If you’re here, strap yourself in for a boring ride haha. May the odds be ever in your favor if you choose to continue reading.
I’ve found myself setting up a new tank yet again. It seems like I’ve been doing this a lifetime now. A little background on my previous tanks first. I warned you…can’t say otherwise. It all started with a 60g freshwater tank that changed several times over its life. Then shortly after setting that up, my first saltwater tank was born. A 90g with compact fluorescent lighting and many learning curves lol. I ran both at the same time, but within a year or so, we moved to a new house and my 125g was born. I moved the freshwater (Mbuna Cichlids) to the new house as well. Even with several issues through its life, it was by far my most successful reef. Life happened and I broke that tank down after about 5 or so years. The cichlid tank stayed running for a few years after that and it too was dismantled.
Fast forward a few years and my wife gave me a IM Nuvo 10 for my birthday. I set it up when we moved to a new city and were in our apartment waiting for our house to be built. It was my first nano and was pretty successful. I still have that tank running as an observation tank to this day. It’s about 7 1/2 years old now. I knew that I was going upgrade once the new house was done so I started gathering some equipment such as a skimmer etc. in preparation for a new tank. About 8 months after moving into the new house, I set up a Cadlights Versa 42g. I was pretty impressed with the system and it did pretty well. I kept it pretty simple and had good results. After 3 years, our first child, and then COVID, we made the decision to move back home closer to family. I sold the 42g, kept a few corals I wanted, and transferred them into the Nuvo 10 with a single piece of rock.
Once settled in the new house, the search began for the next tank. With a child and a busy life, I wanted to get back to basics and keep things simpler. The KISS method fits my lifestyle well. With this in mind, I decided to go with an AIO and landed on the IM SR-80. This is the tank I have running currently and I love it for the most part. It’s been pretty successful for the level of attention I’ve given it. Back in November, my wife and I started discussing rearranging the house as we don’t really ever use the formal dining room. We had originally thought about putting the SR-80 there, but ultimately decided against it and we actually finished decorating the dining room in November of ‘22. Well, back to the original idea of putting a tank in the dining room, removing the table, and making it a sort of reading, aquarium, relax with a beer room. We should have listened to our original instincts. Lesson: go with your gut. Now, the 80’s only been running for a couple of years and the thought of breaking it down, moving it, and setting it all up in the same day was not appealing to me. I spoke to my wife and we ultimately decided a new tank would make it much easier. Usually I would be really excited at the notion, but the work involved along with disturbing the stability of the inhabitants had me nervous/unsure.
Que the shopping for a new tank. There were tons of Black Friday sales going on and I had a few tanks in mind, but I finally decided on an IM SR-120. I thought about going back to a sumped system, but have really been enjoying the simplicity that an AIO gives me. Back to basics is the aim for me. Enough talking, here are a few pictures of previous setups and I’ll start updating the thread with the new build soon.
125g
NUVO 10
Versa 42g
SR-80
I’ve found myself setting up a new tank yet again. It seems like I’ve been doing this a lifetime now. A little background on my previous tanks first. I warned you…can’t say otherwise. It all started with a 60g freshwater tank that changed several times over its life. Then shortly after setting that up, my first saltwater tank was born. A 90g with compact fluorescent lighting and many learning curves lol. I ran both at the same time, but within a year or so, we moved to a new house and my 125g was born. I moved the freshwater (Mbuna Cichlids) to the new house as well. Even with several issues through its life, it was by far my most successful reef. Life happened and I broke that tank down after about 5 or so years. The cichlid tank stayed running for a few years after that and it too was dismantled.
Fast forward a few years and my wife gave me a IM Nuvo 10 for my birthday. I set it up when we moved to a new city and were in our apartment waiting for our house to be built. It was my first nano and was pretty successful. I still have that tank running as an observation tank to this day. It’s about 7 1/2 years old now. I knew that I was going upgrade once the new house was done so I started gathering some equipment such as a skimmer etc. in preparation for a new tank. About 8 months after moving into the new house, I set up a Cadlights Versa 42g. I was pretty impressed with the system and it did pretty well. I kept it pretty simple and had good results. After 3 years, our first child, and then COVID, we made the decision to move back home closer to family. I sold the 42g, kept a few corals I wanted, and transferred them into the Nuvo 10 with a single piece of rock.
Once settled in the new house, the search began for the next tank. With a child and a busy life, I wanted to get back to basics and keep things simpler. The KISS method fits my lifestyle well. With this in mind, I decided to go with an AIO and landed on the IM SR-80. This is the tank I have running currently and I love it for the most part. It’s been pretty successful for the level of attention I’ve given it. Back in November, my wife and I started discussing rearranging the house as we don’t really ever use the formal dining room. We had originally thought about putting the SR-80 there, but ultimately decided against it and we actually finished decorating the dining room in November of ‘22. Well, back to the original idea of putting a tank in the dining room, removing the table, and making it a sort of reading, aquarium, relax with a beer room. We should have listened to our original instincts. Lesson: go with your gut. Now, the 80’s only been running for a couple of years and the thought of breaking it down, moving it, and setting it all up in the same day was not appealing to me. I spoke to my wife and we ultimately decided a new tank would make it much easier. Usually I would be really excited at the notion, but the work involved along with disturbing the stability of the inhabitants had me nervous/unsure.
Que the shopping for a new tank. There were tons of Black Friday sales going on and I had a few tanks in mind, but I finally decided on an IM SR-120. I thought about going back to a sumped system, but have really been enjoying the simplicity that an AIO gives me. Back to basics is the aim for me. Enough talking, here are a few pictures of previous setups and I’ll start updating the thread with the new build soon.
125g
NUVO 10
Versa 42g
SR-80
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