Aquatop Recife 24 Build Thread

putsumranchonit

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What’s goin on folks. This is about my fifth box of water, long time lurker. Gonna log my build here for others to review, reference, and comment on.

Aquatop 24
Lights: Navareef 135w
Wavemaker: Vortech mp10
Return pump: sicce 1.5
Skimmer: None
ATO: None
Dosing: None

1/30
Got the itch to get back into reefing. Scavenged marketplace for a few hours. Spotted this thing and the next thing you know i’m meeting this guy at a sketchy gas station.

Got the tank home. The back wall was covered from top to bottom in dried coralline algae and the rear chambers were covered in vermetids and other organisms of some sort. Something must be done.

A quick dollar store run for a gallon of pure vinegar, razor blades, and some microfibers later and we were off to the races. Or the reefs?

Firstly I rigged up a prison scraper mechanism with a long flathead, some masking tape, and a broken piece of plastic off an old sunscreen can to achieve a perfect 45 degree angle so that I could scrape the rear chambers to the bottom. After I got my prison shank reef scraper created the whole tank got a vinegar bath and the scraping party began. Took a solid 3 hours until I felt it was good enough. I’ll be honest it was worth the marketplace discount.

Moved the tank into its new residence and this is how she stands.


20260218_012212_ED20DC8D-08C7-4498-9493-A0ECE9D9354D.png
 

revhtree

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Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D
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vetteguy53081

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putsumranchonit

putsumranchonit

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continued build thread here. Sorry Mods didn’t know where to post it initially.
 

JumboShrimp

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I have one of those tanks-- it's our office tank. I really like it. We definitely use an ATO, as even with the glass top panels it evaporates oven enough to be a bit of a pain. A standard pre-sized lot just came yesterday from Top Lids. Will install today. Best wishes going forward!
 
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putsumranchonit

putsumranchonit

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I have one of those tanks-- it's our office tank. I really like it. We definitely use an ATO, as even with the glass top panels it evaporates oven enough to be a bit of a pain. A standard pre-sized lot just came yesterday from Top Lids. Will install today. Best wishes going forward!

Definitely need an ATO, feels like im standing over the tank with a cup all day.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aquatop-recife-24.1148715/ if you want to follow the full build i posted it here.
 

JumboShrimp

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1771429883203.jpeg


We literally just dropped-in the new lid (with the anti-evaporation insert). If you got a good deal on your tank and stand, this lid alone will probably will cost nearly as much. Lol. 😬 But at least you now know that there is no measuring… I bought the standard Top Lids size for the AquaTop, and it fit perfectly.
 

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