Innovative Marine 40L EXT Build

Holt1995 · Jul 6, 2022

Follow along this build thread as I document every step of the way regarding my upcoming innovative marine 40L EXT. I will discuss tank progress, selected equipment, fish selection, coral growth updates, light schedules, diy projects, and more!

JumboShrimp · Jul 6, 2022

Nice… you’re practically providing a Public Service! Lol. Best wishes— IM tanks are great.

Holt1995 · Jul 6, 2022

JumboShrimp said:
Nice… you’re practically providing a Public Service! Lol. Best wishes— IM tanks are great.

Thank you for the nice response! I am excited to provide the community a resource on this new product and now to setup a reef tank. I know for myself starting out in the hobby at times it was very difficult to find quality information so I want to change that for those getting this tank as well.

Holt1995 · Jul 6, 2022

All done with the aquascape. I wanted to make sure that all rocks structures had a reduced height due to this build being a lagoon reef. Along with this all rocks stuctures have multiple holes, caves, arches, and overhangs to provide fish with a comfortable habitat and places to hide. I made sure to leave a valley like path around each rock structure to allow for proper flow and provide proper swimming room for the fish throughout the rockwork and above. Materials used here are dry marco reef rocks, premium grade cyanoacrylate super glue by starbond found on amazon (way cheaper this way compared to other online venders), and bulk reef supply insta-set reef glue accelerator.

JumboShrimp · Jul 6, 2022

(And far enough from the glass to get a magnetic scraper past, right?)

PR_nano · Jul 6, 2022

Following along as I’m considering this tank for an upgrade. When are taking delivery? The site is currently showing end of August but not sure if that’s for new orders or already placed.

Holt1995 · Jul 6, 2022

JumboShrimp said:
(And far enough from the glass to get a magnetic scraper past, right?)

Yes I made sure to keep enough room so that I can syphon the sand bed and use a glass scrapper.

Holt1995 · Jul 6, 2022

PR_nano said:
Following along as I’m considering this tank for an upgrade. When are taking delivery? The site is currently showing end of August but not sure if that’s for new orders or already placed.

So when I placed my preorder it told me that the tank will be shipped out at the end of july. I was one of the first few that ordered this tank during the first week being up on Innovative Marine's website

Holt1995 · Jul 7, 2022

So I decided to go with framing tech for this build since I wanted something nicer and stronger than the innovative marine stand. Along with this reasoning the stand also has leveling feet which makes getting the tank level in am older home so much easier. I plan to cover the top, bottom, front, and both sides with white pvc panels that can be detached. These panels will be attached to either L brackets provided or button locks. I will say framing tech was a wonderful company and extremely easy to work with to get this stand made for me. Dimensions of the stand are exactly the same and the tank.

Holt1995 · Jul 7, 2022

Today my sump and ato container were delivered! I decided to go with the Fiji cube 24 sump. This sump will provide more water volume to my system as well as setting me up for adding future equipment. Next to the sump we have a trigger systems 5 gallon ato container which fit perfectly in the leftover space within the stand.

Holt1995 · Jul 7, 2022

Next updates will be on adding the white PVC panels onto the tank stand and building a custom controller cabinet next to the stand.

Caleb123 · Jul 7, 2022

Following! I currently have the IM 50 lagoon. I love the IM tanks. Can’t wait to see this come together!

Holt1995 · Jul 7, 2022

Caleb123 said:
Following! I currently have the IM 50 lagoon. I love the IM tanks. Can’t wait to see this come together!

Glad to have you here! I am hoping to make this build thread as fun and exciting for others regarding my tank as it is for me.

Zoacoral · Jul 14, 2022

Have any updates on whether this tabk is still shipping towards end of july?

T-SULLI · Jul 17, 2022

Following along. I just pulled the trigger on mine yesterday. It's saying it wont ship until late august... I am sure I will snag a few of your ideas for this setup. Thanks!

Holt1995 · Jul 22, 2022

Sorry everyone had some things come up that postponed me from working on the tank. But updates so far are that I have all the PVC sheets cut to cover my stand now. Will be posting pictures of this shortly once I attach them to the stand. Thank you to everyone who is still following along.