- Joined
- Apr 12, 2020
- Messages
- 149
- Reaction score
- 66
Welcome to my build guys, so I've been in the hobby almost 18 months. Started with a nano and quickly swapped it out with a standard 75G that I drilled myself for a sump. That's been running for a year with great results, battling some persistent turf algae with vibrant but other than that corals and fish doing great. So this won't really be a new "build" as much as a insta reef, I'll be transferring all my fish and corals from my 75 and my 20 gallon over to this tank.
Unlike most people, I'm actually going back from using a sump to AIO. Why? On my 75 I tried ALL the gear in the sump, UV/algae reactor/media/etc. Ultimately I noticed the only thing that I really needed was to change the filter sock out once a week and run a skimmer. So really I only had the sump for the skimmer. Yes, extra water volume provides more stability but to be honest I was only adding 5-7 extra gallons of water with the sump.
I wanted something similar in size but that looked a lot sharper, so that I could keep maintenance low and be happy with it for a few years. So I decided on this AIO system, which will be perfect for my style. I didn't enjoy running so much equipment when I was in my "trying everything out" phase. So all I will run is two 3D printed cups in the sock chamber with some filter floss and carbon in them. In the middle chamber I will run a Tunze 9004 DC skimmer. A IM mighty jet DC return pump in chamber 3 and call it a day. I'd say I have a medium bio load so I'll change the floss as needed. Skimmer should be able to handle the rest of the nutrients, then I have the option of water changes which won't be too much due to the small water volume.
I really love the footprint, it's 47x20x18, (42x20x18 display). I won't be able to set it up as peninsula unfortunately due to my current living room setup but I will be buying a house next year so I will definitely look to use the three viewing sides when I do move. Am I making a mistake not getting the sump version of this tank? I am saving about 500$ and didn't really get much use of my sump in my 75. Follow the build to see! Anyways tank will be here next week. Some pics of the stuff I got for it. Will be using my x2 AI Hydra 26HDs with 4ft RMS system. x2 AI Nero 3's. Livestock will be Clownfish pair, neon goby, lawnmower blenny, starcki damselfish, tomini tang, coral beauty, black cap basslet, flame hawkfish and PJ Cardinalfish. Have about 20 corals mostly euphylia and softies. Will be a total mixed reef with sections for each class of coral. The biggest challenge will be aquascape because all rock is live with encrusted/glued corals so I will have to just stack the rocks and make interesting shapes that work. Ok ill update next week!
Unlike most people, I'm actually going back from using a sump to AIO. Why? On my 75 I tried ALL the gear in the sump, UV/algae reactor/media/etc. Ultimately I noticed the only thing that I really needed was to change the filter sock out once a week and run a skimmer. So really I only had the sump for the skimmer. Yes, extra water volume provides more stability but to be honest I was only adding 5-7 extra gallons of water with the sump.
I wanted something similar in size but that looked a lot sharper, so that I could keep maintenance low and be happy with it for a few years. So I decided on this AIO system, which will be perfect for my style. I didn't enjoy running so much equipment when I was in my "trying everything out" phase. So all I will run is two 3D printed cups in the sock chamber with some filter floss and carbon in them. In the middle chamber I will run a Tunze 9004 DC skimmer. A IM mighty jet DC return pump in chamber 3 and call it a day. I'd say I have a medium bio load so I'll change the floss as needed. Skimmer should be able to handle the rest of the nutrients, then I have the option of water changes which won't be too much due to the small water volume.
I really love the footprint, it's 47x20x18, (42x20x18 display). I won't be able to set it up as peninsula unfortunately due to my current living room setup but I will be buying a house next year so I will definitely look to use the three viewing sides when I do move. Am I making a mistake not getting the sump version of this tank? I am saving about 500$ and didn't really get much use of my sump in my 75. Follow the build to see! Anyways tank will be here next week. Some pics of the stuff I got for it. Will be using my x2 AI Hydra 26HDs with 4ft RMS system. x2 AI Nero 3's. Livestock will be Clownfish pair, neon goby, lawnmower blenny, starcki damselfish, tomini tang, coral beauty, black cap basslet, flame hawkfish and PJ Cardinalfish. Have about 20 corals mostly euphylia and softies. Will be a total mixed reef with sections for each class of coral. The biggest challenge will be aquascape because all rock is live with encrusted/glued corals so I will have to just stack the rocks and make interesting shapes that work. Ok ill update next week!