Innovative Marine Encore 20 - Saltwater and Freshwater Side-by-Side Build

TacticalReef · Dec 16, 2020

When I saw this tank, I knew I had to have it. I had never bought an aquarium brand new - I have always bought used but this one deserved to be my first brand new purchase. I started piecing it together a little before Black Friday and used the deals available on Black Friday to get the parts I wanted for it as well as picking up some used gear as people upgraded their own tanks on Black Friday.

Parts List:

Saltwater Side
- Light: AI Reef Prime 16HD
- Return Pump: Sicce 0.5
- Heater: Finnex HMX 100W
- ATO: Tunze 3152 Nano Osmolator
- Sand: CaribSea Bimini Pink
- Rock: CaribSea Life Rock
- Extras: VCA Random Flow Nozzle, Innovative Marine Desktop Overflow Fish Guard, AI Prime 16HD Diffuser
Freshwater Side
- Light: AI Freshwater Prime 16HD
- Return Pump: Stock Innovative Marine Pump
- Heater: Finnex HMA-S 50W
- ATO: Me... Might add an ATO option if I can find something reasonable
- Sand: CaribSea Eco-Complete Black
- Rock: Dragon Stone
- Extras: Innovative Marine Desktop Overflow Fish Guard, AI Prime 16HD Diffuser

Cycle started: Saltwater Side - 12-15-2020 || Freshwater Side - 12-10-2020

Current Picture(s):

12-21-2020:

12-18-2020:

12-16-2020:

*I will edit this post with updates as needed or to provide more information if questions are consistent. I did not want to make the opening post too long.

TacticalReef · Dec 16, 2020

***Cycling Process ***

--Saltwater Side--
I put the biological filter media in my Evo 13.5 for about a week to start with getting it seeded. On 12-15-2020 I filled the tank to activate the live sand and life rock. I also treated the tank with Dr. Tim's One and Only as well as the suggested dose of ammonia.

Cycle is currently in progress will update as needed.

12-21-2020 Testing Results
Finally seeing the nitrate and nitrite spikes coming in, a bit slower than I expected but it is good to see this happening now. Nitrite looking at around 2ppm while the nitrate is in the 40-80ppm range. Terrible to see in normal circumstances but amazing to see during a cycle - the spikes have arrived I believe.

12-18-2020 Testing Results
Everything is still looking really solid with this tank so far. Nitrite is showing up and Nitrate is looking a little higher than a couple of days ago. I dosed the tank yesterday with Ammonia so it seems to be handling things well. Next test will be in a few days after a dosing of Ammonia again.

12-16-2020 Testing Results
I am actually really surprised with how low these numbers are. Even with media that has been in a cycled tank and adding Dr. Tim's I expected to see a bit higher here. API tests are tough to read so I cannot be really confident in the Nitrate reading. I will be doing another ammonia dose tomorrow and we will see if that changes the numbers in a couple of days.

--Freshwater Side--
I used a combination of SeaChem Prime and Stability to create the biological filter. Plants should be arriving soon to continue to cycle the tank.

12-21-2020 Testing Results
Ammonia is continuing to trend down. I could almost say that it is completely gone but I still see a hint of green in the test result so still going to wait to get some livestock in there.

12-18-2020 Testing Results
Ammonia still going down, plants are in and seemingly happy. Everything is on track so not too much to report here.

12-16-2020 Testing Results
Not really happy with this ammonia number at all. After a week of consistent SeaChem Stability I would expect the ammonia to be almost non-existent. According to USPS my first plants arrive tomorrow and I will feel a bit uneasy about putting them into a tank with ammonia above 0. Lesson learned on ordering things before confirming the numbers are where I want them to be. Hopefully I am guessing this is reading at 0.25ppm, pessimistically it is reading at a 1.0ppm. API tests make it really difficult to tell but here we are.

TacticalReef · Dec 16, 2020

EverAquarium said:
***Cycling Process ***

--Saltwater Side--
I put the biological filter media in my Evo 13.5 for about a week to start with getting it seeded. On 12-15-2020 I filled the tank to activate the live sand and life rock. I also treated the tank with Dr. Tim's One and Only as well as the suggested dose of ammonia.

Cycle is currently in progress will update as needed.

12-16-2020 Testing Results
I am actually really surprised with how low these numbers are. Even with media that has been in a cycled tank and adding Dr. Tim's I expected to see a bit higher here. API tests are tough to read so I cannot be really confident in the Nitrate reading. I will be doing another ammonia dose tomorrow and we will see if that changes the numbers in a couple of days.

--Freshwater Side--
I used a combination of SeaChem Prime and Stability to create the biological filter. Plants should be arriving soon to continue to cycle the tank.

12-16-2020 Testing Results
Not really happy with this ammonia number at all. After a week of consistent SeaChem Stability I would expect the ammonia to be almost non-existent. According to USPS my first plants arrive tomorrow and I will feel a bit uneasy about putting them into a tank with ammonia above 0. Lesson learned on ordering things before confirming the numbers are where I want them to be. Hopefully I am guessing this is reading at 0.25ppm, pessimistically it is reading at a 1.0ppm. API tests make it really difficult to tell but here we are.

Added results from tonight's water quality testing to the cycling post.

MarkyMark_ · Dec 16, 2020

Following, very interested in following along with your journey and your unique set up!

TacticalReef · Dec 16, 2020

M.X. said:
Following, very interested in following along with your journey and your unique set up!

I appreciate it! I wanted to do a fun build so I can have a nice talking point in my apartment to hopefully get some of my other friends interested in the hobby. But as always the hardest part of any build is taking things slow haha.

TacticalReef · Dec 18, 2020

So a few things to update here.

1) I updated the cycling post with the results from today so that is the most up to date readings, I also started a spoiler area for each side to archive the previous results neatly.

2) Within the last couple of days there have been some great updates on the build. I got the freshwater plants in and settled. I went with some easy and hardy plants but with a range of sizes and placement areas. I think it looks really great so I would love to hear what you all think. I also installed some diffusers for the lights tonight. These were to prevent as much light bleed as possible between the two tanks and improve the "shimmer" of these AI Prime 16HDs. They look a lot better than I expected so I am really happy where this build is going now.

TacticalReef · Dec 21, 2020

Added some new cycling updates as well as updated the current photo. I have added a couple of new plants to the freshwater side and everything is going well so far!