bennerkla's 5.5 AGA Nano Reef Diary (Lots of PICS!!!)

I use a millenium 1000 poly/carbon replacement pad. It slides into the left side of the main chamber, just to the right of the intake tube. In the picture below, you can see just a little bit of the blue poly sticking out - that's where the pad is. The only alteration I made was to use an impeller from the AC mini. Those can be purchased separately from most online vendors that carry the Aqua Clear filters.

AC300fuge.jpg
 
Ben, the impeller on the 500 isn't swappable.
Click to expand...

magnolia Is the impeller on the 500 not swappable, but the 300 is? Would I be able to swap it onto mine with my Aqua Clear Mini impeller?

I like the sound of this, I'll try it out and snap a picture of it tonight.
 
Well, I got some good news and some bad news.

Good news first- my mounting legs and digital thermometer came in today. Also, my Aqua Clear mini impeller fits perfectly into my AQ 300.

Bad news...- The lights just BARELY fit on my tank. See for yourself in the pic below...
37052setup.jpg


I stretched the lets as farrr out as they could go and they still couldn't completely get the 16" across my tank. Urgh, isn't working out too well so far.

Then it gets worse. I was so pumped that my mini impeller fit on my AQ 300, but once I put the AQ 300 on the back, the light situation went from bad to much, much worse.

37052AQ300.jpg


37052AQ3001.jpg


The rear legs don't even sit on the tank at all, the light completely rests on the AQ filter. This sucks. Unless, maybe it doesn't matter? I figured the salt kreep would be horrible on the light if I were to do that. I don't have much real estate to work with.

The AQ Mini fits on the back under the lights. Therefore, should I try to work out this AQ 300 fuge, or just run an AQ mini with carbon/sponge? I need your opinion!

On a lighter note, here is my tank from my bed...
37052room.jpg


Thanks guys.
 
If you do go with the smaller filter one thing you could try is to heat the bottom parts of the legs for your light up a bit and bend it out. You are very close to fitting so it wouldnt take too much!
 
Not a bad idea. I looked at the tank again and don't see the harm of having the lights rest on the HOB filter. Of course, I would need to support the filter.

Mini or 300/fuge?
 
Dwarfpufferfish said:
If you do go with the smaller filter one thing you could try is to heat the bottom parts of the legs for your light up a bit and bend it out. You are very close to fitting so it wouldnt take too much!
Click to expand...

Was just going to suggest this!!

If you don't want to do that, i would just use the mini with some carbon and LR rubble in it, no sponge.
 
I would much rather go with the Aqua Clear mini because it could pull out gunk with the sponge nicely, and the carbon would really help clear the water. Plus it is small, would fit beneath my lights, and I couldn't have to have a separte fuge light. I would be very diligent about cleaning the sponge and replacing the carbon every 4 weeks(?).

Having said that, is the benefit of the fuge worth it to make me make this work? I think I can do it, but it would be a lot more work and money.

So, here is the poll.

1) Aqua Clear Mini /or/ Aqua Clear 300 Refugium?
 
Sugar Magnolia - Thanks for the advice, those pads are perfect. Are you using a reverse photoperiod for the fuge? Any problems with light spillage?

bennerkla - you could always build a simple hood for the light to fit into, raising it slightly above the filter. This has the added advantage of hiding the filter and the light fixture for aesthetic reasons.
 
Update 5/25/05
Got my thermometer and mounting legs, but still waiting for those moonlights. Nothing really turned out how I wanted them to today, but it'll all work out.
What I'm trying to decide...

=Fuge? or mini w/ carbon/sponge? Mini would be easier to set up and manage but a fuge might be better in the long run. Or would it?
=Are my lights okay if they rest on the aqua clear 300?

Thanks guys, I'll give you some more updates tomorrow. Cya.
 
Okay my main tank has no filtration right now, just a skimmer, because the sump went out of order. It needs the 300, so I'm going to use the mini for the beginning part of my nano and see how that works out. If I do want the 300, I'll have to buy another one.

Any objections? the Fuge might be the better way to go but I need that filter on my main tank and the AQ Mini shouldn't be too bad, right? With sponge/carbon?

Hopefully I'll get my moonlights today!
 
bennerkla,

I use an AC Mini and a Whisper Junior on my 2.5 and the combination works out really well. Why don't you try using your Mini and an AC 200 on your tank? You'll still be able to use traditional media in the Mini and have a refugium in the 200? That will provide you with more than enough flow and the filtation options would be a lot greater. I think the 200 is shorter too so you shouldn't have the interference problem with your lights that you do with the 300.

Regards,
Phil
 
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