Anna's IM 40L AIO Adventure

[Anna K]

My Tank Progress

March 8, 2025	April 20, 2025	May 20, 2025
June 20, 2025	July 18, 2025	August 22, 2025
August 2025 - December 2025 my tank went through a catastrophic killing event that wiped out 98% of my corals. I still do not know the cause of the event. It was not due to water, voltage, malfunctioning equipment, etc. This made we want to quit reefing. When it all started​	February 2026	March 2026

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Anna's Helpful tidbits

• ATO = RODI/Distilled Water
• Figuring out how to measure correctly with the Danoplus Waterproof Par Meter
• Heater recommendations
• Rock Flower Anemone going MIA??
• Discussing leathers and running carbon
• First bacteria bloom and how to resolve it
• Understanding the breakdown of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/phosphate
• TBS rock/sand discussion and the benefits of it
• Copepods and Phytoplankton discussion
• To do or not to do - chemical filtration
• Brown Jelly Disease discussion
• Discussion for QT tank and media
• Back Chambers and Sumps = all the same thing
• Discussion about target feeding coral
• Ugly Stage and Manual Removal
• Identifying Tissue Necrosis in SPS
• Understanding how to setup a media basket properly
• Phosphates are necessary building blocks of cellular growth
• Elevated Nitrate/Phosphate vs Zero Running
• Removing just the skimmer cup and why + how to readjust skimmer with drawn diagram
• Understanding the difference between ppm and ppb
• How to try new corals in your tank
• The great carbon discussion when it comes to leathers
• Rock Flower Anemone discussion about healthy locations
• Clam discussion (mainly about Maxima)
• Fresh water bath instructions for clams
• Torch flow discussion
• Zoas Hydrogen Peroxide dip
• Clam autonomy
• CB and CBB are not the same fish
• Biodiversity with Mud - why it's important and what it does
• Nem islands and the best rocks to keep them on
• What to do when your return pump dies until you get a replacement
• Hair algae - the do's and dont's to remove it
• This is what Bryopsis looks like vs hair algae
• How to defeat Bryopsis + full instructions
• Is this torch melting? + how to identify when it's just pooping
• Fun fact about what to see when a mushroom splits
• This is what an amphipod looks like
• This is what Nerite snail eggs look like
• What overfed cyano looks like
• What Spirorbid worms look like

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Current setup:
- Innovative Marine 40L AIO
- NICREW HyperReef 200 Gen 2 w/ Controller
a. Light shade from Etsy (@UNREEFER)
- Hygger 200W Heater
- Intake media basket (running filter floss and chemi-pure blue)
- Innovative Marine media basket (running filter floss and chemi-pure blue)
- IceCap AIO 240 Skimmer (skimmer cap off as of 4/25/25)
- Duetto2 Dual-sensor complete ATO
- 5g Innovative Marine reservoir
- (2) Nero 3
- (2) 20lb bags of Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Sand
- CaribSea 15-25g Aquascaping Kit (rocks)
- Nature's Ocean Live Nutri-Seawater
- 10 hole frag rock sandbed display from @Aquarocks
- 10 plate/holed sandbed display from Aquarocks

Tank Inhabitants:
- Cleaner Package w/ Hermits (current resident as of 3/6) Reef Cleaners
- Royal Gramma (current resident as of 4/3) Dr. Reef's Quarantined Fish
- Black Ice Clownfish "Bonnie" (current resident as of 4/3) Dr. Reef's Quarantined Fish
- Banggai Cardinal (current resident as of 4/3) Dr. Reef's Quarantined Fish RIP 8.12.2025
- Midnight Lightning Clownfish "Clyde" (current resident as of 4/10) Cultivated Reef
- Misc Cleaners (current resident as of 5/6) Reef Cleaners
- ORA Derasa Clam MARICULTURED 2.5" (current resident as of 5/29) Corals.com
- Firefish Helfrichi (current resident as of 6/19) Dr. Reef's Quarantined Fish RIP 8.12.2025
- Melanurus Wrasse (current resident as of 1/16) Dr. Reef's Quarantined Fish
- Misc Cleaners (current resident as of 1/21) Reef Cleaners

