15 Gallon Saltwater Build

HI all! I have been keeping freshwater fish for a couple of years now, and recently I have been interested in saltwater. The tank in question is my friends brothers old 15 gallon biocube tank. I am getting a sick deal of 20 dollars for the tank and stuff that came with it. Only problem is the bottom panel got busted due to a pressure point on the table. So I will have to replace that, (and have the tank sit filled on the garage for a couple of weeks to check that it holds) then I will be in business! My current stocking plan is 2 clownfish, 1 goby/pistol shrimp pair, and a basic CUC. Is this full for a 15 gallon? Or could I add more?

Edit: Skip to page 3 if you wish to follow my build.

 

Good luck!

Stocking plan sounds good and is pretty maxed out as far as fish are concerned. You could add interesting inverts and if you put a reef light over it you could eventually add corals or an anemone for the clowns.

 

What sort of anemone could I eventually add? I have heard some die easy/get huge.

 

They do not always do well in very young tanks, but once you've got a strong cycle, a good maintenance routine, and are sure parameters are remaining stable, you could add a small bubble tip anemone. These nems are considered a bit hardier than some of their brethren. They too can eventually get quite large but will not grow too quickly with once or twice a week feedings. If you're up for it, you could consider splitting it when it gets large.

Like corals, they are photosynthetic, so need very good lighting. I tend to find that many lost anemones were either kept under insufficient lighting, in an unbalanced tank or were already sick when they came home. The condy anemone, in particular, (not recommended), is usually bleached when we see it in stores.

 

Thank you! I will be picking the tank up today.

 

Here is the tank! So cracked bottom panel, no problem. One problem I have is notice the plug for the light. I am going to have to go back to my friends to get the transformer.

 

Congratulations!

 

Tank is broken down. The quality was questionable. Some of the corners were chipped and covered in silicone, there was 1 edge that had a gap that was filled with silicone (despite the pieces linking up perfectly) also the plexiglass (or acylic idk) for the filter baffles was cemented in place with half a tubes worth of silicone. But it all worked out . One question, when I rebuild the tank should I rebuild it the same? (Glass to the sides of the bottom) or would it be superior to build the sides on top of the bottom?

 

No experience with saltwater and this is no help but I love clownfish, you can’t go wrong with them, name one Nemo.

 

Tank is broken down. The quality was questionable. Some of the corners were chipped and covered in silicone, there was 1 edge that had a gap that was filled with silicone (despite the pieces linking up perfectly) also the plexiglass (or acylic idk) for the filter baffles was cemented in place with half a tubes worth of silicone. But it all worked out . One question, when I rebuild the tank should I rebuild it the same? (Glass to the sides of the bottom) or would it be superior to build the sides on top of the bottom?

I honestly don't know. There are some folks here that are great with building and knowledgeable about such things... if only I could think of who that is. Hmmm, perhaps Culprit Dave125g or Lchi87 might know who else we can call on for DIY tank repairs.

 

Ok, based on my limited research the way I rebuild doesn’t matter that much. But putting the sides next to the bottom, makes building easier.

 

Ok, my idea to get a brand new piece of glass is a bust ($40 for new piece) my new idea is I silicone the 2 broken pieces of glass back together, and put a thin piece of glass covered in silicone over that. Would that work?

 

Culprit Dave125g Lchi87
Any opinions?

 

If it were me, I'd do it exactly the way it was before. Why? Because there's gotta be a reason they chose to do it that way, right? I am no professional though so please don't take my word for it lol.

 

So I sealed the crack. Waiting 30 mins before razoring off exposed silicone and slapping on the new plate of glass. Wrapped the nozzle in cling wrap so it doesn’t dry while waiting.

 

So I have made my laminated glass. I am going to put it somewhere safe to cure with a heavy weight on it to got the silicone as thin as possible.

 

My thought is buy a new tank. A 15 gallon is not expensive. It may save you money in the long run. If nothing else piece of mind.

 

The closest equivalent I could find to this tank was $150. To me this is an insane price against my $31 tank (20 before glass and silicone). Honestly I feel better knowing it was me that did the work, I am not just some dude who made this with little personal stakes. On another note, here is the tank! When it cures I will scrape exposed silicone and apply a fresh bead to the edges (inside and out). I will add the filter chambers back when I know the tank will hold. (Fill test for a couple weeks)

 

I did a fill test earlier. It was a fail. I expected this due to not scraping silicon and reapplying. I put a generous bead on the inside and outside seams and smoothed them with a card. At 9pm tonight I will be able to test again.

