Innovative Marine 30l build thread

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Kessil a80s are under rated imo. But the a pair of kessil a160‘s would be pretty dang good on that tank as well.

I may add something like an Orphek bar if I need more light, but the kessils wont be covering any more area than they are on my current tank, so I think it should work out!

 

[NoahLikesFish]

Hello All! About 9 months ago I added another tank to my collection ( not documented on here ) and have since consolidated and made it my only saltwater tank. As a result of that, the tank is grossly overstocked, so I have decided to upgrade it to a 30 gallon Innovative Marine aquarium.

Here are a few pics of the old tank:

I hope to keep you guys posted on progress and anything else that may come about in this thread!

watching! i just checked out your build thread and its impressive! thanks for the insp. that bubble coral looks really good

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

watching! i just checked out your build thread and its impressive! thanks for the insp. that bubble coral looks really good

Thanks! The bubble coral is one of my favorites!

 

[muzikalmatt]

Thanks! The bubble coral is one of my favorites!

Yes that bubble is gorgeous! I had one a bit smaller than that but lost it lazy reefer syndrome.

Nice tank! Looking forward to watching it progress!

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Yes that bubble is gorgeous! I had one a bit smaller than that but lost it lazy reefer syndrome.

Nice tank! Looking forward to watching it progress!

I have lost a few corals to that in the past… bubble was actually one of the few that survived in that tank.

thanks!

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Got an update!

I realized that the heater I will be using is at least a couple years old, and possibly even 4 years old ( I have 2 identical ones ) and so despite it being a very nice heater, so I really shouldn’t risk it.

I decided to go the route of replacing my heater every year, so went with a cheap ehiem jagger, and will see if 100 watts is enough. If not I can add the cobalt neo-therm that I am using on my current 10g.

the top for the stand came! Much faster than expected, so that is very nice. I will start sanding, sealing, and varnishing this weekend.

Can’t wait to get the tank up and running!

 

[ncmonserud]

Following along can't wait to see how your 30l turns out.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Following along can't wait to see how your 30l turns out.

Thanks! It’s coming along slowly but I am still making progress.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Amazon lost the varnish for the wood, so they are replacing it but it’s taking forever, I do have some updates in the meantime though!

finally got a proper mixing station, should be so much nicer than a 5G bucket in the sink.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Amazon lost the varnish for the wood, so they are replacing it but it’s taking forever, I do have some updates in the meantime though!

finally got a proper mixing station, should be so much nicer than a 5G bucket in the sink.

Cool mixing station!!

Hello All! About 9 months ago I added another tank to my collection ( not documented on here ) and have since consolidated and made it my only saltwater tank. As a result of that, the tank is grossly overstocked, so I have decided to upgrade it to a 30 gallon Innovative Marine aquarium.

Here are a few pics of the old tank:

I hope to keep you guys posted on progress and anything else that may come about in this thread!

The bubble coral looks awesome and so does the clownfish in the frogspawn

The tank has arrived! the box came with a huge gash in it, but the tank was well protected and looks amazing.

I am also trying to decide what to do about lights. I currently have a kessil a80 on my tank, and because this tank has the same height and display depth, was just going to go with another a80, but I don't know if this will be enough. what do you guys think?

That tank looks really cool

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Cool mixing station!!

The bubble coral looks awesome and so does the clownfish in the frogspawn

That tank looks really cool

Thanks!!

 

[JohnAllen]

Hello All! About 9 months ago I added another tank to my collection ( not documented on here ) and have since consolidated and made it my only saltwater tank. As a result of that, the tank is grossly overstocked, so I have decided to upgrade it to a 30 gallon Innovative Marine aquarium.

Here are a few pics of the old tank:

I hope to keep you guys posted on progress and anything else that may come about in this thread!

Looks great! Sometimes I wish I’d waited and gone rimless. Maybe on the upgrade.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Looks great! Sometimes I wish I’d waited and gone rimless. Maybe on the upgrade.

You can’t really justify the price of rimless but I simply love the look.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Got a big update!

went to reefstock Denver a couple weeks ago and here are the goods:

two RFA’s

Really bad pic, but a little clam

Little recordia mushroom colony ( I also have a bright orange one but it is in the very back rn )

And a nice big pulsing Xenia colony!

I also got a gorgonian, however it is also in the back so I can’t get a decent photo.

along with all of this I got a full apex/trident/dos setup, and so I am having fun getting my aquarium fully automated!

 

[Hallowhead]

The IM 30 is a great tank! I've had one running for the last 3 years. I've learned a tremendous amount about the hobby through the tank. It's a small footprint for sure.

I initially started with A80's as well and quickly switched to 2 160we's. I mainly grow softies & LPS

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Now for the actual tank update!

a lot has been done scince I last posted, I finished work in the stand ( it fits the tank perfectly! ) did a water test, moved the old tank, and got sand and some rock in!

here is a photo dump from it all:

tank and stand together!

Inital water test.

Old tank and and it’s large jumble of equipment.

New tank in its final position.

40lbs of sand! ( I have a sand sifting goby so I need a nice thick sand bed )

10lbs of live rock to go with the stuff I have in my current tank.

And all of it together!

that’s all for now. I started cycling with turbostart and aqua vitro seed, along with live sand, rock, and 1yr old bio media from my current tank. I also put a hermit crab in, and started phantom feeding. Hopefully this will all get the tank cycled rather quickly, and allow me to start introducing livestock and rock from my old tank!

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

The IM 30 is a great tank! I've had one running for the last 3 years. I've learned a tremendous amount about the hobby through the tank. It's a small footprint for sure.

I initially started with A80's as well and quickly switched to 2 160we's. I mainly grow softies & LPS

I think if I need to upgrade the lights I will add a knockoff orphek as I don’t really want to spend that much upgrading lights!

 

[Titleist1964]

Everything looks great, where did you get the wood top for the stand?

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Everything looks great, where did you get the wood top for the stand?

Thanks! I got the walnut butcher block for the top of the stand from Hardwood Lumber Company. Just gave them my dimensions and it showed up at my door a few weeks later!

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Got a big update!

went to reefstock Denver a couple weeks ago and here are the goods:

two RFA’s

Really bad pic, but a little clam

Little recordia mushroom colony ( I also have a bright orange one but it is in the very back rn )

And a nice big pulsing Xenia colony!

I also got a gorgonian, however it is also in the back so I can’t get a decent photo.

along with all of this I got a full apex/trident/dos setup, and so I am having fun getting my aquarium fully automated!

Wow do the rock flowers move very much because I would really like some