Diving back in with a Marineland Portait 5gal

[booth2010]

I posted about this tank a few years ago when I originally bought it and had been out of the hobby for a little over a year by then. It was going to be a work office tank but shortly after I bought and leak tested the tank at home I received a promotion and I no longer have a large desk and am only in the office 2 hours or less a day. So now, after being out of the hobby for just over 4 years, I am rebooting this tank, or booting up for first time(?), my Marineland Portrait 5 gallon all-in-one tank. My sister and brother-in-law have finally moved out of my house and I now have an empty guest room / computer room that will house this tank and a 36 gallon bowfront grow out cichlid tank. I have built a 26"x5' computer desk that this will sit on.

Equipment list:

Either the 20 watt Mini-Therm Colbalt Aquatics heater or the 25 watt Jager Trutemp heater, havent decided yet.
Stock return pump
VorTech MP10w
Stock light until I add corals and then at that point it will be the Kessil A80 Tuna Blue.

That's it for equipment, I plan to do weekly 1 gallon water changes.

The tank will be bare bottom with a little rock island in the front corners with a different coral on each island and a center rock towards the back with a Kenya Tree. For one island I know for sure one will be GSP but the other I have not decided on yet.

For livestock I am having difficulties deciding on what I want to do. Originally it was going to be a single yellow clown goby, a shrimp, and a small CUC. However, lately I have been seeing several tanks the same size with 3-4 fish. Perhaps with 1 gallon water changes or more if need be this can be achieved. I am now considering 2 clowns, that will be moved to a larger tank once they have outgrown the nano, and perhaps one other small fish maybe a goby. There will still be a shrimp and small CUC.

This is all still in the early stages. I am adding 2 canisters to my RODI unit, bringing it to a 6 stage, and am obviously having to replace the older filter media. I hope to have the RODI unit up and running in the next couple weeks so I can start cycling the tank by mid September.

The wife is not too happy about my diving back into the world of salt water aquariums so wish me luck I don't get murdered in my sleep lol. At least this is an itty bitty tank tank and the only big purchase I have to do will be the light.

 

[booth2010]

Added 2 stages to the RODI unit and mounted it. It will have 1 sediment filter, 2 carbon filters, 75gpd membrane, anion DI resin and final canister will be regular mixed DI resin. Pressure gauge is right before RO membrane and TDS meters are after RO membrane and after DI resins. Just need to buy a new RO membrane and then it’s time to make water.

 

[booth2010]

Tank has been cleaned after collecting dust for 2 years. Scape is done, nice and simple just like I wanted. End up being 3.8lbs of rock I’m guessing maybe 3-3.5 since it’s wet. Now to cook it since it’s old rock that’s been sitting outside for 4 Years.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

The MP10 isnt too powerful for that small of a tank? I have mine at 3% in my 32 gallon Biocube and it is terrorizing my soft corals. (Hoping to find out I dont understand how to limit my powerhead)

 

[booth2010]

The MP10 isnt too powerful for that small of a tank? I have mine at 3% in my 32 gallon Biocube and it is terrorizing my soft corals. (Hoping to find out I dont understand how to limit my powerhead)

When I was recently leak testing the tank, before I cleaned it, I had the MP10 in it and watched the dust and dirt in the tank blow around and it didn’t seem too bad on the lowest level. We will see though. I think they are rated for 2.5-50 gallon tanks lol.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Make sure you get a good grip of how to operate it.... I may have turned my Sinularia into one of those Car Dealership Wavy Arm things...

 

[booth2010]

And the cycle has begun. All equipment installed, the heater is on a inkbird controller so I don’t fry anything. I’m using the BRS/WWC hybrid cycling method so the 2 month wait to add fish has started.

 

[booth2010]

Tested for ammonia on 11/6 and the test read 0. Tested nitrites and nitrates yesterday, nitrites was 0 nitrates was less than 5. There are still bits of the shrimp in the tank so it seems the bacteria is doing it’s job well. Still have 13 days till I hit the 2 month mark and I’m getting antsy. Really want to go out and get a fish lol.

 

[booth2010]

Tested water again on Thanksgiving, levels were similar to that of the 6th. Picked up 2 Black Photon Clowns on sale for Black Friday. One is around 1.25-1.5" long and the other is right around 1". They've been happy campers the whole time, ive seen no fighting or aggression so I guess the slight size difference is enough for them to know their place. I feed TDO Chroma Boost twice a day and they seem content with that.

Tested water for the first time since adding the clowns today (meant to do it a week after I put em in but oh well). Ammonia was at 0. Nitrite was above 0 but below .05, the water had the slightest purple tinge to it so I would guess its below .03. Nitrate was between 10-20. I am using the Red Sea Marine Care Multi Test Kit.

