(free) IM 20 AIO build.

[tbrown]

I feel like a kid on Christmas morning mixed with winning the lottery

...I noticed the included osmolator 3 nano, wavelink DC aio powerhead , and 2 extra sicce syncra pumps sorry I used stock photos my camera skills are non existent.

So far this is at least $600 worth of gear. I have various heaters kicking around already. I haven't looked at what's going on in the sump. I think the factory default IM filter is just a sock? I'm very new to AIO.

Sicce and Tunze are great product brands! The Osmolator and Syncra Silent are installed on my tanks.

Most tanks use sock filters. I 3D printed a sock replacement cup and use PolyFil. There are also filter cups available for purchase online or files available to download if you have a printer or have access to a printer.

 

[chillout-reefer-dave]

I feel like a kid on Christmas morning mixed with winning the lottery

...I noticed the included osmolator 3 nano, wavelink DC aio powerhead , and 2 extra sicce syncra pumps sorry I used stock photos my camera skills are non existent.

So far this is at least $600 worth of gear. I have various heaters kicking around already. I haven't looked at what's going on in the sump. I think the factory default IM filter is just a sock? I'm very new to AIO.

Sicce and Tunze are great product brands! The Osmolator and Syncra Silent are installed on my tanks.

Most tanks use sock filters. I 3D printed a sock replacement cup and use PolyFil. There are also filter cups available for purchase online or files available to download if you have a printer or have access to a printer.

Good call. I'll research cups vs socks. Yes I do have a 3D printer. I've printed things for my freshwater tank before. I just need to order more filament.

 

[tbrown]

I have plans for my lunch break today...supposed to be nice outside. I left everything in my trunk and grabbed my jug of vinegar and scrub brush on my way out the door this morning; juggling coffee, laptop and 2 kids.I'm gonna go over everything and clean her real good by the light of day and examine seals etc.

The tank still has the sand a half inch of water in it ; the odor accumulated over night in my car. I have a very very sensitive nose but for some reason ocean smell doesn't bother me like mammal odors. Upon entering the car my 7 year old daughter declared "Daddy, it uh smells like water in here."

P.S. It is barely a 2 minute drive to daycare, I wouldn't make my kids feel uncomfortable for any serious duration.

I'm tempted to re-use the sand... <<- Just kidding that is rage bait right there

I reused the sand from my old tank after it sat in a bucket outside for around 10 years...

One thing you'll find about me: I don't do things the traditional or "common practice" way.

What that means for you: lots of what works for me causes failures for others. Lots of what works for others can cause failures for you. Your tank will "tell" you how it is doing and you will get used to reading the signs and symptoms and making small corrections according to what your tank needs as you progress and grow to know your tank.

Rinse the sand good and the only issue you might run into is phosphates being bound up will release into the water column to reach equilibrium.

 

[commod0re]

Wow very nice! Congrats! That is such a nice little tank

 

[chillout-reefer-dave]

I have plans for my lunch break today...supposed to be nice outside. I left everything in my trunk and grabbed my jug of vinegar and scrub brush on my way out the door this morning; juggling coffee, laptop and 2 kids.I'm gonna go over everything and clean her real good by the light of day and examine seals etc.

The tank still has the sand a half inch of water in it ; the odor accumulated over night in my car. I have a very very sensitive nose but for some reason ocean smell doesn't bother me like mammal odors. Upon entering the car my 7 year old daughter declared "Daddy, it uh smells like water in here."

P.S. It is barely a 2 minute drive to daycare, I wouldn't make my kids feel uncomfortable for any serious duration.

I'm tempted to re-use the sand... <<- Just kidding that is rage bait right there

I reused the sand from my old tank after it sat in a bucket outside for around 10 years...

One thing you'll find about me: I don't do things the traditional or "common practice" way.

What that means for you: lots of what works for me causes failures for others. Lots of what works for others can cause failures for you. Your tank will "tell" you how it is doing and you will get used to reading the signs and symptoms and making small corrections according to what your tank needs as you progress and grow to know your tank.

