bryantkalagian Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 "Current" FTS from 1/21/16: Hey everyone. I jumped on the bandwagon and picked up an IM 25 gallon lagoon. I wanted a fresh start since I've battled some red slime and bubble algea recently, so I'm starting fresh with all new everything and dry rock. I am however planning on transferring over my livestock after a dip.I'm starting off with about 22 lbs of BRS reef saver and 20 lbs of Oceans Direct sand. Unknown skimmer and power head at this time and a cheap heater that I'll controll with my Reef Keeper as well as my Tunze A TO coming from my old tank.I wanted to build my own stand to fit my likes as well as I enjoy attempting to be handy in the garage. This is my first attempt at a stand and I have to say it came out pretty wellI wanted be be able to keep at least a 5 gallon bucket of top off water underneath. After getting the tank upstairs and filled, I finished the stand with a wainscoting material. The right side is fixed and the front and left come off as one big piece held on by super Velcro.This is the rock scape I settled on for now. I'm planning on shifting it around a little to fit one rock that's coated in GSP that's coming from the old tank.Here's the stand all put together. I still need to roll a coat of paint on the outside but for now it's good with me.Now the waiting game starts. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Congrats... Nice. What lighting will you be using? Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Congrats... Nice. What lighting will you be using?I'll be using the LED I have over my tank now. Its an off brand 55 bulb fixture but everything I've had under it so far has been doing great. Maybe an upgrade one day haha Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Washed out cell phone pic but here is a current FTS of the old tank. Mostly everything but the purple xenia will be getting transferred over. Link to comment
Pinner Reef Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Very cool setup! And I really like that pic behind the tank... Another person beats me to this setup. What are liking for your skimmer? Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 Very cool setup! And I really like that pic behind the tank... Another person beats me to this setup. What are liking for your skimmer? I'm kinda leaning towards the Tunze 9001 I think it is? It's gotten better reviews than the ghost that IM makes. I've read you need to re-plum the return chamber or convert to two separate pumps to fit it. I'm alright with that because I'm already planning on getting a Colbalt or something because I'm not a fan of the stock return pump. Link to comment
Pinner Reef Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I was looking at/reading the same things. From what I understand the Ghost is super loud which is a major issue for me personally. The other way I was looking was the Aquamaxx HOB but I have plans for a HOB reactor and a mag light for a mini fuge back there. For being an AIO I'm finding a crap load of add-ons that I am having a hard time finding space for. lol Half the problem is not having the tank to look at and measure my ideas against. Show me a pic of your back chambers once you get everything rerouted./ in place if you could... plz. Link to comment
Dave-er Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 Great setup. Love the pictures of your tank! The stand looks great also. Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 I was looking at/reading the same things. From what I understand the Ghost is super loud which is a major issue for me personally. The other way I was looking was the Aquamaxx HOB but I have plans for a HOB reactor and a mag light for a mini fuge back there. For being an AIO I'm finding a crap load of add-ons that I am having a hard time finding space for. lol Half the problem is not having the tank to look at and measure my ideas against. Show me a pic of your back chambers once you get everything rerouted./ in place if you could... plz. I will. Yeah I agree the chambers are a little small. What made me want to stay away from the ghost is if the pump is anywhere near the quality of the return pump, I'm not into it. Loud and vibrates. Great setup. Love the pictures of your tank! The stand looks great also. Thanks! Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 Before bed shot. Water parameters are getting close on the new tank. Picked up some goodies on black Friday too Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Got the goods! Colbalt MJ still en route. Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 Got the powerhead hooked up and mounted the control unit. The power head is on the back right wall for now. On that back wall of the stand I will also mount my RK4 power bar and one more power bar. I'm still putting off painting the stand haha Link to comment
joines77 Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Do you have to put skimmer in the middle chamber? Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 Do you have to put skimmer in the middle chamber? Yeah I will. It's a fraction of an inch too big for the other two chambers. Link to comment
joines77 Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I'm contemplating the same idea. Following! Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 I'm contemplating the same idea. Following! I ordered a cobalt return pump so I'm waiting to figure out a pluming design till I get that. I'm going to try and find a way to move the pump to one side and T it off instead of the Y pipe in there now. If that fails I'll just have a single return nozzle. Link to comment
Docjason2 Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Will you show pics of your skimmer once installed. I want to see what mods you have to make to get it to work. I am looking at the same setup. Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 Will you show pics of your skimmer once installed. I want to see what mods you have to make to get it to work. I am looking at the same setup. Will do. I'll keep my progress updated on here. Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 I got the Colbalt MJ installed this morning. I just installed it into the stock plumbing now. I'll figure out a way to plumb around skimmer later. I must say the Colbalt pump is about 100 times more quiet than the stock one. Link to comment
Sunar357 Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Question on yours...does it rest on the bottom of tank or hang from tubing? Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 Question on yours...does it rest on the bottom of tank or hang from tubing? The stock one touched the bottom. I cut the tubing a little so it would hang because I thought it was rattling and that's what was making it so loud. Turns out it's just a loud pump. I set up the Cobalt to hang about 1" and secured it with the suction cups. Link to comment
Sunar357 Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Thanks for the info. My Cobalt was bought used and no suction cups or anything. Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 Thanks for the info. My Cobalt was bought used and no suction cubs or anything. I don't really think it's a big deal if it hangs as long as it's not rattling around on any of the walls. Link to comment
bryantkalagian Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 Well that great tank swap of 2015 occured today. What a lot of work! The water is still a little cloudy and the skimmer is freaking out so the tank looks carbonated so here's a little teaser pic till later Link to comment
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