# 1.5gal Nano Question



## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

Hiya everyone!

Long time no post for me, still being a lurker though 

I've been working on setting up a small tank for my front office desk that ideally is as low maintenance as humanly possible (yet still have happy livestock). So I would like to ask you all for any suggestions in terms of what to do and what kind of equipment you guys might have in mind for the job.

Anyways, here is the setup that I am currently working with.
- Small 1.5g tank (8.5"L x 6"W x 6.5" H)
- Marina Slim S10 HOB filter (Small Hydro-sponge on intake with all media replaced by Ehfi-Substrat Pro)
- Fluval PCL13 lamp
- Dymax Robotic LED lamp (night light)
- Pressurized CO2
- Mini Marina C10 submersible heater

Stock:
- RCS only

Plants:
- HC Cuba
- Utricularia Graminifolia (UG)
- Some kinda triangular moss wall (Xmas?)
- Anubias Nana Petite
- Random bits of Pelia and Riccia

Now of course, I've already stepped in a bad direction and started a high-light planted tank which I should switch out for something wayyyy less care intensive eventually. This also means the removal of the pressurized CO2. I intend to keep the moss wall, pelia, and anubias nana petite, but I just can't help but feel like there's another low light plant I can add to the mix.

My main concern here is the extremely low water volume. I've been tinkering with the idea of a canister filter hidden underneath the desk to boost this. However, the larger the volume of the filter, the larger the flow... (~200gph tornado in a 1.5 gallon tank anyone?)

So... Does anyone know of a canister filter that could work in this situation?
A DIY canister filter is another option, but I need a suggestion for a good and large airtight canister to work with (preferably transparent for ease of gauging when to clean it out)

Next, is the clutter, trying to minimize as much as I possibly can in terms of bulky equipment around the tank. The last thing I need are kids walking up to it and smacking things around, turning dials and switches, etc. Not to mention, we're already working with little tank space already. Minimalist = Good.

The things I can remove/replace so far are:
HOB filter for hidden canister
Heater for inline heater if possible.
Pressurized CO2

So the only thing I am worried about is the lighting. The current Fluval lamp is such an eyesore sticking out above the tank the way it is. I am ideally hoping for something a little more like a coralife T5HO fixture that can sit flush against the top of the tank. This helps to make things look more streamlined and harder to get grubby kids fingers into the tank. The problem is that the lamp must be only 9 inches max.

TLDR.
Need suggestions for: 
1. Large low rate flow Off-the-shelf canister 
OR
Large containter for a DIY canister filter.
2. Decent coralife-like lamp fixture that is 8.5"-9" long.
3. Small low-light plants that could be added.

Sorry for the long post  but thanks for reading!


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Can you post a pic of your tank


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

Here you go 

As you can see, I'm trying to get the UG to grow out of water to bloom. Just as a side experiment to see if it would actually work.

You'll also notice a couple pygmy cories in there which aren't staying. They're moving back to a 10 gallon once I've finished rescaping it.


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

looks cool


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

Thanks,

I'm beginning to to think a project like this will require a ton of maintenance no matter how I go about it...


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## SKurj (Oct 26, 2011)

You can adjust the flow on the fluval canisters but that is a small tank, not sure if you could go low enough...


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## absun (Aug 28, 2011)

A small corner or in tank filter should suffice in this case, but will take up some space


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

SKurj said:


> You can adjust the flow on the fluval canisters but that is a small tank, not sure if you could go low enough...


I'll go look further into the different fluval canisters available and see what kind of flow rates you can lower it to, although its probably a lot easier just to look at one working to tell.



absun said:


> A small corner or in tank filter should suffice in this case, but will take up some space


Its already a super small tank, in-tank filter unfortunately takes up more than I would like :/


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Any eheim you can just use the taps on the double tap disconnect valves to throttle the return flow. Just put the valves close to the output side and turn it down until you get the desired amount of flow.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Just doing a little reading on your project. Some ideas came to mind. Not sure how the desk looks like and how much leg room is there. You could use some plywood and make a partition to hide the stuff under the table while screwed into the undertop of the table with 90 degree brackets. Also to increase water volume you could get a 5gal bucket from Home Depot or if you're really concerned BigAl's or some wine home brewing store and make that as a reserviour. If you wanted you could solder some LED's to the top of the resourviour lid and have it go furry there with algae then having the tank on th top of the desk get algaed up later.


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## chriscro (Dec 3, 2010)

how is your fluval light doing for growing those plants?


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

ameekplec - Thanks, thats a good idea. I didn't think of that at all. Although, a bit curious if reducing the flow like that might have any adverse affects on the filter itself.

AquaNekoMobile - Unfortunately, drilling holes would be a lot of work consider how the counter is set up. Not to mention there would probably be a lot of frowny faces if they see me drilling company property lol. At the moment, I'm thinking that running a clear hose along the corners of the desk/wall where it is hidden behind monitors and etc. is probably the most efficient way of doing it. Maybe I'll draw out a picture just so 

chriscro - Its hard to comment regarding growth b/c the tank is currently sitting by my window at home. Although I have noted some pearling with the HC cuba before when I've left the light on overnight before.


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