Tank #2 Build Thread! IM SR80

[e92er]

Figure I did a build thread for my first nano tank, I should do one for the next one too!
I had so much fun with my nano, I knew pretty early on that I was going to want another bigger tank. There was a space in our living room that's exactly 49" wide and so I pretty much picked it as the location for the next time. The intention was to slowly look for a tank and parts for it from forums and Facebook Marketplace which led me to this tank! It's an IM SR80 AIO.

My plan was to leave it in the garage until I can get all the parts sourced and then get it up and running sometime next year....Well the wife had different plans. She saw the tank and pretty much said, make it so!

I've got ~5lb of citric acid powder on order and plan to run that for a day or two and then give it a good cleaning. I bought some 3/4 boards from Lowes and plan to put one beneath the stand and another between the stand and the tank. Also bought some thin particle boards that I can cut and put into the stand to mount all of the equipment controllers.

Plan for now is simple. I need to source some pumps, heaters, and lights. I'm planning to make this all around the Neptune system so I'm looking for a Neptune pro also.
Ideally, I also want AWC but I haven't yet figured out where to plumb the drain line. There's no pipes behind the wall so I gotta figure that out...There was thoughts on converting it somehow into something with a sump but a convo at one of my lfs' scared me enough about overflows that I ruled that out.

As far as stock. Gonna start with a pair of clowns, preferably picassos. Also want a watchman goby and a pistol shrimp since they didn't survive our nano. Probably a few nice torches and a zoa garden down below.
That's it for now, don't really know what else to put in it yet but I've learned, I'm in no rush this time around!

PS. Yes it's replacing Pickle's bed but don't worry, he has a massive beanbag on the other side that he's also claimed!

 

[Baldyreef]

following along
pickle is so adorable!!

 

[Fish Fan]

I think that will clean up nicely; good luck!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

Do you have an idea of what you want to stock the tank with?

 

[e92er]

following along
pickle is so adorable!!

Thanks!

I think that will clean up nicely; good luck!

Thanks!

Following along!

Do you have an idea of what you want to stock the tank with?

Not yet. I don't really have a single fish that I absolutely have to have so it'll be a slow process. I have a nano tank that we got a Yellow Watchman and pistol shrimp combo but we were also sold a royal dottyback that turned into an absolute murderous psychopath. The hope is another Watchman/shrimp combo early on so we can watch their antics.

I do love torch corals so I'll be keeping some space open for torches. An anemone would be cool for the clowns but I really don't want to deal with splitting nems taking over.

Hoping for just a peaceful tank with lots of entertainment and am absolutely open to suggestions!!

 

[e92er]

Update!

So I gave it a good 2 day citrus soak and cleaned it out real good. I've been driving to lots of members homes for equipment to start building it up and also ordering some new equipment online for peace of mind for long term reliability.

For the inside of the stand, I put 1/2" HDPE on the bottom as the "floor" and then used waterproof tape to seal the edge so no moisture leaks through the edges. The stand is sitting on 3/4" birch plywood that's on top of a heavy-duty horse stall rubber mat. There was the slightest angle to the tank so I added a sliver of leveling shims on one side to even it out. The back of the stand has 1/4" mdf and I cut another mdf board as a partition between the double doors up front and the single door up front. I'm putting two IM 15g reservoirs in the double doors, one for RODI water and the other with salt water for a AWC system.

The filling process was a labor of patience! I upgraded my BRS RODI system to the 150GPD but I won't let it run unless I'm nearby and able to watch it. So only for 2-3h per day.


Equipment so far:
Sicce 2.0 pumps (to replace the MightyJets)
BRS Titanium 100W Elements x2 connected to Inkbird WiFi itc308
Ecotech MP40QD x2
Tunze 3154 ATO
Radion XR15 Gen 6 Blue's w/RMS kit
IM Aquagadget 15G Reservoirs x2
Neptune Systems:
Axis A3 Pro, Trident & Trident NP, DOS, EB832 Powerbar x2, Display Module, Liquid Level Sensor, Multisurface Leak Detector, pH probe, ORP probe, Temp probe.

For the tank itself:
Real Reef Midnight Rock from Squeakys Aquatics
Added a couple PETG 3D prints
Caribsea Special Grade (x3 bags)
Caribsea Pink Fiji (x3 bags)
Caribsea Hawaiian Black (~1/3 bag) (ran multiple magnets through the bag and didn't have anything stick so hopefully that's good?)

Started cycling this morning with Brightwell MicroBacter Start XLM