My (our) new Aquapod 24 ~advice~

[jesshimom]

Shilo and I are getting a new tank here shortly and we are going to finally have seahorses. We will be getting tank raised full sized.....

Anyway, what I wondered is what does everyone suggest to do with the individual media chambers in the back of tha tank? THey supply you with ceramic rings/bioball type "stuff" and I know I dont want to do that but I'm not quite sure how to go.

We'd appreciate some advice!

Shilo and COlleen

 

[cwby416]

congrats on the new tank!!! here is what I did on mine.

Mine is a 12g, but same basic make up.


chamber 1:I have LR rubble with a sponge on top to catch the surface crap. (rinse sponge weekly)

Chamber 2: lots more LR rubble

Chamber 3: chemi pur, or carbon on bottom, with filter floss on top.

Chamber 4: Pump(take out the factory and replace with at least a MJ900 or mj1200. and the heater if it will fit.


You will probably want to block the mid, tank vent. by doing that, you increas the surface skimmer, and get rid of the surface film much better!

Good luck with your new tank!!

~Randy~

 

[BCT182]

Peek at this
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14377

 

[jesshimom]

Hey Randy what do you mean block the mid tank vent? You mean the middle of the chamber and how?

I'm still needing the plumbing guru to help me replace the pumps, the connectors aren't the same... He's busy with his own "issues".

 

[Elmo18]

He's busy with his own "issues".

Colleen, Scott is right behind you!

:razz:

I'm kind of interested in some mods on these small tanks, too. TOo bad, they aren't acrylic

Best,
Ilham

 

[MarineTeng]

just an idea, bred mysis in one of the back containers to help feed the seahorses
though i have no experience or knowledge about aquapods, just seems like a good idea

 

[NeuroDoc]

Colleen,

The 12g aquapod has four compartements in the back, the 24g only 2. In my 24 (in which I keep seahorses and pipefish) I removed all the bioballs and cut one of the blue sponges in half. I dropped live rock rubble into the overflow section, as much as I could fit, and then keep the small piece of sponge up at the top to be a mechanical filter. The only downside is that since we're dropping a cube of mysis in 1-2x/day, the sponge has to be taken out and rinsed daily to keep the mysis that get caught from jacking up the nitrates.

In the second compartment I have my heater and return pump. The heater has been off this summer (and the lid propped open), but as we get back to cooler temps, the heater will have to be plugged back in. I will occasionally drop carbon back there, but it's been a long time since I have done so.

They are great little seahorse tanks. You'll enjoy yours. Just make sure that whatever you buy is truly eating frozen food. These tanks just aren't big enough to host an adequate pod supply for anything that won't eat non-live food.

 

[NeuroDoc]

Hey Randy what do you mean block the mid tank vent? You mean the middle of the chamber and how?

I'm still needing the plumbing guru to help me replace the pumps, the connectors aren't the same... He's busy with his own "issues".

What he means is to make sure that all the slides covering the return slots are pushed down and that all return water is going over the top so that you get good surface skimming.

 

[jesshimom]

Well finally getting to work on this. The plumbing guru finally took pity on me and we have my chiller up and running and I just cleaned the pod and rearranged the rock and added a MJ 900 inside as before it was too hot continually.

Hey Doc I'm wondering about adding the rubble, I have it available, but if I fill up the chamber with rubble wont that just trap detritus or you don't think that has caused your pod any problem?

Also you said you removed the balls, which I did and you said you cut one sponge in half and used 1/2 on top of the rubble. What did you do with the second full sized sponge. Right now I still have both sponges in the first chamber and the sliding grates all the way as far as they will go.

We have a MJ 1200 on the return now also.

THanks for the advice.

Colleen and Shilo

PS I am on the hunt for some tank raised horses so let me know if anyone sees any locally.

 

[jesshimom]

ALso looking for seahorses, pipefish and algae for hitching...

 

[MarineTeng]

well, i'd say if you get a good pod or bristle worm population in the rubble it shouldn't collect too much, and if you need some hitching algae, i think razor caulerpa works well and i've got a bunch of that if you want some