 

Ok, I rebuilt the entire tank today. I decided not to lazily just slap new silicone on. This time I am going to wait 24 hours vs the silicones “12 hours until it can be exposed to water”

 

Hope it works out!

 

So today I tested it early. Today was awesome! 1 leak only! I patched the outside seams with silicone and smoothed it into any gaps with a strip of cardboard. I also tried to use paint thinner on a paper towel to clean the silicone residue off the viewing section of the glass, but no luck.

 

The rear right corner keeps kicking my butt. I am going to remove all the silicone in the corner and just glob on silicone and smooth it.

 

The tank seems to be sealed and the filter compartment is in! I have the tank running and if it holds for 3 weeks it is considered safe!

 

Oh I forgot, there was 2 leaks. I managed to patch the one in the main tank area. There is one in the filter compartment, but it should be easy considering the low pressure.

 

Tank is sealed! I used some food coloring to verify that the filter chamber was working as expected.

 

Congrats!

 

Vinegar will clean silicone off glass while it’s wet.

 

Vinegar will clean silicone off glass while it’s wet.

Good to know! Any easy way when it’s dry?

 

Razor blade is all I can suggest, just be careful.

 

Alright, update time! I used a Mr. Clean magic eraser and scrubbed the inside (mostly the front)I cleaned out the tank and noticed that even with the slight silicone residue that remained, it mostly disappeared when submerged. I also glued in the filter chamber.

 

I was reading through the thread and saw you siliconed the two pieces of glass together? If I under stood correctly you placed some sort of laminate sheet and siliconed that into place?

 

Yep. Glued ths 2 broken pieces together, then glued that to another sheet of glass.
Edit: I have a question. My lfs has a mandarin goby and it looks amazing. Would that work? Is it an overly delicate fish?

 

No, it's likely that things would not work out well with a mandi. Yes, they are very delicate in that they can be impossible to feed, and sadly, these fish are sold cheap and often fall victI'm to starvation. It is really best to only keep these guys in large tanks with an enormous thriving pod population.

 

Ok. I will (try to) avoid it. Is it completely impossible to feed it flakes (or frozen stuff)? Because the goby at my lfs has been there for a couple months.

 

It's not completely impossible. Some are successfully 'trained' to eat prepared foods, but sadly, many are sold this way, only for the buyer to find it to be untrue. Have you seen this mandI eat prepared foods? Is it fat, or can you see a lateral line? I'm not kidding, I've seen sad cases over and over again, where a reefer bought a mandi, paying extra for a tank bred fish that is guaranteed to eat prepared foods. Well, then comes along a stressor, being either shipping of the fish or perhaps an illness or spike in parameters in the tank... then the mandI stops eating prepared foods and will only feed on what it can find in the tank.

Add to this their very fast digestive tract, meaning they eat virtually every second that they are awake. It's said that they can eat up to 3 pods per second. A mandarin dragonette can decimate a thriving pod population in a smaller tank in no time at all, and then they begin to starve. It's terribly sad, and a fish will often last a few months or more, but I'd still say that things go bad most of the time and nearly every single time in small tanks.

To make matters worse, they are way too slow to compete with other fish when offered prepared food.

I do not say all this lightly and understand the urge only too well. I had another marine tank many years ago when I was way too ignorant of good practices to be running one. I couldn't say no to a mandI at that time either. So, I brought one home and hovered over it like a new mother. I offered food often and spent time watching him every day. He lasted 2 months. I love everything about them, but I will not house one in a nano tank, and a nano is all I've got. Please, if you can't help yourself, be prepared to spend lots of time and money on feeding that guy, and above all, please do your research in how you might provide the fish with its natural diet.

 

I will take your warning. The mandarin was fat and happy when I saw it yesterday, and it eats frozen shrimp.

 

Tank will be allowed in the house on Sunday

 

Update: Tank is in! My dad isn’t convinced though and wants it outside filled for a month.

 

It usually only takes 72 hrs to leak test a tank, and I agree with your father, do it outside. Lol. Just make sure you fill it completely.