Jerrico’s DIY 44g AIO

[jerricolaboy]

FTS-8-18-25

Ive run a Fluval Flex 15g for 2 years now and was starting to become interested in a new tank. The old stand that I have is falling apart and it’s close to its last days anytime now. So I started looking for a new setup.
I bought this current setup off FB marketplace and figured I’d have some luck trying again….nothing. At least nothing I’d be interested in building or having in my house. I didn’t want anything too big like 75g and up but I also didn’t want anything too small.

I gave up for a while then one day I was in Petsmart looking for cat food and noticed this odd sized tank. It was offered as a 37g but I knew there was no way it was that small. The standard 37g is only 12inches in depth, this one was 15.5. So I took it home. Honestly for a 150bucks I couldn’t be happier. It’s 30L x 22H x 15.5D from what I’ve used for online volume calculations it says it about 44.5g and honestly I’m happy with that. I want to keep to my 1 bucket water changes every week.

Now the next dilemma is what am I going to put this on? I went right back to Marketplace but with no avail. I wanted something taller I didn’t want to crouch over to look into the tank like I do now. The tank will be setup in my entry way. Mostly it’s standing traffic that walks by it so I wanted to kinda tall. So I went to the local IKEA. I know it’s garbage but I found something it could use for cheap. And it brings the total height to the setup to 60in to the top rim of the tank. I know it’s garbage and I’m gonna have to brace the insides so I plan in building a quick 2x4 bracing inside.


Filtration was of very little concern, I knew I was going to build a AIO chamber in the center back if the tank. I bought a 24x36x1/4 sheet of black acrylic from Amazon. Still yet to cut it up but that’s the project for the week. I want to transfer this tank within the next couple weeks


This build thread will kinda be DIY cause I like to build/modify stuff more than anything. I’ll try to take as many pics along the way.

Here’s my current Flex 15g

And the new 44g on its stand

 

[steveschuerger]

Nice tank. It’s pretty deep…hope you’ve got long arms :D

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Nice looking upgrade!

 

[steveschuerger]

What are your plans for this ? Looks just the right size to house several of the smaller wrasses..
And lots of Euphyllia and Gonis ;)

 

[jerricolaboy]

What are your plans for this ? Looks just the right size to house several of the smaller wrasses..
And lots of Euphyllia and Gonis ;)

Honestly not sure yet fish wise. Coral wise I’d like to move up from softy’s, leathers, and Zoas to some flowing LPS’s

 

[jerricolaboy]

Nice tank. It’s pretty deep…hope you’ve got long arms :D

Yea I’m 6ft so I still stand above it enough to get in there comfortably.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Did some bracing tonight. Took apart the stand a little and beefed it up with 2x4’s across the top and some 2x10s on either side. And a cross brace on the very bottom. Glued the wood to the ikea cabinet. I think it’ll be plenty strong enough now.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Did some painting tonight, left the middle clear just incase I need to see back in the filter box. I’d be able to shine a light from through it. Maybe it’s a good idea maybe not who knows time will tell.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Put the AIO filter together last night. I looked around a lot of all different kinds of AIO sections to pick out the best design ideas I thought I’d be able to pull off at home. It’s constructed of 1/4in black acrylic. It’s 14inches wide. 21 tall which brings it right level to the ledge where the screen top would sit. For depth I thought about it a lot and went with a 3inch depth. Small enough to not lose a ton of internal real estate but big enough to get my hands back there.
The first section is 5inches wide. I put little dividers in there with egg crate for the media to sit on. The first will hold mechanical filtration. It sits 1.25 inches below the weirs. The second section is about 5 inches below that and the third is at the bottom and that’s about 8inches.
I figured mechanical then chemical and finally in the biggest section biological media.
Second chamber is just a pass thru its 1.5 inches in width, maybe an area for future probes or dosing lines. Idk yet.
Last chamber is the biggest at about 7 or so inches. That’ll obviously hold the return pump, Heater, small skimmer and ato sensor.






Used a cheap table saw with a 60tooth blade to cut the acrylic and Weldon 16 to put it all together. I 16 cause it has more body and more working time. Once it was dry inside the seams enough to handle i put another quick run in the corners to really make sure it held together. Let it sit a few hours and siliconed it into the tank.



