NWFK's 5g NPS/Macro Algae Build

[Northwest_Scapes_]

So this is a project I've been wanting to do for quite a while now. After seeing inspirations such as: Tigahboy.h20 / Inland Reef / ms.mermaid / Inappropriate Reefer / and quite a few more, I've decided to step into the Macro World. I originally wanted to go with a UNS 90U (68gal) but im shifting focus to more freshwater projects, a new Jellyfish tank, a DSLR camera, and a Flashlight Fish tank, I decided to go with this old TopFin "Retreat" 5 that used to be in my Mom's classroom. As of writing this, I'm currently on day 4, and will be documenting my process on this thread.

Equipment:
•TopFin "Retreat" 5
•Oase Heatup 25watt
•Freshwater Planted light that comes with the tank (actually super powerful surprisingly for the price of the kit)
•Filter Floss in the back chamber

Hardscape
•5lb piece of Marco Rock
•10lbs of CaribSea AragAlive "Bahamas OOlite"
•Used Bio-Spira to cycle and pieces of frozen brine as food. Cycled in 3 days

Current Stocking:
•Chunks of TSA Dragons Breath Macro

Now the Macro was in my frag tank since my phosphates were quite high (0.16 although corals were thriving still at that range) and did its job too well. Basically it had no more nutrients to eat and started dying back.
After moving it into this tank and dosing ChaetoGro° its starting to get its deep red back and has new growth. There probably won't be any updates on here before Christmas unless I find something local or something drastic happens since I'm not risking ordering anything after I learned my last year with some super rare and expensive Freshwater fish.
Plans for this tank though are;
•Purple Cespitularia
•Various Photosynthetic and NPS Gorgs
•At least one more kind of macro
•A Yellow/White Crinoid Squat Lobster
•Pederson Cleaner or Caribbean Yucatan Shrimp
•An Electric Flame Scallop
•Various Feather Dusters
•A walking dendro
•A pair of Green Banded gobies

Hope everyone enjoys!

(Also, I just had a couple questions. 1. How do I turn of quotes from when replying? 2. How do you type in bold texts like people do for different categories in their builds? Thank you)

 

[ichthyogeek]

I love macro tanks, so I'm going to be keeping my eyes on this one!

1) I assume you're on mobile. There's a button that turns it off or at least turns it into the code version of it.

2) There's a button for that too.

If you're on desktop/laptop, the control panel is above the typing interface so you can navigate the various stylizations like bold, italicized, strikethrough etc.

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Oh! Thank you so much! This will make things a lot easier !

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Hello! So its been a while, and I have some updates:
The Bad: I ended up taking out all the Dragon's Breath since it wasn't improving that great, there was some growth but I figured I'd rather use my ChaetoGro and NeoNitro on healthy pieces. So no more Macro for now, although that will change soon

Good: Ever since places started shipping again, I have 2 new additions! A Red and Yellow Finger Gorgonian from WWC! They really add a lot of color and texture to the tank, here are some pics;

 

[MNFish]

I love this! But now I want to do a macro tank....and another tank is the last thing I need.... haha
I will follow this thread and live thru you for now

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

I love this! But now I want to do a macro tank....and another tank is the last thing I need.... haha
I will follow this thread and live thru you for now

Thank you! I got hooked onto macro tanks too when I didn't want any more setups lol
I should have some more stuff coming this month, so look out for that

 

[sepulvd85]

Hello! So its been a while, and I have some updates:
The Bad: I ended up taking out all the Dragon's Breath since it wasn't improving that great, there was some growth but I figured I'd rather use my ChaetoGro and NeoNitro on healthy pieces. So no more Macro for now, although that will change soon

Good: Ever since places started shipping again, I have 2 new additions! A Red and Yellow Finger Gorgonian from WWC! They really add a lot of color and texture to the tank, here are some pics;

Are this gorgonian filter feeders

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Are this gorgonian filter feeders

Yes, they're currently feeding on live baby brine shrimp, but they can eat a lot of other foods as well

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

So, its been a while, and I have lots to share!

Friday i got my rocks from BRS (ironically they arrived on my birthday as well, the 15th )
And was able to change up the rock scape! The old scape was cool, but it was just 1 rock and I felt like I needed more space and a better scape so heres the updated terrain!

•Yesterday, the 17th i went to an LFS and picked up some new CUC since some hair algae and brown algae was starting to grow and the sand bed could use some rotating, so I have 2 Nassarius and 2 Astrea Snails in here

•Today, the 18th
I received my new Hygger Mini WaveMaker! The pump that came with the tank (the tank is a TopFin 5 Retreat) wasn't cutting it and I think its starting to die now, but this thing is a beast! It was a little confusing to program, but it might even be a little too powerful since some sand by the intake is getting kicked up but I guess that's good so the intake has more space to operate. Super strong current, but the gorgs seem to love it!

I've found that the yellow finger is more picky than the red so I dont see it open all the time, but I also got some PhytoFeast from @Reef Nutrition yesterday and I've seen more polyps out than I ever did before when feeding them it now!
•Also today, I managed to snag something from Divers Den I've been eyeing for a while now, so either Wednesday or Thursday there will be tons of life in here! Here's a list

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

So, its been a while, and I have lots to share!

Friday i got my rocks from BRS (ironically they arrived on my birthday as well, the 15th )
And was able to change up the rock scape! The old scape was cool, but it was just 1 rock and I felt like I needed more space and a better scape so heres the updated

So, its been a while, and I have lots to share!

Friday i got my rocks from BRS (ironically they arrived on my birthday as well, the 15th )
And was able to change up the rock scape! The old scape was cool, but it was just 1 rock and I felt like I needed more space and a better scape so heres the updated terrain!

•Yesterday, the 17th i went to an LFS and picked up some new CUC since some hair algae and brown algae was starting to grow and the sand bed could use some rotating, so I have 2 Nassarius and 2 Astrea Snails in here

•Today, the 18th
I received my new Hygger Mini WaveMaker! The pump that came with the tank (the tank is a TopFin 5 Retreat) wasn't cutting it and I think its starting to die now, but this thing is a beast! It was a little confusing to program, but it might even be a little too powerful since some sand by the intake is getting kicked up but I guess that's good so the intake has more space to operate. Super strong current, but the gorgs seem to love it!

I've found that the yellow finger is more picky than the red so I dont see it open all the time, but I also got some PhytoFeast from @Reef Nutrition yesterday and I've seen more polyps out than I ever did before when feeding them it now!
•Also today, I managed to snag something from Divers Den I've been eyeing for a while now, so either Wednesday or Thursday there will be tons of life in here! Here's a list

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

New LiveAquaria Shipment today!

 

[Lemon]

a molly in a 5 gallon? or is it for a different tank?

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

a molly in a 5 gallon? or is it for a different tank?

I was going to have it in the 5 temporarily to eat up some hair algae that I can't scrub off and then move it to my frag tank, but its DOA unfortunately so I'll have to go get one from the LFS later

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Its been a day so here are the new additions!

Electric Flame Scallop

Pederson's Cleaner Shrimp (i dont see it today, but im sure it's in the rocks somewhere)

4 Dwarf Feather Dusters (2 Pink, 2 Yellow) 2 lost their feathers (common when moving) and the other 2 I've seen glimpses of

Pink Polyp White Sea Fan (NPS) looked a lot different than I expected, but also a lot cooler!

FTS