Current Coral:
- Sherman BTA "Steve" (purchased from @Corals.com) RIP 6.13.2025
- Pink Asia Acan (purchased from @TCK Corals)
- Space Monster Acan (purchased from @SBB Corals)
- Ghost Busters Acan (purchased from SBB Corals)
- Mind Bender Acan (purchased from SBB Corals)
- Golden Glitter Acan (purchased from SBB Corals)
- Fun Dip Acan (purchased from SBB Corals)
- Atomic Fireball Acan (purchased from SBB Corals)
- Rock Flower Rainbow Center (purchased from SBB Corals)
- No name Zoa Cluster (purchased from SBB Corals)
- Twizler Zoa Cluster (purchased from SBB Corals)
- Moon Walker Acan (freebie from SBB Corals)
- Fox Coral, Indo, Rare (purchased from Corals.com)
- Gorgonia, Purple Candelabra, Photosynthetic (purchased from Corals.com)
- Acan / Micromussa (purchased from @RiptideAquaculture)
- Acan / Micromussa (purchased from Riptide Aquaculture)
- Ultimate Rasta Zoanthid (purchased from Riptide Aquaculture)
- Pandora Zoanthids (purchased from @Tidal Gardens)
- Spiderman Zoanthids (purchased from Tidal Gardens)
- Blowpop Zoanthids (purchased from Tidal Gardens)
- Japanese Neon Green Weeping Willow Toadstool (purchased off of R2R marketplace from @HarrisonYu)
- Blue Tipped Purple Monster Torch (won on ReefnBid from Pieces of the Ocean)
- Alpha and Omega Zoa (purchased from @A Reef Creation)
- IA Ice Kings Zoas (purchased from A Reef Creation)
- CC Magic Carpet Mushroom (purchased from A Reef Creation)
- Lazer Lemons/Bloodsucker Zoa combo (purchased from TCK Corals)
- Sweet Zoas (purchased from TCK Corals)
- TCK Asia Lord Rainbow Center (purchased from TCK Corals)
- TCK Asia Lord (purchased from TCK Corals)
- TCK Glitter Lord (purchased from TCK Corals)
- TCK Insanity Lord (purchased from TCK Corals)
- TCK Sparkly Asia Lord (purchased from TCK Corals)
- TCK Sunrise Lord (purchased from TCK Corals)
- TCK Pink and Golds (purchased from TCK Corals)
- Dragon Soul Torch (purchased from Pieces of the Ocean)
- Rainbow Button Scoly (Crocodile Island) (purchased off of ReefnBid from @Frag Farm)
- Holy Grail Torch (purchased off of ReefnBid from Frag Farm)
- Stratosphere Zoa (purchased off of ReefnBid from Frag Farm)
- Charizard Acan Lord (purchased off of ReefnBid from Frag Farm)
- Daisy Cutter Zoa (purchased off of ReefnBid from Frag Farm)
- Deep water Torch (purchased off of ReefnBid from Frag Farm)

Testers:
- Hanna master tester (main tester)
- Hanna Alkalinity
- API Calcium
- API Marine Saltwater Master Test Kit
- Salinity Refractometer
- Danoplus Waterproof Par Meter

Feed Offerings:
- LRS Fish Frenzy (main offering)
- Hikari Marine-S Pellets Fish Food (second offering)
- Reef Roids (main offering)
- Red Sea Reef Energy AB+
- Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp
- LRS Reef Frenzy

Water Elemental Analysis

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along! Can't wait to see the tank up and running!

 

[JoJosReef]

Great tank (I'm obviously a fan having just upgraded my 40L)!

 

[bluehusky424]

Following!

 

[Anna K]

I am so excited to share that it only took me 30 days to move from this to a brand new IM 40L AIO!

I ordered the tank on Thursday (2/27/25), and it arrived yesterday (3/4/25) which was pretty shocking. I haven't had a chance to unbox it yet because Texas weather decided to throw a temper tantrum yesterday morning, and we got hit pretty hard by 68mpg winds and flooding. We had siding on our shop torn off, debris all around the farm, crap landed on the tractor, trees falling on fences, my pigs house was thrown, and we had a lovely raging river go through the middle of our property... all 25 acres of it.

But here it is!! :star-struck:

I am hoping to get it unpackaged and built within the next day or two. I have a lot of stuff coming for the tank that won't arrive until today or tomorrow, so I have time. I'm super excited and super nervous about jumping into a bigger tank, but I think this is going to be a great stepping stone for me. I plan on keeping mainly LPS and softies (screw SPS :face-with-tears-of-joy:), and having hopefully a very biodiverse'd mixed reef.

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After following along with @exnisstech's build thread, I'm leaning towards getting filter floss for the tank

Like the Hexagon, I am using premade saltwater again with Nature's Ocean Live Nutri-Seawater. The sand I got was recommended to use WITH this saltwater for an 'Instant Cycling'. So, we'll actually see if that's what happens. It's kinda like a science experiment for me to see if this actually makes a difference. In the Hexagon I did the same thing, added coral and a bta about 5 days later, and all still alive.

I'm still looking at RO/DI systems (probably going with a 5 or 6 stage option), and then also what type of Salt I want to use moving forward. I was surfing the forums and saw that there were a lot of opinions on a lot of different salt options, so I'll be doing more digging before actually landing on one.

