pros & cons of turning ac70 into a fuge

[kristincm]

Just wondering what the pros & cons are of turning the ac70 into a fuge for my picotope. I have decided to ge t the ac70 for sure but am undecided as to whether or not I should mod it into a fuge or not due to my lack of knowledge on doing so. And what kind of maintenance would I need to do on it if I do turn it into a fuge. What do you recommend putting in the fuge? Any other info??

[Grumblecakes]

It was nothing but a huge pain in the ass for me. Tried a few diffrent lights, none of them really grew chaeto, it would slowly just melt away.

I've changed my opinion on the small fuge idea... i would rather have just a skimmer. I bought a cheap (50 dollarish) bakpak clone and i've seen more imporvement on the tank now that the fuge is gone and the skimmer is running. plus i have a spot for the heater that isnt in the tank.

 

Others will disagree im sure but i wouldnt do it again if i had to.

[kristincm]

It was nothing but a huge pain in the ass for me. Tried a few diffrent lights, none of them really grew chaeto, it would slowly just melt away.

I've changed my opinion on the small fuge idea... i would rather have just a skimmer. I bought a cheap (50 dollarish) bakpak clone and i've seen more imporvement on the tank now that the fuge is gone and the skimmer is running. plus i have a spot for the heater that isnt in the tank.

 

Others will disagree im sure but i wouldnt do it again if i had to.

 

So was the chaeto not growing the only problem u had? does the heater work as good if its in the filter? I wanted to do tthat

[marcin_c20]

Recently AC70 quality has been crap! I'm still in the process finding the proper ac70 that works quietly. I used to have an old 300 that I used on my freshwater tank and it was dead silent. Unfortunely I sold the system few years back:( Now that I'm tryin to start a nano reef I decided to do the AC70 mod, so I went out and bought an ac70 but it was soo loud both the motor and the impeller rattling. Went back and had the store try a couple before I bought them but they where all the same So i went to a diff. store.... Long story short in total went to 3 local pets store and tried 7 diff AC70! I took the one that seem the quietest and have it running hopping it will break in. Also waiting on Hagen to send me a new impeller.

 

 

[SerenityReef]

Have you ever tried searching a topic here? There are several threads that answer all of the questions I notice you posting. I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just suggesting there may be far better answers if you research past threads then the random answers from a new thread.

[doppelganger]

Pros

- Extra water volume

- Extra storage of 'stuff' (heater, floss, chemical media, macro)

- good place to grow chaeto

- good place to cultivate pods

 

Cons

- Flow will be a lot for a pico unless you change the impeller or cut off the tab

- can collect detritus so u have to clean it once in a while

- finding a light that can grow chaeto is annoying especially if ur running on a opposite light schedule and want to avoid light spill in the tank.

- it's not the most ascetically pleasing on a pico

 

Those are my personal pros and cons. It's all personal preference. Like other said, maybe it can be loud but I dunno... I don't sleep next to my tank or anything. Remember one thing tho, keep in mind the water volume of the AC70 and you're water level if u decide to go that route. It's much easier to flood a pico with a siphon break than a larger tank. Just keep that in mind.