Bill's 5 Gallon - A Rimless Treescape Build

[Billbug68]

Hey all! So this morning I finally got around to cleaning out my 5 gallon Fluval Chi. I removed all of the sand, driftwood, plants, and plastic pieces that originally came on it. This tank houses my female Betta, which is actually the first fish my wife and I got. This fish got me in to the hobby, and I want to give her a nice elegant home to live in!

The tanks dimensions are 10x10x12, and I feel it will make a perfect treescape.

Equipment and flora is still up in the air, other than the heater which will be a Hydor 25 watt submersible(already on order), and substrate will be ADA Aquasoil Amazonia(also on order) with MAYBE a sand path.

So guys and girls! I need some suggestions for a good light for this tank, and a good filter! Right now I'm running a cheap palm filter knock off which I found at my LFS, but I don't think it will provide enough flow through the tank. I have an extra set of 13mm lily pipes coming soon, so a low price canister with 1/2" lines may be an option. As far as the light, I was looking at the Finnex clip light with the tube type CFL, or maybe it's a PC bulb, not sure. It needs to be high light though, as I'll be growing HC. Let me know what you guys think!

And here's the DW I found to make the tree

 

[TheFishBoss97]

I really like this on my fluval ebi...very bright and looks good Enough light to grow some high light plants

Amazon.com: Fluval Mini Power Compact Lamp - 13W: Pet Supplies

for a filter, the fluval internal has a lot of water movement as it has a spray bar which can be rotated in any direction OR go with the penguin filter...I like them a lot!

Amazon.com: Marineland Penguin Power Filter, 50 to 70-Gallon, 350 GPH: Pet Supplies

Amazon.com: Fluval Nano Aquarium Filter: Pet Supplies

 

[Billbug68]

I really like this on my fluval ebi...very bright and looks good Enough light to grow some high light plants

Amazon.com: Fluval Mini Power Compact Lamp - 13W: Pet Supplies

for a filter, the fluval internal has a lot of water movement as it has a spray bar which can be rotated in any direction OR go with the penguin filter...I like them a lot!

Amazon.com: Marineland Penguin Power Filter, 50 to 70-Gallon, 350 GPH: Pet Supplies

Amazon.com: Fluval Nano Aquarium Filter: Pet Supplies

Thanks for the suggestions! I like that fluval light, the finnex one I described is similar, but with more watts, BUT it's a 50/50 bulb. I might go with a Finnex Ray 2 12". 2" wider than the tank, but by looking at my ray 2 on my 12 long, I might be able to mod it and make it 10 inches... Hmmm....
I definitely don't want an internal filter... The tank is gonna be pretty full with the tree, and I don't want that much equipment in the tank. Thanks again for the suggestions! I'll keep them in mind!

 

[Convict2161]

I'm liking this already!! Can't wait...

 

[Billbug68]

I'm liking this already!! Can't wait...

Thanks man! Lookin forward to having you follow along!

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Oh Bill here comes another masterpiece.... I see you took on my tree idea for the 6g I was doing...Now I can watch you do it! What moss are you going to use if moss? I reaaaally like that DW piece. Very nice! Can't wait to see how this goes!

 

[Billbug68]

Oh Bill here comes another masterpiece.... I see you took on my tree idea for the 6g I was doing...Now I can watch you do it! What moss are you going to use if moss? I reaaaally like that DW piece. Very nice! Can't wait to see how this goes!

Hahaha! Yeah Dan! I totally jacked your idea!
I've been thinkin about doing this for a while now, and just happened to find that piece of driftwood, so I said hey! I think it's time! Haha. Not sure what moss I'm gonna use yet, I might have to try to add some branches to the driftwood.

 

[Rodeo one]

Oh hi. I just got done wiring Christmas moss to DW. It s a low light tank. Not sure it would ve been my first choice. They have some dwarf or miniature Xmas moss that looked like it would ve looked better. What did Convict use? It looks pretty good. There s always moss balls, then you could get in on the 'Balls' thread that someone started last week, with all of it s off color innuendo!

 

[Scottyhorse]

I'll be following

 

[Billbug68]

Any thoughts on this light?

http://www.adana-usa.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=72_74&products_id=746

 

[Rivercats]

Convicts tank has Fissidens Fontanus Moss.

