Pygo's IM30L Build Thread

[pygo1]

Welcome to my build thread! I've been in the aquarium hobby for about 8 years now, only doing saltwater for two. My first reef tank was a repurposed Fluval Spec V from a shrimp tank. It now houses a variety of corals along with a pistol shrimp and hi-fin goby(but that build will be for another thread). About 4 months into starting my 5gal reef, I just HAD to upgrade, so I got myself a used IM 30L, which came with some rock, biomedia, a duncan(RIP), a fire shrimp, and a lawnmower blenny(also RIP).

It was a bit of a budget build with a lot of 2nd hand stuff, including an IM ghost skimmer and media reactor, which is being used for biopellets at the moment.
Lights are two AI Prime 16's.
The return pump has been upgraded to a mightyjet pump.
Heater is a basic Eheim heater with an inkbird controller.\
ATO is a ReefBreeders Prism, container is a 5 gal petco tank with a 3-d printed solid lid. I just recently started using Kalkwasser in the ATO due to dangerously low Alk(3.8 dKH )
I'm using DIY wet/dry GHA algae scrubber/reactor which has been great in the past, but laziness has gotten the best of me and the algae is back in the display for now.

MY stocking list is as follows:

1 Mai Tai clown
1 Royal Gramma
1 female Molly
1 Rainford Goby
1 Fire Shrimp
1 Arrow Crab
1 Elephant Slug

CUC/other inverts:
-blue leg hermits
-Trochus snail(s)
-Turbo snails
-Cerith snails*
-Nassarius snails*
-various sponges*
-various tunicates*
-owl limpets*
-gould's bubble snails*
-mossy chitons*
-speckled turban snails*


*I used to work as a diver in a local harbor and found a TON of various macroalgae, tunicates, and inverts such as the snails, chitons, etc. I was careful with what I collected and many of these things have lived long term and bred in my tank(especially the chitons!).

A loose list of corals:
- Green Torch
- Normal and Branching GSP
-Mushrooms(discos and rhodactis)
-Monti cap
-Monti digitata
-Hollywood Stunner Chalice
-Zoas(nirvana, rastas, pink diamond, and more)
- cyphastrea
-acanthophyllia
-lobophyllia
-acropora(pink cadillac and rainbow stag)
-australomussa
- galaxea
-blue hammer
-kenya tree
-scoly in rehab from another tank
-candy cane
-toadstool leather
- neon green cabbage leather

It's mostly been smooth sailing with this tank, but I tend to be fairly hands off, so some pests and algae issues have arisen. As you can see in the final photo, I'm overrun by flatworms at the moment, but they havent bothered the coral, so I'm not hell bent on eradicating yet. GHA has been the bane of my existence. My torch rock on the right has been particularly bad and I'm considering just removing that rock, since it's the only one that really picks it up. I've used/am using various bacterial supplements(currently PNS Probio) with biopellets, GFO/carbon, and that algae scrubber. I use filter floss and skim 24/7. The GHA is currently on the downtrend, which is good. I revamped my nutrient export recently, so once I feel that it's in proper order, I'll probably nuke it with fluconazole to "reset" the tank and let the other export methods keep it gone.

I do a 5 gal water change maybe once a month, sometimes less. I sometimes dose 2-part for alk/ca. Certainly not enough, but I'm getting better at it now. Just a week or 2 ago I started adding Kalk to the ATO to supplement my laziness with dosing.

I don't try to chase numbers, I rarely even test. The current state of my tank kind of shows that, but in general, my corals have been very happy and I consider this to be a pretty healthy tank. While it may not be the BEST method and probably won't work for everyone, I believe that this lazier approach actually leads to stronger corals. If they're in perfect conditions with no stress their whole life, they're too pampered and a little swing in parameters can wreck the tank. Whereas if they're used to drops in alk or whatever, they can handle it. Again, I do not condone my own lazy behavior and do not suggest others follow my footsteps, but I can say that some of my corals have been through some Sh$% and never showed any signs of stress.

I'll probably catch a little flak for that last paragraph but, it is what it is. I hope to update this thread in the future and share some of the hiccups along the way and how I brought everything back.. But in the meantime, I need to handle this current hiccup called GHA. Happy Reefing y'all

 

[Dan_P]

Welcome to my build thread! I've been in the aquarium hobby for about 8 years now, only doing saltwater for two. My first reef tank was a repurposed Fluval Spec V from a shrimp tank. It now houses a variety of corals along with a pistol shrimp and hi-fin goby(but that build will be for another thread). About 4 months into starting my 5gal reef, I just HAD to upgrade, so I got myself a used IM 30L, which came with some rock, biomedia, a duncan(RIP), a fire shrimp, and a lawnmower blenny(also RIP).

