Hello all.
After a bit of slow move back into the hobby, I'm moving forward with a reef build here in my new place.
Moved back to Chicago due to a transfer for work a bit over 2 years ago. I had a nice tank back in Minneapolis which was about 5 years mature and great. Because of the move and some sudden health issues, I parted out the tank and sold all my beloved livestock.
About 8 months ago, got the itch back and started up a small 20 gallon nano. It brought back all the great things about this hobby and something I realized I missed more than I thought.
After getting some great news on my health, I feel comfortable diving in a bit more!
Over the next few weeks I'll be transferring my livestock to a new IM Nuvo EXT 30 Lagoon. Looks like a great setup and I went with the jet black APS stand that fits it. Have a Bashsea sump that will arriving tomorrow - my Eshopps sump/refugium is too wide for this stand. I'll update all the pieces as I get going.
Looking forward to sharing the and getting any feedback you all can give.
Current tank I will transferring from - the tank and stand arrived today!
Sump/refugium came today!
Due to the limitations of the APS stand width, my options were just a few sumps I knew of (Eshopps RS - 75) or a fully custom made one.
A friend of mine from Michigan told me about some that were made by a company out of Michigan : Bashea.
After taking a look I was hooked on their workmanship, feedback and colors.
I opted for the Bashea BioFuge 24".
It was boxed perfectly and came with a t-shirt - nice touch!
Fits the stand perfectly and am in love with the riyal blue and black colors. Plenty of room in the skimmer compartment, refugium size is nice and I'm interested in the Bio Fuge compartment and media in there to see what it'll do.
Well, this stinks. Finally got a day free to start to work on the tank, and, after carefully unboxing everything...the tanks cracked.
The cracks are located around the overflow box and along the side silicone seam. This was my main concern about the EXT line; I had read many examples where the tank was being received with this damage. On top of that, @MarineDepot has not been the easiest to work with. They want me to send back the item on my own cost or have the shipping deducted from my refund or another purchase. I sent several notes stating I have pictures and that FedEx may caused this in transit.
No response - ugh!
I understand the risks with shipping a big glass box around the country, but this was delivered broken! I am keeping the APS black stand I bought from them and am debating whether to stick with the EXT or go the 30L Fusion AIO route. In either case, I more than likely will buy from another company other than MD, unfortunately ;(
it the bullet and went with the IM 30L Fusion. Never had an AIO and the simplicity intrigues me but I'm so used to using what I want in a sump.
Went to a store here in Chicago and bought it through their website/pick up service - great company!
The APS stand has it limitations since it is all aluminum but used a couple of shelf units I had to get my Reeflink and Apex set up. Sad about not being able to use the new Bashea Bio Fuge Refugium/Sump I recently bought. What you see in the pic is a 5.5 gallon tank I set up for copepods. More than likely I will use it to just grow them and seed my tank from time to time for my blenny.
I started the tank with about 1/2 of the sand from my current mature tank. Used a little bit of the water from my tank and the rest is Red Sea Coral Sea Salt mix with RODI. New live sand caused some of the cloudiness but it's cleared quite a bit from when I took the pic.
Going to figure out which of my components fit the back chamber tonight and what I need to upgrade. Thinking initially that the 1 Ecotech XR15 Gen 4 Pro I have won't supply enough spread for this long tank. I'd be interested in anyone who has the same tank and their thoughts.
Update on a resolution from Jolene @MarineDepot. UPS has the claim and I'm all squared away. She was nothing but top notch and I went on and ordered some other stuff today as a way of saying 'thanks'.
Lighting (display): Vortech Radion XR15 Pro Gen 4 x2
Lighting (refugium): IM Chaeto LED (for copepod tank) and Phytotank Set up for Phytoplankton culturing
Auto top-off: Tunze Nano ATO
Heating: Eheim Jager 150w
System control: 1) Apex Classic with ALD module and 2 leak sensors. 2) Reeflink
Livestock
Flower Rock Anemones x2
BTA
Purple Torch Coral
Green Goniopora
Frogspawn Branching x2
Xenia
Various Zoanthids
Star Ployps X2
Elegance Coral
Mushroom
Yellow and Red Gorgonian
Tiger Conch x2
Cleaner Shimp
Nassarius Snails x5
Hermit crabs x5
Astrea Snails x3
Tiger Pistol Shrimp paired with Yellow Watchman Goby
Red Scooter Blenny
Darwin Clownfish x2
All the livestock came from my other mature tank that I tore down. Everything seems to be doing great for now. Not planning to add any more livestock and just enjoy what I have. Will post pics this weekend.
I am sorry to hear about the bust on the EXT tank of yours, @Rik . I am current in the slow process of setting up a 3OL EXT my self and I am looking at the same series sumps from Bashsea , but I like the 24in but am also looking at the 30in. I was wondering would you be interested in saying your sump? due to the fact that you went with the AIO 30L. Or is it already sold?
Following along for this build 
