I have long wanted to use these two glass tanks together in a single setup, they are National Geographic Aqua Oasis series bowfront tanks I love them and I wish I could get my hands on their 23 gallon version or another 15.8 gallon. This is a picture of my original plan on an old TV stand I had, but I have since bought a more compact tank stand that fits the 15.8 perfectly. Here it is with a standard 10 gallon temporarily placed on top for size reference.
Here is my 8.5 gallon next to a standard 10 gallon, the width is the same and so is the depth at the center but the corners are rounded down 3/4 of a gallon on each side for a total loss of 1.5 gallons.
I have quite a bit of room behind the sump/refugium that tempts me to use it so that as much of the equipment is out of the display refugium as possible. I have a few ideas about connecting two 2.5 gallon tanks together back here. I could also run reactors, and HOBs back here.
The plan here is to build a well balanced system which means your refugium needs to be large to be effective, and I happen to be really good at aquascaping so I want to scape a refugium. I will light it opposite to the main display to help maintain pH via continuing photosynthesis. The 15.8 gallon tank will be my main display drilled with a herbie overflow and a small surface skimmer box. The 8.5 gallon will basically be a DIY AIO display refugium. This is the only design I could come up with that partitions the skimmer from the refugium so the critters do not get sucked up. The red is stage one and blue is stage two with a partition between the two. Basically I would be running an AIO as a refugium connected to my display. White rectangle is a filter pad, black rectangle is a HOB skimmer, black circles are heaters (one for backup set to lower temp), and the grey rectangle is my return pump. Just the nature of a sump means the refugium is constantly surface skimmed too. Any thoughts?
Here is my 8.5 gallon next to a standard 10 gallon, the width is the same and so is the depth at the center but the corners are rounded down 3/4 of a gallon on each side for a total loss of 1.5 gallons.
I have quite a bit of room behind the sump/refugium that tempts me to use it so that as much of the equipment is out of the display refugium as possible. I have a few ideas about connecting two 2.5 gallon tanks together back here. I could also run reactors, and HOBs back here.
The plan here is to build a well balanced system which means your refugium needs to be large to be effective, and I happen to be really good at aquascaping so I want to scape a refugium. I will light it opposite to the main display to help maintain pH via continuing photosynthesis. The 15.8 gallon tank will be my main display drilled with a herbie overflow and a small surface skimmer box. The 8.5 gallon will basically be a DIY AIO display refugium. This is the only design I could come up with that partitions the skimmer from the refugium so the critters do not get sucked up. The red is stage one and blue is stage two with a partition between the two. Basically I would be running an AIO as a refugium connected to my display. White rectangle is a filter pad, black rectangle is a HOB skimmer, black circles are heaters (one for backup set to lower temp), and the grey rectangle is my return pump. Just the nature of a sump means the refugium is constantly surface skimmed too. Any thoughts?
