5 Gallon Bow — Freshwater Conversion

arejay

New Member
I have a 5gal bowfront freshwater tank on my desk at work. My fish are getting to be all grown up and my plants are going nuts. They will all be upgraded to a 10gal hex.

With my vacant tank I would like to start another SW Nano. I currently have a 12 gal Aquapod at home. All of the guts were in the tank, so I am new to the concept of "building" a tank.

My bow has an in-tank filter (I'm thinking a larger HOB?), is lit with a 10w 50/50 pc bulb, and has a submersed heater. What other hardware am I going to need? My plans for the tank are:

Mushrooms
Green Star Polyps
Xenia
Zoas

2 Turbos
1 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Blue Legged Hermits

Maybe a Goby

Here are some photos of the tank as it is, and thanks for taking a look.

the tank (please excuse the water level, I'm in the middle of chaning the filter)


under the lid


Thanks again,

—RJ
 
You will probably have to change out the light to something more. I would also take out the in tank filter and throw on something like an AquaClear 50. You may also need an additional power head but the AC50 might provide enough flow. With the AC50 you can also move the heater out of the tank buy placing it in to the filter.
 

arejay

New Member
So would the AC50 remain stock or would I remove the filter insert and replace it with a sponge and rubble?

Also to increase the lighting, is there a new bulb that can be used or do you think that I would need to mod the housing itself?

Sorry to be a pain, I just want to know how deep I'm getting before I start going down the well.
 
Since it is a screw in bulb you will have to mod it but I would not think it would be too hard.

The AC50 would run without the sponge or rings. I would also skip the rubble as it is bad for collecting gunk that can mess up you water if you don't clean it out weekly. Best thing would be to throw some Chemi-pure in there and possibly some macro.
 

reing7299

New Member
I have this same tank and am currently wanting/trying to convert it to saltwater.

my only issue is (i'm not really a DYI-er mostly becuase i don't have the stuff) the lighting issue. i've seen Coralife 50/50 bulbs that are screw-in style and are like 6.75 inches long but only online so i'm not sure if they will fit.

i use mine with a HOB filter and it fits well. i did have to cut off the additional plastic tab to make it slightly wider. also i used an old iTunes card to make like a fit around it becuase i've had snails escape when it was freshwater. it definately helps.

please keep updating on what you do becuase i'm really interested. i cannot find much on people using these tanks.
 

arejay

New Member
Thanks SWNewb,

Taking a look at your thread really gave me a good base for understanding how your fuge was set up. It looks like your canopy top is open around the actual light housing, does this negate the need for fans?
The pictures of your corals are great too, what camera/ macro lens are you using?

.

Reing,

Post some photos of what you have done, good bad or indifferent I'd like to see how it's shaping up. What was the wattage of the 50/50 bulbs you saw?
 

reing7299

New Member
This is what i was looking at: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... lifepcbulb

i don't know if its going to be enough power but that depends on how much you want to mod. i did see an article about putting LED's into the hood be removing all the old lighting. i'll look for it and link it if i find it.
also when i get a camera i will definately get pics. right now i'm just working on buying everything i need due to limited funds (its been a sloooow process).
 
Yeah, being semi-open top I have no problems with heat. Of course I am only using 96 watts of PC lighting at the moment so they don't get that hot to start with.

The camera I am using is a Nikon D200 and the lens is a Tamron 90mm SP Di Macro. However I think that picture might have been taken with my old Nikon D80 but the same lens.
 
As far as the screw in light, I think that you are going to be greatly limited with that light. I have 96 watts over my 10g and that I have found is not enough. I am hoping to change over soon to my new tank which is a 26g and I plan on using 4 T5 bulbs over that tank which should rock.

This I think would be a lot better than the single screw in bulb and it is not too much money.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=11382

What are the dimensions of this tank?
 

reing7299

New Member
So my own curiousity about the LED lighting was peaked since SWNewb said that the PC would suck. since someone already managed to fit the lighting in it seems pretty plausible and seems to be a good option if you want to keep the hood the Mini Bow comes with (i want to becuase i think i'll look very "finished").

so here is the actually website to the peeps who make the Powerbrite strip -- http://www.current-usa.com/powerbrite.html

my only issue is i am bad with the lighting math using watts, much less lumens :???: so good luck!
 

davenia7

New Member
I have the small CF on my 5 gal. hex nano. It's ok for zoas and mushrooms. And the GSP seems happy too. Anything more needy and you'll probably need to swap it out.
 
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