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OP
Thank you!
2nd AIO Tank, 1st build thread
- AIO Build
- Thread starter phillyb614
- Start date
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Thoughts? I say 0. My wife says between 0-.25.
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Well, ammonia finally tested at 0, nitrite tested 0 (never had nitrite show up in a test), and nitrate was up to 20 ppm. Tank has cycled!!
While it was cycling, I finally settled on a power head. I found someone on FB marketplace that was getting out of the hobby. I scored a perfectly good Nero 5. For now, this will be my only wave maker. I have it at a pulse setting at 25% power. Appears to be more than enough flow for now. I’ll find out more when I start adding corals, which I am not going to rush doing.
With the tank cycled, I was off to the LFS for some water and a couple of clownfish!
To help lower the nitrates, I did a 25% water change and changed out my filter balls and filter sock.
The clowns I went with are a couple of snowflakes. I floated the bag and slowly acclimated them for about an hour, adding a little tank water to the bag every 10 minutes or so.
At last, it was time to introduce my tank to some livestock and vise versa! Welcome to your new home guys! Now, please don’t die lol!
I have also added a skimmer. Went with the K1 Nano from Icecap.
I also recently sold some rainbow BTAs from my 20 gallon. Busted up some rock to do so and set some rock aside in a bucket with an old pump. Put a lid over it but left a crack for air. Changed the water a couple of times. My goal here was to kill the algae on the rock my not allowing it any light, but keep the beneficial bacteria alive. I left it like this for about 2 weeks. Popped a couple of the rocks in the new tank after I did the water change and just before adding the fish, in hopes it will help fight the extra ammonia the fish are about to create. So, here is what she looks like to date.
Again, just have lights on for pictures for now.
I have pink and purple coralline algae in a bottle being delivered in a couple days from BRS. My hopes are to grow as much coralline algae as possible before fully turning on my lights. It is painful having to leave them off, but if all goes as planned (and you all know it won’t lol!), it will all be worth the wait.
While it was cycling, I finally settled on a power head. I found someone on FB marketplace that was getting out of the hobby. I scored a perfectly good Nero 5. For now, this will be my only wave maker. I have it at a pulse setting at 25% power. Appears to be more than enough flow for now. I’ll find out more when I start adding corals, which I am not going to rush doing.
With the tank cycled, I was off to the LFS for some water and a couple of clownfish!
To help lower the nitrates, I did a 25% water change and changed out my filter balls and filter sock.
The clowns I went with are a couple of snowflakes. I floated the bag and slowly acclimated them for about an hour, adding a little tank water to the bag every 10 minutes or so.
At last, it was time to introduce my tank to some livestock and vise versa! Welcome to your new home guys! Now, please don’t die lol!
I have also added a skimmer. Went with the K1 Nano from Icecap.
I also recently sold some rainbow BTAs from my 20 gallon. Busted up some rock to do so and set some rock aside in a bucket with an old pump. Put a lid over it but left a crack for air. Changed the water a couple of times. My goal here was to kill the algae on the rock my not allowing it any light, but keep the beneficial bacteria alive. I left it like this for about 2 weeks. Popped a couple of the rocks in the new tank after I did the water change and just before adding the fish, in hopes it will help fight the extra ammonia the fish are about to create. So, here is what she looks like to date.
Again, just have lights on for pictures for now.
I have pink and purple coralline algae in a bottle being delivered in a couple days from BRS. My hopes are to grow as much coralline algae as possible before fully turning on my lights. It is painful having to leave them off, but if all goes as planned (and you all know it won’t lol!), it will all be worth the wait.
OP
OP
Good morning! They slept in the back right corner of the tank and were still there this morning. Hoping they explore their new home a bit more today. Plan to test the water after I get home from work today.
Gumbies R Us
Certified Noob
My clowns chose the front corner of my tank as their home, even though they have an anemone they can go to.
Good morning! They slept in the back right corner of the tank and were still there this morning. Hoping they explore their new home a bit more today. Plan to test the water after I get home from work today.
OP
OP
That is frustrating. My clowns in my other tank have multiple anemones to choose from and they live on a toadstool
OP
OP
Picked up a small CUC yesterday from my LFS.
-1 small hermit crab
-2 nassarius snails
-2 trochus snails
This is in preparation from the uglies and to also eat whatever food my pair of clowns are not.
