My Little Slice of the Ocean.

[HemiJon]

I've had my Aquapod 24 for well over 10 years now, it's been set up, torn down, sat empty and moved across the state twice and finally I have decided it's time to reboot it!!

I was always a low tech guy so I used the stock filtration for years with great success, but after about 3 years the stock hood overheated and melted itself one while at work. So I picked up an Aquatic Life 24" t5 light that served its purpose well, but after finding the local store couldn't bulbs in stock for it (manufacture issues) I recently upgraded to an AI Prime HD.

I made a custom stand for her about 9 years ago and it is built way overboard, but I wanted something that the kids couldn't to over and we didn't have to bend over to view all the time. Wish I could find the build pics, but I will post a current picture to show it off!

Current plans are to add a sump (have a couple of options just trying to get the most out of my stand space)to the tank and build a hood for her. I evaporate almost 1 cup of water a day being an open top currently. Need to add some more live rock and let things stabilize before adding my livestock. Will probably have 1 main fish (Tomato Clown or other Clownfish) and a Goby or two and a shrimp of some sort. For corals looking mainly at Mushrooms, Softies one Anemone and some Ricordia's.

Thanks for having me and look forward to feedback, advice and broadening my knowledge on this journey!

 

[KJ]

Nice looking tank

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Welcome to the family. Looks really nice. I am a fan of T5 but that AI color really makes it pop.

And shopping with the family, awesome. They look really interested and it’s a great hobby to share.

#WelcomeToR2R

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Nice looking tank! The LEDs really made a difference in your pics above. Much crisper look.

 

[HemiJon]

Welcome to the family. Looks really nice. I am a fan of T5 but that AI color really makes it pop.

And shopping with the family, awesome. They look really interested and it’s a great hobby to share.

#WelcomeToR2R

Thank you everyone! My 3 boys love fishtanks already. Hoping to set up a small freshwater tank in their bedroom once we figure out where to put the guinea pigs.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Nice! My wife is getting ready to start a freshwater planted in the granddaughters room. She just picked up a fluval flex. Great looking AIO.

 

[The Last Strider]

Nice pic's! And welcome to R2R!! I'm here new myself.

 

[HemiJon]

Figured I would give a little more detail on my stand that I built back when we were living in Muncie and had a near accident with factory stand...long story short, once night I stepped on the bottom of the pedestal base and almost tipped the whole tank over.

Of course as I was building this stand according to my plans, I had to modify it a little bit... The actual dimensions are 28"x 27.5"x 41" I miss measured my cuts for the depth of the stand which resulted in it not being a true square-but still works! Stand is constructed with all 2x4's which I then painted with a water proof primer followed by a white paint that you use in bathrooms, so it can handle high humidity and the occasional splash of water. I used a 1/4' piece of plywood to make the floor as well as the top of the stand. For the top of the stand I used some old tile we had laying around to give me a flat top and a great base. The stand was skinned with 1/8' birch that was then stained a Mahagony color. To access the inside of the stand, i made the front panel completely removable. I used small allen head bolts to attach it with knurled heads so I can use my fingers to unscrew them. Still makes it secure enough the kids cant get into it quite yet! Which makes it so much easier to work in without dealing with a hinged door and small opening. I decided to wire on outside electrical outlet box with a GFCI outlet installed inside the stand, which allows me to have just one cord coming out of the stand and to the wall outlet and then all the other cords can be hidden inside the stand along with the power strip.

I will probably take the shelf out to make room for the sump and have to figure out somewhere else to store stuff. I am looking at either a cube shaped sump or a rectangle sumped that runs from the front to the back instead of side to side due to the interior width of the stand.

 

[HemiJon]

Finally got some more Eco Friendly Reed Rock from the LFS. I'm pretty happy with the cave and the flat top for placing corals on. Still debating on whether I want to add another small piece on top still.

Still trying to find a sump I want, that will fit in my stand and five me the space I want for filtration!! Hopefully will have one purchased this week sometime.

 

[HemiJon]

Finally got the Eshopps RS100 sump in my stand. Barely fit, but still workable. Was hoping to have it go side to side but my support brace on the stand is only 13" from the floor and I really dont want to have to remove it to slide it in!

Now I just need to get a piece of plywood to put under it and then shim the corner a little. Stand floor isnt perfectly level... only off my about 1mm. Still looking for a return pump and skimmer to use. Not sure if I'll keep the 4" filter sock or try to find something else to use instead.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Coming along nicely!

 

[HemiJon]

Finally got the overflow for the tank the other day and mocked up the return pipe as well. Working on cutting a flat board to place under my sump, so I can shim it up a little. The floor to my stand is just a little off so the sump rocks just about 1 mm. Hoping that will fix it and ai can start plumbing everything!! Still looking for a float switch to use as a pump shut off. Hope to have the sump running by hectvweekend.

 

[HemiJon]

Finally got the sump plumbed and it's been running for almost 16 hours without a hitch! The Sicce Syncra 3.0 is almost too much pump for the tank. (Have it on the lowest setting and may still have to add a valve to throttle it back))I'm going to have to PVC pipe the pipe up and out of the sump then attach the return hose in order to get the pump to sit flat in the return chamber. Built a Hofer Gurgle Buster for the overflow box, but it's still too loud for the wife.

Refugium has 10lbs of bio active live sand, will be adding some Live Rock Rubble and macro to it today and will be getting some livestock as well. Still looking at Skimmers,a Refugium Light and a container for my ATO. Float switch should be here next week from Autotopoff.com. (dual Nano one)

 

[HemiJon]

Havent posted an update in a while, but tank is running pretty stable. My first yellow clown fish stopped eating and lost a battle with a blue legged hermit crab. Picked up another one and he had Ich, so in a QT for another 20 days or so. After treating with IchX he has made a full recovery and is eating frozen foods and pellets like a champ. Zoas have doubled in size since putting them in the tank, the ricordia is doing great as well. Recently added some GSP in Hope's of covering my back wall with it. Have a small Birdsnest frag and well from the LFS owners tank and some Pulsing Xenia, but I'm running zero for Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia and Phosphate...so not sure how long they will survive.

Thinking about redoing the stand to fit my sump in lengthwise for easier access and building a breakout board for all the electronics and get them outside of the stand.