BADFISH 20 Gallon AIO

pelphrey · Aug 4, 2016

This is how I combat short power outages. I am using a APC battery backup, my return pump and heater are plugged in to battery backup side. If our power goes out for any reason at all the backup will turn on and run my return pump and heater for +-40 minutes. Luckily for me I live in a newly developed neighborhood with all of the lines underground, this doesn't mean we won't have power interruptions but we've had good luck in the 4 years that I have lived here. None the less power outages are something we all will more than likely face at some point during our reefing career and with hundreds if not thousands of dollars of livestock this is a must have in my opinion to protect our investments.

pelphrey · Aug 5, 2016

I ordered my booster pump from @MarineDepot a few months ago and finally got it hooked up. I wish I had hooked this bump up long ago, I was getting 40PSI into my RODI. Once hooked up I tuned the booster pump to pump 70-75PSI into my RODI-

It was kind of a pain to hook up, after following the directions exactly I got it hooked up!

New 40 gallon container is now full!

I have a 3/4" barb I need to get a hose on. My storage container is up high enough to get a 5 gallon bucket under the ball valve. I like to use this 5 gallon water container to fill my ATO up since it has a spout and a handle!

Santa Monica Drop.2 finally in the tank!

Hard to see but the LED is on in the algea scrubber. Santa Monica suggests running the LED 22 hours a day

MarineDepot · Aug 5, 2016

pelphrey said:
I ordered my booster pump from @MarineDepot a few months ago and finally got it hooked up. I wish I had hooked this bump up long ago, I was getting 40PSI into my RODI. Once hooked up I tuned the booster pump to pump 70-75PSI into my RODI

Looks great! Thank you so much for shopping with us and for the mention!

pelphrey · Aug 11, 2016

After months of wasting fish food I decided it was time to try something new. After doing some research I decided it was time to try a fish feeding ring. There are a ton of companies that make a feeding ring option, I wanted something CHEAP! I didn't want to spend 20-30 dollars just yet on a product I'm not sure about. I jumped on eBay and found a feeding ring shipped directly from China. The best part, they were only $1.14 each, SHIPPED! I ended up buying 3, so for under $4 dollars I had just bought 3 feeding rings. It took almost a month for them to come in and as soon as I got them I had to give them a try. My expectations were low from the beginning, I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. So far this $1 item seems to do its job. How long will it hold up? Time will tell!

pelphrey · Aug 18, 2016

How do you store your RODI water? I've wanted to come up with a better solution for many months. Browsing the reef forums I came across the Ace ROTO Mold Vertical containers. The problem with most of these containers if bought online the shipping will set you back double what the container costs. Also these containers seem to be rare when you search locally. There are many choices when it comes to storing water, one of the most common are the brute trash cans. I didn't go this route because of the width and although you can buy a lid for the brute cans I wanted the water to be sealed off.

pelphrey · Aug 25, 2016

I've been battling Green Hair Algae for the last few weeks. I attribute this to overfeeding and possibly my RODI filters. Although I haven't tested phosphates in my tank I know they are present. Luckily the GHA hasn't gotten completely out of control, I've been manually removing it from the tank during water changes. Adding the feeding ring has helped out as it is now keeping the food contained to the ring and not allowing it to blow all over the tank. The Santa Monica Filtration Drop.2 has been in the tank for a few weeks now and as of last night hasn't shown any signs of growth. I am running the LED inside the unit for 18-20 hours. I'll be picking up a handheld TDS meter soon to double check my RODI water and probably replacing the filters very soon!

pelphrey · Sep 1, 2016

I've had the booster pump hooked up for a few weeks now. Honestly this is something I should have done a long time ago. It is now taking me about 5 hours to make 30+ gallons of water. Before I had the booster pump setup it would take MUCH longer to make water. I also added 4" concrete block to my container stand and now I can get my ATO bucket under the ball valve easily. I still need to address my RODI filters and move my unit so that I can easily access the canisters and manual flush valve.

pelphrey · Sep 6, 2016

Here is an update on the BADFISH 20 Gallon AIO reef tank. I am still battling green hair algae and have been doing a lot of research. My new RODI filters will be here this week and I've added GFO to the tank to help out. I've tested nitrates multiples times and the test kit comes back at zero. I've stepped up my tank cleaning in an effort to rid my tank of the algae.

pelphrey · Sep 21, 2016

New growth on the birds nest -

I've been battling this for weeks now. This rock was moved into this tank from the cube I had setup. The only difference is the cube ran a skimmer and the cheato grew much better in the cube. The cube also had a much better CUC, I find a snail every once in awhile in the 20 but it is rare. I've tested my RODI water with a handheld TDS meter and it read zero, I did replace the filters in it last night.

The santa monica algae scrubber has been in the tank for a month now with no growth in it. I have pulled the rock out a few times and scrubbed it clean, I also pull the algae off but it keeps coming back!

I am in the process of setting up a red sea reefer and was going to move some of this rock over into the new tank. This algae issue has me second guessing that decision!

bigroost · Sep 22, 2016

I really like this idea, do you know if anyone still make a kit like this?

pelphrey · Sep 22, 2016

I got lucky and scored this kit on eBay. The badfish kits haven't been made in a long time. If you do a google search on "AIO Kits" you should be able to find one. I found another company about a year ago who makes them, but I can't remember the name or the site.

Husker · Sep 22, 2016

I love this idea! I hadn't seen these before, but I have been out of the game for a few years. This looks like a relatively simple way to set up a second tank..ha. I wanted a themed tank for several reasons, and it was coming down to a soft coral tank or an SPS tank. I ended up SPS on my main tank, but I would like to do something like this for a really cool soft coral tank. Softies have come a long way in the last few years.

I like the idea of smaller tanks set up in a way that they are really easy and really nice. You definitely did that.

pelphrey · Sep 23, 2016

Husker said:
I love this idea! I hadn't seen these before, but I have been out of the game for a few years. This looks like a relatively simple way to set up a second tank..ha. I wanted a themed tank for several reasons, and it was coming down to a soft coral tank or an SPS tank. I ended up SPS on my main tank, but I would like to do something like this for a really cool soft coral tank. Softies have come a long way in the last few years.

I like the idea of smaller tanks set up in a way that they are really easy and really nice. You definitely did that.

I always wanted to try out an AIO tank and I really do like it. The biggest negative is of course the limited amount of room for equipment, I don't like my equipment being visible so HOB skimmers are out of the question! This kit actually came with a cover that goes on the outside of the tank to cover up the AIO sump chamber, but I am using the first chamber for cheato so I can't use the cover. These BADFISH kits were made many years ago and I just happened to get lucky searching eBay one evening, this was a brand new kit never used. Unfortunately once my new tank is setup this one will get taken down. Currently I'm not a fan of having multiple tanks to take care of, I could very well keep this tank on shelf but it would end up sitting there for a long time. I'll be getting rid of this setup when the new tank is full of water and finished cycling.

It will be a nice setup for someone new or even experienced that wants a species only tank like you mentioned or possible a frag tank. Hopefully someone local will take advantage of the stand/tank/skimmer/return pump/some rock and possibly the 8020 light mount that I made.