Elos 70 AIO Conversion Project

[nanoguy]

I was looking into purchasing a 35-50 gallon AIO cube to downsize from my 150 DT. I decided to take a stab at converting an Elos 70 that I had sitting around empty for years and save a few bucks. Here's a quick and dirty build thread of the project.

 

[nanoguy]

Test fitting a skimmer my brother hooked me up with. My original plan was to remove the overflow portion of the tank and silicone a piece of glass to the rectangular opening at the bottom corner. This will give me more real estate in the AIO chamber to play with. I removed the finishing "plastic sheet" that covered the overflow to see what I was working with. After closer inspection, I decided against this because I didn't feel like I would be able to create a good seal due to the existing silicone in that area of the opening.

 

[nanoguy]

I took some measurements and sketched out how I was going to go about doing the AIO baffles. I started designing the the acrylic panel with the overflow weir/return in Tinkercad. Srt4eric answered my post requesting for a "crusty old tank" and crusty it was.The glass from this tank will be used for the baffles in the AIO chamber.

 

[nanoguy]

I ordered a lower end Toyo glass cutter, cutting oil, and a running plier used to "snap" the glass at the cut line (a must have tool IMO). This was my first time attempting to cut glass and there was a steep learning curve for me. I ruined quite a few pieces, but luckily there was enough glass to make up for all my mistakes.

 

[nanoguy]

Ordered this silicone on Amazon and started siliconing the glass to the tank.

 

[nanoguy]

The acrylic sheet needed for this project was going to set me back around $60-$65 and I would have to make all the cuts myself. I decided to source it out to Ponoko (https://www.ponoko.com). All you have to do is upload the appropriate file and they do the rest. Total cost for me came out to a tad over $116 tax and shipping included...not too shabby. Turn around time was around 3 weeks. The test fit turned out perfect so onto siliconing it into place. I applied a 3m Wrap to the side of the tank to cover up the AIO chambers.

 

[nanoguy]

I let the silicone cure for close to a week prior to filling the tank. I was super anxious to test the layout of the AIO baffles for the first time. Up to this point, it only worked on the primitive sketch I doodled on a piece of paper. I wasn't really sure if the AIO chambers would function properly. All went better than expected...super stoked at this point. I was able to max out my return pump (Jebao Jecod DXP-2500) without running the return chamber dry and had no micro bubbles from the skimmer entering the display (moved the skimmer into display to make some adjustments when I took the pic).

 

[nanoguy]

I tossed one of the rock structures from my 150 into this AIO. I think it looks pretty good as is, but might add a rock or two more to have the structure to really break the surface of the water...maybe. I'm currently running a Kessil a360x tuna blue w/ Reefbrite. My par meter readings with this setup sits around 87-90 at the sand bed and around 230 off one of the overhangs. I'm going to just run this for now until I decide what I will ultimately place in this tank.

 

[nanoguy]

I was able to find a good use for the decommissioned overflow...MP40 dry end placement. The total thickness of the original overflow along with what I added (glass and acrylic) equates to 1" thickness. Needless to say, the motor is far too heavy to be held in place with just the magnetic strength of the dry/wet side. To my surprise, the wetside had no problems staying secured to the glass. I used one of those sticky/zip tie mounts to hold the motor in place. The vortech works as designed with no issues with the wetside falling off...another win.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Thanks for sharing

 

[nanoguy]

Found a piece of finished glass in storage this past weekend and decided to see if I can make one of those AIO sump covers...similar to the ones Red Sea have. I drew up the "brackets" that will hold the glass in Tinkercad and sent the file to the 3d printer. I did a test fit to find out I didn't add the measurements from the glass insert/cutouts back to the overall dimensions of the bracket. 6.5 hours of printing and the cost of the resin down the drain. My next print should be good to go.