It was a bit of a budget build with a lot of 2nd hand stuff, including an IM ghost skimmer and media reactor, which is being used for biopellets at the moment.
Lights are two AI Prime 16's.
The return pump has been upgraded to a mightyjet pump.
Heater is a basic Eheim heater with an inkbird controller.\
ATO is a ReefBreeders Prism, container is a 5 gal petco tank with a 3-d printed solid lid. I just recently started using Kalkwasser in the ATO due to dangerously low Alk(3.8 dKH )
I'm using DIY wet/dry GHA algae scrubber/reactor which has been great in the past, but laziness has gotten the best of me and the algae is back in the display for now.

MY stocking list is as follows:

1 Mai Tai clown
1 Royal Gramma
1 female Molly
1 Rainford Goby
1 Fire Shrimp
1 Arrow Crab
1 Elephant Slug

CUC/other inverts:
-blue leg hermits
-Trochus snail(s)
-Turbo snails
-Cerith snails*
-Nassarius snails*
-various sponges*
-various tunicates*
-owl limpets*
-gould's bubble snails*
-mossy chitons*
-speckled turban snails*


*I used to work as a diver in a local harbor and found a TON of various macroalgae, tunicates, and inverts such as the snails, chitons, etc. I was careful with what I collected and many of these things have lived long term and bred in my tank(especially the chitons!).

A loose list of corals:
- Green Torch
- Normal and Branching GSP
-Mushrooms(discos and rhodactis)
-Monti cap
-Monti digitata
-Hollywood Stunner Chalice
-Zoas(nirvana, rastas, pink diamond, and more)
- cyphastrea
-acanthophyllia
-lobophyllia
-acropora(pink cadillac and rainbow stag)
-australomussa
- galaxea
-blue hammer
-kenya tree
-scoly in rehab from another tank
-candy cane
-toadstool leather
- neon green cabbage leather

It's mostly been smooth sailing with this tank, but I tend to be fairly hands off, so some pests and algae issues have arisen. As you can see in the final photo, I'm overrun by flatworms at the moment, but they havent bothered the coral, so I'm not hell bent on eradicating yet. GHA has been the bane of my existence. My torch rock on the right has been particularly bad and I'm considering just removing that rock, since it's the only one that really picks it up. I've used/am using various bacterial supplements(currently PNS Probio) with biopellets, GFO/carbon, and that algae scrubber. I use filter floss and skim 24/7. The GHA is currently on the downtrend, which is good. I revamped my nutrient export recently, so once I feel that it's in proper order, I'll probably nuke it with fluconazole to "reset" the tank and let the other export methods keep it gone.

I do a 5 gal water change maybe once a month, sometimes less. I sometimes dose 2-part for alk/ca. Certainly not enough, but I'm getting better at it now. Just a week or 2 ago I started adding Kalk to the ATO to supplement my laziness with dosing.

I don't try to chase numbers, I rarely even test. The current state of my tank kind of shows that, but in general, my corals have been very happy and I consider this to be a pretty healthy tank. While it may not be the BEST method and probably won't work for everyone, I believe that this lazier approach actually leads to stronger corals. If they're in perfect conditions with no stress their whole life, they're too pampered and a little swing in parameters can wreck the tank. Whereas if they're used to drops in alk or whatever, they can handle it. Again, I do not condone my own lazy behavior and do not suggest others follow my footsteps, but I can say that some of my corals have been through some Sh$% and never showed any signs of stress.

I'll probably catch a little flak for that last paragraph but, it is what it is. I hope to update this thread in the future and share some of the hiccups along the way and how I brought everything back.. But in the meantime, I need to handle this current hiccup called GHA. Happy Reefing y'all

Great photos! There are folks who do well without testing.

 

[pygo1]

Great photos! There are folks who do well without testing.

Thank you! In all aspects of life, my family are folk who are particularly good at winging it/going by feel lol. Aquariums have been no exception I’ll sometimes test just to confirm my suspicions, but generally it’s easy enough to tell when I’ve been *too* lazy and need to give the tank some love

 

[ReeferJay86]

What is your settings on the AIs?

