AQUATOP Recife 24G

Mejia.j · Oct 19, 2018

Hello everyone,

i started doing this build about two months ago. i used CaribSea rock (shapes) i am using the stock lights protein skimmer and filter media while it cycles. i will be building a small filter basket. i haven't found many things on this tank. i believe this series of tank are not very popular even though they are really cheap. i also used black live coarse sand, and started the cycle using live bacteria.

hopefully someone in this forum know something or have some experiences with this type of tank and would like to share experiences. i would really appreciate anything you guys have to share.

Houstoner · Oct 20, 2018

I have the exact same tank! Just bought mine about a month ago, if you have any questions feel free to pm me. I think this is a fairly new tank so you will not find to many builds or info on these. I am running mine with an AI Hydra 26HD, and a current usa 660gph small wave maker on gyre setting in the corner. That dang protein skimmer will produce so many bubbles, I put a piece of white and blue filter pad between where the pump and the filters are to reduce all those micro bubbles as well as put small piece directly under the protein skimmer. And as for the filtration I used the carbon in the very top basket that arrived with the tank for the first 2 weeks, then swapped out that carbon for pieces of live rock that i crushed to a ball size with a hammer.

My roommate loved my tank so much that he bought one as well and he went with the black sand that you have. He was not happy with the filtration or the look of the black sand, so today I am going to help him change it out for some of the Carib Sea Fiji Pink.

Mejia.j · Oct 21, 2018

Houstoner said:
I have the exact same tank! Just bought mine about a month ago, if you have any questions feel free to pm me. I think this is a fairly new tank so you will not find to many builds or info on these. I am running mine with an AI Hydra 26HD, and a current usa 660gph small wave maker on gyre setting in the corner. That dang protein skimmer will produce so many bubbles, I put a piece of white and blue filter pad between where the pump and the filters are to reduce all those micro bubbles as well as put small piece directly under the protein skimmer. And as for the filtration I used the carbon in the very top basket that arrived with the tank for the first 2 weeks, then swapped out that carbon for pieces of live rock that i crushed to a ball size with a hammer.

My roommate loved my tank so much that he bought one as well and he went with the black sand that you have. He was not happy with the filtration or the look of the black sand, so today I am going to help him change it out for some of the Carib Sea Fiji Pink.

that's awesome! i was thinking of changing all the included media for pieces of live rock or dry rock. if you have any pictures please share i would love to see your tank and your roommate as well! thank you for the reply. i feel like this tank is not getting as much publicity as it should considering how well priced and how nicely built it is.

Aaronhome27 · Nov 13, 2018

Same here. If ou have any question feel free to post here or message me. I've got one as well. Great little tanks. I've been there done that till I got what I feel is right. Mine is running great and couldn't be happier. I completely rebuilt the back filtration to handle a jebao at 500 gph (the stock pump says its 475 but after 2 replacements I never saw one even hit 200 gph) I had coraline take off like crazy starting at 2 months. I'm running an eshopps skimmer 75h, homemade drip plate with filter floss that has a cheato max light shining on screens as an algae scrubber under it, and 2 tablespoons of carbon once every week or two.

View attachment 20181110_140155.jpg

Mejia.j · Dec 5, 2018

Aaronhome27 said:
Same here. If ou have any question feel free to post here or message me. I've got one as well. Great little tanks. I've been there done that till I got what I feel is right. Mine is running great and couldn't be happier. I completely rebuilt the back filtration to handle a jebao at 500 gph (the stock pump says its 475 but after 2 replacements I never saw one even hit 200 gph) I had coraline take off like crazy starting at 2 months. I'm running an eshopps skimmer 75h, homemade drip plate with filter floss that has a cheato max light shining on screens as an algae scrubber under it, and 2 tablespoons of carbon once every week or two.

View attachment 20181110_140155.jpg

that's a pretty impressive build. how is your build doing? i'm trying to fit a bigger pump on the last chamber. i have a bunch of marine pure balls. i'm trying to figure a way to increase the GPH of the filtration a little bit but i haven't really found a pump that would fit in there

Aaronhome27 · Dec 5, 2018

My tank is running incredibly good (knock on wood). So far I am very happy with how it has been running. I'm using a jebao dcs 2000 on mine. I had to make a small spa er for it was the only mod. Reason being, it's fairly close to the glass between chambers and if you turn it up it will suction onto the glass. I just used a little piece of plastic to wedge between it and the wall. I still haven't decided on a door for the canopy yet! Lol. I need to finish that up.

