TruVu Aquasystem Set-up

[phoenix3717]

Hello All,

1st time poster so please bear with me. I've kept fish for quite some time now and the reef bug just recently hit me. I got a TruVu Aquasystem from a friend that gave up due to a heatwave that hit two weeks ago so I got the tank, tonga branch live rock, and a lot of algae. I was wondering what the best set up would be for the tank. It has 3 total chambers, 1st chamber is water overflow from the tank. That overflows into the second chamber which flows underneath to a the third chamber which has the return pump. The tank also came with a Aquarium Systems Protein Skimmer which looks like it did an ok job on his tank.

So I'm not sure what the best setup would be. Been reading up on live rock rubble and refugiums and wondered what the best set up would be. Should the first chamber have live rock rubble or can i make that into a small refugium with a DSB some live rock and mangroves? Or should I add another piece of plastic into the tank and have turn the center chamber into a refugium? Or should I get a hang off the back refugium, leave some live rock rubble in the first chamber and then have a sponge or filter catch any debris before it gets pumped back in. Not sure if this all makes sense to you but I just wanna start the tank right (then again i know theres no one right way). I attached a pic built in chambers...please help!

 

[Meloco14]

You can go with any of the methods you described. My concern with using the first chamber as a refugium is that the water overflowing into it might stir up the sand bed. If it is gentle enough to where this does not occur, then it would be fine. Otherwise, use the center chamber as a refugium. Just block off the gap at the bottom and cut a new gap higher up above the level of the sand. Other suggestions would be to search this site for info on refugiums and mangroves. From what I have heard, mangroves are slow growing and really aren't good for nutrient export. You are much better off with some chaetomorpha. If you use any type of sponge or mechanical filter make sure you rinse it often. The stuff it collects will decompose and produce nitrates. Does the skimmer fit into one of the back chambers? If it does then that limits your choices of what to do back there. Anyway, HTH and good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

:welcome:

Best advice I can give you is to keep on doing like you are doing, reading and researching. Learn to use the search function here-it is amazing the stuff you can find out, and of course post up if you have any questions.

Good luck!

 

[phoenix3717]

so i'm thinkin of setting up the chambers like this (see attached). My question now is do you guys think I should drill the holes from the first to second chamber or just let it overflow?

 

[Anonymous]

Like most everything, water will follow the path of least resistance.. - If you drill those exactly as depicted, the upper holes will likely see the most flow. - You can compensate by drilling the lower holes wider.

Without drilling, the majority of water flow will just spill across the top and won't really "dig in" to reach the lower depths of that chamber..


- Long-winded way of saying "Yes" huh?

 

[phoenix3717]

any other suggestions out there? if so i'd love to hear them so that I can get my tank up and running today.

 

[Anonymous]

any other suggestions out there? if so i'd love to hear them so that I can get my tank up and running today.

Go for it...start a new thread with pics if you have a digi camera we loves to see pictures :lol:

 

[SpongeBob-SquarePants]

Instead of drilling, I'd do this:

 

[Anonymous]

Thats right Lawdawg, pics are a must!

And now that you opened the door to thread hijacking, here we go.....


The 72 shortly after setup in kzoo..

Couple months later...

Yeah, both are crappy quality, I had to shrink 'em hard to toss up on myspace..



Norm