Rinse the sand good and the only issue you might run into is phosphates being bound up will release into the water column to reach equilibrium.

Yes thank you praise brotha!

 

[code4]

I also reuse sand. Heck I moved a pair of clownfish and their buddy to a 20 gallon tank. Scooped out enough sand from the old home. Moved sand, rock, water and snails all. Rinse yours in some rodi water. Leave it fishless for a bit.

 

[chillout-reefer-dave]

I just noticed there's also the innovative marine dc nano skimmer included.

Got around to cleaning some more.

 

[code4]

It is looking great.

 

[chillout-reefer-dave]

Sorry I'm new at this. Do I just keep posting in here as I make progress? Is there some recommended best way to track an aquarium build?

Yes I am pedantic. I'm sure that is common in this hobby.

Questions
1. The foam leveling mat is a little torn on a corner. How important is that? I never had rimless so it scares me.

2. There's some hairline glass cracks on the edges of some sump baffling panels. The are barely perceptable only by fingernail. Should I seal these? Would that even matter?

3. The k7 mini light I have seems to run the fan every 10 - 15 mins for a few mins and shuts off. Rinse repeat. It's not a horrible sound , just seems inefficient and might be annoying in living room.

4. What would you have done differently if you could do it all over again? (With aquariums not life)

 

[tbrown]

Sorry I'm new at this. Do I just keep posting in here as I make progress? Is there some recommended best way to track an aquarium build?

Yes I am pedantic. I'm sure that is common in this hobby.

Questions
1. The foam leveling mat is a little torn on a corner. How important is that? I never had rimless so it scares me.

2. There's some hairline glass cracks on the edges of some sump baffling panels. The are barely perceptable only by fingernail. Should I seal these? Would that even matter?

3. The k7 mini light I have seems to run the fan every 10 - 15 mins for a few mins and shuts off. Rinse repeat. It's not a horrible sound , just seems inefficient and might be annoying in living room.

4. What would you have done differently if you could do it all over again? (With aquariums not life)

This is your thread. Post when you want if you want.

If you take a picture of something, throw it in here. If you change something, throw the description of what you changed in here.

You use this thread for you - to document your progress, to document your successes and failures. To look back at where you started to where you are today.

It's a good place to post questions as you did in the above post and a good place to post progress pictures and even just posts updating the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful!

 

[tbrown]

Questions
1. The foam leveling mat is a little torn on a corner. How important is that? I never had rimless so it scares me.

How torn is it? The more contact you have under the tank, the better it is. If it's missing a small corner but the rest of the mat is there you should be fine. If it's ripped slightly but the corner is still there, you're good.

2. There's some hairline glass cracks on the edges of some sump baffling panels. The are barely perceptable only by fingernail. Should I seal these? Would that even matter?

Baffles having hairline cracks isn't necessarily a concern as they don't hold much weight. Some leakage through isn't going to make or break the filtration if it's a small scale.

Sealing them won't hurt either though. It will avoid the short circuiting. Just remember to give the sealant time to cure. I usually soak my fresh silicone for a week or two after in freshwater after curing just to make sure anything that's going to release to the water releases and gets rinsed out.

3. The k7 mini light I have seems to run the fan every 10 - 15 mins for a few mins and shuts off. Rinse repeat. It's not a horrible sound , just seems inefficient and might be annoying in living room.

Have you tried cleaning the fan? It might need some dust removal to help in heat exchange. I don't know how often my K7 Mini fan runs because it's on my sump but I don't feel like it runs all that often.

4. What would you have done differently if you could do it all over again? (With aquariums not life)

Wiring. I put my tank too close to the wall. Anytime I add or remove a piece of equipment wiring is a pain.

Also, in that same topic - label your wires for easy identification. Tracing a wire back to its source is a pain.

 

[chillout-reefer-dave]

Life is busy when you have a full time job, wife, and 7 and 11 year old...travel soccer...meetings...10 year anniversary (humble brag) dinners etc etc.

