Alec’s 20g IM Peninsula

[ajackson1217]

The 3.7g Imagitatium Pico was a success, so an upgrade was in order. I found a pretty nice looking tank in a standard size that fit the space, and did some demolition and building today on my day off.  
Original tank:

[ajackson1217]

Old shit out; toe kick leveled; sump/ato/doors/electric planned out; stand built and ready for sanding, then three coats of kilz, some caulking, two coats of paint, and I’m onto plumbing. 

 

[ajackson1217]

Tank drilled for Eshopps Eclipse S, and 10g Aqueon that I gotta throw a baffle into still. Also, I’m probably going to drill another hole in the back for a return. 

[ajackson1217]

It fits! Just gotta make a cutout in the top for the drains and return line, and three more for power outlets. 

[ajackson1217]

I got so busy with work and getting ready for this upcoming semester, that what little time I have free, gets totally eaten up by fishing; and it brought my project to a halt. So, I just grabbed an AIO from IM that fit the space. Things should start progressing much more quickly from this point on 😬

[ajackson1217]

The aquarium project has now spurred an all out renovation downstairs, so I just set it up on the closest-spot-to-level I could find in my bedroom. Luckily I had a new cobalt mj1200 sitting around, cus that stock return is loud af (didn’t get the pro version 😬). Looks like I got a month to save up for a light/ato/wavemaker now. 

 

[ajackson1217]

Been takin’ it slow, but got a pair of clowns in there now too

[ajackson1217]

Took me forever to decide between two primes or a single hydra 32, and I decided to forego the modifications I had planned for a hms double foot mount, or custom length rail for a single foot, or the pain of finding a way to mount primes, for a single 32 on the standard (15”) single arm mount. It’s not exactly as far out as I’d prefer, but it’s not a big enough of a deal to justify buying a $59 rail section and cutting it up. Over all, I think it looks pretty slick with the aps stand, and need to start saving up now for that IM 15 gallon ato/reservoir combo. 

[Mystichrome]

2 hours ago, ajackson1217 said:

Took me forever to decide between two primes or a single hydra 32, and I decided to forego the modifications I had planned for a hms double foot mount, or custom length rail for a single foot, or the pain of finding a way to mount primes, for a single 32 on the standard (15”) single arm mount. It’s not exactly as far out as I’d prefer, but it’s not a big enough of a deal to justify buying a $59 rail section and cutting it up. Over all, I think it looks pretty slick with the aps stand, and need to start saving up now for that IM 15 gallon ato/reservoir combo. 

Looks great! What does the inside of your stand look like? I get my 20IM peninsula thursday with the APS stand and I'm worried about how small that front door is and not being able to mount anything inside and have easy to access to it all.

[ajackson1217]

Yeah, access sucks with this stand. I think the ato reservoir is gonna have to be external, like with my last IM Nuvo 10, but this time I think I’m gonna go for the 15 instead of the 5 gallon model. As far as mounting stuff inside, last time I used the piece of pvc board that you normally put on the bottom, and slid it into the slots in the rear and had it on the back wall of the stand, however I won’t be able to reach to that point if I were to do the same with this stand, given the increase in length, so I’ll probably just leave the shit laying on the floor of the stand for now haha. 

[mitten_reef]

That is a rather large quantity of rocks, you’re gonna have some difficulties finding areas to place - and space out - corals frags based on their flow and lighting needs.  Just my opinion. 

[ajackson1217]

3 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

That is a rather large quantity of rocks, you’re gonna have some difficulties finding areas to place - and space out - corals frags based on their flow and lighting needs.  Just my opinion. 

One of the many reasons I put builds up on here; your advice was spot on. Still need that 24” rail tho to center that light. 

[Mystichrome]

Damn I wish they had just made the doors on the side lol, it wouldnt have made a difference, or give the option of having it on the side

Still looks great from the outside.

I think I'm going to try and mount the bar as close to the front of the door as possible with the mighty jet controller on the door inside panel

 

BTW: I used a Brita filter as my ATO canister, that I think will fit in that stand.

 

[ajackson1217]

She’s starting to look like what I had originally envisioned, minus the cool stuff inside. I got the 24” rail in the mail today and centered the light, took out another rock, and ended up with an aquascape that I like while also allowing room for growth. The tank is just over two months old and I still have yet to add anything aside from four astrea snails, a clown (#2 had vertical for days as I later found out, dried up on the floor) a royal gramma, and a six line wrasse. I’m super happy with these three fish and have gotten the gramma and clown to eat out of my hand. Hopefully I can do the same with the wrasse. Unfortunately, three fish and feeding like I do in a 20 has made a weekly water changes a requirement in order to keep nitrates under 20ppm. As of right now, the plan is to just fill it with softies and LPS, so that shouldn’t be an issue. Still gotta pick up:

Cobalt neotherm 75w 

AI Nero 3 

IM Hydrofil ato controller/pump/return bracket

Overall though, this build has reminded me why I started this hobby 14 years ago, and it’s definitely making me take a longer look at the Nuvo EXT’s at my LFS; particularly, the 200.

 

 

 

 

 

[tran]

very nice. 

[ajackson1217]

I really didn’t like all that weight on such a thin glass pane with that hms mount, and thought it might be worth a try to test out that nuvoskim dc, so I did a little diy. Turns out, you can repurpose that mount the hms single arm unit comes with, by opening it up a quarter inch with a file, drilling three holes for the m8 and two other unknown bolts I had lying around, and by using that 24” extrusion I purchased previously for horizontal adjustment, for the vertical. In this orientation, the extrusion lines up flush with the stand and you get exactly 8” between the water line and the fixture. You could in theory just use the next larger (36”) extrusion and adjust if you wanted more clearance. I gotta buy another one of those 24” ones to get the light centered again, finally, but I definitely think opening up those back compartments and taking the load off that rear pane is worth it. Also, I decided to try and get to the bottom of this stand thing, after realizing what a pain it’s gonna be to mount controllers in the back, and gave innovative marine a call yesterday about using two sets of the doors found on the front of the lagoon 50, and installing them on the sides. They were super quick to get back to me, but I missed the call so I I gotta try again today. That way, I could keep a 5g hydrofil reservoir underneath and I’d have the access I need.