 

[Billbug68]

Convicts tank has Fissidens Fontanus Moss.

Thank you! I'm sure I will be researching all types of moss and how each grows. I'm sure ill find something that will be what I'm looking for.

 

[TheFishBoss97]

Thanks for the suggestions! I like that fluval light, the finnex one I described is similar, but with more watts, BUT it's a 50/50 bulb. I might go with a Finnex Ray 2 12". 2" wider than the tank, but by looking at my ray 2 on my 12 long, I might be able to mod it and make it 10 inches... Hmmm....
I definitely don't want an internal filter... The tank is gonna be pretty full with the tree, and I don't want that much equipment in the tank. Thanks again for the suggestions! I'll keep them in mind!

no problem, check out the penguin filter? did u see that one? it is a HOB and awesome! super silent!

 

[Billbug68]

no problem, check out the penguin filter? did u see that one? it is a HOB and awesome! super silent!

Yeah, I'm just not sure if I want an HOB or canister. I was looking at the finnex 360 canister, but it cannot be more than 2' bellow the water line, so hiding it would be impossible. I might just keep this little HOB I have on it until I can upgrade to another fluval canister. I love the 106 I have on my 12 gallon.

 

[Billbug68]

Original plan was to upgrade my 12's filter to a 206, and use the 106 for this tank... But I think my wife would kill me if I dropped another $100 on fish stuff...

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Guess I'm late to the party!!! LOL

Following along!

Anyway... hmmm, lighting? what to do, what to do?

I recall Ghost's Spec tank with that Zetlight growing some nice HC.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-spec-iii-2-8-gallon-planted-tank-246597.html

I'm not sure if that Archaea you linked to earlier is any good. Might have to search the forums on that one. I'll look around.

When I started my new pico cube, some guy on TPT recommended I try this light for higher intensity lighting. I haven't really seen any reviews to know how effective it is, but the 1 watt LEDs have me wondering.
Amazon.com: Wave-point 6-Inch 8-Watt Daylight Micro Sun LED High Output Clamp Light: Pet Supplies

And the Finnex Ray 2 12" only comes in Actinic/White I believe. However, Archaea makes a 11" version that might work?
Archaea SLIM-PRO Aquatic Plant LED fixture (for 30cm tank) [LED-30HL-Z] - $59.99 : Aqua Forest Aquarium, ADA USA, Aqua Design Amano

Fluval just came out with a new LED light too.. but it's a little pricey and I don't know the PAR - but it's 7 watts so it should be good.

Fluval Nano LED Lamps: Aquarium LED Lighting

What makes the Fluval LED light very interesting is that its using a full spectrum of LEDs
460 nm (<--------------BLUE!)
640 nm (<-----------RED!)
3000K
6000K
15000K

This is the new trend I'm noticing with LED's. Like Finnex's new FugeRay-R that incorporates white + red. I've also noticed Current came out with a fixture that has white LEDs and RGB. Also a bunch of folks on TPT have been talking about pairing a Finnex Monster Ray RGB w/ a Ray 2. I think we're on the cusp of changes in LED technology.

Or forget what I just rambled on about and go with the PC light! haha

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Sorry one more option... I've been seeing a lot of buzz with BuildMyLED.com lately too... You can customize the LED spectrums on the light. However, the shortest version comes in at 12"

Build My LED Custom LED Lights for DIY Horticulture Aquarium Hobby Lighting

 

[Billbug68]

It's about time Brian! Haha

Geez! You always come with a ton of information! You are one helpful guy!

Anyways, I'll make it short...

Yeah I realize shortly after the post that the 12" finnex only comes that way, the fluval led is hideous, and I decided on the Finnex Epoch clip light... It has a screw in type bulb, so the 50/50 can be swapped for a 6500k bulb. I hope...

 

[Billbug68]

Also the archaea fixture you listed is only 5 total watts, the one I listed was 7.5 or something... Which is irrelevant as I already ordered the epoch... Lol

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yeah PC it is then.. I'm a sucker for LEDs so I've been reading up on the topic...lol

So what do you want to use in that tree? I have some flame moss or subwaasertang that would work. I just got fissidens but i have to grow some out before i can part with some.