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Nano Upgrade (1 Viewer)

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sneezebeetle

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Where to start....

I had been using an IM10 as a grow out for my zoas and mushrooms and was swiftly running out of room on the bottom. Since I didn't want to "build up" I decided my best option was to upgrade my grow out to a tank that had a bigger foot print, to grow "out" and not "up".

A few years ago we bought a stand, tank, and canopy off of CL for $60. The stand and canopy was in need of work so we stripped them down to their original frame work, added an extension on the base to allow for a bigger sump, and began the task of remaking the stand and canopy into something that was better suited for our furnishings. Using recycled wood pallets, left over paint from other projects, and a couple different shades of wood stain we got started. Each individual plank was sanded, painted, sanded again, stained, and sealed before we started piecing things together. Originally, the canopy sat atop the 60gl cube.

We took down the tank to replace our flooring, but didnt get around to doing it after our 14yo Golden got sick and now we have a puppy.

So I decided to use the stand/canopy we already had and went with an acrylic all-in-one with a 24" x 24" foot print. As for the canopy, since it couldnt sit on the tank as before, we went with a floating canopy. Here are some pics of the build process on the stand/canopy.
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sneezebeetle

sneezebeetle

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A few more tank build pics. Notice how there is a false front, side and top to allow access to the sump from all sides.
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sneezebeetle

sneezebeetle

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As for the new tank...

When it came to cycling and prep work, I knew I couldn't use big rocks as I only had about a 7" depth to work with. So I decided to use Caribsea frag rocks and started cycling those using water from the IM10 after doing water changes, as well as some Seachem Seed and set those aside to cycle for a few weeks and ghost feed every other day.

Once I had the tank in place (a 24" x 24" x 8" all in one acrylic tank), I used 3 small rocks from my DT that were well established and seeded, some water from the IM10 along with fresh saltwater mixed with Tropic Marin, crushed coral, and caribsea live substrate. Threw in some Fritz turbo start and let the tank cycle about 7 days.

For top offs I used water from the IM10. I should add, to ease the transition from one established tank to a new tank for the zoas and mushrooms, I only used water from the IM10 for top offs when the SG allowed. I also used established substrate from the IM10 to help in the cycling process of the new tank.

Lighting is provided by a Radion XR15.

There is a 10gl ATO reservoir inside the cabinet.

For filtration, at this point I am only using floss. After a few weeks I will start skimming with my Reef Octopus nano skimmer. About that same time, I will add in carbon and gfo into the filtration process.
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sneezebeetle

sneezebeetle

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Now that everything is transferred over I have to say I am happy with the decision to upgrade the tank from the IM10, while it only really gives me 3-4 more gallons of water to work with, it has more than doubled my area for potential growth.

As for inhabitants, I have a bonded pair of Clownfish with a Rainbow Nem, a Springer Dottyback, and a Hybrid Indigo Dottyback.

Not sure yet what I am going to do with the IM10, but for now it is housing another small clownfish pair I may end up rehoming. d59b94c4dc221a0981cf6bf4284f277c.jpg bdb561d0998f724b96782c007c62cd07.jpg 5cbc85ad56d5fc2706e86751c0dd66cc.jpg 3925c8c93a1d1c56216e043c05e662f7.jpg

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