Finished up the basic cabinet work for the IM 30 I bought at the Fish Tank after the September meeting. I'm going to finish with a black lacquer and a some sort of fabric insert to set off the door - going for a Japanese look. I know I want some sort of suspended LED but figured that can wait. I need to pick up a power head or two but am open to suggestions. A skimmer would be nice but having something sticking up kind of breaks up the lines - possibly a canister filter?
IMO it would be a waste of your false wall and back chambers to use a canister. You can just but chemipure elite and maybe purigen in the back and let it run. Hydor makes a square skimmer that may keep the look you want. Can't wait to see how it ends up. I like a minimalist look. Sent from uh......
NUVO 30 Update Finished rock & filled with aged water from my main tank and put some rock rubble from my sump in the rear chambers to help the cycle. Used a Razor (10K) for the light and an Ecotech MP10 for the powerhead. Right now I have the whites at 30% and the blues at 60% and it looks plenty bright. I discovered that satin black enamel is a pain to get a good finish as it shows every blemish in the surface below it. I should have done a skim coat of filler first (like auto body) instead of paint & sand, paint & sand, etc... Originally I was going to go bare bottom but opted for crushed shell. If the return pump doesn't settle in and get a bit more quiet then an upgrade may be in order. There is plenty of room for a skimmer if I opt for one.
Made a couple of media baskets using the table saw & weld-on, one for rock and the other for assorted media. I'm just running rock, activated carbon & filter pads for now and it already has made a difference in water clarity. I may make a smaller one for bio-pellets to fit in an up-flow section.
Home Depot sells various sizes of acrylic. It is not the best quality but works fine to make in-tank items. There are aftermarket baskets that sell for $40 each , I made two for $30 as I already had the weld-on glue from another project.
