Innovative Marine 40L AIO Build

[randomnerd865]

officially got the stand over to my apartment. it's all done, just waiting another day for the poly to fully cure before putting it in its final place with the tank on it.

new tank will sit in the middle of the area where the current tank is. old tank will hopefully be sold by the end of the year. getting rid of it for a steal so hopefully can find someone.

rockwork is also fully completed and just needs to be blown off.

now comes figuring out the transfer. need to a bit of research on if I can just transfer everything the same day or if I need to cycle the tank first.

When I did mine I transferred everything same day, but I used the live rock from my 14 gallon to seed the ~15lbs of dry rock I added.

Steps I took:

• Put new tank in its forever home
• Dry rock
• Live sand
• Pulled live rock from old tank, placed in new
• Added fresh saltwater to old tank to fill in the space from taking out the rock (fish still in old tank)
• Started filling new tank with fresh saltwater
• Turned on pump/ heater
• Allowed water to mostly clear and heat up ~2 hours
• Tested temp and salinity to make sure it matches.
• Added my 2 clowns, and all the CUC I could snag along about 4 gallons of water from my old tank.

If you don't use your existing live rock to seed the new stuff I would add some turbo start or other nitrifying bacteria.

 

[TheReefDiary]

When I did mine I transferred everything same day, but I used the live rock from my 14 gallon to seed the ~15lbs of dry rock I added.

Steps I took:

• Put new tank in its forever home
• Dry rock
• Live sand
• Pulled live rock from old tank, placed in new
• Added fresh saltwater to old tank to fill in the space from taking out the rock (fish still in old tank)
• Started filling new tank with fresh saltwater
• Turned on pump/ heater
• Allowed water to mostly clear and heat up ~2 hours
• Tested temp and salinity to make sure it matches.
• Added my 2 clowns, and all the CUC I could snag along about 4 gallons of water from my old tank.

If you don't use your existing live rock to seed the new stuff I would add some turbo start or other nitrifying bacteria.

yeah I'm trying to figure that part out. I'm not using any old rock as I have a Medusa worm problem. trying to minimize the amount of time I need to have two tanks up and running.

 

[TheReefDiary]

change of placement for tank, but it's in its final resting spot. need to bring blower home tomorrow to blow off sand from dry rock then will put that into the tank and get everything ready to cycle.

 

[TheReefDiary]

here she is!

 

[ohioreefer]

Looks Great!!

 

[TheReefDiary]

Looks Great!!

thanks! happy that it's finally in its place. the floor in my apartment is completely out of level so took a bit to level everything. luckily tank has leveling mat underneath as well.

 

[TheReefDiary]

so have a minor issue that I just noticed. the left part of the tank is levitating off of the top of the stand. I checked if I was level while building so not sure if the top piece of wood bowed as it was glued down. going to fix this by purchasing a countertop from IKEA and screwing it from underneath. my floor was already out of level a ridiculous amount so I'm not dealing with both of these. rather spend the money and flatten out the counter.

 

[TheReefDiary]

it's about an 1/8 inch off the stand and I could barely notice it the first time I looked at it because of the self leveling mat underneath.

 

[pshootr]

I hope that works for you. A couple alternative ideas came to mind. One of them is using rigid plastic shims sold for tile installers, these could be painted black. Another solution is to use a planer to remove the crowns on the top of your stand. Obviously it would only need planed in the areas the tank makes contact. Actually now that I think of it, a sander could be used for this also

 

[TheReefDiary]

I hope that works for you. A couple alternative ideas came to mind. One of them is using rigid plastic shims sold for tile installers, these could be painted black. Another solution is to use a planer to remove the crowns on the top of your stand. Obviously it would only need planed in the areas the tank makes contact. Actually now that I think of it, a sander could be used for this also

it's only a veneer top, I would burn right through it. I have the plastic shims under there currently, but the stress point it creates isn't ideal. yes there's a leveling mat but it's still not a flush contact like I'd prefer.

a counter is only $75. and honestly it won't ruin the look.

 

[KQuillan]

Following.

 

[steveschuerger]

Very nice. I had the 30l for about 7 months til I got the itch to go a bit larger. Right now running a SR60. IM tanks are the best AIO tanks iMO. Love the stand.

 

[TheReefDiary]

Very nice. I had the 30l for about 7 months til I got the itch to go a bit larger. Right now running a SR60. IM tanks are the best AIO tanks iMO. Love the stand.

thanks! stand turned out great for my first piece of furniture. just have to correct the top with a counter but that's alright, honestly won't mind the extra bit of height on the tank since it's a shallow.

and I agree I love the IM AIO. went with this because it'll be easier for me to move when I move and its a good size for plenty of smaller fish which I like anyway.

 

[pshootr]

it's only a veneer top, I would burn right through it. I have the plastic shims under there currently, but the stress point it creates isn't ideal. yes there's a leveling mat but it's still not a flush contact like I'd prefer.

a counter is only $75. and honestly it won't ruin the look.

Oh yes, I forgot about the veneer.. I suppose the shims will go underneath of your new countertop.

 

[TheReefDiary]

Oh yes, I forgot about the veneer.. I suppose the shims will go underneath of your new countertop.

yeah ill see what happens when i place the top on. if screwing it without shims works then ill just make sure floor is level. if i have to level underneath counter i will. i think just putting it on will flatten the top out enought that it sits flush everywhere.

 

[pshootr]

The tank and stand looks really nice in that spot with the art above it! You got this

 

[TheReefDiary]

The tank and stand looks really nice in that spot with the art above it! You got this

honestly I'm just pumped about being able to get a lot more fish. going to be a lot of small fish in the tank. once everything is leveled I'm hoping to get the cycle started this weekend. means Friday I'm going to have to make a ton of saltwater.

 

[pshootr]

Drum roll" Yes I can imagine how excited you must be!

 

[TheReefDiary]

counter is on and level. tank is set in place and rockwork is as well. screwed up on my dimensions for the tank and overbuilt the rockwork. luckily I was able to break a few small pieces off and fit it in a different arrangement than I had intended.

 

[TheReefDiary]

making saltwater tonight. worst part about living in an apartment is making the first batch of water to start the tank. also sucks I can't do anything with the waste water.

luckily after this I'll only be making 5g buckets which don't take long to fill up compared to this 32g brute trash can.

picked up fritz turbo start and a starry blenny today from my lfs. figured not bad to quarantine him in the existing tank for a month while the tank cycles. he should be good as they lfs runs copper and ive seen this one at the store for month + looking healthy. they don't seem to move that quickly at the lfs which I find surprising because they're such cool looking fish.