New IM 112-Ext!

[Sixdinnersquid]

Y'all! I have some EXCELLENT news: after being in the hobby for 20+ years, I'm finally getting a grownup tank. I've been sniffing around the Innovative Marine 112 for a few years now, and prompted by the realization that their current 50% sale won't repeat itself soon, I screwed my courage to the sticking place and bought one. And despite their 4-6 month lead time disclaimer, IT WILL BE HERE FRIDAY.

I'm currently running a DIY 60 breeder as a peninsula, modeled below:

The new hotness will fit into the bedroom like this:

I love shallow peninsulas, I love cuboids, and I love the idea of a tank not made out of 2x4s. This seems like it'll fit the bill.

 

[Sixdinnersquid]

Livestock:
My current fish stocking is light:
1x Yellow Coris Wrasse
2x Darwin Clowns
1x Spotted Watchman Goby
1x Tiger Pistol Shrimp
1x Peppermint Shrimp
2x Bubbletip Anemones

My corals are mixed, with a SPS bias, and all long-suffering frags. I have two mangroves which are growing nicely. (See my instagram for evidence.)

My fish plans are the above, with an Orchid Dottyback (or two), and possibly some Lyretail Anthias. I'm not convinced of the Anthias, and I welcome alternative suggestions - especially from those who have had a tank with these, or similar, dimensions.

Invert plans include the assumption that the Anemones will do what they want, so I won't worry about them. I'd like to segment the tank into a shallower, "coastal" section where the mangroves will reside, transitioning into a more "reef" zone where SPS will reside. (See below for an exploratory layout.)

I don't have the innate or practiced aquascaping skills of @Tigahboy or @inland_reef, so please offer suggestions, or accounts worth following. (Does Brad_908 still exist somewhere?)

 

[Sixdinnersquid]

Lighting: currently some Noopsyche K7 Pro IIs, and some Quanta bars. They're great, but I'm a physicist, which means that I'm a homebrew lighting kind of guy, so I'm probably going to go back to that janky plan until my heatsinks give out and I go back to something professionally-made.

I also work for a major player in the emergency vehicle lighting market, so I'm likely to adapt some blue police lights for general blues. SLD Laser sources will give me my whites. (These things are sick.) But recall that this is the eventual plan, so I guess stay tuned. And recall: janky.