GK3’s IM AIO 30 - Tank+Apex+100%DIY

[GK3]

Okay, here is the latest. I sent in a quote request for all the parts today.

Here it is normal and closed

Here it is with everything open:

Notice the sliding doors at the bottom. This exposes leveling casters. These are self leveling feet, but then you can raise the levelers and then the whole thing is on wheels. The slide tracks are showing as grayish but they will be black

And here is the concept:

Red will be storage that is exposed by raising the cover.
Blue is where the apex and controls will be
Black is where the ATO res, food storage, and dosing storage will be kept. There are track for sliding doors on this level so I plant to have black doors slide shut to cover this as well.

I think if I bought this directly from 80/20 online it would cost around $1300-$1500 as pictured. I am hoping to be able to piece this together using a cheaper distributor and ebay for $700-$900.

 

[ReeferReefer]

I hope it works out well for that cost ;Nailbiting

The design is spot on.

 

[GK3]

I hope it works out well for that cost ;Nailbiting

The design is spot on.

Thanks. I use this stuff for work all the time, so I knew it was going to be more expensive then say, wood. But the IM stand for these is $400 when all said and done and this is way better and way cooler in my opinion.

 

[eggplantparrot]

Looking good! May I recommend black for the bottom. White just ends up looking dirty...

wut?? I went bare bottom and liked the look of glass, but now it's almost all covered with coralline

 

[eggplantparrot]

Fair point. I think the reason people do sand beds is either a) live stock lives in it (i.e wrasse) b) the biological benefits c) the look. A real coral reef may not have a sand bed in it, but the ocean does, so the reef still benefits from a sand bed in its waters.

You gave me an idea. What about getting live rock rubble(1”-2” pieces) and covering the bottom in that (I’d cement it to HDPE). It would be a fairly natural look, ability for coral and what not to grow on it, but won’t kick up like sand. Only thing I’d worry about is detritus building up in it, but flow and CUC should handle that. Thoughts?

coral will have zero problem growing on glass. couple of my Acans have grown on to my glass so much I can't remove them

 

[GK3]

So I went to the LFS and had my water checked yesterday. In the words of the guy there “ya, you’re right in the middle of a cycle”. I am like okay...but why in the middle, I should be darn near the end. So I went home and thought about it. Then it hit me:

1.) you tried a new rock cement that said “must dry 12-28 hours before exposure to water.” So the “live rock” you used essentially became dead rock during the drying process. Setback 1.

2.) you are doing bare bottom. No live sand, no filtration from sand...setback 2.

3.) you didn’t add anything to the media chambers. Now normally i don’t as I want my rocks to be the main filtration and then suplamental chemical/bio/mechanical filtration after cycle as needed. But what I didn’t do was add any additional live rock rubble etc. to one of the chambers, all I added was the filter socks. Huge what the heck is wrong with me moment. Setback 3.

I added the I forget their name (biomax media?) but essentially the synthetic live rock that has all the poors for bacteria to live in.

4.) I haven’t taken the power heads off the old tank and added them to this one so the only thing pushing water through my rocks is the return. Setback 4. Planning to fix that this coming week

With these 4 setbacks, I get why my cycle is taking longer than I expected.

From left to right across the back I will have:

1) IM Aqua shield UV sterilizer
2) IM DC skimmer
3) Return pump and any reactors I end up adding
4) Heater and this new biomax media
5) media caddy with floss, carbon, maybe some GFO

I am hoping this new biomax media and the addition of the powerhead will get things back on track.

Also have all the coral from the old setup sold (except few pieces I am keeping), picked up my order from the WWC live sale last month, and then cleaned up the 5 dollar section of the TSA live sale yesterday. Will post pictures and list of planned live stock later today.

 

[smilinteddy]

I bet you could toss some Dr. Tim's one and only or microbacter7 or some other live nitrifying bacteria blend to help jumpstart things too.

 

[ReeferReefer]

If you have a second tank why not just seed the new tank with media from it? I used a bag of Seachem Matrix in the filtration area of my old tank. Just let it sit in there for 2 weeks or so and then toss it into the new tank. Should bring over a big batch of bacteria. Even an old filter sponge or anything like that will work.

 

[GK3]

I bet you could toss some Dr. Tim's one and only or microbacter7 or some other live nitrifying bacteria blend to help jumpstart things too.

