Alex's Innovative Marine SR-60 Build Thread

[Scribe]

Pretty cool. I think the prices seem high, until you take out all the time spent shopping around....pricing...ordering...I.e. to have it all done at once is pretty sweet. Obviously you aren't picking and choosing what you want, but its done. Depends what you want I guess. I'm along for the ride to see how it develops. Wish you well with your new purchase.

 

[alex478]

Small Equipment Update:
Decided that the SpinStreams make a bit too much noise when going above the water line for my taste and since the tank is in my living room where I watch TV, the noise has become a bit of an annoyance. So, I purchased a Vortech MP10W ES online today which should get here early next week and replace the need for the SpinStreams. Also went onto Foster&Smith's and ordered a Prodibio BioCkean kit for some extra bacterial cleaning, a medium sized MagFloat to start cleaning up the inside glass without having to take off the lid and lights, and an API Tap Water Filter. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon...

 

[akpoly]

How thick is the glass on this thing? Did it come with all that equipment or was it purchased separately? I'm interested in getting one!

 

[Breakthecycle2]

How thick is the glass on this thing? Did it come with all that equipment or was it purchased separately? I'm interested in getting one!

No, they only come with the tank and stand, The 60 gallon is $1500, the 80 is $2000 and the 120 is $3000. The OP said he got a great deal on IM's display tank at the show last weekend, but hoenstly, they are not worth the money at all at full price.

 

[texsun]

Interesting concept but the biggest constraint is the skimmer, or lack of room for a skimmer to handle a tank at those sizes. I guess you could always go the HOB route, but you start to get away from the all-in-one benefit.

 

[reef_collector]

Nice clean tank dude, good size too.

 

[alex478]

Nice clean tank dude, good size too.

Thanks

 

[alex478]

The Goodies are In

Hello everyone, sorry that there hasn't been an update in a while, school has been consuming most of my time. Well today the stuff I ordered online finally came in. Here's what I bought: A medium sized MagFloat, A Vortech MP10w ES, API Tap Water Filter (didn't feel like shelling out the money for a full on RO/DI just yet), and a Prodibio BioCLean kit. Pictures Below vvv

Vortech installed on tank...

Latest FTS...
As you can see, I have not had a chance to go to my lfs and buy rest of the live rock, will probably get that done this weekend. Tank has pretty much finished cycling as all parameters are stable. That means I will soon be transferring in the Blue Damsel as well as a Firefish Goby I got a couple of days ago. Stay tuned for more updates coming real soon...

 

[alex478]

Live Rock In

So I was finally able to go to my LFS today and pick up some more live rock. As you will see from my Aquascape, I went with a minimalist look with less rock but a nice arrangement of shelves, small caves, and hiding places.

Full Tank shot...

Left Side...

Right Side...

 

[alex478]

First Round of Livestock

Went down to a store near my house today, VIP Reef, and had my water checked. According to their test kits, as well as mine, the tank is cycled and ready to go, so I bought my cleanup crew (20 snails, 3 crabs, 3 shrimp, and a sand-sifting starfish) as well as a pair of Snowflake Clowns. Also added in my firefish Goby.

Temperature Acclimation...

Floating bags

Dripping...

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

oh dear

 

[alex478]

Fish Are In

After finishing the acclimation process, the fish and clean-up-crew are finally in and swimming around. I can tell that the fish are definitely digging their new space. :smile:

More pics to come...

 

[alex478]

More Fish Pics...

More pics of the new stocked tank... Sorry if some of the fish came out blurry, they're pretty hard to photograph oh: .

My new clowns...

FTS...

 

[Igarc009]

Very nice build so far, I believe one clown is a Picasso though? Either way they are nice clowns

 

[powers2001]

I just added an IM media reactor with biopellets in it to my tank. I got it for the small size because I plan to put it inside my internal overflow. It works better than my BRS reactor.

 

[Bobbofin]

Alex,

Question on the stand. The stand doesn't look like the same one on their. The one on their website looks like it's black painted aluminum with plastic panels. Please comment.

 

[revhtree]

Looking good!

 

[alex478]

Alex,

Question on the stand. The stand doesn't look like the same one on their. The one on their website looks like it's black painted aluminum with plastic panels. Please comment.

Hi, thanks for the question, not sure why the stand looks different on the website but my guess is because those were the original mockup pictures. All I know for sure is that my stand is the same as the other stand supporting the SR's on display at Macna and it's a great quality stand.

 

[alex478]

Very nice build so far, I believe one clown is a Picasso though? Either way they are nice clowns

Thanks... Yes, one clown is a Picasso, my lfs had these two different clowns paired up together in a single tank so I just went with those .

 

[alex478]

Hello everyone, sorry that I haven't posted an update in a while but not much has been happening to the tank livestock wise. In terms of equipment, I'm making a couple of changes to the filtration in the back. I will be replacing the left side filter sock with one of these:

It's an Innovative Marine CustomCaddy Filtration basket. I took some measurements and bought the one meant to be use on the IM Nuvo 38. The reason for making this change is I wasn't happy with the limited filtration of a filter sock so I will be packing this basket from top to bottom with filter floss, purigen, and chemipure elite. I will continue running my biopellet reactor and I finally began breaking in the protein skimmer.
I also began dosing Aquabella Bioenzyme saltwater treatment, and it really does do all it says it should. Water has become a lot clearer and all levels have stabilized perfectly.
Stay tuned for pictures and updates to come. I will also be documenting the filtration change and might film a video.