I will be doing a 1 gallon water change this weekend. I plan on ordering a small clean up crew in the new year once reef cleaners starts shipping again. Not sure what I want to add next though. Besides the CUC the only other thing I want to add would be a shrimp. I think I will stop by the LFS this week or next and pick up the shrimp and then add a CUC mid January. Once those are added that it for livestock. Sometime next year im going to buy an AI Prime 16HD, decided against the Kessil since the Prime has built bluetooth controller. The first coral I will add will be a GSP, then maybe a Pulsing Xenia or some sort of Zoa, and then lastly I will add the Kenya Tree. Pics of the tank in current state with the clowns soon to follow.

 

[booth2010]

 

[M.bengtson5]

 

[M.bengtson5]

Nice setup. really enjoyed reading thru this build. My tank is coming tmrw (Christmas eve) nice present LOL. Looking forward to more as the tank progresses. I will post my pics when I set it up!!

 

[Tamberav]

I have one of these set up as a reef. Wonderful tank for the size though the column shape means no real swimming area for fish. I ended up doing blennies and a goby.

 

[booth2010]

Nice setup. really enjoyed reading thru this build. My tank is coming tmrw (Christmas eve) nice present LOL. Looking forward to more as the tank progresses. I will post my pics when I set it up!!

Thanks, its not much but itll do for now. Awesome, send me a link to your build once its going!

 

[booth2010]

I have one of these set up as a reef. Wonderful tank for the size though the column shape means no real swimming area for fish. I ended up doing blennies and a goby.

Yea thats why when I got the clowns I told them to get me the smallest they had and obviously one a little larger. They seem happy. They hang out by the powerhead all day and sleep near the overflow at night. I dont plan on housing them for more than 8 months or so in this tank. I was actually playing a video game last night and was matched with someone who lives 30mins away and he offered me his 32 biocube thats just sitting in his garage lol. Very tempted to accept. If I dont get that I do plan on buying a Waterbox Mini Peninsula 25 around my birthday in May.

 

[booth2010]

Added a Peppermint Shrimp on Tuesday. Did drip acclimation for an hour. He was crystal clear in the bag and had some color returning while acclimating. Hes been hiding behind the large center rock since I put him in, but I can verify he is alive lol. While feeding this morning I noticed he has molted already as its stuck to the powerhead. I shined a flashlight behind the rock so I could see it and it is a super deep dark red. Im sure the molt was due to stress of transport but im happy to see its color has returned so it must be content. I know they lose color when stressed and its definitely not looking like that now.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

updates?

 

[booth2010]

updates?

I have stopped using the MP10, seemed like it was too much flow. The shrimp (Mario lol, my sons naming them all) never came out form behind the big rock, I know they like to hide, and the clowns (Finn is the girl, Nemo, go figure, is the boy) were always swimming close to the powerhead. I noticed the clowns get sucked towards the PH when it would turn back on after feeding. Since removing the PH they swim around more and the shrimp is always out and about unless you approach the tank rapidly. Due to removing that I ordered a Sicce Micraplus Pump (158gph max), to upgrade the return pump, and a CPR Aquatic Eductor to increase flow in the tank with just the use of a return pump.

I am buying the stuff to make a screen lid for the tank so I can remove the glass lid. I love how little evaporation there is with the glass lid, but the wife has given me permission to buy the AI Prime 16HD so the glass lids gotta go. Going to order a CUC on Monday from Reef Cleaners since they have stopped taking orders till then. Will probably order the light next week sometime and add my first coral the end of Jan to let the bacteria catch up from the CUC addition.

I am getting some brown spots on the front and bottom glass. Havent looked at it that much, just going to leave it and see if the CUC takes care of it. Im guessing diatoms from the look of it. I havent been doing water changes as frequently as planned but levels for FOWLR are good. With the corals im adding I dont think water changes will really be needed to add anything to the tank. Once coraline starts to form I will probably do more frequent changes. Doing a DIY full bathroom remodel is taking up most of my time the past few months, but im finally past the hard parts. Only have to finish the drywall and lay tile then its just cosmetic stuff.

I will post pics once the screen lid is on and light is installed. Nothing noteworthy to take pics of now.

 

[booth2010]

CUC ordered and will be here either the 13th or 14th. Screen lid stuff ordered should be here by next weekend. Went ahead and ordered the light and 12" flex arm today too, should also be here next week. Its funny how fast things progress when the wife is actually on board. This is the first tank she has actually wanted me to finish setting up since its on the computer desk and she's working from home. Will still wait till the end of the month or early Feb to get a small GSP frag. One of my LFS has frags of it a little bigger than a quarter for $10.

 

[booth2010]

Alright sooooo, screen lid and the Prime 16HD light were both added Saturday the 9th. CUC arrived Wednesday the 13th and was added that night. I ordered extra snails to get to minimum order and traded those for a small nickel size frag of GSP yesterday, that was added last night.

Then a tragedy this morning, the female clown jumped out of tank sometime last night. Because the tank is rimless I had to get the clips to hold screen lid in place and there is maybe a 1/4” gap around the lid. It somehow managed to get through that little gap. I think I’m going to buy some real thin aluminum and make a small L channel to attach to the screen lid that will sit on and around the tank to close all gaps. It’ll probably be a few weeks before I add another clown.