snowlerblader
New Member
Background
I’ve had a reef running for over 14 years. I started with a 15g plastic rimmed on top of a self built stand, with a 10g plastic rimmed underneath that, and a bit of plate glass epoxied in to make a fuge/sump. I filled that up with an aquacultured rock order from Florida, which had some good stuff in it - a neat little urchin that appeared out of nowhere a couple months in, a mantis, and gorgonians that I still have a lot of. I gave that (and some of the rock) away to a friend, and transitioned to a self-built ‘seahorse tank’, a 10gal that measured 12W x 10D x 20H. I did keep seahorses in it for a bit over a year - a pair of tiger tails - and they were a huge headache. Side note: I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone. Supposedly captive bred, I couldn’t get them to eat any non-live food at all, only the (large amount) of pods growing in my tank, and they constantly got sick and had to be placed in a hospital tank.
I’ve gone through periods of success and neglect, and when I was taking stock of my tank a couple months ago, I decided it was time for a change. The format of the seahorse tank made it difficult to maintain and get good flow in.
New Build
After looking around quite a bit, I decided to go with the Innovative Marine 10 - being almost the same footprint as the old tank, I could put it in the same spot. I ordered a stand, too - and since UPS damaged the first stand, I basically wound up with an extra shelf.
I used a few pieces of ⅛” and ¼” black PVC to make extra mounting points inside the stand. One thing I’ve learned is that I go through lazy times, and the more automation & friendly features the tank has, the better it’ll do. Meaning, I had to pack a lot into a small space - it is really kind of a tiny stand.
Equipment
Controller: My first experiment with this tank is basically using Apple Homekit as a controller. I’ve got two Meross smart power strips - each has 4 AC outlets and a bank of USB. I use automation & shortcuts for things like turning the fuge light on & off, and turning the wave pump on for a couple of minutes every 20. One of the best shortcuts is ‘Feed Mode’ - I named one of the USB banks ‘Feed The Fish’ and when you turn that on, it turns off the pumps, heater & ATO and turns them back on ten minutes later.
Logging: I wrote a form that connects to google sheets, and I made an appsheet to go with it. So far so good.
Testing: I was thrilled to discover that the Hanna Marine Master exists. I'm colorblind, and the color titration is extremely difficult for me, so I don't test as much as I should. This is probably the best piece of gear I've ever owned!
Pump: the pump that comes with the IM 10 (a Mightyjet) is insanely powerful and 100% silent. I’m thoroughly impressed with it. I have it turned all the way down and it’s still more than enough flow.
Wave pump: Again, another experiment. I have a hygger mini (Amazon), again turned all the way down. I like it so far. Also completely silent.
Main lights: Red Sea Reefled 50, with an Eel River Corals shade. I love shimmer in a tank and this has really pretty shimmer. So far so good.
Fuge: In the middle chamber of the IM 10, I have an inTank basket, with a bit of mesh cut from a media bag at the top to keep the chaeto all contained. This is lit by the IM 9W fuge light - super low profile. I had to cut a rectangle out of the black vinyl wrap on the back of the tank. Scary but it turned out great.
Heater: For years I’ve used Eheim Jagers and they are great, super reliable, no complaints. However, the 50W just wouldn’t fit, and the Hydor I had on hand wasn’t really working. I am trying out a 50W Aquael. Downside - temp is only settable in 2F increments. Upside: the tank stays locked between 78.1-78.6 so far, and it has a nice low profile.
ATO: This is a hydor ATO I’ve had for a long time, very reliable. I have a Tom Aqualifter that’s like 12 years old hooked up to it, and it just can’t push the water at that head anymore, so I’m waiting on a new pump. The new knockoff Tom AL was really noisy and I immediately returned it. There’s a simplicity 5L tank in the bottom with DI water.
Dosing: I was watching a random Fragbox TV video, a convention in Europe, and he went into the freshwater section and looked at some chihiros dosing pumps. I picked up the 2-head version, and I have been very impressed with it. Packaging, profile, everything - top notch. Easy to use.
Monitoring: Another experiment - I picked up a DANOPLUS (yeah all caps) wifi pH/Temp controller on Amazon. This is also great so far. A bit weird to set up but super accurate. So far so good.
Stuff in the tank: I’m using most of the rocks I’ve had for years. Sand - I started over with the CaribSea Petco dry aragonite.
Corals: I have a weird branching GSP that I’ve had for a long time (don’t know since when) that kind of looks like a cool bonsai tree. Tons of gorgonians from that first LR shipment. I did some fragging to get the look I want (that’s why some are in the sand). I’m going for colors this time, and I’ve added a few tiny zoa frags, a daisy polyp frag, and a frogspawn that has always been ticked at me and doesn’t look likely to survive unfortunately.
Anemones: These are my first anemones - I have a white/orange RFA and a red one - the red one is hiding in the pics.
CUC: A few Astreas that have been around for years, two scarlet & one blue legged reef hermit that have also been there for years. I added one turbo & an emerald crab. This will be my third coral banded shrimp - this one is a golden. I believe my last one lived for 7-8 years.
Fish: Captive bred orange misbar ocellaris, soon to be joined by a black one. I find clowns highly entertaining.
Thanks for reading my build thread!
