# 5.5 gallon AIO build



## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

I bought 2 5.5 gallon tanks, tops, and heaters for $15. My original thought was to get into SW with a nano-reef. After a lot of research I decided that even such a small tank would be cost prohibitive at this time. Not wanting to scrap a small tank project altogether, I decided I would build a shellie tank for my computer desk. From the reef forums I learned a lot about AIO(all in ones). This shellie tank shall be an AIO. I didn't want a lot of clutter and external equipment so this approach will work best. Here it goes.
Start with one 5.5 gallon tank









Add a 158gph Azoo powerhead and a heater that came with the tank. 









Next I cut a 1/8" piece of acrylic, drilled a hole for a bulkhead and cut teeth for the overflow. Then I bent it using a hairdrier. I could have used and actual heat gun at work but I was impatient. Anyways it worked. I added the vertical baffle and tabs to support the eggcrate using WeldOn 16. That stuff works awesome. 









Painted the acrylic black using Krylon Fusion.









Built a DIY LED light. Used five LED clusters from Superbrightleds.com and attached them to a scrap piece of acylic.









Future steps will be to silicone the acrylic into place, paint the back of the tank, and build a platform/canopy.
Any thoughts on what to stock?


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## Tom S (Dec 28, 2009)

Very interested in this kind of thing. Lots of flexibility and options that can be modified to suit a particular layout. Would you mind to let us know where you have seen these on reef forums? (If permitted by mods. I did not see anything that prohibits that type of thing, but may be wrong)


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## Bad-Daddio (May 27, 2005)

very cool, i'll be watching this one!


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

ReefCentral is a good place to start, in their Nano Reef forums. 
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=75
I've got a bunch of direct thread links on my home computer, I'll post them when I get home.
Even if you're not into reefs, that is an amazing place for techy info. The stuff they talk about and the DIY are incredible. Lots of info way over my head, lol. [/code]


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## Tom S (Dec 28, 2009)

I've actually started looking into saltwater more and more because some of the problems and solutions they come up with take a lot of effort and thought. I'm always looking for ways to apply it to our systems, but end up filing most of the ideas in the "Try at some point" folder.


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## paradigmsk8er (Apr 13, 2009)

I rocked a 2.5 pico FOWLR for a little while. It was a lot of work (twice daily upkeep) and a lot of money. And very difficult.

I don't mind committing time to my tanks, in the least..but wow. it was a PITA.

Looks great, i like your overflow idea a lot.


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## mg426 (Nov 24, 2009)

Tagging along.


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

Here's some links to SW nano's.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... genumber=1

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... id=1545469

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... ?t=1741694

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... ?t=1760598

http://www.shelldwellers.com/index.php/ ... 809.0.html

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... ?t=1767928

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... ?t=1767928


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## Hthundar (Apr 10, 2009)

fishEH said:


> Here's some links to SW nano's.
> http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... genumber=1
> 
> http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... id=1545469
> ...


Nice collection :thumb:


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

Got the acrylic siliconed in place Sunday night. Dinner party last night so plenty of time for it to cure. Painted the back, bottom and part of one side tonight. 
It's not much but here's a pic of that.









Paint should be dry tomorrow and and I can start aquascaping and maybe fill with water. Still need to build the canopy and base. Stay tuned.


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

Busy this week so progress was slow. Built the stand and canopy today. Apparentley my measurements were a little off because the tank wouldn't fit. Decided to cut the frame off the top and bottom. It was surprisingly easy. 
Here's the end result. Hopefully staining everything tomorrow.


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## ssacrew (Nov 25, 2009)

Looks very nice! If I was a fan of maintaining small tanks, I think I would try something like this.

Keep it up


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## willmaddoxUK (Dec 17, 2008)

Maybe put it into mass production


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

i was thinking of doing something exactly like this for my 20" cube Parana biotope. could you detail a bit more on the filtration/overflow box system please ??


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

willmaddoxUK said:


> Maybe put it into mass production


I think my wife would kill me, lol. She's been very patient with this one tank, I can't imagine doing any more.



padlock 08 said:


> could you detail a bit more on the filtration/overflow box system please ??


 The overflow box won't be a true wet/dry. The heater will be in it and needs to be submersed so the water level will be about that of the display portion. The biomedia will be submersed as well. Essentially the overflow/filter compartment will function as an in tank canister filter. Why not just use a HOB or canister then, you may ask. Well this tank is going on my computer desk and I didn't want any external equipment, even a HOB. Additionally I didn't want any equipment visible in the tank. The result was this AIO design. 
As to how it works. The filter compartment is divided by a partition. The water flows through the teeth into the first compartment. It flows down through a filter pad, over the biomedia, and then under the partition. The heater and powerhead are in the second compartment. The water gets heated and pumped back into the display tank from here.

