- Joined
- Jun 8, 2020
- Messages
- 40
- Reaction score
- 28
I had to tear down my Fluval M90 a few years ago. Now I'm setting it up again and I'm planning to learn from my mistakes the first time around.
My plan is to take it slow this time - I'll be following a lot of the advice from the BRS/Hybrid video series, with the intention of transitioning to the Triton system as the tank matures. The first step is modifying the tank - the Fluval M90 is a 36g AIO that comes with a cabinet. I'm planning to drill an overflow, modify the cabinet to be taller, and add a ~14g sump with a refugium.
I successfully drilled the holes and removed the internal compartments this past weekend - the part of the conversion I was most worried about messing up. Once that was done I removed the internal dividers and did a preliminary scrape & clean:
The tank cleaned up really well - better than I had hoped. Here it is with the overflow and return hardware installed:
I'm currently in the process of painting the back and bottom surfaces black - applied the second coat today and I'll see how it looks tomorrow, hopefully won't need a 3rd.
Next step is to prepare the cabinet for the sump, which should arrive Thursday. I'm planning to remove the middle shelf and replace the doors with full-height panels.
My plan is to take it slow this time - I'll be following a lot of the advice from the BRS/Hybrid video series, with the intention of transitioning to the Triton system as the tank matures. The first step is modifying the tank - the Fluval M90 is a 36g AIO that comes with a cabinet. I'm planning to drill an overflow, modify the cabinet to be taller, and add a ~14g sump with a refugium.
I successfully drilled the holes and removed the internal compartments this past weekend - the part of the conversion I was most worried about messing up. Once that was done I removed the internal dividers and did a preliminary scrape & clean:
The tank cleaned up really well - better than I had hoped. Here it is with the overflow and return hardware installed:
I'm currently in the process of painting the back and bottom surfaces black - applied the second coat today and I'll see how it looks tomorrow, hopefully won't need a 3rd.
Next step is to prepare the cabinet for the sump, which should arrive Thursday. I'm planning to remove the middle shelf and replace the doors with full-height panels.