Innovative Marine 40L AIO Build

[TheReefDiary]

Officially just bought my next tank! Couldnt pass up the deal for the IM 40L AIO on SaltwaterAquarium.com. Shipped it was $650 which is cheaper than IMs website itself. Not sure if its a mistake but ill take it. Going to use a ton of the equipment from my current setup for the new tank since i most likely wont be keeping both. I dont want the maintenance of two tanks.

Had originally planned for my next tank to be something large, but decided since i will most likely be moving twice within the next 5 years I decided its best to just keep a smaller tank as I can "easily" move it from house to house.

The new tank most likely wont get this up and running until the new yea. Im going to be building my own custom stand for the tank before the end of the year. Im also going to try and build an NSA sometime before the end of the year if I have the time.

Really excited for this build!

 

[Kellie in CA]

You are going to love it! I’m really happy with mine.

 

[TheReefDiary]

You are going to love it! I’m really happy with mine.

Yeah I really like the dimensions of this tank. Excited to come up with the aquascape for it. My fish will be happy with the extra space as well.

 

[TheReefDiary]

built a good portion of the stand today. still need to do the doors, edge banding and sand everything down. after everything is sanded then have to move onto the design aspect of the stand. want to do something more than just painting it and calling it a day.

 

[TheReefDiary]

Worked on the stand a bit more today. Built the cabinet doors/installed the hinges, filled holes with wood filler and sanded the entire cabinet. Also, installed a front middle support (2x4 ripped 3/4 at the top to slide underneath the front frame and still touch the top) as well as two corner supports (2x4 ripped 45 degree angles on both sides to fit diagonally into corner because it looks cleaner than just a straight 2 x 4).

Forgot to grab pictures of it today (working on it at my parents house because i live in an apartment). Will be working on it again tomorrow installing poplar veneers to the sides/door panels and will also be installing 1/2"x3" on the perimeter of sides and the doors.

Wife wants something that looks like a piece of real furniture so hoping i can pull this off.

 

[TheReefDiary]

Also purchased the dry rock so i can get the aquascpae done before the tank arrives. i still havent received shipping information. hoping ill get the tank within the next 2 weeks.

 

[kevgib67]

Following!

 

[TheReefDiary]

Following!

hopefully will have some more updates later this week on the stand and aquascape.

 

[TheReefDiary]

Tank: IM NUVO SR 40L
Stand: Custom
Rockwork: Dry Marco Rock NSA & Current Caribsea Life Rock from Evo
Sand: CaribSea Arag Alive Special Grade
Pump: IM Mighty Jet - May use my sicce on on return and the mighty jet on the other for redunancy
Heater: IM Helio PTC 200w heater w/ backup 100w (from current tank)
Protein Skimmer - HOB Bubble Magus QQ3
Lighting - NooPsyche k7 Mini (2)
Filtration - Filter sock & media basket w/ filter floss, chemipure blue, and bio balls
Wavemaker - Hygger Mini - need to buy 1 more
UV Sterlizer - considering running my in tank uv sterlizer in the back return sump (not 24/7 but every so often to help)
pH Meter - Milwaukee Instruments MW102
Dosing Pump - Kamoer X1Pro WiFi (using this for alk)

Stocking List: (trying to keep fish that will only grow to max of 3-4 inches) the starry blenny will probably be the biggest fish in the tank - I may switch things around in the future for a dragonet but thats still a while away.
2 - Frostbite Bullethole Ocellaris Clownfish
1 - Six Line Wrasse
1 - Starry Blenny
1 - Long Nose Hawk
3 - Green Chromis or Banggai Cardinals
1 - Purple Urchin
Various Snails
3 - sexy shrimp

 

[Sean Clark]

Following along.

 

[TheReefDiary]

was able to get a quick coat of paint on the inside of the cabinet during lunch today. still have another 2 coats at least since the pine loves to absorb all of the paint.

also, here's some pictures of where I'm currently at.

 

[JimiXellfish]

Daaang I upgraded my Fluval 13.5 and got a IM 25 lagoon like 3 weeks ago! lol!

 

[TheReefDiary]

Daaang I upgraded my Fluval 13.5 and got a IM 25 lagoon like 3 weeks ago! lol!

I'm excited for this upgrade. ticked I didn't just go bigger when I started.

 

[JimiXellfish]

I'm excited for this upgrade. ticked I didn't just go bigger when I started.

I'm glad i started small, helped me learn a lot and test the waters and find out if i'd be good at reef keeping lol

 

[TheReefDiary]

working on the stand again today. tank arrives sometime next week. rock arrived yesterday and will hopefully get started on that this upcoming week. really want to get everything set up before the new year.

will have more pictures of the stand later. really happy with how its coming along. I'm a contractor so I have experience with tools but this is my first time building my own piece of furniture. I've done built ins before for shelving and tv units, but never a stand alone piece.

pretty sure the wife will be happy with this!

 

[ForTheLoveOfCoral21]

Love IM Tanks, my main display is currently a 50G IM EXT!

 

[TheReefDiary]

Love IM Tanks, my main display is currently a 50G IM EXT!

I'm pumped for the upgrade. Ready to get more fish!!

 

[ohioreefer]

Looking forward to seeing the stand. I will be starting one this week myself

 

[TheReefDiary]

okay here is the progress from the stand today. one more day tomorrow finishing the design work and sanding. will be staining sometime during the week.

 

[TheReefDiary]

Looking forward to seeing the stand. I will be starting one this week myself

just uploaded some!