In the eyes of a 5 yr old (5g build)

[kkozak81]

I picked up a 5g Marineland Contour AIO from QR a few months back for a different build that didn't work out. My 5 yr old has always shown interest in new fish that are in quarantine for my 75, but once they go in there he wants nothing to do with it, he wants his own. He's been asking if he can have this tank since i set it up, so after letting him help out with a few small things on the 75 on a regular basis, he has decided he's ready to give it a try.

 

       

I drained the tank and got rid of the little bit of sand I had in it. Took some sand and rock out of the 75 and started from there. Also added 3 gallons from the 75 and 2 gallons of new saltwater. My boy wanted to help with the rock structure. As I was getting the rock layed out and ready to piece together, I asked him to come help, after no response I look over and this is what I see..

      

HAHA...Don't ask. So, surprisingly I was able to get my wife to help out with it a little bit and this is what we came up with....                                                        

    

    It took me a bit to get used to it but I think I'm really liking it now. I wanted to have some height  to the rock to be able to put something small up higher if needed. The rubble on the bottom will come out to free up as much space as possible. I had a silver gorgonian and some red macro algae in the tank from before so I put it back in there now until I get it all figured out. He's going to pick out a couple zoas from the 75 to put in there, and he wants 1 or 2 small fish.

 

         

         Here's the "finished" product as of now. I'm hoping to be able to keep his interest now that he has his own tank.

 

          Comments and criticism are greatly appreciated as this is my first attempt at such a small reef. Thanks for looking.

[smallreef]

Very cool start!

[kkozak81]

Very cool start!

 

Thank you! 

[Hilary]

Love the rock work (reminds me of the cookie monster)!  How's the flow, and what kind of light do you have?  Recommend keeping it to just a couple of small fish (I've had a lot of luck with little gobies) and feed sparingly.  

[kkozak81]

Love the rock work (reminds me of the cookie monster)! How's the flow, and what kind of light do you have? Recommend keeping it to just a couple of small fish (I've had a lot of luck with little gobies) and feed sparingly.

Thank you! Haha...now that you mention it, I do see the cookie monster look to it.

 

The flow is not to bad, but not great either. It has a small adjustable return pump and that is all at the moment. Light is a blue/white led combo.

 

Thank you for the recommendation on fish. We were actually looking at some gobies earlier and really like the green clown gobies.

Edited May 5, 2014 by kkozak81

[JR-Tanked150]

Clown gobies are fun, they come in an assortment of different colors.

[Jason Rhoads]

Very neat! I hope my son is interested in the hobby at that age

[DCReefer1964]

Love the tank. Tagging along !!!!

[kkozak81]

Clown gobies are fun, they come in an assortment of different colors.

I'm not too familiar with them so I need to do a bit of research, but there are some really cool looking ones! 

[kkozak81]

Very neat! I hope my son is interested in the hobby at that age

Thanks! How old is your son? I think the key to success with my son is to let him kinda take control with it. I'll give him a few options and let him make the final decision based on the options given to him. Seems to keep him interested more that way. 

[kkozak81]

Love the tank. Tagging along !!!!

Thank you sir! Appreciate the feedback! 

[Arkonen]

I remember how captivating a little 10 gallon guppy tank was at 5 years old... I'm sure he will love this 

[kkozak81]

I remember how captivating a little 10 gallon guppy tank was at 5 years old... I'm sure he will love this

Thanks for checking it out. I barely remember my first tank. I want to say I was around 10 years old or so. Hopefully he sticks with it. If not...it'll be a fun little project for me!