IM 170 INT tank build

[DmitryB]

Once upon a time I had a nice 72 gallon bow tank with some amazing fish (I especially loved my lion and a clownfish pair that ignored an anemone and lived in a soft coral that after a few weeks of freaking out changed its mind and kindly allowed them to squat), corals, clams, anemone, live rock, sand. Metal halides were all the rage. And then I moved and had to break it down and sell everything. Now I'm in a bigger space and had the urge to re-start. First I thought "I'll set up something small, like 30 gallons." Then I thought "Ok maybe 55..." A day later: "70 or so will be fine." Tick tock. "Why not 120!" Tick tock. "Oh look this 170 from Innovative Marine would just fit in this space." So here I am, setting up a 170 from IM even though it's fighting for space with my computer/work desk. But I'll make it work.

The goal is rock, sand, fish (including a couple of tangs, which I could never get with my old 72 gallon), corals (LPS's and SPS's) and a clam or two. And who knows what else!

The tank itself is being made and estimate delivery is end of July/early August. Such a long wait. In the meantime I got some prepping to do and a lot (!!!) of expensive (!!!) equipment to acquire. (List below). Some of the equipment I will not need for a while, but I feel better knowing it's sitting here ready.

I will have to reinforce the floors. My crawl space is pretty gross (I live on the first floor of a two story condo, so it's not my private crawl space), so when that work happens I apologize advance for how gross it is down there.) These two post jacks will work and future proof my inevitable upgrade.

RO/DI is already running with some hiccups. We have well water which is not clean. Maybe it was just taking time breaking in, but finally getting fully filtered water filling a 40 gallon Brute where I'll cure/cook LifeRock. The only place to set this new work-station up is in my guest bathroom. I guess from now on, no overnight guests. The hand held shower is what has the necessary plumbing attachments. And it's safer in case it overflows! I need to trim the hoses.

Expecting a huge delivery from BRS tomorrow with LifeRock and lighting and I don't even remember, but it's coming. Below is the list of items I've purchased or plan to purchase. Please let me know what ya'll think, what else do I need. (I know I need more water flow, for example.)

Ok so here is the list of stuff for the tank I'm acquiring/already acquired:

Display Aquarium
Innovative Marine NUVO 170 INT
59" x 30" x 21.7"

Stand

• NUVO APS stand

Sump

• NUVO RFS50 acrylic - 74 gallons

Salt

• Coral Pro

Refractometer

• Milwaukee digital MA 887

Test kit

• RedSea Marine Care (this is for the basic stuff I will need for cycling)

Return Pump
(I have both, which do I actually run and which keep as back up?)

• MightyJet XL - 2656 GPH DC

or

• VarioS-10

Water Flow
(I want to have a few smaller pumps around the tank vs. just a couple powerful ones, although I guess maybe one powerful one may be a good idea)

• ReefWave 25
• ReefWave 45
• VorTech MP40
• More??

Maintenance Pump

• Sicce Ultra Zero Utility Pump

Skimmer

• Reef Octopus 200 INT

Filters

• N-Clear M Fleece Filter Roller
• Activated Carbon
• GFO

Refugium (with actual live sand and cheato)

• TBD (likely Auqa Gadget ChaetoMax LED 18 Watt)

UV Sterilizer

• TBD

Lights

• Hydra Edge 44 x 2 mounted on tank

Heater

• IM Helio 700 watt (350w x 2) with controller

RO/DI

• BSR 4 stage

ATO

• 16 gallon Advanced Acrylic container
• Nature Dimensions Dual Sensor Advanced Refill Logic

Controller

• Apex A3 Pro

Food

• Frozen
• Brine Shrimp hatchery for fresh wriggly delivery
• Flakes/Pellets

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[NyteRyder1]

Also following. I’m new to reefing and looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[DmitryB]

A week ago I bought a water distiller. Yesterday ran it first the first time. This is what was left after 1 gallon. This can't be normal!

 

[DmitryB]

So a few updates: after ordering a lot of LifeRock, I decided to check with a "local" LFS - it's 80 miles away. That's the nearest one. Contacted them to ask if they were selling live rock and they said yes come over. I went over yesterday and the place is closing. 95% of it is already gone. A couple of tanks with live rock piled up. The owner asked what my budget was. I said I was going to spend no more than $600 based on the prices they quoted. He said "Fine, take as much as you can carry." He even gave me a few styrofoam boxes to pack more rocks. I have no idea how much actual live rock I got, but it's more than 200 lbs. So that was a super lucky break!

I only had 1 bucket of saltwater premixed, so I had to do an emergency run to Lowes to get another big Brute and quickly make another mix to store all the rock.

TodayI also got a rubble package I ordered from Gulf Live Rock, which was a nice mix of pieces to introduce a little something directly from an ocean (vs. a tank.)

And because everything is set up in the guest bathroom and it's small and just no place to move around... I did the only thing I had to do: take off the door! It's not a bathroom anymore.

 

[Project1004]

Well, I guess it’s a good thing you have many months to prep. I would put some powerhead in the brute container and keep it moving and depends but may need to put heaters inside as well.

Well water are heavy in metal so you will need to replace them filters lot more often from my understanding. But that’s not normal to have stuff come out of your water source.

 

[DmitryB]

Well, I guess it’s a good thing you have many months to prep. I would put some powerhead in the brute container and keep it moving and depends but may need to put heaters inside as well.

