Reef_Crasher
Community Member
Hi everyone, new to R2R, currently working on a new build and was recommended that I should do a build thread on it so here's what has happened this new build so far to get caught up with the current date.
After having a IM 20 for 7 Months (yes still probably an immature tank) I've gotten to the point where I have a feeling that I might eventually need more space to grow out smaller/new frags without covering all the sides of the glass with hang on frag racks. So I started to slowly look into setting up a frag tank.
[September 24 2021]
Initially I was looking into doing a 50gal low boy build cause I had some things left over (sump/skimmer/ato) from a 40gal reef tank that I used to have back seven years ago, though I've somewhat enjoyed the AIO style tanks after owning a IM 20 and the final push to doing something smaller was finding this IM 30L used for only $120. Only catch was that it was pretty bare with what came with it, no filter caddy, pump, had a lid, and 1-1/2 of the return nozzles/fittings. So dealing with this and getting it reef ready was going to be a fun challenge. During the same day I also picked up a used unfortunately desktop size Nuvoskim DC Skimmer for only $55.
(Image Note: Did not initially come with the RFG nozzles)
[September 28 2021]
I gave the tank a leak test/soaked it in vinegar to remove most of the coralline algae and hardened sand. Whole tank looked nearly brand new and there were surprisingly no noticeable scratches on the glass.
[September 30 2021]
The First challenge was to then get the filter section ready cause once again no filter caddy, pump, or fittings so I started with the return fittings. Though instead of buying replacements from IM I ended up just designing my own on Fusion 360 and 3D printing them out of PETG. Took a couple attempts to get them to fit correctly but in the end they all fit perfectly in the end, also printed a pair of random flow generator nozzles while at the printer. Unfortunately I couldn't plumb them all up yet cause I was waiting for a Jebao DCW-2500 DC pump to come in. For finding the pump flow rate I ended up going a bit over the flow rate of the DC pumps that came with the new 30L tanks.
[October 7 2021]
For the stand I wanted the IM 30L to match the look of my current IM 20 setup which was getting an Ikea Besta cabinet and reinforcing it with 2x4s from the local hardware store. Fortunately I managed to come across a used 48" Ikea Besta cabinet of the same color style for $120 so I ended up picking that up. During that stand run I also stopped by the LFS and picked up a couple things for this build, egg crate for the frag racks, and a single AI prime 16 HD. Back to the stand, it was pretty nice compartment wise. It had two sectioned sides with both of the sliding drawers on the bottom and larger swing out doors above them. This gave me the idea to allocate the left side for power distribution and slide out ATO reservoir, then have the right side being for controller/doser mounting and storage.
[October 17 2021]
Back to getting the rear filtration section going I once gain had the option to buy a mid-size filter caddy but I once again for the fun challenge just designed my own that was somewhat similar to the inTank ones except they were 100% 3D printable. This took the longest to get right size right bit eventually I got to a working design. For those that want to make their own
here are the STL files. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5090219
[October 19 2021]
The Jebao DCW-2500 pump finally came in so I could finally plumb up the return section with the 3D printed Fittings. While I was at it I also reprinted the RFG Nozzles in black PETG to match the black back wall of the tank. The one fitting I did buy was a 1/2" Y fitting for the vinyl tubing.
[October 22 2021]
Getting an Apex was completely out of mind for this build till I stumbled across a pretty good deal for a used one. It was an ApexEL for $500 but had quite a bit more additional bells and whistles tacked onto it. Those things were PM1 with orp, PM2 with probe, Apex LDK, Apex ATK, Apex Display, Probe holder, a second EB832, and a brand new pH probe. Fortunately all the extra modules worked and were temporarily installed onto my current IM 20 to figure out how Apex Fusion works. This also further pushed me to do the electronics/controller section in the right side of the Ikea cabinet. Also in the image below you can see how I tried to hide the Apex Unit and the doser I plan to use, it's a Jebao Doser 3.4 that I got a couple months back for the IM 20 but was overkill.
[October 28 2021]
Now getting Into control/electronics panel side of the stand. I mounted the 2nd EB832 and a smart surge protector to the left side of the cabinet, then managed to rotate one of the left shelfs to a vertical position to become the base of this panel area which gave me the base of the front panel. Started measuring the footprint of all the things I wanted to incorporated onto the panel and started planning out where to mount them. You can also see on the left side where I have room to put a 5gal container for the Neptune ATK.
With all the components that I wanted to mount measured, here was the plan. Have space to mount an Apex Base unit, 3 expansion modules (PM1, PM2, and FMM), DC pump controller and the Jebao Doser. I also had the mounting points added so I can pre drill them, then mount the board onto my CNC router and have it cut out all the holes for wires and drill the component mounting points.
Panel came out surprisingly well and everything seemed to fit perfectly, I didn't transfer everything yet cause the Apex and doser was next to the 20g. There were also some cheap Ebay motion activated USB LED strips that I added.
[October 30 2021]
I was looking more into the Neptune Apex system noticed you could buy a cheap tablet for it to display/control things so I found a cheap Amazon Kindle Fire and mounted it above the tank.
