Hello Everyone,
I am building a shallow mangrove forest 'touch' tank and have a few questions I could use some pros and cons on. It will look like a miniature version of the shallow touch tanks at the aquariums, but there will not be hands in there, I just like the shallow look of the tank with mangroves.
Dimensions I was thinking are 42"Long x 15" Tall x 21" Deep, with the water line about 13.5 inches, but they can be changed.
The real question is AIO or a Sump? I want a water volume of around 50gallons, 60gallons absolute maximum.
AIO would be a 4.5" deep chamber running along the back of the tank with a weir and baffles for media and protein skimmer and return, would the chamber have to run the entire length of the tank? Or can it take up 75%, 50% to limit the space it uses and allow more water volume in the display portion?
Sump- only downside here is I do not want to add an additional 10-15 gallons of water, because this would lower the dimensions of the display in order to stay at the 55 gallon of total overall water volume magic number. Also, it will be a mangrove forest in the display with numerous macro algaes, so the benefit of a refugium is irrelevant to me.
If anyone is having difficulty just envision a glass 55 gallon frag tank that is 42"x15"x21", would you add an AIO chamber to house equipment or add a Sump? Are there any major pros/cons? Many thanks to all, and once this is situated the fun can really begin.
I am building a shallow mangrove forest 'touch' tank and have a few questions I could use some pros and cons on. It will look like a miniature version of the shallow touch tanks at the aquariums, but there will not be hands in there, I just like the shallow look of the tank with mangroves.
Dimensions I was thinking are 42"Long x 15" Tall x 21" Deep, with the water line about 13.5 inches, but they can be changed.
The real question is AIO or a Sump? I want a water volume of around 50gallons, 60gallons absolute maximum.
AIO would be a 4.5" deep chamber running along the back of the tank with a weir and baffles for media and protein skimmer and return, would the chamber have to run the entire length of the tank? Or can it take up 75%, 50% to limit the space it uses and allow more water volume in the display portion?
Sump- only downside here is I do not want to add an additional 10-15 gallons of water, because this would lower the dimensions of the display in order to stay at the 55 gallon of total overall water volume magic number. Also, it will be a mangrove forest in the display with numerous macro algaes, so the benefit of a refugium is irrelevant to me.
If anyone is having difficulty just envision a glass 55 gallon frag tank that is 42"x15"x21", would you add an AIO chamber to house equipment or add a Sump? Are there any major pros/cons? Many thanks to all, and once this is situated the fun can really begin.