Jackson's Old School 200 IM Nuvo Ext

[jackson6745]

Tomorrow is delivery day. Tank, stand, and sump from IM will be delivered to my garage. The pricing and quality was too hard to pass up on the complete set, so I went that route. After a recent move into a new home, my wife banished me to the basement . I'm cool with it. I installed a slop sink, added a 100amp sub panel, improved insulation, and I'm sure I'll be making more environment changes as time goes on. I keep a large dehumidifier running continuously so hopefully that keeps the humidity at acceptable levels.

I've been gathering equipment since the summer. I knew I wanted to run halide again so I kept my eyes open. Didn't know how scarce this stuff became so I bought a bunch of stuff to keep me going for many years should I keep this route long term. I managed to get my hands on a 72" giesemann spectra which is the holy grail of halide fixtures IMO. I'm running 250w Magnetic ballasts to start. I think this would be fine considering that this ballast drives bulbs over 300w and the tank is shallow.

I've been curing 90lbs of live Austrian rock since September and have been conditioning a bunch of fish in the rock tank so there is some level of bio load for the start of the tank. I'm not expecting a cycle, same as my last bunch of tanks. Hopefully I can keep cyano and uglies at a minimum

Equipment choices are basic proven stuff. Dual stage Ranco Controller, Bubble King double cone 200, flow I have mp 40's, mp 60, gyres. Eheim heaters, kamoer dosers, many 5 gallon pails of ESV 2 part , and lots of salt. No ICP/no water change for me, not at the moment .

I'll post some progress pics in time. The biggest challenge is going to be getting this thing downstairs to my basement. Probably will need a moving company. Whatever, I'll figure out out My little 25g nano is holding a few gems to seed the tank until I hit up some buddies for some more

 

[t5Nitro]

looking prepared to be a nice tank. I’ve had two of these tanks from IM now. The quality is top notch with great dimensions. I’d recommend a moving company. I had them move mine from the garage to the basement and glad I didn’t try to cobble that job together. Took about 6 guys and a calculated descent lol.

 

[jackson6745]

looking prepared to be a nice tank. I’ve had two of these tanks from IM now. The quality is top notch with great dimensions. I’d recommend a moving company. I had them move mine from the garage to the basement and glad I didn’t try to cobble that job together. Took about 6 guys and a calculated descent lol.

A younger me would have took it on with some friends. An older, wiser, more injured version of myself knows better . So far i got shot down by 2 moving companies, I’ll keep trying. I do have 4 of these staring at me lol

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[mshur]

Good luck buddy !!! It will me awesome system !!!

 

[jackson6745]

Thank you gentlemen .

Tank and sump came delivered perfectly. Everything packed well. It’s going to drive me crazy not to have this tank in the basement so I can begin setting it up .
I’ll update once we get wet.

 

[jackson6745]

Movers came to get the tank in the basement and on the stand. Move went well. I have everything running. Working on some wire management, have to get dosers running. Going to try to pick up some more clean up crew locally. I'm afraid to order around the holidays.

Overall I'm really impressed with the IM 200ext setup. Seems like insane value for the price. The stand was simple to put together and really nice. Love all the doors. Would be nice if it had adjustable leveling feet. The tank water level is a little low for my liking, especially on a shallow tank. I plan on raising height of drains to bring the water level up in the tank. I think that should work.

Some pics on progress so far.

 

[mshur]

Good luck buddy!!!
I am sure you will make a killer reef !

 

[jackson6745]

Good luck buddy!!!
I am sure you will make a killer reef !

Thanks Mike. Hopefully

 

[kevgib67]

This is going to be epic! Your kids look stoked as well as your dog ( have some Australian cattle dog in him?). The rock looks like the old school rock from decades ago.

 

[jackson6745]

This is going to be epic! Your kids look stoked as well as your dog ( have some Australian cattle dog in him?). The rock looks like the old school rock from decades ago.

The kids are pumped for sure. They were getting a little bored with our nano lol. I got that dog from the shelter last year (Yoshi). Did a DNA test and he was 90% Cattle dog and 10% huskie. He likes whatever the kids like .

This is Australian live rock. I bought 90lbs in 7 large pieces back September and was curing it in a Rubbermaid with a skimmer + gfo the whole time. I was always a big believer in ocean live rock. I can’t see bottled bacteria replacing this. It just sucks that it’s not so mainstream anymore. I miss Fiji rock, Tonga branch, and Marshall island being readily available. Keeping it old school to the best of my availability

 

[kevgib67]

The kids are pumped for sure. They were getting a little bored with our nano lol. I got that dog from the shelter last year (Yoshi). Did a DNA test and he was 90% Cattle dog and 10%. He likes whatever the kids like .

This is Australian live rock. I bought 90lbs in 7 large pieces back September and was curing it in a Rubbermaid with a skimmer + gfo the whole time. I was always a big believer in ocean live rock. I can’t see bottled bacteria replacing this. It just sucks that it’s not so mainstream anymore. I miss Fiji rock, Tonga branch, and Marshall island being readily available. Keeping it old school to the best of my availability

Ya, I never did or will use dry rock. I miss both the old rock and the price. I’m old school here, running my current tank similar to how I ran the one I started in the mid nineties and had running for 16 years.

 

[jackson6745]

In case any of the halide dinosaurs are wondering about ushio 20k bulbs, here are some par values on the 250w, Hamilton magnetic ballast, bulb 12” from water surface with glass shield. Overall a whiter look than the radium. Rock was only getting 200 par in the tub, this will turn into a chia pet real fast at these number . 100 trochus, 200 assorted hermits, and 25 emeralds/phitro crabs is the plan.

 

[jackson6745]

In case you are wondering about the screen saver pic, my kid is not taking a dump . He’s holding this bass (which was released).

 

[kevgib67]

In case you are wondering about the screen saver pic, my kid is not taking a dump . He’s holding this bass (which was released).

Wow, nice striped bass. A fishing family!

 

[jackson6745]

Wow, nice striped bass. A fishing family!

Oh yea, ran charters for 22 years. Stopped recently. Everything got too expensive.

 

[kevgib67]

I think I saw you on Wicked Tuna!

 

[delv2323]

Let's get this man a frag of Jackson's Rainbow ASAP!!!

 

[jackson6745]

Something about halides make me smile
Started to transfer a few frags from the nano….. got carried away. Not much left in the nano at the moment

 

[Adamc13o3]

You can easily raise the water level FYI. Just get longer pieces of pvc for the secondary and emergency drains. I raised mine to be right in the center of the innovative marine logo.