Well, there you have it, this is what I've done with the build so far and hopefully plan to post updates on things that I do to the tank in this thread.
After having a IM 20 for 7 Months (yes still probably an immature tank) I've gotten to the point where I have a feeling that I might eventually need more space to grow out smaller/new frags without covering all the sides of the glass with hang on frag racks. So I started to slowly look into setting up a frag tank.
[September 24 2021]
Initially I was looking into doing a 50gal low boy build cause I had some things left over (sump/skimmer/ato) from a 40gal reef tank that I used to have back seven years ago, though I've somewhat enjoyed the AIO style tanks after owning a IM 20 and the final push to doing something smaller was finding this IM 30L used for only $120. Only catch was that it was pretty bare with what came with it, no filter caddy, pump, had a lid, and 1-1/2 of the return nozzles/fittings. So dealing with this and getting it reef ready was going to be a fun challenge. During the same day I also picked up a used unfortunately desktop size Nuvoskim DC Skimmer for only $55.
(Image Note: Did not initially come with the RFG nozzles)
[September 28 2021]
I gave the tank a leak test/soaked it in vinegar to remove most of the coralline algae and hardened sand. Whole tank looked nearly brand new and there were surprisingly no noticeable scratches on the glass.
[September 30 2021]
The First challenge was to then get the filter section ready cause once again no filter caddy, pump, or fittings so I started with the return fittings. Though instead of buying replacements from IM I ended up just designing my own on Fusion 360 and 3D printing them out of PETG. Took a couple attempts to get them to fit correctly but in the end they all fit perfectly in the end, also printed a pair of random flow generator nozzles while at the printer. Unfortunately I couldn't plumb them all up yet cause I was waiting for a Jebao DCW-2500 DC pump to come in. For finding the pump flow rate I ended up going a bit over the flow rate of the DC pumps that came with the new 30L tanks.
[October 7 2021]
For the stand I wanted the IM 30L to match the look of my current IM 20 setup which was getting an Ikea Besta cabinet and reinforcing it with 2x4s from the local hardware store. Fortunately I managed to come across a used 48" Ikea Besta cabinet of the same color style for $120 so I ended up picking that up. During that stand run I also stopped by the LFS and picked up a couple things for this build, egg crate for the frag racks, and a single AI prime 16 HD. Back to the stand, it was pretty nice compartment wise. It had two sectioned sides with both of the sliding drawers on the bottom and larger swing out doors above them. This gave me the idea to allocate the left side for power distribution and slide out ATO reservoir, then have the right side being for controller/doser mounting and storage.
[October 17 2021]
Back to getting the rear filtration section going I once gain had the option to buy a mid-size filter caddy but I once again for the fun challenge just designed my own that was somewhat similar to the inTank ones except they were 100% 3D printable. This took the longest to get right size right bit eventually I got to a working design. For those that want to make their own
here are the STL files. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5090219
[October 19 2021]
The Jebao DCW-2500 pump finally came in so I could finally plumb up the return section with the 3D printed Fittings. While I was at it I also reprinted the RFG Nozzles in black PETG to match the black back wall of the tank. The one fitting I did buy was a 1/2" Y fitting for the vinyl tubing.
[October 22 2021]
Getting an Apex was completely out of mind for this build till I stumbled across a pretty good deal for a used one. It was an ApexEL for $500 but had quite a bit more additional bells and whistles tacked onto it. Those things were PM1 with orp, PM2 with probe, Apex LDK, Apex ATK, Apex Display, Probe holder, a second EB832, and a brand new pH probe. Fortunately all the extra modules worked and were temporarily installed onto my current IM 20 to figure out how Apex Fusion works. This also further pushed me to do the electronics/controller section in the right side of the Ikea cabinet. Also in the image below you can see how I tried to hide the Apex Unit and the doser I plan to use, it's a Jebao Doser 3.4 that I got a couple months back for the IM 20 but was overkill.
[October 28 2021]
Now getting Into control/electronics panel side of the stand. I mounted the 2nd EB832 and a smart surge protector to the left side of the cabinet, then managed to rotate one of the left shelfs to a vertical position to become the base of this panel area which gave me the base of the front panel. Started measuring the footprint of all the things I wanted to incorporated onto the panel and started planning out where to mount them. You can also see on the left side where I have room to put a 5gal container for the Neptune ATK.
With all the components that I wanted to mount measured, here was the plan. Have space to mount an Apex Base unit, 3 expansion modules (PM1, PM2, and FMM), DC pump controller and the Jebao Doser. I also had the mounting points added so I can pre drill them, then mount the board onto my CNC router and have it cut out all the holes for wires and drill the component mounting points.
Panel came out surprisingly well and everything seemed to fit perfectly, I didn't transfer everything yet cause the Apex and doser was next to the 20g. There were also some cheap Ebay motion activated USB LED strips that I added.
[October 30 2021]
I was looking more into the Neptune Apex system noticed you could buy a cheap tablet for it to display/control things so I found a cheap Amazon Kindle Fire and mounted it above the tank.
Well, there you have it, this is what I've done with the build so far and hopefully plan to post updates on things that I do to the tank in this thread.
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