Innovative Marine 30 Gallon Long AIO Build

[Hallowhead]

Howdy all!

My build will be backdated a little as I had posted it on my local NJ forum but I will post it all here now as well.

Background my brother has a 65 gallon tank for the passed 65 years and I finally mustered the courage to get my own... also my full time job (23) can now support it the way I want it to go.

So here goes!

March 17thth 2019 3 days after I decided it was time to join the hobby!

Wasn't spending $300 dollars on a stand and being that I am in construction.. I should be able to build one right?

crazy assortment of stuff coming daily!

Update as of March 18th

She came she came!!

my inner kid wants to make a massive mess !

RO/DI storage tank set in place!

Tank on stand for view

Updated as of March 20th 2019

more goodies have arrived

Mounted my RO/DI system backing

I think I did this right

Update as of March 21st

Sand is in!

Making the salty mc salt water

Lights work!

Live rock is in!

I put that much marine pure

As of March 22nd

Time to make my stand perty - ship lap

No door! ahhh

ah door. we good!

Plenty of room to house materials and ATO bucket

As of March 24th

Got a food safe ATO bucket

Cleaned up the RO system + some small upgrades

Ammonia is cranking

No Nitrite or Nitrate yet no cycle

As of March 25th.. DOOMS DAY
Worst day of my life look at all that "Antipasta"

As of March 26th - Torch day

 

[Hallowhead]

Current status:

The tank is completely cleaned out & ready to go!

Filter socks have been bleached and prepared.

Sand has been removed & new has been acquired. (20 gallons of potentially Antipasta filled sand is for sale! $10 dollars Norther NJ)

I am simply awaiting my dry rock to arrive Wednesday from Marine Depot!

I will be curing / cycling right in this tank.

 

[will25u]

Exciting! We have that tank; been up for about five years. It’s a great tank!

 

[Hallowhead]

Exciting! We have that tank; been up for about five years. It’s a great tank!

Any pointers / tips from the gecko? Did you use a media chamber ? Did you make a fuge ?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks awesome, Joe. I am really liking that aquascape.

 

[Hallowhead]

Looks awesome, Joe. I am really liking that aquascape.

To bad that rock was returned for being invested with antipasta I was super stoked with it too

 

[ccombs]

Coming along great! I have the same tank and love it.

One thing to watch out for- that full tank weighs about 350lbs once you have all water, rocks, gear, etc. Your tabletop is not directly on top of your uprights. The uprights are screwed into the side of the top. Instead of all of the weight being transferred down the uprights and to the floor, you now have a ton of weight on the screws holding it. It should be fine, but if you see any signs of stress long term, you might want to add an additional brace behind the facade.

Not to get off track here, you are doing great and it is awesome to see that you started with an RODI. Most of use blew that off at first then realized how important it really is.

 

[Hallowhead]

Coming along great! I have the same tank and love it.

One thing to watch out for- that full tank weighs about 350lbs once you have all water, rocks, gear, etc. Your tabletop is not directly on top of your uprights. The uprights are screwed into the side of the top. Instead of all of the weight being transferred down the uprights and to the floor, you now have a ton of weight on the screws holding it. It should be fine, but if you see any signs of stress long term, you might want to add an additional brace behind the facade.

Not to get off track here, you are doing great and it is awesome to see that you started with an RODI. Most of use blew that off at first then realized how important it really is.

It isn't shown in any pictures but more bracing was added when putting the ship lap on. I feel that this stand was built overkill to begin with and I've had felt fine even without the additional bracing that was added mainly to be nailers.

Any advise / tips for this tank? Mistakes you ran into things you saw were better ?

 

[mta_morrow]

Nice job on the stand. The IM30L was my first tank and I loved it.

In fact, I just sold the whole system last week.

Bummer about the aiptasia.

But good to catch it all now!

 

[ccombs]

It isn't shown in any pictures but more bracing was added when putting the ship lap on. I feel that this stand was built overkill to begin with and I've had felt fine even without the additional bracing that was added mainly to be nailers.

Any advise / tips for this tank? Mistakes you ran into things you saw were better ?

Ha! If you want to see all of my mistakes, read my build thread, I made plenty. Here is the overview.

