Aquatop 40g filtration question

[Steven503]

Extreme newby here lol. I got the Aquatop 40g all-in-one tank 4 days ago and have had it cycling with just live sand for 3 days and yesterday added live rock and dry rock (even mix of both). My question is on the filtration specifically the return chamber. I’m not sure if this will be valid for all all-in-one systems or just Aquatop - up until today, the return chamber (the very last chamber where filtered water is pumped back into the tank) had a water level of about 1/4 - 3/8 full. Today the water level in that chamber is almost equal to the water line in the tank so significantly more full. My question is, is this normal? There is still a good flow from the return pump so it is pumping out. Is this just normal because there is better filtration through the sponge/biological filtration? Is the skimmer (which is making more bubbling noises today that before) messing up? I just want to make sure everything is ok but I don’t know enough about reef tanks to say as my only prior experience in aquariums has been smaller freshwater tanks with simple HOB filters. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

That is the section where the water level will vary due to evaporation. It sounds like it was getting low yesterday but when you added more stuff to the tank (the rocks) it raised up. Could that be what's going on?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

And hey, welcome to the club, lets see some more pics of the tank!

 

[Steven503]

That is the section where the water level will vary due to evaporation. It sounds like it was getting low yesterday but when you added more stuff to the tank (the rocks) it raised up. Could that be what's going on?

I’m pretty sure it was adding the rocks. I completely forgot about water displacement lol. Same amount of water + 20 pounds of rock = the extra water had to go somewhere.

 

[harrisonliu]

Extreme newby here lol. I got the Aquatop 40g all-in-one tank 4 days ago and have had it cycling with just live sand for 3 days and yesterday added live rock and dry rock (even mix of both). My question is on the filtration specifically the return chamber. I’m not sure if this will be valid for all all-in-one systems or just Aquatop - up until today, the return chamber (the very last chamber where filtered water is pumped back into the tank) had a water level of about 1/4 - 3/8 full. Today the water level in that chamber is almost equal to the water line in the tank so significantly more full. My question is, is this normal? There is still a good flow from the return pump so it is pumping out. Is this just normal because there is better filtration through the sponge/biological filtration? Is the skimmer (which is making more bubbling noises today that before) messing up? I just want to make sure everything is ok but I don’t know enough about reef tanks to say as my only prior experience in aquariums has been smaller freshwater tanks with simple HOB filters. Thanks for the help everyone!

I got the same tank and my skimmer is not pulling any bubbles into the top chamber. What adjustments did you do in order to do that? Cool to see another hobbyist locally. I'm in Tigard.

 

[Neffly4u]

For anyone curious. I had the same issue. Granted it can get low from just needing more water but also remember that the media in the middle is a big flow restrictor for the first week or so. Once those sponges let all their air out and finally got a good soak my flow increased and the water level in the end chamber went up! So just keep that in mind

 

[TViquez]

Hi! I hope it's ok that I'm jumping on this older thread. I didn't want to create a new thread with the same title so hoping this can help others too. I just joined a few days ago, trying to figure out how to get this new tank going. I have a 20 gallon nano I converted from my 9 year old 10g long Nano so I'm not new per say to saltwater but I'm finally starting coral and wanted a nicer set up for them. I've never had an AIO, only HOB so I have no idea what I'm doing. Lol Anyone know why the surface of my water looks like this? I've also included pictures of the levels of my water in the filter. I thought I remember reading that the water that gets pulled through the grate in the first chamber, needs to be cascading down so the water doesn't go back out in the DT. I'm pretty sure that is why the surface looks like this but I can't figure out how to fix the problem. I put Caribsea Life Rock and live sand at start up with RODI water and IO Reef salt. I was thinking it was dust from the rocks but I figured it would've settled by now. This is 5 days running and the skimmer is pulling lots of stuff out but the surface doesn't seem to be getting better. I also never ran a skimmer before but it looks like it's working. I also noticed that there seems to be micro bubbles flying around the tank as well. Thanks in advance if you can help me!