 

[pygo1]

What is your settings on the AIs?

I’m in the middle of playing with my schedule again due to some algae issues, but here it is currently.
The ramp up is based on visual preferences, I like to see the heavy blues in the AM and at night for a short while. At peak, it’s 100% all channels, 25% white. It tapers down to 80% all channels, 25% white. Then, the very blue sunset.

Before, all channels stayed 80%(including white). I had read the white could be contributing to the algae more than the other channels, so I’ve temporarily reduced it to see if I notice any change.

 

[emmysnewtank]

You like the size of the 30L? I'm about to upgrade to a tank and looking at this one...vs a deeper cube. I like the idea of having more display frontage and easier to access bottom.

Would you change tank scale if you could start over or happy with the 30L?

 

[pygo1]

You like the size of the 30L? I'm about to upgrade to a tank and looking at this one...vs a deeper cube. I like the idea of having more display frontage and easier to access bottom.

Would you change tank scale if you could start over or happy with the 30L?

I am very happy with the dimensions of this tank! Sometimes I really wish I could add a sump and start a refugium(which is possible with HOB overflows, but I would need to swap the tank stand to make that possible). I love low, long tanks in general. Offers a decent amount of space for interesting scapes without being too deep to work on or too many gallons to make water changes difficult.

Eventually I'd like a much larger tank so I have more options in terms of fish stocking. But for nano range tanks, low and long is an awesome way to go

 

[pygo1]

Time for an update on the build, everyone! My dedication to this hobby comes and goes in waves, as does the look of my tank along with it(sorry tank). It’s been a crazy few months between planning a wedding and falling deathly ill with a gnarly tonsil infection(yay me!). Tank maintenance had fallen by the wayside and only a few inhabitants remained after a mini tank crash, as seen here.

I tried moving the rocks around a bit, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. Being tired of the tank falling apart if I’m not on time with maintenance, I started searching around for “the ultimate lazy reef” approach. Some folks reminded me of Sanjay Joshi’s no water change tank, which was an early inspiration of mine. But being new to salt water back then, I had to try growing EVERY coral, so there was no chance for a softy tank. But, the time has come.

I think I’ll be keeping a few LPS in this tank like my big ol torch, hammer, and duncan, but I’m planning to boot everyone else in favor of a low maintenance softy tank. My old 5 gal spec reef was overrun with xenia, which turned out to be a huge nutrient sink. I was never able to register phos or nitrate in that tank, even after grossly over feeding. There’s no way I’m putting regular xenia in this larger tank, but I’m hoping some of the other soft varieties will work similarly and act as my nutrient export, in lieu of more complicated methods that I was previously planning(algae scrubbers and other additional filtration that I don’t want to deal with).


So, a couple days ago I said screw it and smashed up all my rockwork with a hammer and screwdriver. A few corals still need to go before i reach my final iteration, but I’m sticking with a simple rock pile toward the back and am going to fill it in with a variety of leathers, gorgonians, Kenya tree, etc.. all the easy stuff. Here’s what we have so far:

It’s kind of a mess at the moment. again, I haven’t placed everything, but we’re well on our way!

I’ve added a large kenya tree, green sinularia, a decent sized anthelia rock, and a couple gorgonians

We’ve also got a few new inhabitants. Some “ninja star astrea” snails have been demolishing my cyano, I might pick up a few more. A conch to work my sand bed over. A small springeri damsel, partly for flatworms and partly to add a lively swimmer to the tank. Lastly, a hector’s goby, because they’re friggin adorable. The goby worries me a little, because my previous rainford goby didn’t do so well. But, the bullies from before are gone(besides my clown). This Hector goby is also a lot less timid than the rainford. He’s come out for each feeding so far and even went for the pellets a bit, so I think he’ll be alright.

I think that about wraps up the update for my tank. I’ll be back once everything is in place. If anyone is in OC, CA, I’m still looking to get rid of that goni, an australomussa chalice, a lobo, a small galaxea, and a few torch heads

 

[pygo1]

We're back again for another update! The tank is still not 100% in place, I can't seem to find any takers on the corals I'm trying to get rid of and there's just no chance of tossing them in the trash. So for now, we're stuck half-scaped. But, it's coming along nicely, I think. I have a feeling that breaking up my rock work has disrupted my microbiome a bit, so I've had some persistent diatoms/film algae on the front glass, which is usually never an issue. But other than that, the cyano has receded and I have just about ZERO GHA in the display(my lil fuge chamber is another story, but as long as it stays there, I'm happy).

