5 Gallon Nano Tank - with sump - Need some advise

[al&burke]

Hi everyone, I was in my shop today and found an old 5 gallon tank - cleaned it up good and thinking of setting up a nano tank for my son, with a DIY sump. After being inspired by the nano tanks threads I have been reading. I just want to show you what I was thinking of doing and maybe someone could give me some advise. The drawing attached shows the basic layout.
Here are my questions:
1) What size pump - total volume of water approximately 8 gallons
2) Lights - thinking of a coralife mini compact Flourescent (50/50 20 watt 8 inches)- 1 or two of these - or maybe T5 HO - can I put the lights so they are over the refugium as well
3) Do T5 come 16" long or shorter
3) Is there a small skimmer I can by or can I make one with an airstone. - or do I need one
4) How many fish - I think one like a Black & white clown, or my son wants a Yellowtail-Demoiselle - and maybe 1 clown goby
5) Mushrooms, Xenia's for corals
6) Heater - what size - would like to fit it in the sump
The pipe sizes I guess will be decided after the pump is sized, comparments in sump will change once I know the size of the pump, would like to make the fuge as big as I can
Thanks for now, Al

 

[al&burke]

Anyone

 

[nikesb]

1) probably a mj1200, if you're going to be doing a sump behind the tank.
2) go leds
3) they come in all sorts of sizes 24", 36", 48"
3) you won need a skimmer since you plan on soft corals, they love dirty water
4) 5 gallons is too small in a 5 gallon i would say. a clown goby and some kind of small blenny would be good
5) see #3
6) depends on what size sump you're running. i would choose a 100w heater

 

[al&burke]

Thanks nikeSB - appreciate it

 

[debbie]

Hello, I have a 5.5 gal you can see my pics if you search for my thread I posted a while back. I believe I called it 5.5 gal.
I keep things very very simple. I do not have a sump and would never run a skimmer either on this size of tank.
I have the mini aqua clear filter running this tank, 50 watt heater, my new lights are current usa nova extreme 18" 36 watt
T5HO fixture which is perfect for this tank. The legs are adjustable so you can make it smaller if you need to.
I would suggest a goby or blenny for this size of tank, I think a clownfish would find it a bit to small. I have one fish and its a purple firefish, 1 pom pom crab, 1 porcelain crab, 2 sexy shrimp, 3 snails, 1 hermit crab, purple and orange florida ricordeas, green star polyps, normal polyps, 3 kinds of zoas, anthelia.
Hope this helps you a bit but do take a peak of the pics

 

[al&burke]

Originally Posted by Debbie
http:///forum/post/3263441
Hello, I have a 5.5 gal you can see my pics if you search for my thread I posted a while back. I believe I called it 5.5 gal.
I keep things very very simple. I do not have a sump and would never run a skimmer either on this size of tank.
I have the mini aqua clear filter running this tank, 50 watt heater, my new lights are current usa nova extreme 18" 36 watt
T5HO fixture which is perfect for this tank. The legs are adjustable so you can make it smaller if you need to.
I would suggest a goby or blenny for this size of tank, I think a clownfish would find it a bit to small. I have one fish and its a purple firefish, 1 pom pom crab, 1 porcelain crab, 2 sexy shrimp, 3 snails, 1 hermit crab, purple and orange florida ricordeas, green star polyps, normal polyps, 3 kinds of zoas, anthelia.
Hope this helps you a bit but do take a peak of the pics
Thank you Debbie, I have a HOB filter from a 25 gallon filter I upgraded for a goldfish tank I have, maybe I will use that, I will try to find that 5.5 gallon thread.

 

[al&burke]

Hi Debbie, found the post 5.5 gal - very nice - Thank you again - I will post some pictures when I get it going.