-1 small hermit crab
-2 nassarius snails
-2 trochus snails
This is in preparation from the uglies and to also eat whatever food my pair of clowns are not.
OP
OP
Thank you! That’s nice to hear. Even though it is my second tank, this was the first time I actually tried to put together an Aquascape. First tank I just kind of put some rocks in there lol
OP
OP
Much appreciated!
Cute clownfish!Well, ammonia finally tested at 0, nitrite tested 0 (never had nitrite show up in a test), and nitrate was up to 20 ppm. Tank has cycled!!
While it was cycling, I finally settled on a power head. I found someone on FB marketplace that was getting out of the hobby. I scored a perfectly good Nero 5. For now, this will be my only wave maker. I have it at a pulse setting at 25% power. Appears to be more than enough flow for now. I’ll find out more when I start adding corals, which I am not going to rush doing.
With the tank cycled, I was off to the LFS for some water and a couple of clownfish!
To help lower the nitrates, I did a 25% water change and changed out my filter balls and filter sock.
The clowns I went with are a couple of snowflakes. I floated the bag and slowly acclimated them for about an hour, adding a little tank water to the bag every 10 minutes or so.
At last, it was time to introduce my tank to some livestock and vise versa! Welcome to your new home guys! Now, please don’t die lol!
I have also added a skimmer. Went with the K1 Nano from Icecap.
I also recently sold some rainbow BTAs from my 20 gallon. Busted up some rock to do so and set some rock aside in a bucket with an old pump. Put a lid over it but left a crack for air. Changed the water a couple of times. My goal here was to kill the algae on the rock my not allowing it any light, but keep the beneficial bacteria alive. I left it like this for about 2 weeks. Popped a couple of the rocks in the new tank after I did the water change and just before adding the fish, in hopes it will help fight the extra ammonia the fish are about to create. So, here is what she looks like to date.
Again, just have lights on for pictures for now.
I have pink and purple coralline algae in a bottle being delivered in a couple days from BRS. My hopes are to grow as much coralline algae as possible before fully turning on my lights. It is painful having to leave them off, but if all goes as planned (and you all know it won’t lol!), it will all be worth the wait.
OP
OP
Thank you!
OP
OP
I FINALLY PULLED THE TRIGGER!! My LFS will be disappointed I’m sure lol! No more taking buckets to get filled up with overpriced water! Woohoo!
I got myself a 4 stage Aquatic Life 100 GPD RODi system. It worked out sooo well! It is setup in my basement, which has an old washer water supply and stand pipe drain (laundry room now upstairs from a remodel).
Got a new Brute trash can and installed a rain barrel spigot at the bottom of it. Built a stand for it to sit on, in order to fill my buckets from the spigot. I also installed a float valve to shut the system off after the Brute is full. Very happy with it!
I got myself a 4 stage Aquatic Life 100 GPD RODi system. It worked out sooo well! It is setup in my basement, which has an old washer water supply and stand pipe drain (laundry room now upstairs from a remodel).
Got a new Brute trash can and installed a rain barrel spigot at the bottom of it. Built a stand for it to sit on, in order to fill my buckets from the spigot. I also installed a float valve to shut the system off after the Brute is full. Very happy with it!
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Wow, I'm super envious! I just ordered the IM 25g aio nuvo fusion lagoon. I haven't been able to sleep much more than a couple of hours a night...the obsession hits quickly!Well, I am finally going to be documenting a build. I have been reefing for several years now. My fist tank (which I still have and love), which was my wife’s idea to purchase, is a 20 gallon JBJ cube. I put this tank up and custom built a stand for, and did multiple things without documenting a flipping thing hardly.
Once I started noticing on here how fun following a build can be, I wanted to do it, and I wanted to do it right. I figured I would wait for my first upgrade in order to do my proper build thread. Well boys and girls, today is finally that day!
I ordered an Innovative Marine 40L lagoon AIO and White aluminum stand. They threw in a 15 gallon ATO container ($200 some value) for free. I highly recommend leaving things in your cart for a long time….wink wink. It was estimated to be delivered on Monday next week. However, it arrived in a warehouse in Columbus (Ohio that is… O-H!) this morning and they were fine with me going to pick it up, instead of having to wait until Monday for them to deliver it. Which would have made for a long and anxious weekend lol! So, I squeezed it inside the back of my Tiguan and brought her home.