I'm absolutely loving the anthelia in the corner of the tank. It adds some great, flowy movement to the tank.

My gorgonians have opened up and seem to be pretty happy thus far.

I accidentally murdered one of my small toadstool frags with some aiptasia-x, but I've picked up a small piece of Fiji Yellow Leather in place of it, so that was a fortunate find! It's been a couple days and hasn't fully opened yet, but it looks like it's starting to.

Rock flower anemone is fat and happy so far, I really missed having one in the tank. LFS also had some stray halimeda and caulerpa growing in the tank, so they tossed that in for me for free

My Koji Wada Pink Nepthea was stung half to death a while back and my clownfish kept tossing it around the tank, but it's been recovering on the frag rack and looks like it's grown some polyps back!

And lastly, my Springeri Damsel and Hector's goby seem to be getting along well with the clown and Disappearing Wrasse, so I'm happy for that. The goby was "hosting" my pistol shrimp's cave for the first few days and I rarely saw him. He's come out of his shell a bit now and has been hanging around various parts of the tank. I think he still sleeps in the shrimp cave though.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how my tank has turned around(and how quickly). There's still work to be done, but I'm pretty pleased with the progress. Only downer is my clown is a territorial jerk. She does not like change, so I’m having a hard time adding anything to the right corner of the tank without immediately gluing it down. That piece of rock/coral skeleton standing up next to the Kenya tree was placed there by the clown lol

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Time for an update on the build, everyone! My dedication to this hobby comes and goes in waves, as does the look of my tank along with it(sorry tank). It’s been a crazy few months between planning a wedding and falling deathly ill with a gnarly tonsil infection(yay me!). Tank maintenance had fallen by the wayside and only a few inhabitants remained after a mini tank crash, as seen here.

I tried moving the rocks around a bit, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. Being tired of the tank falling apart if I’m not on time with maintenance, I started searching around for “the ultimate lazy reef” approach. Some folks reminded me of Sanjay Joshi’s no water change tank, which was an early inspiration of mine. But being new to salt water back then, I had to try growing EVERY coral, so there was no chance for a softy tank. But, the time has come.

I think I’ll be keeping a few LPS in this tank like my big ol torch, hammer, and duncan, but I’m planning to boot everyone else in favor of a low maintenance softy tank. My old 5 gal spec reef was overrun with xenia, which turned out to be a huge nutrient sink. I was never able to register phos or nitrate in that tank, even after grossly over feeding. There’s no way I’m putting regular xenia in this larger tank, but I’m hoping some of the other soft varieties will work similarly and act as my nutrient export, in lieu of more complicated methods that I was previously planning(algae scrubbers and other additional filtration that I don’t want to deal with).


So, a couple days ago I said screw it and smashed up all my rockwork with a hammer and screwdriver. A few corals still need to go before i reach my final iteration, but I’m sticking with a simple rock pile toward the back and am going to fill it in with a variety of leathers, gorgonians, Kenya tree, etc.. all the easy stuff. Here’s what we have so far:

It’s kind of a mess at the moment. again, I haven’t placed everything, but we’re well on our way!

I’ve added a large kenya tree, green sinularia, a decent sized anthelia rock, and a couple gorgonians

We’ve also got a few new inhabitants. Some “ninja star astrea” snails have been demolishing my cyano, I might pick up a few more. A conch to work my sand bed over. A small springeri damsel, partly for flatworms and partly to add a lively swimmer to the tank. Lastly, a hector’s goby, because they’re friggin adorable. The goby worries me a little, because my previous rainford goby didn’t do so well. But, the bullies from before are gone(besides my clown). This Hector goby is also a lot less timid than the rainford. He’s come out for each feeding so far and even went for the pellets a bit, so I think he’ll be alright.

I think that about wraps up the update for my tank. I’ll be back once everything is in place. If anyone is in OC, CA, I’m still looking to get rid of that goni, an australomussa chalice, a lobo, a small galaxea, and a few torch heads

Glad to see the tank is still doing well!

 

[pygo1]

Glad to see the tank is still doing well!

