Thinking about starting again!

[Skey444]

Hello,

I have past reef aquarium experience and am looking to get into an all in one smallish aquarium. I’m looking for simplicity, modern aesthetic, and quiet. Plan for more corals and inverts and just a couple clowns (I have kids so the fish can be for them) and maybe a shrimp goby. have a stand for a 40 breeder I built that I’d like to reuse 36”x19.25”. Right now I’m liking the 20 long IM nuvo. I’m very open to suggestions for systems that will meet my needs. I’ve been out of the game for a while and just interested to see if there’s a consensus for “best all in one.” I have a Nano tunze skimmer still that I’ll need to measure but think it might fit in the “sump area” of some of these tanks. I’ll plan for a led light and hopefully just one flow pump. Looking forward to the build and journey. I’m going to take my time with this one

 

[griss]

Welcome. I have no experience with AIO tanks so, I’ll let others address this.

Once you decide, please post a lot of pics as you start your build. Many of us like to follow build threads.

 

[Reefing102]

Is your stand exactly 36”? If it’s at least 36.5 you could look at the Planet Aquariums Tideline 47 gallon lagoon. Last I checked the rear chamber measurements should fit the Tunze 9001 Skimmer (though that’d be a little small for the 47). Not sure if it’d fit the 9004. If it’s exactly 36” could look at the Tideline 31 lagoon.

Planet to my knowledge has a good reputation

There’s also the Waterbox 25. Haven’t heard of many issues with them either.

Just some thoughts. Nothing wrong with IM either.

 

[Skey444]

Thanks so much exactly why I’m here. My stand is 37.25”x19.25”. That 47 sounds like a great fit. I have the tunze 9004 skimmer from a previous project. I’ll figure out equipment once I get the right tank.
What is the best lighting for a tank this size? Probably 2x led fixtures right? And lids seem pretty easy to get these days.

 

[Skey444]

I’m gonna check out the local reef store tomorrow and see what they recommend. I’m not seeing many vendors for the tideline aquariums? Are they widely available online?

 

[Reefing102]

I have a local store that carries tideline. There’s a store locator in the contact page - https://planetaquariums.com/store-locator/

They don’t appear to sell online (and a quick search shows many that show them online are local pick up)

As for lighting, it depends on what coverage you want (and what your budget is). Two of most any light should give pretty decent coverage (whether it’s two Radion XR15, two Reefi Uno 2, or two Noopsyche K7 V3 (there’s plenty more lights out there. Just some options for a variety of price ranges)

As for lids, I recommend Kraken. I’ve used them and their quality has been good. Or you can DIY one as well.

Hope this helps!

 

[Skey444]

Very helpful! Looks like my local reef store shows up on the locator. Now to try and swing by after work today.

 

[Reefing102]

Sounds good. If they don’t stock it they may be able to order it. Just know that there’s a few different “Tideline” lines with Planet and the 47 lagoon is in their AIO line.

 

[griss]

Yes, my understanding is that Planet does not sell direct. You have to go through an LFS or online store to buy them.

They should be good tanks as Planet was started by former Oceanic (some of the best aquariums ever made IMO) employees after Oceanic closed.

 

[Skey444]

Local store seems great, literally can make it in my way home less than 5miles from house. Nice displays, stock looks good. Honest is number one. They used to quarantine but people weren’t willing to pay for it. He has the things I need, not selling me on voodoo stuff. They recommended two xr15 and one mp40 (2x mp10 questionable due to glass thickness). I’m game for that I think. They’re supposed to quote me a price for the tank tomorrow as they haven’t sold many of these tanks and his dealer access was down. He did say the tank should be great quality based on his previous experiences with company. Now I’m trying to convince the lady and told her she needed to tell me an approximate color to paint the stand (old stand I did a decent job on imo we use it as a piece of furniture currently). She wants it the same color the kitchen cabinets are going to be painted… so I’m probably on the hook to hurry up and help her decide that color. Guess I’m committing to some future projects here with this personal passion project.

 

[griss]

Sweet, can’t wait to see pics.

 

[Reefing102]

Local store seems great, literally can make it in my way home less than 5miles from house. Nice displays, stock looks good. Honest is number one. They used to quarantine but people weren’t willing to pay for it. He has the things I need, not selling me on voodoo stuff. They recommended two xr15 and one mp40 (2x mp10 questionable due to glass thickness). I’m game for that I think. They’re supposed to quote me a price for the tank tomorrow as they haven’t sold many of these tanks and his dealer access was down. He did say the tank should be great quality based on his previous experiences with company. Now I’m trying to convince the lady and told her she needed to tell me an approximate color to paint the stand (old stand I did a decent job on imo we use it as a piece of furniture currently. She wants it the same color as the kitchen cabinets are going to be painted… so I’m probably on the hook to hurry up and help her decide that color. Guess I’m committing to some future projects here with this personal passion project.

The good old compromise of if you let me…I’ll do this for you

 

[kharmaguru]

The old Home Depot "date". Has to be done...

 

[Skey444]

Stand dimensions and scrapped old biocube plan.

 

[Skey444]

With my lady it’s more, here’s the picture in my mind and Pinterest posts… then she sends me in a rush to buy the paint so she can paint… and here we are three weeks later we’re still painting the kitchen table
But her vision is important to get me to pick the right color. She’s thinking a soft green for the cabinetry. I’m cool with that. I didn’t agree to flat paint though. We are doing a semi-gloss darn it, why would we make kid messes and salt creep hard to clean?!?

 

[Skey444]

She’s got some room inside for an ato container and power strip. I’ll probably leave the inside bare with the cost of paint . Great reason for an all in one.
I’m dialing in my idea for tank goals and reefing philosophy. Also planning out some husbandry.

I’m looking to go really slow with stocking. Utilize the premade saltwater from the store. 0tds and 35ppt Tropic Marin. Plan for q2week 5g WC with their water. No skimmer, I have the tunze 9004 in reserve… if it fits in back compartment. I was never a fan of the bubbles and I’m trying to maintain really minimal fish load. The store tests accurately for $5, get it checked every couple weeks for a while then monthly. Probably dose kalkwasser as needed manually at first and then once dialed in may try some dosing pumps. Plan for some sort of exchange resin, carbon, And filtersock/floss in overflows. I need to buy a new refractometer.

This is where I will start.

Of course I’m already thinking of stocking choices. My mind always wanders ahead. I’m going to go as slow as I can stand/afford.

 

[Skey444]

So… I thought for sure I had sold my lights. But lo and behold in the shed I found my Kessils from my last tank. I’m gonna start with these and if they work keep them. They were good lights for me. I also found a tunze nano-stream and my old skimmer. On top of that I probably found 100lbs of dry live rock From previous tanks. Excited to have so many choices available to scape because I probably only need 30lbs of rock or so? Also decision was made to use leftover paint from kitchen table to paint the stand. I like that shade of black and it seems easy to clean so far
Still waiting on staus of ordering tank. Store says they’re working on getting account reopened. Hopefully get an update today and we can move towards getting this party started!

 

[Reefing102]

Awesome to hear! As long as the Kessils work and are powerful enough I see no reason not to use them. Gives time anyway to save up for any upgrade later if wanted.

 

[Skey444]

Darn, one of the kessil’s is dead. It will only work up to 25% and then blink. Maybe a bad driver?! It’s not the dial bc it does the same thing on the controller. I’m thinking open it and clean it. Maybe I should call kessil first and see what they should do. It seems to be a current model but they are definitely out of warranty right? I’d say i bought them in 2019 ish.

 

[Skey444]

And yay! Looks like I have a bad power supply not light. I’m gonna look for a replacement