Well water are heavy in metal so you will need to replace them filters lot more often from my understanding. But that’s not normal to have stuff come out of your water source.

I am afraid of how often they'll have to be replaced! BSR recommended an additional filter canister, which I ordered and I hope I can figure out how to integrate it into the system.

 

[DmitryB]

Oh on the heater for the buckets, what should the temp range be? It's summer so it's not cold in the apartment. Water temp is in the low 70s.

 

[DmitryB]

Tested the water in both buckets of actual live rock using the RedSea test kit. These are pretty good, huh? Should I throw in a small shrimp in there? These numbers seem suspicious.

44 gallon bucket
Salinity - 35
pH - 8.2
KH - 6.5
Nitrite - 0.05
Nitrate - 30
Ammonia - 0.1

32 gallon bucket
Salinity - 34
pH - 8.2
KH - 4.75
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20
Ammonia - 0.1

 

[DmitryB]

Threw in 1/2 of a raw shrimp into each bucket yesterday, so let's see what happens to the numbers in the next 24-48 hrs.

Also finally got the joists reinforced in the crawl space. It has a "Silence for the Lambs" vibe down there and I never go down at night. Creepy.

 

[DmitryB]

Because I may need professional help, I've decided to set up a SECOND tank in my bedroom. I'm going with IM 40. It's set to be delivered on, hopefully, Monday. Shipped via freight. It's on a train from CA.

The goal is to keep softies and clams in it with a few fish. Possibly this is where I'd keep a pair of clowns with an anemone as well.

I've ordered a Radion XR 30 G60 Pro light, Helio 200W heater. I'll use an auto-top off in it (still deciding which.) So I'll be setting up the 40 gallon looong before the 170!

 

[DmitryB]

So the IM 40 tank IS arriving on Monday!!!

- Tuesday I'll aquascape with the live rock (and a few pieces of LifeRock I liked) and fill it with water.

- I'll have live sand delivered from GLF on Wednesday and will add that to the tank.

- A week or so later I'll have some copepods and phytoplankton delivered from ReefBySteele and will let those guys run wild.

- Then see where the parameters are before getting one fish and/or CUC!

 

[DmitryB]

Because I have my water-making/maxing station set up in the guest bathroom, I needed something sturdy to put some of the equipment on, like heavy RO/DI canisters. Voila - professional kitchen metal shelves from a restaurant supplies store. And it fit perfectly on the tub.

Also started making new RO/DI water for the incoming 40 gallon.

And I got a question: IM has images of the set-ups and is it me, or is the return pump floating, not sitting on the bottom of the sump? Is this correct?

 

[fishface NJ]

The pump is not to float. It will sit on the bottom of the sump

 

[DmitryB]

The pump is not to float. It will sit on the bottom of the sump

I was wondering about that! Seemed odd!

 

[DmitryB]

So the 40 gallon arrives tomorrow! Got new salt mixed, rocks are cooking.

I'll also be using an IM 15 cube (their very cheap intro tank) as quarantine. I'll do this for every fish and coral going in! And intend to get aquacultured fish whenever that option exists. So now start making fish wish list.

- Clown pair (either Oscellaris, Percale, or Lightning Maroon.) Hopefully can pair it with an anemone. [EITHER 40 or 170]
- Blue Tang [AQUACULTURED only, in 170]
- Yellow Tang [POSSIBLY start in 40, then into 170]
- Coral Beauty Angel [POSSIBLY start in 40, then into 170]
- Chromis school (how many in a school?) [170] OR
- Carberryi Anthers school [170]
- Sixline Wrasse [POSSIBLY start in 40, then into 170]
- Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse [170]
- Bicolor Blenny [40 or 70]
- Filefish (Exquisite or Red) [40 or 70]
- Mandarin Dragonet, maybe pair [40 or 170]
- Zebra Lionfish or Fu Manchu Lionfish, dwarf [170]
- Blue Throat Trigger OR Sargassum Trigger [170]
- Valentini Puffer OR Blue Spotted Puffer OR Leopard Toby Puffer [40 or 170]

 

[DmitryB]

Well, the 40 gallon arrived!! These are nicely packaged, I must say IM dies a good job with that.

Started to put together the stand before leaving for work (I work a swing shift) but ran into a hurdle of not understanding instructions. Why are assembly instructions always so hard to understand?! Hope to finish tonight after work, fill it and move rock in tomorrow morning. Gulf Live Rock shipped 25 lbs of live sand and a bit of live rock for tomorrow's delivery, so it's all happening!!

Also started to explore the Biota website for aquaculture's fish. Who should be the first?

 

[DmitryB]

Last night - after coming home from work at 11:30pm - I assembled the stand and got some fresh water in there for a leak test! Who needs sleep? I forgot how nerve wracking putting water into a tank is. So much water! Did the python fall out at one point and get water in the floor? It sure did!

 

[X-37B]

Nice start!
Keep the pics comming.
I have an ext 170,112, and 50. Great systems.

 

[DmitryB]

Alright, long story short, spent hours aquascaping and kind of just gave up. This will have to do! (Unless you got some good ideas! This is all live rock except 2 pieces of LifeRock. The bottom half is a couple of large pieces and then smaller/rubble arranged beyond. Once I get some glue, I'll try to secure the upper half a little better.

Live sand coming from GLR later today. (25 lbs. Gonna be a deep sand bed! I ordered probably too much.)

Also installed Radions, which I need to figure out how to make them do what I want.