Freezetyles not so AIO, AIO seahorse tank
 

Well i have had this set up with the ponies for a while and figure it would be nice to add some water volume and a place to add some extra rock/fuge. this would help keep the tank a little more stable add some space for the pods to flourish, hide some of the equipment and use the damn cpr cs-50 that i can't sell

Equipment:
Biocube 29 and stand
Reefkeeper light controller, with sl2 unit.
maxi jet 1200 for return (might bump it up to a tunze 1073.02)
Bubble magus 3.5 cone skimmer
tunze osmolator
and other necessities (tlf reactor with bio-pellets, heater etc.)


so first thing is first. since i would be taking out the shelf that is in the stand i had to figure out a way to mount the electronics in the inside of the tank. i took some eggcrate and made a decent little wall that i zip-tied all components to.while they are all still near the water i think i have spaced them far enough away to avoid potential damage. i might string some poly in front of them to prevent agains splashes.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0739.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0741.jpg

that takes care of that problem!.

Next i was on a mission to find a sump that would fit in the stand that would not cost me an arm and a leg. I checked all of the lfs around here and was initially going to go with a 5 gallon aquarium. I was directed towards industrial paints and plastics to find a water holding tank for boats. found one for about 30 bones.

next hooked up all of the plumping with some 1/2 pvc for the return and 3/4 pvc for the overflow...


Ripped out all of the 1/2 pvc because it was really damn loud, still debating switching the 3/4 inch for some flexline because you can hear the bubble flow all the way down.

after that was all done i installed a float switch to kill the return pumps if the tank water level gets too high. I have heard horror stories of the cpr overflows for breaking siphon because they use an aqualifter. this way if the siphon does not start the pump will turn on and off in a wave maker type motion keeping the water in the tank.


I will grab some more picture when the skimmer stops pumping out micro-bubbles and when i have cleaned up the electronics a little bit better.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0742.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0743.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0744.jpg

sweet cube!

Thats really cool. Great idea with the eggcrate. I cant find the ponies in your pic.

Tre-cool Jon!......cant tell from the pic, any ponies in the pony tank?

haha yea there are three in there. ill get some photos tomorrow after i clean the glass and play around with the scape a bit.

Looks great, love the idea of the egg crate

I noticed your temp sitting at 74.....are you running a chiller on this tank?

nope i do not use a chiller. the heat is never on in that room (score one for living on the island!!!!) so it stays in the 74-76 temp area. the heater is rarely on its just the t5 hood above it that gives it heat during the day. but with all the led fixtures coming out that could soon be eliminated.

I rearranged the rock work so that it looked a little bit better. did some pruning of the macro algae. added a refugium section to the sump with some lr. a mangrove pod and eventually some cheato (once it gets a bit bigger) so i can start harvesting some pods.

I am really impressed with the Bubble magus 3.5. it is very quite and has pulled out way more than the tunze 9002 ever did in the same amount of time. it had a really quick break in period as well.

Front
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0756.jpg

side
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0758.jpg

can you see the seahorse?
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0759.jpg

two days worth
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0761.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0752.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0751.jpg

that second to last photo is a really nice shot Jon

Tank looks awesome Jon.
Your ponies look happy and healthy as well! Looking forward to updates on the tank.

Thanks Brent. with the new scape they are up front a little more so it will be easier to get some good shots.


Thank you! i was actually really excited to expand the cube. it was a ton of fun to plan out how everything was going to fit in the stand. hopefully i can get these ones to mate again like my last bunch in calgary. Time will tell

I was gonna turn my BC29 into a sea horse tank when I transfer all live stock into 75 gal. but, end up getting a peacock mantis. cuz, someone was telling me that sea horse needs a tall tank.

tons a mysis in BC29 right now though. suggestion on a easy way to harvesting them?

if you want to get populations up in the biocube you just need some place that they reproduce without being eaten. i have seen a few people put a pile of live rock rubble in a corner covered with a plastic green strawberry basket over top. of they convert one of the back chambers into a fuge with a light and cheato. nano-reef.com has a ton of threads on how to do those.