TJ_Burton Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 All I really know about it is that it is a European AIO reef aquarium that is roughly 24x16x18 and has 3 bulb HOT5 lighting. Has anyone heard anything about these? Here are some links I found - not horribly helpful though. AQUAEL website Some more info Link to comment
evilc66 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Interesting shape. Still PCs though (T5 in Europe). There seems to be a lot of good products coming out of Poland right now for some reason. Link to comment
plainrt Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I like the foot print of it. Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 Interesting shape. Still PCs though (T5 in Europe). There seems to be a lot of good products coming out of Poland right now for some reason. No, they are actually HOT5 not PC. They are set up with waterproof endcaps and all. I think it is funny they just used 3 spaced apart... I would have snuck a 4th one in myself. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Hmm. Picture looked like PCs. It was kind of small, so I could be wrong. It's been known to happen Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 Hmm. Picture looked like PCs. It was kind of small, so I could be wrong. It's been known to happen Evil wrong? IMPOSSIBLE! lol. Yeah I can see how the pictures may portray that but I saw some pics of the tank from a trade show - only reason I am so sure of it. Link to comment
vangvace Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 All I really know about it is that it is a European AIO reef aquarium that is roughly 24x16x18 and has 3 bulb HOT5 lighting. Has anyone heard anything about these? Here are some links I found - not horribly helpful though. AQUAEL website Some more info Jebus, I just saw the price and realized the exchange rate to pounds. (I really need to move back to germany) Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 Ok, here is the deal. I managed to get my hands on one of these units so I could take some photos and such of the tank - see if it is really worth the $700-$800 it would sell for in the USA/Canada. I unfortunately can't put it to use, or even plug it in cause it is all euro 230v plugs. I will take a series of photos of the lighting, filtration, controller etc. and post them shortly. If there are any specific components you guys would like to see, please feel free to post them and I will do my best to get a good pic of it. I am not sure if I will have this tank around very long (I don't own it) so I apologize if I don't manage to get a requested pic. I will do my best to take a photo of everything possible to avoid needing any requested shots. ------------------------ That aside, My overall opinion of the tank is that it is probably not worth the cost, but seems to be well built. The filtration concept is interesting and very easily modified if you choose to use something completely different. The skimmer seems ok (wont really know until it is in use on a reef) but the pump for the skimmer looks like it is also the pump that feeds the aquarium meaning you may have micro-bubble issues, and will most likely need some form of extra flow (a couple koralias or something to that effect). The plastic used for the canopy seems great; it is a mat finish though and may scratch or mark easily. The controller is right on the top, dead center, is smoke in color, and does not look like anything unless it is turned on (pretty slick if you ask me). It has three buttons (up, down, and enter) and seems like it would be fairly simple to use. The lights also have their own on/off switch separate of the controller for manual control. The controller also has a temp probe (seems to be good quality). The aquarium has 5 fans, 4 1” fans (two on either side of the light) and one 2” fan at the back left corner of the canopy for cooling of the entire aquarium. The lighting consists of three 24” HOT5 bulbs secured in waterproof end-caps mounted in front of an SLR style reflector. Nicely polished, but if you want to keep SPS I would swap it out for some individual reflectors. There is certainly enough room to put them in so I would probably do so if I were to purchase one unless you are just into LPS and softies. It also has a single (probably 1watt) led moonlight point on a slight angle into the aquarium so that it faces the reef (smart idea) but it probably doesn’t give too much cover. The tank has an overflow on the left with trays of bio-balls, and an interesting filter sock system on the other side where the water returns to the tank. Not much in the way of baffles, just one after the skimmer, but it is at least simple and would be very easy to modify into a fuge or something else. The back panel that divides the tank from the filtration is glass, but they provide a piece of black plastic to use as a backdrop. Ok, enough talking for now. I am going to go takes those pics and post them asap. Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Looks like a RSM wannabe. Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 Looks like a RSM wannabe. That is like saying that Biocube is a wannabe Nanocube or vise versa. It is an AIO, but there are aspects of it that are different from what is currently on the market. The controler for instance, or the fact that it is a bowfront etc. (I don't consider the cubes to be bowfronts even though the glass is slightly curved - this is an acutaly bow front aquarium) It is not really that similar at all to the RSM. Pics shortly (just uploading to photobucket) Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Humm... Missed the controller part. Was more focused on the skimmer, T5 lighting, the pricing, and the like. Throwing in a controller does make up for it a bit. Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 Some shots of the tank itself (first is complete, others have all filter components removed to show the back panel) The top/controller and access panels Top open, Glass top & Lighting (Includes two 10,000K & one 20,000K HOT5 bulbs) Overflow & Returns Filtration Anything I missed, please feel free to request! Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I retract my earlier comment! Very interesting engineering on that! Are those filter socks or are they for carbon and the like? And are those true T5's or the EU analog to PC? Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 I retract my earlier comment! Very interesting engineering on that! Are those filter socks or are they for carbon and the like? And are those true T5's or the EU analog to PC? They are filter floss sleeves overtop of a bioball like rod with slots to allow the water to travel up the center of the pipe. The HOT5's seem to be the real deal. They are 24w a pop according to the bulb. Link to comment
acropora1981 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 looks pretty decent. My only comment would be that it looks really small front to back. Which I hate Link to comment
Sushi Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I'm digging that clear back panel... could be a curse though in the future when things start to get dirty. Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 looks pretty decent. My only comment would be that it looks really small front to back. Which I hate Yeah, I think it could use a little more room front to back for aquascaping. I'm digging that clear back panel... could be a curse though in the future when things start to get dirty. I think I would have like the dividing panel to be black glass or at least dark smoke. It's smart for them to include that black plastic panel to block it off, but unless you silicon it in place well, I can see detritus building up back there. I like that you can see all the filtration clearly from the back pane of the tank though. Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 They are filter floss sleeves overtop of a bioball like rod with slots to allow the water to travel up the center of the pipe. The HOT5's seem to be the real deal. They are 24w a pop according to the bulb. Hummm... Possible to ditch the balls in favor of activated carbon and/or GFO? And are the HOT5's swappable with stock T5's? Link to comment
bluenassarius Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 wow, that filtersock system is way cool. it has some cool engineering. i don't dig the bow front, nor the clear back. if they made that into a rimless cube w/ a diff fixture it would be selling like hot cakes. Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 Hummm... Possible to ditch the balls in favor of activated carbon and/or GFO? And are the HOT5's swappable with stock T5's? The trays of bioballs can easily hold a media bag of chemical media, be it carbon, phosphate romver etc. Not too sure what you mean regarding the HOT5 lighting. If you are asking if you can put a standard output T5 (like the coralife T5s) in the fixture, the answer is no; you will end up burning them out. It will take any HOT5 bulb such as Korallen Zucht, URI, Giessmann, Current USA etc. Link to comment
acropora1981 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 wow, that filtersock system is way cool. it has some cool engineering. i don't dig the bow front, nor the clear back. if they made that into a rimless cube w/ a diff fixture it would be selling like hot cakes. So, if you completely redeisnged it so that it was nothing close to what it is then it would be awesome? Good eye soldier... Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I unfortunately can't put it to use, or even plug it in cause it is all euro 230v plugs. they dont make voltage converters in canada? radioshak should have em... sharp lookin tank, im intrested in seeing the "socks" in action Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 they dont make voltage converters in canada? radioshak should have em... sharp lookin tank, im intrested in seeing the "socks" in action Of course they do... I am simply not willing to go purchase one for this one time use on something I don't own lol. Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 ahhh....so you borrowed a tank just to look at? thats like taking a girl home just to talk Link to comment
StevieT Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Love the tang. AIO marketing rule number one: Put more fish than anyone could successfully keep in your tank, sell sell sell Link to comment
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