back chambers on a 24 gal aquapod ?

[luisse25]

ok i started my saltwater tank in a 24 gal aquapod..how can i mod the back chambers?i only have heater and filter pad on the 2nd back chamber,,none on the first..im planning not to run a protein skimmer as im decided to do water changes every week..i stop running carbon as my xenias shrink..i will try chemi-pure but as right now i only have filter pad and live rocks for filtration..can i make the back chamber as a refugium?like put some chaeto and rubble rocks?the water level on the back chamber and the water level on main are the same which kind of not good as theres no surface skimming..anyone have suggestions pls?PLEAAASEEEE...

 

[gotfish]

I had my 29g biocube running for 9 months with no skimmer and no carbon either. I don't think the carbon was what was causing your xenia to shrink though. Most of the time it's a drop in ph that will do that. Keep your ph at atleast 8.3. Quite a lot of people use a fuge. Go to nano-reefers.com and check out their modding section and you'll see quite a few pics of how people do it.

 

[luisse25]

thanks gotfish but its weird because everytime i put carbon my xenias close up(not shrinking,sorry bout that)then if i remove it right away in just seconds they open up..my nitrates are low right now as my water is clean so they are just open but not pulsing..my brother has a 14 gal bio cube and i will say that bio cubes are better when it comes to the back chamber cause of the wet and dry..my brothers nitrate is a little high and his xenias are pulsing like crazy..(the long xenia)..so what do you have in your back chamber?i removed the bio balls and sponge..(i got the aquapod used)..i removed the top cover and replace it with the sunpod so its open top but i put a glass cover that way theres no dust or dirt thats gonna go in the water..any more suggestions comments are welcome..thank you come again

 

[gotfish]

The polyps close up like that just about any time you do anything to the water. Scrape the glass to get algae off, they close up. Put your hand in the water to flip over a snail, they close up. Look at them funny, they close up. Just leave the carbon in there, they will open back up in a matter of minutes. The only reason I stopped using carbon was because I didn't want to buy the little cartridge things.

I no longer have the 29g set up for saltwater. It's now a planted fw, but I just had LR in the middle chamber. I never had any kind of macro algae. Like I said, just go to that website and you'll find A LOT of ways to mod your tank. They are pretty neat just because of the ease of use. They are just a bit limiting on what can be put in them.

 

[Krish]

I had a skimmer, phosban reactor and a bag of carbon all tucked in the back of my 24gal aquapod with the return maxijet. Worked great and fit well. I never used the sponges and just had my bag of carbon hang right where the output of the skimmer dumped. Here are some pics before it was up and running and after









Also, just to show you how much space is behind these little tanks, I got the skimmer, phosban reactor and 3 other maxi jets all tucked in the back after replacing the back wall with a blue acrylic one and putting in my own bulkheads for flow. I didn't want my powerheads sitting in the tank taking up space so I hid them in the back.

 

[luisse25]

oh wow,i already have it running i cannot mod or replace the wall anymore thanks for the idea..im thinking about putting some chaeto on the back and rubble rocks..anyone thinks its a good idea?

 

[Krish]

LOL! Well, the first set of pictures with the skimmer and phosban was with the original wall. I used the AquaC nano skimmer and Two Little Fishies phosban reactor (both run off of maxijets) and they fit fine behind the original wall.

 

[luisse25]

i have the stock pump and a koralia nano..should i add one more pump?

 

[Krish]

It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish and what you plan to keep in your tank. I always had a lot of flow in my tanks and that nano eventually had 3 maxijets for flow as well as a Tunze nano stream in there all at one time. Another tank of mine had about 4,000 gph of flow in only a 38gal tank so it is totally up to you. If you find you have some deadspots then you can either try re-directing some of the flow to make up for it or you can add in another powerhead.

 

[luisse25]

i have a large fox coral and a huge open brain which both needs just low flow..with the stock pump and koralia theres a lil strong flow in the bottom as i have a loose mushroom on the sand(which im trying to attach into a rubble rock)and it always move because of the flow..

 

[luisse25]

how will i know if theres a dead spot?sorry im new to this hobby..youre helping me big time!thanks

 

[Krish]

how will i know if theres a dead spot?sorry im new to this hobby..youre helping me big time!thanks

No problem! You will typically know where there are deadspots if you find places in your tank where food, waste etc settles. What I use to do to make sure I got good coverage was toss in a pinch of flakes and watch where the flow took it. If I saw spots lacking flow, I'd either adjust whatever I was using at the time for flow to cover that area or add in more flow. I eventually had to go bare bottom with my tanks though because for one, when you get into a lot of flow and you run a sandbed, typically you will end up with a sandstorm so be careful (LOL).

 

[seattle989]

throw a piece of krill somthing larger enough that your fish cant take it but small enough that it will move in the current in the tank, if it just sits in one place u can conclude their is a dead spot.

what krish said nice looking tank lussie love that open brain

 

[luisse25]

thanks seattle 989..i love my brain too especially when i put my hands in the tank and he thinks its feeding time he opens right away like huuuge..he knows when to eat..they say it feeds at night,,mine in the afternoon..

 

[luisse25]

thanks for the info krish..