I finished staining the base and canopy yesterday. Hopefully I'll get it all set up tonight and get some pics posted.


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## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

How much was it for the LED's, and have you tested them out to see how they will light up the tank?


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

absolutly genious :thumb: =D> =D> i agree, the AIO is a much cleaner finish, thats the same design thats in all my Juwel tanks, except there are a few holes in the juwel filter so it can't function properly as a canister filter as yours would. i think i'll do the same one in my 20" cube, maybe have it 20 high, 5 deep and 7 long. i plan on doing the canopy and stand also, please detail how these were done if its not too much trouble ?? It's just that i've wanted a tank in my room for the past 2 years and my mom finally gave in so i'm gonna go all out on it :lol: :lol: :fish:

I know they're small pics but here's the juwel set-up http://www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/filter_full.htm


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## bubG (Jan 24, 2010)

what a cool setup. amazing the things you can do to a small tank. look forward to seeing your completed project.


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

cichlidfeesh said:


> How much was it for the LED's, and have you tested them out to see how they will light up the tank?


The LED's were $3.00 for each 4-LED module. I used 5 so $20 for the lights. The power supply was free from an electronics collection event my work hosted.



padlock 08 said:


> i plan on doing the canopy and stand also, please detail how these were done if its not too much trouble ??


I used regular window casing for the base and canopy. I miter cut the wood and joined together with brad nails and wood glue. Then I stained everything to match the desk its going on. More to come.....


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

DONE...success
I finished the tank Tuesday night. Three coats of stain and it matches the computer desk near perfect. The filter system is working flawlessly. The LED lights provide the perfect amount of light. The tank is absolutely quite.

The failure....
I filled an extra 5 gallon tank to do a heater test run. The heater gradually brought the temp up to 77* and held it there. Great! However, there were a few things I didn't take into consideration with the practice tank.
1) The tank was in the basement
2) The tank was uncovered
3) There was no filter(pump) running on it

These oversights proved to be fatal on the real tank. I set the tank up Tuesday night. Came home after a long day at work to find the tank at 90*!!! 4 out of 5 inhabitants were cooked. I immediately started doing water changes and I unplugged the heater. I got the temp down to about 70*. I removed the 4 lost fish and left the heater off. Since then the temp has climbed back to 80* but has held steadily. The remaining fish just came out of his shell today but is still hiding. While I realize 80* isn't ideal for them I think it will work.

Things I would do differently....
1) The eggcrate self to hold the media off the bottom. Well it floats. I would silicone it in place next time. 
2) Open up the back of the canopy more to reduce the heat build up. I still might do this.

Overall I'm quite satisfied.


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## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

Tank looks great, really goes well on your desk. Sorry to hear about the fish, what kind of shellies were they?

I am in the process of setting up a similar tank, would you recommend the LED's from superbrightleds? How bright is it, and do you get any kind of shimmer off the water(metal halide effect)? Also what color did you choose and are you happy with it?


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

They were blue ocellatus. 
I would definitely recommend the LED's from there. This is the thrid time I've used them for my tanks. The other two tanks have blue LEDs for night lights, this is my first attempt at main tank lighting with them and I'm very happy. The LEDs I used are best suited for small tanksm, maybe up to a 29 gallon. The main draw for me was price and how compact they are. These were cheap for me, $20 for the LED's. Cheap for saltwaterguys on the same size tank could be $200, albeit their lights demands are different.
I used thee lights:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=/specs/LBM.htm
in the Cool White color. 
There is definitely a shimmering effect on the sand from the surface of the water. Its most noticeable where the pump return is.


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

thanks, for that, im thinking of a pine finish and a diy stand as its going in my room  this should help


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## ssacrew (Nov 25, 2009)

From start to finish, how much would you say this setup cost to make? I believe this will be a cheaper setup than my current idea.


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

Well, really it'll depend how many parts you already have laying around. I do quite a bit of tinkering and already had a lot. Nevertheless, here's the list.
Tank - used $7
Pump $13
Bulkhead fitting $4
LocLine nozzle $3
Black silicone $13 (still have 90% left)
Wood, casing and plywood $12
LED's already had but $20
Sand, had from another tank
Shells, had extra from another tanj
Acrylic pieces, already had
Black Krylon Fusion $5
Eggcrate, had
Tubing, had

All in all about $80 not counting what I already had.


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