Innovative Marine INT 100 Build

kryz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
185
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hello everyone. I decided to document this build because it's my first big boy tank. I recently moved into a new apartment and I am allowed to have an aquarium, so here I am.

I orignally wanted to get a deep blue/seapora 80 gallon shallow, but they are either no longer being made or just very hard to come by.

I was pretty close to pulling the trigger on a Waterbox Frag 100, but I got spooked by someone's thread on here about poor build quality and bad customer service. That review single-handedly changed my mine.

I ended up coming across the Innovative Marine INT 100. It has the footprint I like, and the quality/customer service seems to good. I purchased the tank with the white APS stand. It seems like this tank might be less popular than the EXT series, which has an external overflow box. The EXT was out of stock, but the internal overflow box on the INT doesn't bother me too much. I will get more surface skimming with the coast to coast overflow.

Screenshot_20210716-171422_Chrome.jpg

The tank was prepared and shipped by the end of the next business day. IM sent me a text and and a link to a site called aftership, which shows you where you package is. It's being shipped via FedEx.

Screenshot_20210717-203405_AfterShip.jpg

IM also followed up with a phone call to let me know that the tank is on its way, and told me to inspect it before signing off on delivery. They mentioned that the delivery driver may not wait for me to inspect it. If thats the case, I just need to annotate that on the receipt and call them immediately about any damage.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
kryz

kryz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
185
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If was wasn't already obvious, I was really looking for an aquarium that had ~ 48" x 24" footprint. I really like the 2:1 length to width ratio. 100 gallons (plus sump) is really pushing what I was comfortable with putting in my 4th floor apartment, but I went for it.

I've done some snooping around to find out how my floor is built. The manager confirmed that the floor is concrete. I doubt that she would know more information about it's actual construction, so I didn't bother asking. Plus, I didn't want to cause any reason for alarm.

It seems like the status quo is that if your floor is concrete "your good", but I didn't want to just accept that. After snooping around I've determined that my floor is probably 4"- 4.5" thick concrete with 6" x 6" wire mesh. The concrete is poured on corrugated metal decking, which is supported by steel bar joists that are spaced about 2 feet apart. It looks something like this.

Screenshot_20210717-210735_Messages.jpg


Here is an actual pic that I took from the hallway, because I can lift up the ceiling panels out there. (This is on the 3rd floor below me, looking at my floor.)

Screenshot_20210717-211142_Gallery.jpg

I'm not a structural engineer, (almost an industrial engineer though), so this didn't really help me figure anything out. Any qualified input is welcomed.

I am probably just going to go with the golden rules of winging your aquarium placement, which is to run it perpendicular to the joists and to put it near a load bearing wall. Here is what my floor plan looks like. The red lines show the direction of the bar joists (not to scale) and and the blue squares are possible locations where the aquarium will go.

Screenshot_20210717-212558_Gallery.jpg

The stairwell/exterior wall placement is my first choice, in terms of what looks best in the apartment.

Pros: probably looks the best centered on that wall and is in a corner of 2 load bearing walls.
Cons: runs parallel to the joists.

20210717_221151.jpg
Sorry for the mess I just moved in.

The other 2 placements will have the tank running perpendicular to the joists and against a load bearing wall. However, one location has an ac unit in the wall and the other location is where my massage chair is going, so it might be crowded.

20210717_221331.jpg

20210717_221340.jpg


In any case, I am realistically probably only going to get the aquarium to span 2 joists. I could get it to span 3 joists, if I place it perfectly, but I dont see that happening.

Here is how I worked through how much weight a bar joist can hold. My civil engineer friend and my own research told me that for live loads, 40 lbs/ sq ft is typically the minimum that a floor can safely support across the entire area of the floor. My bar joists are 23' long. This means that 1 bar joist should be able to safely carry 920 lbs (23 x 40). That means if I can span 2 bar joists, they should be able to safely hold 1840 lbs. This is the MINIMUM they should be able to safely hold. Of course thats assuming that the weight is evenly distributed across the length of the joists, not concentrated in a 4' x 2' area. My aquarium will probably weigh 1300 lbs. I should also consider other heavy things that lie on the same joist, like the fridge, the stove, dishwasher, kitchen cabinets, etc.

It's typically easier for a joist to fail by bending than it is for it to fail by shearing, which means that it would be stronger near a load bearing wall and weaker in the middle of the room.

All 3 of my locations have the tank near load bearing walls and have it spanning 2 joists. (The parallel to joist placement might be questionable still). I have not come to a desicion yet, I will probably decide after the tank arrives.

I do have renters insurance, USAA told me that I "may" be covered under my water damage liability insurance if anything happens. Which was not helpful at all. I will have to call them and get something in writing. I've also reached out to farmers insurance.
 