After getting everything inside, I sat there and thought to myself how great a job IM did at building such a cool box around the aquarium to protect it. I felt like Ralphie’s dad in A Christmas Story when he got his major award delivered. Only thing that was missing was “Ragile’” written on it in “Italian”!
One thing I should mention, since I received the tank earlier than expected, and since I a definitely on a budget, there is plenty of equipment that has not been purchased yet (lights, power heads, heater, etc.) and have not made my aquascape yet. I have the rocks for the scape and will be building that tomorrow. I just wanted to get the tank going on cycling, so lots of things will be added and updated as I go.
I got the white aluminum stand put together in about an hour. I was very pleased with the quality, sturdiness, and overall cosmetics of it. As much as I enjoyed building my other stand (I am a carpenter by trade) this was a big time saver and I am glad I pulled the trigger on it.
Before diving into the tank itself, I made a trip to my LFS, which was having the first day of huge sale they do every year in August to celebrate their anniversary. Could not have been better timing!! Since I do not have an RODI system yet, I grabbed my 5 gallon buckets and got all the water I needed. I also picked up 40 lbs of Carib Sea live sand.
After placing the stand where its permanent home would be and placing the aquarium on the stand, it was time to bust out the levels. Not at all surprised that the stand would need some shimming because the floor wasn’t perfectly level. I’ll likely get creative with some shoe molding or something to cover the gaps that are now at the bottom of the stand from shimming it. The tank is perfectly level in all directions now though.
Now, It was time to put sand, an old temporary power head, water, and a couple rocks from my established tank, into my tank to get a cycle going!! This was going to be it for me for the night, and will be jumping back into everything first thing tomorrow to get more things done.
One little additional thing I decided to do, was take the factory LED light from my wife’s freshwater tank, that we weren’t using because we upgraded the light and lid, and set it up as a “backlight”. I’ve seen this done on a few other tanks online, and thought I would give it a try. I think it’s a fun little feature. Plus the light has a remote and has several options for colors.
Until tomorrow everyone! I’m exhausted lol!
OP
OP
I totally get it. Innovative Marine makes a great tank. You’re going to love it!
OP
OP
Making my own water has gone exceptionally well! I decided to use Reef Crystals as my salt. I have done water changes in both tanks and have not had any issues.
It is so nice to not have to take buckets to the LFS. I also have 2 freshwater tanks. So, having plenty of RODI freshwater for them and my ATOs has been freaking amazing!
OP
OP
I kicked the lights on a couple weeks back. Diatoms have arrived, but they are certainly not taking over. Which is great! Has definitely given my CUC a bit more to eat as well.
My coralline algae in a bottle came in the mail. Added that to the tank recently. Hoping it does it’s thing. I’ve seen lots of positive reviews on this stuff. We will see how it goes.
I have also added a few more fish! So, here is where my livestock is currently.
-2 snowflake clowns
-1 pearly jawfish (beautiful fish but stays in his burrow under a rock. Appears to be very happy, but very hard to get pictures of him)
-1 royal gramma
-1 tailspot blenny
The tailspot has been doing great at lending a hand in the diatom department.
Everyone has been doing well and all appear to be happy in their new home. Very pleased with how the tank is coming along.
Next addition will be a fire shrimp. Might do that this weekend after a water change.
My coralline algae in a bottle came in the mail. Added that to the tank recently. Hoping it does it’s thing. I’ve seen lots of positive reviews on this stuff. We will see how it goes.
I have also added a few more fish! So, here is where my livestock is currently.
-2 snowflake clowns
-1 pearly jawfish (beautiful fish but stays in his burrow under a rock. Appears to be very happy, but very hard to get pictures of him)
-1 royal gramma
-1 tailspot blenny
The tailspot has been doing great at lending a hand in the diatom department.
Everyone has been doing well and all appear to be happy in their new home. Very pleased with how the tank is coming along.
Next addition will be a fire shrimp. Might do that this weekend after a water change.
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OP
OP
I added my fire shrimp a couple of days ago. He appears to be pretty happy.
Very happy with how the tank is doing. Even though diatoms are still present, they are absolutely being kept at bay. I have noticed plenty of pods in the tank.
I am hoping to add some corals soon, but am waiting for some coralline algae to appear before doing so.
Very happy with how the tank is doing. Even though diatoms are still present, they are absolutely being kept at bay. I have noticed plenty of pods in the tank.
I am hoping to add some corals soon, but am waiting for some coralline algae to appear before doing so.
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