1) QT your fish. Some guys that have done this awhile don't, but they are much better at selecting healthy fish than most of us, so I now QT.
2) Your tank has way less water than you think, probably 18-22 gallons with all the rock, etc. Keep that in mind.
3) Get an ATO now, your stability will thank you later.
4) After a few months pick up and In Tank media basket for some cheato.
5) The IM Aqua Gadgets are pretty cool. Don't go overboard though. If you get the UV Filter, wait a few months for your tank to mature a little before you turn it on.
6) You can cram alot in the back if you are smart. Marine Depot has a series called 'Will It Fit' and it goes through items to see if they fit in the sump on the back.
7) The included return pump kinda sucks. I bought two of the IM Mighty Jet 500-ish GPH pumps and they are quiet, redundant, and awesome.
8) The tank isn't that deep front to back (the display portion) be sure your rock work allows you to get on the back part for cleaning and leaves room for fish.
9) Ditch the filter sock and get an IM Media caddy and put some filter floss in it. Months down the road you can add carbon, etc. It is way easier to cut out a new piece of filter floss once a week than it is to wash the dang filter sock.

That is about all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[will25u]

Any pointers / tips from the gecko? Did you use a media chamber ? Did you make a fuge ?

No sump, no media chamber. We use a skimmer, ATO, and run cheato in the chambers. That works for us. We want to upgrade our pump. I think the new IM tanks have a way better pump than we have. Or maybe we did upgrade ours - it says 760 gph.

We didn’t start off making our own RODI water so that’s great you’ve started off like that.

One thing is I wish I could do over is to be choosier about my rock.

Oh and get a controller for your heater. We’ve had two heater malfunctions. One where the tank was over 90 degrees and one where it stopped working and it was below 65 degrees.

 

[Hallowhead]

Ha! If you want to see all of my mistake, read my build thread, I made plenty. Here is the overview.

1) QT your fish. Some guys that have done this awhile don't, but they are much better at selecting healthy fish than most of us, so I now QT.
2) Your tank has way less water than you think, probably 18-22 gallons with all the rock, etc. Keep that in mind.
3) Get an ATO now, your stability will thank you later.
4) After a few months pick up and In Tank media basket for some cheato.
5) The IM Aqua Gadgets are pretty cool. Don't go overboard though. If you get the UV Filter, wait a few months for your tank to mature a little before you turn it on.
6) You can cram alot in the back if you are smart. Marine Depot has a series called 'Will It Fit' and it goes through items to see if they fit in the sump on the back.
7) The included return pump kinda sucks. I bought two of the IM Mighty Jet 500-ish GPH pumps and they are quiet, redundant, and awesome.
8) The tank isn't that deep front to back (the display portion) be sure your rock work allows you to get on the back part for cleaning and leaves room for fish.
9) Ditch the filter sock and get an IM Media caddy and put some filter floss in it. Months down the road you can add carbon, etc. It is way easier to cut out a new piece of filter floss once a week than it is to wash the dang filter sock.

That is about all I can think of off the top of my head.

Already have an ATO on both my RO system and my tank

When I finally get the tank setup I'll get a nice DC pump. This one is for for now.

I'm hesitant about ditching the filter socks. I think I'd do a media caddy and a filter sock.

Yes I realized it was only 22 ish when I filled it the first time

I need to get me a QT.

 

[Hallowhead]

No sump, no media chamber. We use a skimmer, ATO, and run cheato in the chambers. That works for us. We want to upgrade our pump. I think the new IM tanks have a way better pump than we have. Or maybe we did upgrade ours - it says 760 gph.

We didn’t start off making our own RODI water so that’s great you’ve started off like that.

One thing is I wish I could do over is to be choosier about my rock.

Oh and get a controller for your heater. We’ve had two heater malfunctions. One where the tank was over 90 degrees and one where it stopped working and it was below 65 degrees.

Which new IM tanks?

How do you run cheato in the Chambers ? Media caddy or just let it loose ? Do you have a fuge light than?

I'm nervous that this new rock won't compare to what my first scape was

What brand heater did you have?

 

[will25u]

Which new IM tanks?

How do you run cheato in the Chambers ? Media caddy or just let it loose ? Do you have a fuge light than?