Last edited:

PanhandleReef

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
Messages
131
Reaction score
230
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm not an engineer, but I love your thought process. Someone that has put this much effort and research into aquarium placement is surely going to end up with an amazing tank. I have the 100EXT and I think you will be very happy with the aquarium itself. I'm definently following along.
 
OP
OP
kryz

kryz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
185
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm not an engineer, but I love your thought process. Someone that has put this much effort and research into aquarium placement is surely going to end up with an amazing tank. I have the 100EXT and I think you will be very happy with the aquarium itself. I'm definently following along.

I just really don't want to dump 100 gallons on the 3 floors below or structurally damage the floors haha. A part of enjoying the tank is having piece of mind about that.
 

Cwentz758

Do you even Reef bro?
View Badges
Joined
Dec 18, 2019
Messages
1,290
Reaction score
904
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
With my new EXT 100 I'm running parallel on two joists...not by choice but that's just how the tank had to go. Luckily its on the end where the joist meats the main beam that runs the span of the house and its against the wall as well. For comfort I ended up buying two metal support beams and supported the two joists with those.

In your case could you get a pair of jacks in there with a 2x6 and just jack it up to just add some support to those joists?
 

KStatefan

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 24, 2015
Messages
4,077
Reaction score
3,957
Location
MHK
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I debated between that and the 100EXT for awhile prior to purchasing the EXT. Mine is on a basement concrete slap so no placement issues.

I do not think i would worry about placement with that type of construction if it were mine.
 
OP
OP
kryz

kryz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
185
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The aquarium finally arrived yesterday. FedEx was supposed to deliver it on July 22nd but the package had an "emergency shipment delay" which caused it to arrive 5 days late. So, I had to take an additional day off of work because the emergency delay notification did not come until the end of day on the 22nd and the best arrival window that they could give me on the 27th was sometime between 9-5.

Nonetheless, it has arrived does not appear to be damaged.


20210727_113841.jpg
You are suppossed to de-crate it in front of the driver to verify that there is no damage. However, he did not seem to want to wait around for that. I inspected the outside of the crate for damage and shook the box to listen for broken glass but everything seemed good. He also loaded it directly onto my furniture dolly, which the crate just barely fit on. I didn't want to risk messing around with the crate outside, on top of my dolly that the crate is just barely sitting on and have it slip off. So I took it directly upstairs and I was able to secure it to the dolly better with some wood I found.

20210727_115006.jpg

I built the stand and placed the aquarium in its general location. The stand seems pretty solid and the quality and detail is very good. I like the magnetic doors they are also high quality. The only minor complaint that I have about the stand is the fasteners that are used to assemble it. They are a cam style fastener. The cams are all pre-installed and you just have to line up the two joining pieces together and then turn the cam approximately 1/2 - 3/4 of a turn to lock the two pieces together. Here is a screenshot of it that I found online.

Screenshot_20210728-075940_Chrome.jpg

Most of the cams locked into place by turning down into the hole and shifting slightly off center up under the frame to confirm that they are locked. However, some of the cams would only turn about 1/3 of a turn and remain flush with the frame. The cams that remained flush would tend to back off and loosen when you would tighten other ends of the stand. So that is just a little bit concerning, but overall the stand is very sturdy and I think it will work as it should. I will triple check all of them later down the road.

Here is the only pic that I have of the assembled tank and stand right now.

20210727_184024.jpg
 
Last edited:

ubiq

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Messages
141
Reaction score
45
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have the same tank, about a year old. Have you decided on a sump yet?
 
OP
OP
kryz

kryz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
185
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have the same tank, about a year old. Have you decided on a sump yet?
Yes, I went with the Fiji Cube 29 DIY kit. I will post an update to this thread today.

I see you commented on my other thread about a check valve on the return. I don't have one, but that is why I decided to go with a 29g sump instead of the 20L, so that the sump can handle the back-drained water during a power outage.
 
OP
OP
kryz

kryz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
185
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The tank has been filled with water for about 2 weeks now. I did a leak test with tap water for 2 days and made sure there was no major deflection in the floor and no settling. I filled it with RODI water after the leak test.

20210801_142324.jpg


In addition to making sure that the tank was level before, during and after filling it with tap water, I also attached a piece of tape to both loading bearing walls. I made sure the tape was flush with the aquarium before filling it, then looked for major deflections after the full load was applied to the floor. Not super accurate, especially with tape, but it was just a sanity check. The tank is still perfectly level 2 weeks later, so I am not too worried about it anymore.

The sump is a 29g aquarium with a Fiji DIY sump kit. Here is a pic with it taped off before sealing in the baffles.

20210727_184034.jpg

And here is the only other pic that I have of it finished.

