Marineland Portrait 5Gal

[JoeC]

I saw Cory's modification of this desktop aquarium's filtration system. I was just wondering if instead of doing the modification from YouTube, could you just use a HOB to make the filtration work.

[mustang_eas]

Yes you can, I've seen it a couple of ways, either a nano HOB that pours into the overflow box or they remove the overflow box all together and just about any smaller sized HOB will work 👍

Edited March 10, 2021 by mustang_eas

[JoeC]

Thanks for info.  

[starsman20]

I have one of these. Didn't like the filter set up so I removed the interior wall and dropped a small sponge in it. Just growing a few plants now but its going into my office once a few of these cherries grow a bit. Also I am experimenting with hair algae to see if it could be a useful plant. The blob here is what has taken over a little moss square.

[starsman20]

Wrong photo. Couldn't get the edit to work on my phone. These cherries

[JoeC]

Just now, starsman20 said:

Wrong photo. Couldn't get the edit to work on my phone. These cherries

Yes. Filter is a bit chinzy. Going to get a Fennerx or Azoo or a Penn Plax, all the same, thanks

 

[Brandy]

I kept the filter as was, and just added media. Sponge, and pot scrubbies, and filter floss (so, as youtube), because cartriges are dumb.

I have live plants, a betta, shrimp, and snails, and the tank is glass clear and did not go thru the algae bloom most of my tanks have. I honestly doubt the filter is even necessary on a tank this size, an air stone is probably enough.

What I thought needed a huge upgrade was the light.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Brandy

[Kirsten]

I kept the filter, added sponge media, and kept the light. Have a happy pea puffer named Siegfried with many plants and feeder snails.

[JoeC]

2 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

I kept the filter, added sponge media, and kept the light. Have a happy pea puffer named Siegfried with many plants and feeder snails.

Really nice, I'm making to much of a small thing,  thanks 

[Kirsten]

18 minutes ago, JoeC said:

Really nice, I'm making to much of a small thing,  thanks 

No worries! Note that I only have one fish and I have very easy, low-light plants. If you want to do something more advanced, you might want to soup it up a little.

One minor modification I failed to note: I twist-tied a piece of sponge media to the filter outlet because it was a bit too strong for little Ziggy, even turned all the way down.

[JoeC]

Yes, heard about the sponge thing. 

[Gideyon]

On 3/10/2021 at 6:44 PM, Brandy said:

I kept the filter as was, and just added media. Sponge, and pot scrubbies, and filter floss (so, as youtube), because cartriges are dumb.

I have live plants, a betta, shrimp, and snails, and the tank is glass clear and did not go thru the algae bloom most of my tanks have. I honestly doubt the filter is even necessary on a tank this size, an air stone is probably enough.

What I thought needed a huge upgrade was the light.

This is an old comment but I was curious, what kind of heater did you put in there?  Assuming you put it in the filter compartment.   Trying to find a suitable one...