- Joined
- Mar 4, 2019
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I've been sort of successful with some nano reefs (5 gal, 13 gal, 29 gal) but wanted to try something bigger so that I could have bigger livestock in it. I was recently offered an AIO 75-gallon aquarium with stand and smuggled it into the house. Surprise! The wife said it could stay!
Now the fun begins.
They told me it was all set up - had been a reef before teardown. All I needed to do was add water and go.
They lied. Then again, it was free.
It has the weirdest AIO setup I have ever seen and I've been trying to figure out what it was actually made for - possibly freshwater planted?
The back AIO area has (left to right)
flow chamber - tiny 3" x 4" skimmer chamber - bubble traps - approx 14"x3" bio-media chamber filled with bio balls - another 14"x3" bio-media chamber filled with bio-balls (I have never seen so many bio-balls in a tank. They filled a 5 gal. bucket 2/3 full)- triangular 6" chamber for the return pump. That AIO section is shaped like this: \|_|_____|______|_/.
The return doesn't go thru a nozzle back into the tank, rather, it feeds into another small chamber running the bottom 3/4 length of the AIO section with small holes for the water to return at substrate level.
Being dumb and naive, I mixed up my salt and filled the tank. (jpg attached)
Oh well, heavy filtration and it will clear. (jpg attached)
My plan is to use my 13 gal. tank as the sump/refugium.
Ooops.
It doesn't fit in the front opening behind the doors. It can only go in through the back.
dang!
Drain tank...move it so I can put in the sump....move it back....heavily rinse gravel, strip and clean back filter section....mix salt and refill.
(did I mention I have a bad back?) lol
While my budget appears to exceed my knowledge, it is still very limited so DIY, used, and 'bargain-that-rarely-is' are what I am setting it up with.
I have a bluetooth Current Loop system on the 29 gal tank that controls the lights and pumps that I will move to the 75 gal when I'm ready to add livestock. A 48" IC light is on it's way to me and I hope to add another one when funds permit. I also have a used 6009 Current DC return pump coming for the sump and will probably pick up an AquaTop Xyclone skimmer when I can find one for the price I want to pay.
My first question is what do I do with the back AIO sections? A skimmer won't fit in the skimmer section so that's holding the heater. The amount of bio filtering in the back is outrageous although because of the strange setup, waste doesn't build in the bottom of the chambers because that's where the return exits. I'm thinking of re-routing the return over the top to a standard type of return with twin nozzles creating flow in the tank. I also have (2) wave pumps in the tank.
Does anyone know why the filtration system was designed the way that it is?
What would you do with it? I'm thinking of removing most of the bio-balls and relying on the refugium for filtering - maybe adding floss in the back.
Starting the cycling now.
Now the fun begins.
They told me it was all set up - had been a reef before teardown. All I needed to do was add water and go.
They lied. Then again, it was free.
It has the weirdest AIO setup I have ever seen and I've been trying to figure out what it was actually made for - possibly freshwater planted?
The back AIO area has (left to right)
flow chamber - tiny 3" x 4" skimmer chamber - bubble traps - approx 14"x3" bio-media chamber filled with bio balls - another 14"x3" bio-media chamber filled with bio-balls (I have never seen so many bio-balls in a tank. They filled a 5 gal. bucket 2/3 full)- triangular 6" chamber for the return pump. That AIO section is shaped like this: \|_|_____|______|_/.
The return doesn't go thru a nozzle back into the tank, rather, it feeds into another small chamber running the bottom 3/4 length of the AIO section with small holes for the water to return at substrate level.
Being dumb and naive, I mixed up my salt and filled the tank. (jpg attached)
Oh well, heavy filtration and it will clear. (jpg attached)
My plan is to use my 13 gal. tank as the sump/refugium.
Ooops.
It doesn't fit in the front opening behind the doors. It can only go in through the back.
dang!
Drain tank...move it so I can put in the sump....move it back....heavily rinse gravel, strip and clean back filter section....mix salt and refill.
(did I mention I have a bad back?) lol
While my budget appears to exceed my knowledge, it is still very limited so DIY, used, and 'bargain-that-rarely-is' are what I am setting it up with.
I have a bluetooth Current Loop system on the 29 gal tank that controls the lights and pumps that I will move to the 75 gal when I'm ready to add livestock. A 48" IC light is on it's way to me and I hope to add another one when funds permit. I also have a used 6009 Current DC return pump coming for the sump and will probably pick up an AquaTop Xyclone skimmer when I can find one for the price I want to pay.
My first question is what do I do with the back AIO sections? A skimmer won't fit in the skimmer section so that's holding the heater. The amount of bio filtering in the back is outrageous although because of the strange setup, waste doesn't build in the bottom of the chambers because that's where the return exits. I'm thinking of re-routing the return over the top to a standard type of return with twin nozzles creating flow in the tank. I also have (2) wave pumps in the tank.
Does anyone know why the filtration system was designed the way that it is?
What would you do with it? I'm thinking of removing most of the bio-balls and relying on the refugium for filtering - maybe adding floss in the back.
Starting the cycling now.
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