top. It’s not bad looking but rounded glass corners would’ve been nice. I’m sure that would’ve affect the price point though. The tank is otherwise rimless. The cover for the tank is acrylic and it has a rectangular shaped opening so the light is suspended directly over water.
The tank has an overflow on one end. The overflow has a sponge that has a spot for a bag of activated charcoal and a bag of Bioxmax. I’m probably going to make a DIY media basket and use Chemi-Pure Elite, Purigen and filter floss. There’s a small return pump that seems to provide pretty decent flow and is adjustable. I may add a Spinstream if there’s enough clearance for it on the side. I picked up a mini-heater and it fits nicely in the return area. The glass is frosted where all of the filtration equipment is which hides it a bit, but I actually wish it were clear on the end so I could add some Chaeto. I don’t think the nano LED light I have is strong enough to get through the frost.
The light bar that comes with the tank is better than I thought. It has 37 - 7500K LEDs for daytime and a couple of blue lunar LEDs for nighttime. Unfortunately the lights are on a single switch, so I won’t be using the lunar lights much at all. Instead I’ll have the lights on a time and it’ll just be on/off. I’m hoping I’ll be able to put a few simple corals in the tank.
Today I set the tank up. Nothing too exciting really. I picked up live sand, live rock and saltwater from my LFS and added some Prime & Stability. I’m going to draw some water from my well established tank as well as a couple of scoops of sand that I’ll add tomorrow.
I’m not sure what I’m going to add yet in addition to some coral, but I love Harlequin Shrimp, Sexy Shrimp and Pom Pom Crabs. I just have to do some reading to make sure they will all play well together. I’m also going to add maybe 3 very small fish. I’m thinking a Yellow Clown Goby, a Green-banded Goby and maybe a Yasha.
If anyone has any suggestions for good nano livestock, let me know.
The dimension of the tank are 17.2†long, 6.3†deep and 10.6†tall and it’s pretty decent quality. It’s glass which I really like. The bottom trim for the tank is black plastic which is fine. The corners are trimmed out in rounded, brushed stainless with black at the top. It’s not bad looking but rounded glass corners would’ve been nice. I’m sure that would’ve affect the price point though. The tank is otherwise rimless. The cover for the tank is acrylic and it has a rectangular shaped opening so the light is suspended directly over water.
The tank has an overflow on one end. The overflow has a sponge that has a spot for a bag of activated charcoal and a bag of Bioxmax. I’m probably going to make a DIY media basket and use Chemi-Pure Elite, Purigen and filter floss. There’s a small return pump that seems to provide pretty decent flow and is adjustable. I may add a Spinstream if there’s enough clearance for it on the side. I picked up a mini-heater and it fits nicely in the return area. The glass is frosted where all of the filtration equipment is which hides it a bit, but I actually wish it were clear on the end so I could add some Chaeto. I don’t think the nano LED light I have is strong enough to get through the frost.
The light bar that comes with the tank is better than I thought. It has 37 - 7500K LEDs for daytime and a couple of blue lunar LEDs for nighttime. Unfortunately the lights are on a single switch, so I won’t be using the lunar lights much at all. Instead I’ll have the lights on a time and it’ll just be on/off. I’m hoping I’ll be able to put a few simple corals in the tank.
Today I set the tank up. Nothing too exciting really. I picked up live sand, live rock and saltwater from my LFS and added some Prime & Stability. I’m going to draw some water from my well established tank as well as a couple of scoops of sand that I’ll add tomorrow.
I’m not sure what I’m going to add yet in addition to some coral, but I love Harlequin Shrimp, Sexy Shrimp and Pom Pom Crabs. I just have to do some reading to make sure they will all play well together. I’m also going to add maybe 3 very small fish. I’m thinking a Yellow Clown Goby, a Green-banded Goby and maybe a Yasha.
If anyone has any suggestions for good nano livestock, let me know.
