40b AIO

[Hunna]

Going to try and actually keep this tank build updated. We will see if that actually happens though!

Tank: I traded @Fishy_Mcfish some frags for this 40b with what looks like a DIY AIO siliconed into the back. It cleaned up nicely for a used tank.

Stand: I couldn’t find anything local, within reason, so I ordered This one off Amazon. It’s sturdy enough, and will allow me to set my little Eshopps Deskmate back up underneath it, once everything is moved over and settled in.

Lighting: this won’t be ideal to start. I’ll be using an AI Prime 16 HD on one side, and a Kessil a80 Tuna Blue on the other. I have a second 16 HD but it’s on my bedroom tank (that is starting to fill in) and I don’t want to downgrade it to the Kessil. I’ll have the higher light demanding corals on the side with the AI and the less demanding ones on the side with the Kessil. I do plan to replace both with something better suited for this size of a tank, so if anyone has anything available please lmk!

Filtration: super simple to start with just a return pump with double RFG nozzles, filter pads cut to fit the DIY “filter cup”. I have tons of rubble/sponges/bio balls/etc for biological filtration that will be going into the various back chambers. Maybe one day I’ll have the extra money to get a roller mat or nano skinner.

Water movement: just a single jebao slw for now. Will most likely be adding something else once I figure out how things will flow once fully set up and filled with corals and frag racks.



Super simple scape to start. I plan on using the shelf rock to grow out SPS. I have rocks in the other tanks that will be moved into this one once it’s time to move everything. I’ll again be making a “mushroom corner” wherever the least flow is. This tank is primarily going to be used for growing things out, which is why I’m not building a crazy scape for it.

Between the ~30lbs of live sand I got from @Jikkermanccini yesterday, and all of the bio filtration in the WB 25 and Deskmate, and all of the live rock in both tanks, I’ll easily be able to skip the cycling process. Just waiting for sometime next week when I don’t have my 3 year old, and can get some saltwater from @scuba steve ’s shop, and it will be time to make the move!

 

[Fishy_Mcfish]

Looking good! You cleaned it up really good! I mean I did most of the hard work before though so I made it easy on you but seriously you did a lot more cleaning and it looks almost new!

 

[Hunna]

Looking good! You cleaned it up really good! I mean I did most of the hard work before though so I made it easy on you but seriously you did a lot more cleaning and it looks almost new!

You knocked it all loose for me

 

[Fishy_Mcfish]

You knocked it all loose for me

Did I ever send you the before pics?

 

[Hunna]

Did I ever send you the before pics?

You sure did

 

[Fishy_Mcfish]

View attachment 97475
You sure did

Yep! It was covered in coralline algae

 

[Hunna]

Got everything moved over and into the new tank! Not enough time to start placing the SPS onto the shelf rock, so that will be left for another day. Still some rearranging to do, and I’m going to end up moving my little Deskmate to the shelving underneath it, to clear up my living room some more.

Big thanks to @scuba steve for filling up some buckets with water for me, to speed up the process. It takes me ~3 hours to mix 5 gallons with my current set up, so there’s no way I could have made that much water in a timely manner.

 

[scuba steve]

Lookin great! Happy to help as always

 

[Hunna]

Not ideal, but it’s working! Everything in the tank is happy so far, other than 1 hammer that was recently moved in from my bedroom. The badly injured dottyback is just about fully recovered, which is a huge relief after not seeing it for over 4 days after adding it into the tank.

I need to find a way to mount the big Duncan colony onto the rock structure it’s next to, and get it up off the sand bed. I think I’m going to have to use some coral putty to do that though, as it’s too big for just super glue at this point.

A few shots from around the tank yesterday and today, after figuring out manual white balancing finally:

 

[shanepike]

Great shots! What did you use?

 

[Hunna]

Thanks! I used an Olympus TG-5 I found on Marketplace for $200 a while ago. Has a built in microscope mode, so no need for macro lenses, and is waterproof up to 15m. The mushroom and zoas pictures were taken from inside the tank.

 

[Hunna]

Snagged this before mounting the Duncan onto the rock.


I got some coral putty and mounted the Duncan right next to where it was. Now that it’s up off the sandbed, I’m hoping those lower heads will bounce back. Neither clown was really interested in the Duncan yesterday after I moved it. They were in it this morning though, so it didn’t take them long.


Having more space is allowing me to try and get some of my 3”-4” mushrooms to come off the frag plugs/rubble they are holding onto and refusing to let go of. This one is so close to starting the move onto the tile.


The Nuclear Sunset disco is almost fully onto the printed tile it’s sitting on, and I just moved my giant, green, hairy mushroom onto a 4” tile to start the process.

The only 2 things not doing well in here currently, are hammers that came from my bedroom tank. Where I think my sexy shrimp have been picking at them. I’m hoping they will be able to recover in a larger, more stable (my kitten can’t mess with this tank like he can the others) environment.

 

[Hunna]

FTS:


Everything in here is doing great. The hammers are starting to slowly bounce back thankfully. All the SPS are fluffy and doing well still, which is a first. The mushrooms on tiles are starting to slowly crawl off the frag plugs/rubble they are stuck to and onto the tile. Only thing this tank needs now is better lighting.

Some quick shots around the tank