Fit perfectly and snug. Had to do a little bit of sanding with a grinder to get it perfect under the rim but I knew that would happen to get it perfect. Also trimmed the lip of the rim off that area with a razor blade to get better access later. The section I left unpainted helped a ton to make sure I got even silicone coverage on the back wall.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Moved the flex 15 and stand over a couple feet last night and put the new tank and stand in its place. Leveled it dry then added new sand. I used a mix of coarse aragonite and Fiji pink both from Carib sea. I had to rinse the hell outta the aragonite. Super dusty. Then I mixed up a gallon of fresh salt water and let it soak in it. Added the Fiji pink on top and mixed them up. I wanted some different textures hopefully I’ve achieved the look I wanted.


Filled the tank with sand about 3/4 to an inch thick sand bed. I’m not a fan of a super thick sand bed. And started mixing buckets of salt water 2 by 2 lol. Took all nite but it got done. Once it was filled about half way I put a level on it again and adjusted it a little more. I’m sure I’ll have to fine tune it later once everything settles. (I have old hard wood floor lol). Salinity is close I’ll adjust it perfect later. Added some filter floss and turned the return pump on and put a the heater in to get things going.

Headed out to the Frag Farmers Market later on today to look around a bit. Maybe spend a little cash on some frags.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Finally cleared up after 2 days

 

[jerricolaboy]

Last nite I transferred the old tank to the new tank. Drained 15 gallons from the new setup to make space for the transfer. Started with the water, then the rock then fish. I grabbed as much of the sand as I could. Without picking up too much funk. Once all the inhabitants were over I topped the tank back off and started transferring the equipment. I know I’ll have upgrade the skimming and lighting but I’m sure for now while everything is getting acclimated it’s fine.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Did some rearranging these past couple days and some more organizing in the cabinet. I got a 8 plug power strip that’s shaped better for the area it in. Little bit of wire clean up. Swapped out the ATO container for a cereal storage container just the same as my salt storage. Quick 5 gal water change and everything is looking good. I really need to get a camera filter. I swear there are nice colors in the tank

 

[tharbin]

@jerricolaboy very nice setup. I like your AIO design. It looks like the cereal containers you used are the same ones I had on my Waterbox 15 or at least very similar.

 

[jerricolaboy]

Was looking for a used Nero 5 but couldn’t find one locally. I love the Ai interface as that’s what I started with but I just can’t shell out 240 bucks right now for one. So instead I ordered a Jebao ELW-20 from Amazon for 65 bucks. I like the Nero style pumps. This Jebao one has Bluetooth a with the app so I can dial it in to a similar program as the Nero 3 I already have. Installed it in the left side of the tank on the back wall. I know it’s not optimal placement vs the sides of the tank but I want to keep an open view of the tank. So I placed them against the back glass. It think it’ll be fine. Turned the whites up a bit to get a better tank shot.

 

[jerricolaboy]

……And I little bit closer

 

[jerricolaboy]

water changes been going smoothly, parameters on point. Looking for some clean up crew/herbivore's maybe a fish of some sort. I grabbed a purple fire fish and a regular fire fish. I love these little dart fish. I like the way they move about the aquarium. Ohh and I got a feather duster.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Things are looking fantastic. I was so relieved to read you custom-braced-up the IKEA stand... because isn't water something like 8 pounds a gallon? Lol. Best wishes. :)

 

[jerricolaboy]

Things are looking fantastic. I was so relieved to read you custom-braced-up the IKEA stand... because isn't water something like 8 pounds a gallon? Lol. Best wishes. :)

I think it’s more than enough, super sturdy

 

[jerricolaboy]

I haven’t been doing much but weekly water changes. Sometimes 5g sometimes 10g dependent on nitrate and phosphate levels. Just letting the tank mature a bit since it’s almost “coasting” season (summer) . I think i wanna get a tomini tang soon. I’m tired of picking out the algae by hand . Also need to re-up the CUC. Was thinking some Mexican turbos, some hermits and maybe an urchin. Never had an urchin, should be fun. Ohh and another conch. Here’s a couple shots of the tank