Miscellaneous items:
- 18 curbed tweezers (loathe)
- Aqueon Algae Cleaner
- Seachem Reef Glue
- Kordon pH Decrease
- Seachem Reef Buffer
- Red Sea Foundation KH/Alkalinity
- IM Frozen Fish Food Feeder
- BRS Reef Chili eaten by dog
- San Francisco Bay Brand Freeze Dried Mysis Shrimp eaten by dog
- Aquarium Choice Coral Lens Filter Kits for Phone (actually works)
- Coral RX dip

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Broke out the stand and tank from the shipping boxes. Started working on putting the stand together. Our goal was to get the stand and aquarium setup, but we've hit a bit of a snag on the stand part.

Besides the directions being incorrect, our last panel doesn't have prescored holes. :smiling-face-with-tear:

Reached out to IM. Hopefully we'll hear from them some time tomorrow.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Broke out the stand and tank from the shipping boxes. Started working on putting the stand together. Our goal was to get the stand and aquarium setup, but we've hit a bit of a snag on the stand part.

Besides the directions being incorrect, our last panel doesn't have prescored holes. :smiling-face-with-tear:

Reached out to IM. Hopefully we'll hear from them some time tomorrow.

Hopefully, they reach out to you soon! Crazy how it was missing the holes!

 

[Anna K]

Heard back from IM late in the morning. So, while their instructions state that there should be prescored holes that is not the case.

The four screws go through the four corner areas of the foam board into the plastic caps on top of the vertical bars of the aps stand.

So we finished up the stand tonight, made sure it was leveled and then brought the actual tank inside.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but this 40L was listed under their blemished tanks section, and so I got this tank for around $1300 shipped.

Put the tank on and couldn't find a blemish anywhere. It wasn't until we filled it with water did we see this microscopic scratch in a corner that no one in their right mind would be able to find. So win/win ha-ha

Heres the caddy stuff that came with it. I was expecting those white peanut things in the bag, so the balls were interesting. No directions either on if you were supposed to put both bags in together at the same time, so we just went off the photo.

I had to make a post here to figure out what these empty spots were. I figured since it was an AIO you wouldn't have to necessarily grab new things or upgrade; everything you'd need would be included. Definitely an interesting read on what those spots can be used for. We did put the heater inside the return area because I saw that was an option on someone else's thread!

After we got this setup, we put up the Nero 3's on opposite ends and then added the sand, followed by the water.

Now remember I'm using Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Sand and Nature's Ocean Live Nutri-Seawater because it's supposed to be an instant cycle when combined together. We're gonna see if it actually cycles. So, this is what the tank looks like as we head to bed.

I purchased filter floss and holder this afternoon along with an ATO! Super excited! :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Anna K]

Friday morning came and I did a water test.
ALK @ 8
CAL @ 380

I was going to transfer the rocks from the Hexagon but didn't go through with it once I got my new package of rocks from Amazon. I ordered a kit so I could have a donut and arches and whatnot, and it actually filled up my tank. It was meant for a 15 - 25g aquarium, but I thought it was plenty.

So Friday ended looking like this

Oh and one of my new Nero 3 powerheads decided to give me the red light of death. We took the cover off to see if anything was jamming the motor and it wasn't, and it was working perfectly fine all the way up until I turned it off, unplugged it, and then plugged it back in. It's up on the marketplace right now for $75 shipped in case someone who knows how to tinker with it, and wants to give it a go, can get it back up and running. I reached out to Chewy and they already sent out a replacement for it.

 

[Anna K]

Saturday morning I went to look at my tank and it had all settled. I then looked over at my Hexagon and noticed my beloved 20+ head Duncan colony was DYING. Overnight it seemed like I had two heads just shrivel up and *poof* go all skeletor on me.

Saturday morning tank view:

I reached out to my friend who had been doing saltwater for over a decade and asked for advice. He gave me several options, and I wanted to at least try and give my Duncan a chance at recovering. He said it was slim, but I really like my Duncan colony and just want to it thrive and survive. So it moved to the new tank.

Water test came back in perfect parameters AND after moving the dude, he opened up the best he's ever opened up. The Hexagon tank water parameters were where they were supposed to be too, but I'm guess this could be a mixture of more flow, maybe better light? Maybe it didn't like my AI Prime 16HD. Who knows? I did learn though that apparently Duncans are absolute food monsters, and maybe I wasn't feeding it enough. I was feeding every other day with chili reef, but I saw that a lot of people fed it mysis shrimp, so I'm going to give that a shot on Monday with spot feeding.