Mejia.j · Dec 5, 2018

Aaronhome27 said:
My tank is running incredibly good (knock on wood). So far I am very happy with how it has been running. I'm using a jebao dcs 2000 on mine. I had to make a small spa er for it was the only mod. Reason being, it's fairly close to the glass between chambers and if you turn it up it will suction onto the glass. I just used a little piece of plastic to wedge between it and the wall. I still haven't decided on a door for the canopy yet! Lol. I need to finish that up.

that's awesome i'm glad it's doing good for you! do you have a picture of how the pump is sitting on the back of your tank?

Aaronhome27 · Dec 5, 2018

No I don't. I can't really get back there to get a pic and I have my sides blacked out. But you could also use the strainer it comes and just cut it to size so you have a nice snug fit.

Mejia.j · Dec 5, 2018

Aaronhome27 said:
No I don't. I can't really get back there to get a pic and I have my sides blacked out. But you could also use the strainer it comes and just cut it to size so you have a nice snug fit.

oh i see, did you use the same hoses that came with the tank originally ? or did you have to use a different kind?

Aaronhome27 · Dec 5, 2018

I had to redo all of that plumbing. The stock hose was too small for my liking. I just took the pump fitting to the hardware store and set it up there.

Mejia.j · Dec 5, 2018

Aaronhome27 said:
I had to redo all of that plumbing. The stock hose was too small for my liking. I just took the pump fitting to the hardware store and set it up there.

so did you drill the backwall of the tank to make it fit? it looks like it's the same size as mine. i just want to make sure i know these things before i buy the pump lol

Aaronhome27 · Dec 5, 2018

No worries. No I didn't have to drill. I used a plastic 1/2 x 1/2" threaded hose barb.

CKI · Jul 21, 2019

Aaronhome27 said:
Same here. If ou have any question feel free to post here or message me. I've got one as well. Great little tanks. I've been there done that till I got what I feel is right. Mine is running great and couldn't be happier. I completely rebuilt the back filtration to handle a jebao at 500 gph (the stock pump says its 475 but after 2 replacements I never saw one even hit 200 gph) I had coraline take off like crazy starting at 2 months. I'm running an eshopps skimmer 75h, homemade drip plate with filter floss that has a cheato max light shining on screens as an algae scrubber under it, and 2 tablespoons of carbon once every week or two.

View attachment 20181110_140155.jpg

Please send or post a photo of how your skimmer is mounted

Aaronhome27 · Jul 21, 2019

I don't have the tank anymore as I upgraded size but the skimmer was an eshopps PSK-75h. Great skimmer for this tank. It's a hang in back skimmer though. It just fit in chamber 1 and chamber 2 in the back

CKI · Jul 21, 2019

Aaronhome27 said:
I don't have the tank anymore as I upgraded size but the skimmer was an eshopps PSK-75h. Great skimmer for this tank. It's a hang in back skimmer though. It just fit in chamber 1 and chamber 2 in the back

So it went into your inlet and skimmer are or skimmer and media area? It didn’t have to be modded to fit since it’s such a tight fit back there did it

Aaronhome27 · Jul 21, 2019

It went into chamber 1 "inlet chamber" and chamber 2 "skimmer chamber" yes. The skimmer tubes are adjustable.

CKI · Jul 21, 2019

Aaronhome27 said:
It went into chamber 1 "inlet chamber" and chamber 2 "skimmer chamber" yes. The skimmer tubes are adjustable.

Thanks I’ve got the 40g version and well the skimmer is terrible. It won’t work for nothing. So either replacing the skimmer or doing a algae scrubber.

Aaronhome27 · Jul 21, 2019

I ran an algae scrubber and the eshopps in mine. Before I took it down I was dosing fairly heavy to keep up with coraline and corals but hadn't done a water change in months. I just did a diy scrubber using the media chamber. It already has flow going through it, all you have to do if find a way to fashion a screen in the chamber and get light on it from the back. I had a cheato max that was given too me affixed to the back.

Aaronhome27 · Jul 21, 2019

I made a simple frame out of lexan with only 2 sides to support it to the bottom of the chamber. On top of that, as you can see in the pics, I had a simple drip plate that I just zip tied some knitting screen to for the algae to grow on. For a filter I would just lay a piece of filter floss on top of the plate. In the bottom of the media chamber I used the stock black sponge cut down to size to sit in the bottom should anything ever fall off the screens. I never had algae fall off though but it was a good precaution.