Mark Teitelman
Active Member
Hey all...I'm 8 months in on my IM Abyss 20 gallon drop off...so far so good on that one...looks like this:
I really like the look of the drop off tanks...so after some research I settled on Mode Aquariums 50 gallon Drop Off...with a 25 gallon sump. I'm not very skilled at DIY, so I liked that the stand came fully assembled and the plumbing was very easy.
Here is how it came in:
And after about an hour of assembly and putting plumbing together:
And I'm using a brand new European filtration product here
Equipment list: (some still on the way...been saving up to buy a couple of really nice things for it)
System comes with what seems like a pretty good pump so far...but I will be needing more flow.
50 pounds live sand
50 pounds live rock
Deltec SCA 1351 Skimmer
Arid N18 Algae Reactor
Aqamai wireless KPS wavemaker
Cobalt 150 watt internal heater
MarinePure Block 8X8X4
MarinePure spheres
2 liters Siporax
Polyfilter pads
Chemipure Blue
Purigen
I have decided that the sump is way too small for a true refugium so that's why I'm going with the Pax Bellum reactor. Really curious to see how it plays out, I feel like it will be a fun project and if it works I will get lots of pods in the reactor and all the benefits of a good refugium. Using 2 of the sump chambers for biological filtration.
Here are some pics of sand in place:
Here is the stock sump (waiting on the skimmer and a few other filter items to fill it up)
Went and got some pretty nice live rock from LFS:
Scaping:
water going in:
Filled up!
With the lights on:
Super cloudy!!! Plopped in some Dr. Tim's One and Only and I'm underway on the fishless cycle. Worked well on my other drop off 8 months ago, let's do it again!
So far I like the Kessil AP700 a lot, although I'm curious what other folks are using for programming. I am mostly using variations on blue, but not sure on intensity yet. I travel a lot so SPS is out of the question on this tank, will stick to LPS and softies.
That's all for now...should have skimmer in tomorrow along with a few other things...will update the thread as I move along...definitely going to take my time and let the biological filter really settle in. But my hopes are high for it to turn out really nicely!!!
T-Man out
I really like the look of the drop off tanks...so after some research I settled on Mode Aquariums 50 gallon Drop Off...with a 25 gallon sump. I'm not very skilled at DIY, so I liked that the stand came fully assembled and the plumbing was very easy.
Here is how it came in:
And after about an hour of assembly and putting plumbing together:
And I'm using a brand new European filtration product here
Equipment list: (some still on the way...been saving up to buy a couple of really nice things for it)
System comes with what seems like a pretty good pump so far...but I will be needing more flow.
50 pounds live sand
50 pounds live rock
Deltec SCA 1351 Skimmer
Arid N18 Algae Reactor
Aqamai wireless KPS wavemaker
Cobalt 150 watt internal heater
MarinePure Block 8X8X4
MarinePure spheres
2 liters Siporax
Polyfilter pads
Chemipure Blue
Purigen
I have decided that the sump is way too small for a true refugium so that's why I'm going with the Pax Bellum reactor. Really curious to see how it plays out, I feel like it will be a fun project and if it works I will get lots of pods in the reactor and all the benefits of a good refugium. Using 2 of the sump chambers for biological filtration.
Here are some pics of sand in place:
Here is the stock sump (waiting on the skimmer and a few other filter items to fill it up)
Went and got some pretty nice live rock from LFS:
Scaping:
water going in:
Filled up!
With the lights on:
Super cloudy!!! Plopped in some Dr. Tim's One and Only and I'm underway on the fishless cycle. Worked well on my other drop off 8 months ago, let's do it again!
So far I like the Kessil AP700 a lot, although I'm curious what other folks are using for programming. I am mostly using variations on blue, but not sure on intensity yet. I travel a lot so SPS is out of the question on this tank, will stick to LPS and softies.
That's all for now...should have skimmer in tomorrow along with a few other things...will update the thread as I move along...definitely going to take my time and let the biological filter really settle in. But my hopes are high for it to turn out really nicely!!!
T-Man out