Oh and Steve, my BTA, decided to drop off his rock and surf the tank. He decided to hang on to a new edge and at some point he decided to let go and I turned around and he was SUCKED into the Nero 3. Thank god I had the fish protector case on it, because I think that's what honestly saved him. After freaking out and getting him off the Nero 3, I looked him over and he seemed completely whole, definitely traumatized. I could get him to connect to any place, so I kinda stuck himself in a small cave which he sank into it. I'm keeping my eye on him, but he was still alive before lights out tonight.

So here is how my tank is ending on Saturday

With my luck that SPS will be the only thing to survives me

 

[Anna K]

I had some goodies arrive yesterday. Sorry for the delay in updates. I'm on pig watching duty. My first pig is going to be having babies any day now!!

 

[tharbin]

Anna,

This is a very nice setup. Looking forward to watching it progress. Best of luck.

 

[Anna K]

Anna,

This is a very nice setup. Looking forward to watching it progress. Best of luck.

Thank you so much! :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Anna K]

I had another package of goodies arrive today that I completely forgot I had ordered :grinning-face-with-sweat: whoops

I picked this up to go into the inTank Media basket that I bought, along with the filter floss holder.

So I'm thinking filter floss holder on the left, Skimmer on the second left, and then inTank Media basket on the far right with filter floss and the products above.

We plan to get the ATO and the water setup tonight. Went out and bought sturdy pvc board (or something) to give the bottom of the stand a little oomph because it was severely lacking in that department.

 

[Anna K]

I've been reading up on refugiums and copepods and don't know if it's something that's actually needed in a tank or not. Does anyone following my tank thread have/run a refugium and use copepods?

 

[JoJosReef]

Not in a 40L. Not a lot of space for a refugium. I used an Intank floss holder in one of the overflow chambers, and filled the bottom half of the chamber with live rock rubble. That was my "cryptic" refugium and pod growing space. Regularly dosing phyto will boost your pods quite a lot.

Regarding using a chamber as a refugium, you would need to decide if it is worth it to put a fuge light over a chamber and grow chaeto. But if you have nutrients you need to bring down, you might be better off with one of these:
https://www.santa-monica.cc/SLIP7-nano-chaeto-reactor-waterfall-scrubber-upflow-scrubber_p_104.html

 

[tharbin]

I've been reading up on refugiums and copepods and don't know if it's something that's actually needed in a tank or not. Does anyone following my tank thread have/run a refugium and use copepods?

I do both. A refugium is a good alternative solution to nitrate/phosphate export as well as a potential safe haven for pods but they take a fair amount of space. You can establish a pod population in a tank without a refugium it just may take a little longer, although you could try a pod hotel, I've never used one so I can't attest to their utility but in theory they should work. Pods are something I was dosing at least once a month. I think I have a good enough population in the tank now that I will probably just dose once every few months now.

 

[tharbin]

Not in a 40L. Not a lot of space for a refugium. I used an Intank floss holder in one of the overflow chambers, and filled the bottom half of the chamber with live rock rubble. That was my "cryptic" refugium and pod growing space. Regularly dosing phyto will boost your pods quite a lot.

Regarding using a chamber as a refugium, you would need to decide if it is worth it to put a fuge light over a chamber and grow chaeto. But if you have nutrients you need to bring down, you might be better off with one of these:
https://www.santa-monica.cc/SLIP7-nano-chaeto-reactor-waterfall-scrubber-upflow-scrubber_p_104.html

Plus 1 on this. I forgot they make this.

 

[sevenx7]

Following, Im hoping to set my 40L in the next month!

 

[Anna K]

Following, Im hoping to set my 40L in the next month!

Yay, I'll be your trial and error for this :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

 

[Anna K]

Not in a 40L. Not a lot of space for a refugium. I used an Intank floss holder in one of the overflow chambers, and filled the bottom half of the chamber with live rock rubble. That was my "cryptic" refugium and pod growing space. Regularly dosing phyto will boost your pods quite a lot.

Regarding using a chamber as a refugium, you would need to decide if it is worth it to put a fuge light over a chamber and grow chaeto. But if you have nutrients you need to bring down, you might be better off with one of these:
https://www.santa-monica.cc/SLIP7-nano-chaeto-reactor-waterfall-scrubber-upflow-scrubber_p_104.html

This is what my current setup is. I was just wondering if it was worth it to put in that empty spot

My filter floss is in this on the left and the skimmer next to it:

Then I have my intank media basket on the right side

and so I don't necessarily need to add a Fuge basket. That empty spot can just stay empty

Cause I'm not really sure exactly what the purpose of copepods and a refugium is except for filtration and copepods eat diatoms and fish eat them. Is that basically the gest of those two things?