Yes! I have been dozing bacteria starter since day 1.

 

[GK3]

If you have a second tank why not just seed the new tank with media from it? I used a bag of Seachem Matrix in the filtration area of my old tank. Just let it sit in there for 2 weeks or so and then toss it into the new tank. Should bring over a big batch of bacteria. Even an old filter sponge or anything like that will work.

Super fair point. A few people have told me this locally. I don’t know, I guess I just want to do it as a new, fresh start? My old tank is totally fine, honestly only ever had one nuisance and I got rid of it with chemiclean 4-5 months ago. Figure I’ll give it another 7 days and then try this.

 

[GK3]

So my work got in way of my hobby, so annoying, and I forgot to post. Here is what is going in the new setup:

My black angler: Dave.

green, wasabi bounce shroom

Blue/teal Shroom

wwc AOI zoas

WWC Christmas Mirabilis

WWC Halle Berry Zoanthids and WWC Loganberry Zoanthids

Pokerstar Montipora
Also a Duncan, blasto and candy cane.

Not pictured:

TSA Vampire Favia
TSA Rainbow Acan
Ultra Rock Anemone
ORA Frogskin Acro
Mystic Sunset Monti
Green Birdsnest
Paletta Pink Tip Acro
Utter Chaos Zoa

 

[Metal_Angler]

Been busy as well. seems I missed a lot. I love the way the stand looks. When do you think it'll be completed?
I missed the recent sales but are you local to WWC? Have you checked out Top Shelf? One of my favorite spots.
Love the first batch of frags. Reminds me that I should update my own build thread lol

 

[GK3]

Been busy as well. seems I missed a lot. I love the way the stand looks. When do you think it'll be completed?
I missed the recent sales but are you local to WWC? Have you checked out Top Shelf? One of my favorite spots.
Love the first batch of frags. Reminds me that I should update my own build thread lol

I am waiting on the quote for the parts. If it comes in where I expect I’ll probably have the pieces in 6 weeks. If it’s high, I’ll be piecing together and cutting to length myself which will take much longer.

I live 30 min from WWC and 15 from top shelf. Yes top shelf is TSA, they are my favorite and my main LFS. The list of not pictured drags are from TSAs father day sale last weekend.

 

[Metal_Angler]

I am waiting on the quote for the parts. If it comes in where I expect I’ll probably have the pieces in 6 weeks. If it’s high, I’ll be piecing together and cutting to length myself which will take much longer.

I live 30 min from WWC and 15 from top shelf. Yes top shelf is TSA, they are my favorite and my main LFS. The list of not pictured drags are from TSAs father day sale last weekend.

I see. Didn't catch the acronym... lol
I got lucky. My new place is less than a couple miles from TSA. Also my favorite LFS. Almost everything I'm my tank is from them.

 

[GK3]

Getting...so....close

Also - I forgot. Since I am not doing a bunch of fish, I don’t think I need a bunch of hermits, at least to start. So I’ll just be using this guy:

had him for a couple years. he re homes himself to snail shells

 

[ReeferReefer]

I feel your pain. I'm waiting for the 30L to finish cycling so I can transfer too. I'm getting inpatient. Thinking about adding some bottled bacteria lol.

 

[GK3]

I see. Didn't catch the acronym... lol
I got lucky. My new place is less than a couple miles from TSA. Also my favorite LFS. Almost everything I'm my tank is from them.

Yea, most of my stuff is from them. I only recently bought a few things from WWC. I am bummed to moving away from such awesome stores. Can’t believe I’ll have to pay for shipping from them.

 

[Metal_Angler]

I hear you. I try not to take their close proximity for granted. hehe

 

[GK3]

Thinking of swapping out the stock pump with this bad boy:

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/varios-2-controllable-dc-pump-792-gph-reef-octopus.html

Make it controllable through apex. Anyone done this or have thoughts? Should i go larger than 800 gph?

 

[ReeferReefer]

Thinking of swapping out the stock pump with this bad boy:

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/varios-2-controllable-dc-pump-792-gph-reef-octopus.html

Make it controllable through apex. Anyone done this or have thoughts? Should i go larger than 800 gph?

Looks like a good amount of flow. I don't see a reason to go larger than 800 gph unless you are running a manifold with some reactors off of it. I see most people using around 600 gph on their return pumps for the 30L.