Fish/tank time is less important than any of that stuff. Please everyone remember to prioritize family and other warm blooded things (including your own mental health) first.

Anyway I made some progress.
Aquascape is not final. I broke that piece on the right moving it. I'm re-gluing and strengthening joints from now on.

My wife used to be a professional photographer. She has the eye for design and is helping me learn. I'm so used to being able to read a manual sort of guy: it's actually fun to be challenged and not just be able to "look it up". Masking tape on the glass (not shown) greatly helps me.

The 7 year old likes to help dad any way she can (wiping off outside glass), it's exhausting really :)

I like Windex blue. Reminds me of being a little kid walking through That Fish Place circa 1998.

Preliminary status:

I like it this way. ROFL. I got bigger bottles of glue don't worry.

Liquid Helper

Cloudy with a chance of patience?

Let's recap Total cost so far :
$0 - IM 20 AIO nuvo, IM protein skimmer, noopsyche k7 mini, DC wavemaker, Tunze ATO, Sicce return pumps
$0 - Solid oak dresser my wife got for free a decade ago. Confirmed to hold massive loads with zero deflection or movement. Spacious drawers that keep any of my stuff separate from her yarn drawer #2.
$0 - random pre-set aquarium heater holding exactly 78 (will replace with inkbird don't worry)
$1.25 - pack of Nylon potscrubbers from dollar tree (most bestest biomedia)
$80 - reef crystals to make 200 G , should be good on salt for a while
$40 - ~40 lbs dry rock from LFS friend that I broke up and glued
$20 - So much superglue. Just buy the 16oz from the webernet
$0 - glue accelerator made from readily on-hand base Calcium Hydroxide
$0 - 1" Sand from my overly-deep sandbed , thats in my 55G FOWLR

I already have a half decent RODI setup and mixing station.

$ 141.25


Let's see if it needs to cycle. The live sand and pre-used potscrubbers may do the trick. Time and testing will tell.

 

[tbrown]

Life is busy when you have a full time job, wife, and 7 and 11 year old...travel soccer...meetings...10 year anniversary (humble brag) dinners etc etc.

Fish/tank time is less important than any of that stuff. Please everyone remember to prioritize family and other warm blooded things (including your own mental health) first.

Anyway I made some progress.
Aquascape is not final. I broke that piece on the right moving it. I'm re-gluing and strengthening joints from now on.

My wife used to be a professional photographer. She has the eye for design and is helping me learn. I'm so used to being able to read a manual sort of guy: it's actually fun to be challenged and not just be able to "look it up". Masking tape on the glass (not shown) greatly helps me.

The 7 year old likes to help dad any way she can (wiping off outside glass), it's exhausting really :)

I like Windex blue. Reminds me of being a little kid walking through That Fish Place circa 1998.

Preliminary status:

I like it this way. ROFL. I got bigger bottles of glue don't worry.

Liquid Helper

Cloudy with a chance of patience?

Let's recap Total cost so far :
$0 - IM 20 AIO nuvo, IM protein skimmer, noopsyche k7 mini, DC wavemaker, Tunze ATO, Sicce return pumps
$0 - Solid oak dresser my wife got for free a decade ago. Confirmed to hold massive loads with zero deflection or movement. Spacious drawers that keep any of my stuff separate from her yarn drawer #2.
$0 - random pre-set aquarium heater holding exactly 78 (will replace with inkbird don't worry)
$1.25 - pack of Nylon potscrubbers from dollar tree (most bestest biomedia)
$80 - reef crystals to make 200 G , should be good on salt for a while
$40 - ~40 lbs dry rock from LFS friend that I broke up and glued
$20 - So much superglue. Just buy the 16oz from the webernet
$0 - glue accelerator made from readily on-hand base Calcium Hydroxide
$0 - 1" Sand from my overly-deep sandbed , thats in my 55G FOWLR

I already have a half decent RODI setup and mixing station.