I'm nervous that this new rock won't compare to what my first scape was

What brand heater did you have?

Ours is in the right chamber. Yes, we have a little tunze light and the Chaeto floats freely.

Sometime during 2015-2016, innovative marine started selling the tank with a more upgraded pump than what initially came with it.

We just bought an Eheim 125 watt heater.

 

[mta_morrow]

Already have an ATO on both my RO system and my tank

When I finally get the tank setup I'll get a nice DC pump. This one is for for now.

I'm hesitant about ditching the filter socks. I think I'd do a media caddy and a filter sock.

Yes I realized it was only 22 ish when I filled it the first time

I need to get me a QT.

I did a filter sock in one side and the media basket on the other.

I also put 3 liters of Seachem matrix in media bags in the return chamber, 1 on each side of the pump. Really helps with nitrate control

 

[SeanJ]

Which new IM tanks?

How do you run cheato in the Chambers ? Media caddy or just let it loose ? Do you have a fuge light than?

I'm nervous that this new rock won't compare to what my first scape was

What brand heater did you have?

Great start! Digging that stand!

Here's a link to a video that can guide you on how to setup a 'refugium' in your AIO tank.

 

[Hallowhead]

Update as of 4/1/19...

This passed Friday I had a huge incident in my house. The water filtration under my kitchen sink which feeds our drinking water system cracked in the middle of the night and flooded out my entire basement We have a local company which I believe is a brand seen across the country; servpro. They boxed my entire basement and all my basement closets and stacked them right in front of my fish tank. I have zero progress. Furthermore, my rock doesn't come till Wednesday but will probably put me out of service for a bit. In the meanwhile of all of this happening I began to think that I might want to sell this tank already... and try to get an IM SR-80... I want some bigger fish and I know I won't be able to put them in this small tank.

I know this will be in the back of my head the entire time I am growing this tank so I may just have to jump on one if I find one. The thing is that IM won't have stock until the end of April and I can't seem to find one used / in stock anywhere. If you see one please let me know. I am from NJ if anyone has one they're selling.

 

[Ej Chavex]

I honestly would go bigger I went from a Fluval EVO 13.5g to IM Fusion 20g then to jbj 45g and now my SR80. I wish I had just gone with the 80 to begin with. I lost a few coral and livestock along my way to the 80g. Not to mention the hardest thing I learned is to just leave your tank alone. Let it become stable and let it mature and the coral will grow. Had I been able to find an SR 120g I would have gotten that insured.. Lol
But be patient setbacks are a part of this hobby but the come back are so rewarding. My son wants a 30L so I'll be keeping an eye on your build.

 

[samnaz]

Nice! I have a 30L too, great footprint, beautiful tanks.

Also love the shiplap, I have the same stuff on my walls and considered covering the stand too! Looks good.

 

[Dustinryan2010]

Ha! If you want to see all of my mistakes, read my build thread, I made plenty. Here is the overview.

1) QT your fish. Some guys that have done this awhile don't, but they are much better at selecting healthy fish than most of us, so I now QT.
2) Your tank has way less water than you think, probably 18-22 gallons with all the rock, etc. Keep that in mind.
3) Get an ATO now, your stability will thank you later.
4) After a few months pick up and In Tank media basket for some cheato.
5) The IM Aqua Gadgets are pretty cool. Don't go overboard though. If you get the UV Filter, wait a few months for your tank to mature a little before you turn it on.
6) You can cram alot in the back if you are smart. Marine Depot has a series called 'Will It Fit' and it goes through items to see if they fit in the sump on the back.
7) The included return pump kinda sucks. I bought two of the IM Mighty Jet 500-ish GPH pumps and they are quiet, redundant, and awesome.
8) The tank isn't that deep front to back (the display portion) be sure your rock work allows you to get on the back part for cleaning and leaves room for fish.
9) Ditch the filter sock and get an IM Media caddy and put some filter floss in it. Months down the road you can add carbon, etc. It is way easier to cut out a new piece of filter floss once a week than it is to wash the dang filter sock.

That is about all I can think of off the top of my head.

Was it fairly simply to swap the pump for two new ones? Is additional tubing or pieces required? Getting my tank in Monday