20210801_142246.jpg


The return pump is a Jebao DCP-6500.

20210716_161430.jpg

The plumbing is blue schedule 80 pvc from BRS. I have a gate valve on the main drain and unions on each of the drains and the return. The return pump has about a foot of flexible tubing before connecting to the hard plumbing to reduce vibrations and noise, but the Jebao seems really quiet. I don't have any check valves, but the volume of the sump is enough to handle back-drained water from the display when the power goes out.

The lights are (2) 165w Viparspectra's. I built a floating Canopy for them.

20210807_130108.jpg

20210807_203924.jpg

And here is what it looks like.

20210809_173755.jpg

I used a mixture of Fiji pink/special grade sand and I seeded the tank with some sand and rock from my 55 gallon reef.
 

coraluprise

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 17, 2022
Messages
16
Reaction score
17
Location
Poulsbo
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
How do you like your sump? Does it hold enough water with back syphon and do you wish it was bigger?
 

ubiq

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Messages
141
Reaction score
45
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
A bigger sump would have been a plus. Wish I'd gone for the 39", but not because of back siphon considerations, the 34" is plenty for that. It's just that the roller takes up a lot of real estate that could otherwise be used for reactors, etc. The 34 is also a bit cramped for working on sump components, but that's more an issue with the cabinet. With a skimmer, macroalgae reactor, bio media and return pump, there's little space for anything else. (I also have a chiller pump crammed in there)
 
OP
OP
kryz

kryz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
185
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
How do you like your sump? Does it hold enough water with back syphon and do you wish it was bigger?
The 29 for a sump has been sufficient. There is enough volume for the back siphon. When my return pump shuts off the sump fills up so that the water level is about 3 inches below the bottom of the black trim. However, I have my return nozzles pretty much right at the waters surface so the siphon breaks relatively quick. I could flood my sump if I lowered the return nozzles too much. The sump is definitely being utilized to its full potential but I have never wished I went bigger. I have two filter socks, a skimmer section, a refugium section and the return pump section. My skimmer is a reef octopus INT150 and it just barely fits in there, but it fits. I could fit a larger sump in the cabinet, I think a 40B would fit but don't quote me on that. The 29 is nice is you just want a basic sump setup and room for electronics and an ATO in cabinet, I have been happy with it.
 
Last edited:

ubiq

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Messages
141
Reaction score
45
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have much the same setup in my Int 100. Pretty sure my nozzles are close enough to the surface that I wouldn't flood my Trigger Platinum 34", but I have a check valve on the return line as a backup.
 

wet_rocks_reef

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 27, 2020
Messages
99
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have much the same setup in my Int 100. Pretty sure my nozzles are close enough to the surface that I wouldn't flood my Trigger Platinum 34", but I have a check valve on the return line as a backup.
For me plenty of volume in the sump. I love the platinum 34 100INT combo!
 

Attachments

  • 41F53B3B-DA3E-4E59-8D04-5E6D2F72241E.jpeg
    41F53B3B-DA3E-4E59-8D04-5E6D2F72241E.jpeg
    127.9 KB · Views: 34

burlw12

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 12, 2023
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
Monroeville
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hello everyone. I decided to document this build because it's my first big boy tank. I recently moved into a new apartment and I am allowed to have an aquarium, so here I am.

I orignally wanted to get a deep blue/seapora 80 gallon shallow, but they are either no longer being made or just very hard to come by.

I was pretty close to pulling the trigger on a Waterbox Frag 100, but I got spooked by someone's thread on here about poor build quality and bad customer service. That review single-handedly changed my mine.

I ended up coming across the Innovative Marine INT 100. It has the footprint I like, and the quality/customer service seems to good. I purchased the tank with the white APS stand. It seems like this tank might be less popular than the EXT series, which has an external overflow box. The EXT was out of stock, but the internal overflow box on the INT doesn't bother me too much. I will get more surface skimming with the coast to coast overflow.

Screenshot_20210716-171422_Chrome.jpg

The tank was prepared and shipped by the end of the next business day. IM sent me a text and and a link to a site called aftership, which shows you where you package is. It's being shipped via FedEx.

Screenshot_20210717-203405_AfterShip.jpg

IM also followed up with a phone call to let me know that the tank is on its way, and told me to inspect it before signing off on delivery. They mentioned that the delivery driver may not wait for me to inspect it. If thats the case, I just need to annotate that on the receipt and call them immediately about any damage.
How much water is in the display?looking at the same tank but can't find any info about it
 
OP
OP
kryz

kryz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
185
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
@burlw12

Are you asking about the display volume after you subtract the space the overflow takes?

It's probably about 75 gallons.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 63 36.6%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 34.3%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 24 14.0%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 15.1%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top