KSReefing
Well-Known Member
I finally am happy to be getting back into the saltwater aquarium game. I have taken a bit of a break over the last two years. I ended up selling everything off because I thought that I had lost interest. I also knew that I was going to be busy with the new baby so I ended up selling things over time. Well here I am with a baby at 9 months old and I am itching to get back in. I decided that I would keep it on the smaller side and not deal with a sump and a bunch of equipment. I use to have a 30 Long IM tank and I actually really liked it a lot. So I kept my eye out for one over the last couple months. It took awhile to find one but finally one decided to pop on marketplace.
I ended up finding someone that was about an hour away from me and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I wasn't thrilled about the hour drive but I picked it up after looking for so long for that specific tank. The tank was in pretty decent condition. Some minor scratches that won't be noticeable when the tank is filled with water. It came with a inTank media basket so that was a good deal. I ended up paying $120 for the tank, stand, and canopy. The stand and canopy were not attractive to me at all. I knew that getting this setup I would have to rehab the stand and canopy big time before I could put it in my house. The stand and canopy were way too boxy and just flat out awful looking.
I ended up stripping the stand down to the frame. The frame was actually well built and I wouldn't change anything about it. I had to take off the awful pegboard off the back of the stand because it looked rough.
After stripping the stand down to the frame I started to add pieces to the existing stand. I used a bunch of 1x3 and 1x4 pine select boards.
With having a 9 month old I really only could work between his naps which made this process take a little bit longer. I wish I would have taken more pictures throughout the process. But anyway here I am with the almost finished product. I have some woodfilling, sanding, priming, and painting that will be done here in the next couple of days.
I decided to build an aquarium cabinet out of the birch plywood he had from his stand. I will be mounting all my apex gear inside the cabinet. I decided to go with a floating style canopy. I have vaulted ceilings in the room that it is going to so that wasn't really an option. I wanted to do it because I wanted to have the t5 retrofit with the Kessils.
Equipment List
30L IM Nuvo Fusion Tank
(2) Kessil A360WE's Tuna Blue
(2) Nanotech Sunblaster T5's- ATI Blue Plus
Stock Return (Would like to upgrade)
150gpd RODI
(2) RW-4s
300W Finnex Titanium Heater
Neptune ATK
Neptune Apex (Temp, PH, ORP, Salinity)
Optional
Skimmer (Unsure of which one yet) I had a ghost skimmer and felt like it was a micro bubble machine
Reactors
Stocking List (Really not sure yet) Love to hear ideas on people's stocking for these tanks. I usually focus on coral but have always had more success with heavy fish load.
Pair of clowns. (Really like the storms)
Couple of Bangaiis
Firefish
Yellow Watchman.
(Not saying all these, Just ideas)
I will be doing mostly zoas, and LPS. I will dabble in to some SPS as well.
I ended up finding someone that was about an hour away from me and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I wasn't thrilled about the hour drive but I picked it up after looking for so long for that specific tank. The tank was in pretty decent condition. Some minor scratches that won't be noticeable when the tank is filled with water. It came with a inTank media basket so that was a good deal. I ended up paying $120 for the tank, stand, and canopy. The stand and canopy were not attractive to me at all. I knew that getting this setup I would have to rehab the stand and canopy big time before I could put it in my house. The stand and canopy were way too boxy and just flat out awful looking.
I ended up stripping the stand down to the frame. The frame was actually well built and I wouldn't change anything about it. I had to take off the awful pegboard off the back of the stand because it looked rough.
After stripping the stand down to the frame I started to add pieces to the existing stand. I used a bunch of 1x3 and 1x4 pine select boards.
With having a 9 month old I really only could work between his naps which made this process take a little bit longer. I wish I would have taken more pictures throughout the process. But anyway here I am with the almost finished product. I have some woodfilling, sanding, priming, and painting that will be done here in the next couple of days.
I decided to build an aquarium cabinet out of the birch plywood he had from his stand. I will be mounting all my apex gear inside the cabinet. I decided to go with a floating style canopy. I have vaulted ceilings in the room that it is going to so that wasn't really an option. I wanted to do it because I wanted to have the t5 retrofit with the Kessils.
Equipment List
30L IM Nuvo Fusion Tank
(2) Kessil A360WE's Tuna Blue
(2) Nanotech Sunblaster T5's- ATI Blue Plus
Stock Return (Would like to upgrade)
150gpd RODI
(2) RW-4s
300W Finnex Titanium Heater
Neptune ATK
Neptune Apex (Temp, PH, ORP, Salinity)
Optional
Skimmer (Unsure of which one yet) I had a ghost skimmer and felt like it was a micro bubble machine
Reactors
Stocking List (Really not sure yet) Love to hear ideas on people's stocking for these tanks. I usually focus on coral but have always had more success with heavy fish load.
Pair of clowns. (Really like the storms)
Couple of Bangaiis
Firefish
Yellow Watchman.
(Not saying all these, Just ideas)
I will be doing mostly zoas, and LPS. I will dabble in to some SPS as well.
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