The Resurrection - IM 40 Long Build

[Pseudoskill]

I inadvertently posted this in a different thread, but figured it'd be easier to reference here.

I had my IM 40L set up, cycled, and was running for about 4 months. I was constantly having issues I've never experienced in other tanks (this being my 5th). I constantly had zero nutrients despite having 5 fish and feeding every day. The sand and rock all looked essentially brand new. All fish were happy and ammonia would test zero (using API and RedSea tests). Any coral I put in would basically instantly melt.

I also believe I had some flow issues. I absolutely loved my aquascape, but the 24" XXL Caribsea arch just prevented water from moving, it just seemed too big.

So...I decided to do something that may have been a "dumb" move, but I decided on completely restarting my tank.

 

[Pseudoskill]

I had 3 people help me, I completely drained all water and emptied as much sand as I could. Took the tank (VERY carefully) down stairs and to a local carwash. I used a new sponge and scrubbed the inside down and sprayed everything off.

I believe that this may have been sort of an extreme measure, but I recently bought some new equipment I've really wanted and decided to just be content and start over. The tank wasn't housing corals anyway and any fix would likely take quite some time so I figured re-cycling wouldn't bother me, time wise.

 

[Pseudoskill]

I bought a new A3 Apex (delivered tomorrow) a new IM Helios dual element heater, and about 40 lbs of Marcorock in order to start the tank over (20 lbs shelf rock, 20 lbs regular). I used ~ 30 lbs of Caribsea Fiji pink sand.

I also bought 2 different magnets from 'OctoAquatics' to make a sort of floating aquascape piece. I've done this on a Waterbox I had in the past and really liked how it turned out. I just attach the magnet to the rock using JB Water weld.

 

[Pseudoskill]

I didn't want to lose my fish, they've been with me for a while. So, I took advantage of the 50% off tank sale at Petco and just bought a 20G long tank and HoB canister. Switched over some old rock and figured it would do for now while my tank cycles.

 

[Pseudoskill]

Here some pics of my aquascape for the time being. I wanted to create a valley sort of look, which I accomplished on the right side of the tank. I may adjust pieces around in the coming days, but overall I'm really happy with how it currently looks!

 

[JoJosReef]

How did you make the floating island?

 

[Pseudoskill]

I buy these magnets from Octo Aquatics. The magnets themselves are NOT reef safe but they're housed in super thick acrylic. Unless you crack one or something, there won't be any issues. I just use 'JB Water Weld' that you can get at home depot to secure the magnet to the rock. The water weld is like putty you just put on the rock, and it is reef safe. Then just put it on the glass with the magnet on the other side!

 

[Chris4reef]

I love my IM40, I went with a custom rockscape from Chandlerock on FB. Hes a great guy and does the work so all you have to do is glue corals. Your build is looking great though!

 

[Pseudoskill]

Yeah that tank looks pretty great. Hoping I can get mine up looking nice in the next few months. I'm going LPS only however

 

[Pseudoskill]

Pretty stoked with my delivery today. This is the first time I've owned any sort of controller, really looking forward to getting this thing set up. Any tips of initial set up, etc? Probably dive into it tomorrow and watch some YouTube videos.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Pretty stoked with my delivery today. This is the first time I've owned any sort of controller, really looking forward to getting this thing set up. Any tips of initial set up, etc? Probably dive into it tomorrow and watch some YouTube videos.

Have fun with your new apex!!!

 

[Reefbeast]

Hi Pseudoskill

How do you like the depth of that IM 40L ? I just bought one on clearance because it was a great deal and I didnt want anything very deep easier for me to work on plus being able to view from the top I thought would be cool. Being 13" tall im afraid it might be too shallow now. Are you having any problems with how shallow the tank is? I see you switched to no sand was that because of the limited water space?

 

[Pseudoskill]

Hi Pseudoskill

How do you like the depth of that IM 40L ? I just bought one on clearance because it was a great deal and I didnt want anything very deep easier for me to work on plus being able to view from the top I thought would be cool. Being 13" tall im afraid it might be too shallow now. Are you having any problems with how shallow the tank is? I see you switched to no sand was that because of the limited water space?

My apologies, just saw this, I'm sure you made a decision by now. I personally love the dimensions. I do indeed have sand and run a Nero 3 on one side and have no issues with it blowing sand everywhere. I have always liked long/shallow tanks though.

 

[Pseudoskill]

Got my Apex up and running finally. It is not easy to learn how to use this dang thing! Ran into a few issues along the way including:

1) First night installed, for whatever reason, it shut my heater and return pump off at about 10PM. My water sat still and cold for about 8 hours until 6am when I noticed. I redid the programming and uploaded it again to the apex and I haven't had an issue since.

2) This one was completely my own negligence, but I let my tank get to about 66 degrees for a solid 24 hours. When doing a water change, I had shut the ATO off. When the water line dropped, my heating sensor wasn't covered anymore and shut off as a fail safe. I was busy at work and didn't check my dashboard all day and only noticed because I put my hand in and it was cold AF! I also apparently did not have the alarm "activated". I have since fixed and verified that.

 

[Pseudoskill]

I've also noticed that the temp sensor the apex is about 1 degree off, which is a reasonable margin of error. My IM/Helios heater shows the temp being 78, I also used a secondary tank thermometer to verify and it showed the same. Apex will show 79ish no matter what. Not too concerned about a one degree difference, moreso interested in tracking the changes.

Should anyone be curious about the temp fluctuations on my graph, it's only about .3-.4 degree changes, which I attribute to my ATO adding water. It's still cold where I live and my living room stays about 66-68 degrees. I believe the ATO pouring water in causes the temp to fluctuate. I have all sensors on a rack in the back of my AIO, so it's a relatively low volume area that can experience change quickly.

 

[Pseudoskill]

Here are some progress pics. My rocks are definitely brown, with a few pieces starting to turn green. I'll be monitoring closely for GHA, may run some GFO in my AIO if so. Overall, pretty happy with the progress thus far.