$ 141.25


Let's see if it needs to cycle. The live sand and pre-used potscrubbers may do the trick. Time and testing will tell.

Pot scrubbers are my go to for my freshwater tanks. PolyFil does basically the same thing on the saltwater tanks. I remember when Dollar Tree used to have the real sponges that didn't break down in aquariums - those were the best! They still have them but with green brillo glued to the other side.

 

[chillout-reefer-dave]

Life is busy when you have a full time job, wife, and 7 and 11 year old...travel soccer...meetings...10 year anniversary (humble brag) dinners etc etc.

Fish/tank time is less important than any of that stuff. Please everyone remember to prioritize family and other warm blooded things (including your own mental health) first.

Anyway I made some progress.
Aquascape is not final. I broke that piece on the right moving it. I'm re-gluing and strengthening joints from now on.

My wife used to be a professional photographer. She has the eye for design and is helping me learn. I'm so used to being able to read a manual sort of guy: it's actually fun to be challenged and not just be able to "look it up". Masking tape on the glass (not shown) greatly helps me.

The 7 year old likes to help dad any way she can (wiping off outside glass), it's exhausting really :)

I like Windex blue. Reminds me of being a little kid walking through That Fish Place circa 1998.

Preliminary status:

I like it this way. ROFL. I got bigger bottles of glue don't worry.

Liquid Helper

Cloudy with a chance of patience?

Let's recap Total cost so far :
$0 - IM 20 AIO nuvo, IM protein skimmer, noopsyche k7 mini, DC wavemaker, Tunze ATO, Sicce return pumps
$0 - Solid oak dresser my wife got for free a decade ago. Confirmed to hold massive loads with zero deflection or movement. Spacious drawers that keep any of my stuff separate from her yarn drawer #2.
$0 - random pre-set aquarium heater holding exactly 78 (will replace with inkbird don't worry)
$1.25 - pack of Nylon potscrubbers from dollar tree (most bestest biomedia)
$80 - reef crystals to make 200 G , should be good on salt for a while
$40 - ~40 lbs dry rock from LFS friend that I broke up and glued
$20 - So much superglue. Just buy the 16oz from the webernet
$0 - glue accelerator made from readily on-hand base Calcium Hydroxide
$0 - 1" Sand from my overly-deep sandbed , thats in my 55G FOWLR

I already have a half decent RODI setup and mixing station.

$ 141.25


Let's see if it needs to cycle. The live sand and pre-used potscrubbers may do the trick. Time and testing will tell.

Pot scrubbers are my go to for my freshwater tanks. PolyFil does basically the same thing on the saltwater tanks. I remember when Dollar Tree used to have the real sponges that didn't break down in aquariums - those were the best! They still have them but with green brillo glued to the other side.

Just curious; have you tried the potscrubbers in salt? Does the polyfil clog quickly with debris? Why not polyfill in freshwater?

I've used polyfill for polishing fine particles but never as biomedia. I found anything smaller than 30 pores per inch clogs with fines and bio film.

 

[chillout-reefer-dave]

My mantra for the past 20 or so years has been "Do it for science".

Helps justify just about any behavior.

Assuming you learn from it.

 

[steveschuerger]

My mantra for the past 20 or so years has been "Do it for science".

Helps justify just about any behavior.

Assuming you learn from it.

You always learn something. Even if it’s you learned that you learned nothing.

I learned that I like how the tank is shaping up.

 

[tbrown]

Just curious; have you tried the potscrubbers in salt? Does the polyfil clog quickly with debris? Why not polyfill in freshwater?

I've used polyfill for polishing fine particles but never as biomedia. I found anything smaller than 30 pores per inch clogs with fines and bio film.

I use PolyFil in my HelloReef freshwater tank in a filter cup. Pot scrubbers go in my HOBs and Canister filters which I'm not currently using on any salt tanks but I have in the past.

 

[tbrown]

And yes, the PolyFil can clog rather quickly but not anymore so than filte socks did.