Thanks! It just needed a little love and attention

 

[pygo1]

Been a while since I updated the thread, haven’t been taking many pics and the tank has been on autopilot for a while. A few months ago, I finally pulled the trigger on a doser and started mixing up All For Reef powder, which has been a godsend for my parameters. I dose about 6ml a day, broken up into 8(?) different periods. Coralline growth has never been better(I’m beginning to be annoyed by it for the first time ever lol). Coral have all been very happy. Unfortunately, GHA has made a comeback again after being good for so long. I’m looking to take a simple, lazy route on the solution and have started dosing 8mL of vinegar each morning, I might cut this back to 4mL for a slower approach, but we’ll see how the tank reacts. Additionally, I’m giving Microbacter Clean a try. I considered coupling it with Razor, but there are enough negative experiences online to steer me away, so I’m just sticking with Clean for now.

Lastly, I’m in the process of building a DIY diatom filter(minus the diatomaceous earth). My goal is to reduce the amount of detritus that settles on my rocks which is no doubt one of the bigger factors leading to my algae. When I blow it off regularly, things are good, but when I don’t keep up with it, the tank falls apart. So, I look forward to updating on that once all the parts arrive. This should be a great solution to the “endless gravel vac” that for some reason is not a popular piece of equipment in the hobby. I’ll be able to slurp up all the junk that floats around without being restricted by the 5 gallon limit of my water changes

Here are a few before pictures to document the changes I see with the vinegar and MBClean(plus, I finally upgraded to a proper stand and the setup looks way cleaner). Due to the recent stand upgrade, I had to break the tank down to move it, so the rock and coral still need some rearranging

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Been a while since I updated the thread, haven’t been taking many pics and the tank has been on autopilot for a while. A few months ago, I finally pulled the trigger on a doser and started mixing up All For Reef powder, which has been a godsend for my parameters. I dose about 6ml a day, broken up into 8(?) different periods. Coralline growth has never been better(I’m beginning to be annoyed by it for the first time ever lol). Coral have all been very happy. Unfortunately, GHA has made a comeback again after being good for so long. I’m looking to take a simple, lazy route on the solution and have started dosing 8mL of vinegar each morning, I might cut this back to 4mL for a slower approach, but we’ll see how the tank reacts. Additionally, I’m giving Microbacter Clean a try. I considered coupling it with Razor, but there are enough negative experiences online to steer me away, so I’m just sticking with Clean for now.

Lastly, I’m in the process of building a DIY diatom filter(minus the diatomaceous earth). My goal is to reduce the amount of detritus that settles on my rocks which is no doubt one of the bigger factors leading to my algae. When I blow it off regularly, things are good, but when I don’t keep up with it, the tank falls apart. So, I look forward to updating on that once all the parts arrive. This should be a great solution to the “endless gravel vac” that for some reason is not a popular piece of equipment in the hobby. I’ll be able to slurp up all the junk that floats around without being restricted by the 5 gallon limit of my water changes

Here are a few before pictures to document the changes I see with the vinegar and MBClean(plus, I finally upgraded to a proper stand and the setup looks way cleaner). Due to the recent stand upgrade, I had to break the tank down to move it, so the rock and coral still need some rearranging

Your tank is cleaning up nicely!

 

[pygo1]

Your tank is cleaning up nicely!

Thanks! It’s was much cleaner before, but I let it get out of hand again lol. I have high hopes for the current regimen, looking forward to updating as things come along

 

[pygo1]

Alright! It’s been a few weeks and so far so good! Yesterday was water change day and things are looking pretty solid imo. Since the last update I’ve added some zoas, cloves, and a couple digitata frags that haven’t been placed yet. GHA is still around, but it isn’t looking as heinous as before. If I can’t eradicate it completely, then I’d be happy with it staying around this level.

I’ve been dosing 8mL of vinegar and a capful of MBClean every morning. Nutrients are reading zero, but I suspect that’s also due to it being held up in the algae. I’m keeping a close eye on everything in the tank to ensure they aren’t truly bottomed out. Hopefully I’m not wrong, but I suspect the gha should recede before corals begin to suffer. I have noticed a bit of exposed skeleton on my fungia, but it still seems puffy and happy(and I was neglecting to change my carbon, so the toxins from my leathers could’ve been a factor there as well.


Lastly, my DIY diatom filter seems to be a flop. The first pump was too weak; so I just spent $70 on a Better pump, and it’s still on the weak side. It’s also pretty annoying to get it primed and the hoses are too stiff, so I’m just knocking things around in the tank. Going to need to go back to the drawing board on this one.