Hi all, I'm in the process of assembling a JBJ picotope and am not too thrilled about sticking a modded AC70 or whatever on the back. I want the overall look to be minimalist as possible. Anyone drill their JBJ picotope with tubing to a detached sump below in a cabinet or something? Basically the same set up as many larger tanks but with a little mini sump/refugium below. Just curious to see how feasible this is. I imagine a little pedestal with a cabinet door with the tank sitting on top like a mini piece of art with a couple of holes drilled into the tank and top of the pedestal for tubing with all the guts of the filtration, ATO, etc down below in the cabinet. Lemme know if anyone has experience with this sort of thing =)

Haha, love your signature pic.

When I was in the process of thinking through my picotope, I also thought of the same thing. You may want to look at this thread from over at Atlanta Reef Club:
http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20020

The guy built an overflow and return in the same pipe.

I ended up going with the AC70 mod, but I'm sure there are plenty, if not a handful, of people who have had good experiences drilling their picotopes, and creating builds similar to what you're describing.

Good luck!

Wow! That is the coolest pico set up I have seen. The sump/refugium is totally overkill but still pretty neat. I was thinking of having like a 2-3 gallon sump but same idea as that guys. Too cool...