The im112ext downsize...ish

[Ahogue21]

So my name is alex and im a tank *****

Seem to have more fun building tanks so seems like every 6-9 months its time for a tear down and somthing new

My last tank was a waterbox 220.6 and there were a few things i wasnt exactly thrilled about so decided it was time to go and decided to down size a bit and i ordered a 112ex ive had about 8 im tanks now so i kmew what to expect

I really only do soft coral i have about 20 bts, a magnifica and some zoas and mushrooms i like to keep my tanks simple as far as equipment goes the 220.6 had a apex on it and yeah it helped but it was also a pain in my a** so ditched it

Well onto pics the tank, stand and 15 gallon ato were delivered today and the rest should be in transit soon ill go over equipment, choices and reasoning as it comes in and the current "temp" tank

 

[Ron Reefman]

Did you buy all those BTAs or are some of them clones?

BTW, I'm 20 years into the hobby. I went from a 35g to a 75g to a 180g with a 75g, then a couple of extra tanks 4'x2'x14" and a small frag tank. Then I started downsizing. I sold the frag tank (my first diy build) and the shallow tank (my 2nd diy build). Then sold the 180g & the 75g for a standard 120g from CadLight. Then I sold it and built a 40g cube. The downsizing was a good thing for me. And the 40g did so well, I built a 90g (36" x 30" x 20"). But I'm pretty sure this is my last tank.

 

[Ahogue21]

I bough about 5 of them the rest came from a buddy getting out of the hobby and some were splits hoping once this is up and running i can get more to split and get them to really take off

 

[Ron Reefman]

That was my hope when I did a 16g RFA breeding tank. It didn't work well. I had several spawns, but I ended up with many more babies when the RFAs were all in my 40g DT. Go figure.

Now I have all 30+ in my new 90g DT.

 

[Ahogue21]

Tank is in and on the stand

 

[Chad3407]

Settting my 112ext as well.

 

[Chad3407]

What did you decide on lights. I’m pretty stuck on that decision.

 

[Ahogue21]

Normally i do all primes but i only currently have 3 prime hds so instead of finding a used 4th i went with the 24in t5 hybrid and gona ise 2 primes with it and see how it goes

 

[Chad3407]

Normally i do all primes but i only currently have 3 prime hds so instead of finding a used 4th i went with the 24in t5 hybrid and gona ise 2 primes with it and see how it goes

I’m debating using the 4 redsea 90s I have or go back with 8 t5s. Getting good coverage on a 36”x36” isn’t the easiest without getting a bad hot spot in the middle.

 

[Ahogue21]

Yeah that was the problem and half of these nems came from a buddy that was having good lucl with them growing on t5s so decided to give it a try hoping with the light mount setup im going with it heigh enough for a bit of spread

 

[Ahogue21]

Well the sump and t5 hybrid came in today sump is a bashsea smart series 30x18x15 nice and tight fit nex to the 15 gallon ato res.....kinda debating having a local guy make me a custom ato res as i dont have a whole lot of room for the electronics at this point

The t5 hybrid is the 24in model amd going to mod it for single cord vs 2 and will be run with 2 ai primes

 

[Ahogue21]

Another delivery today think ive got about everything i need except the pieces for my custom light mount and they hydroflexx pvc for the plumbing

24in hybrid is also torn apart for rewire to a single cord

 

[Ahogue21]

Another update....i will never use regular pvc to plumb a tank again this hydroflexx flexible pvc is awesome that took 10 min to set up now just need to glue it up

 

[Ahogue21]

Water test has been done and tank was drained single few drops out of a bulkhead and all it took was a twist to seal it back up

So with the tap water pulled and ecerything pulled out i decided to caulk the area between the frame and bottom plastic just seals it up and any little spills are contained

I have an echo dot and 2 kasa wifi power strips on the way going to setup for voice control and see how it goes

 

[Chad3407]

Water test has been done and tank was drained single few drops out of a bulkhead and all it took was a twist to seal it back up

So with the tap water pulled and ecerything pulled out i decided to caulk the area between the frame and bottom plastic just seals it up and any little spills are contained

I have an echo dot and 2 kasa wifi power strips on the way going to setup for voice control and see how it goes

I kinda did the same but had a local plastic shop make me a pan out of pvc.

 

[Ahogue21]

Ive done that before as well with sheet pvc just want somthing more simple this time and i dont have a whole lot of room

 

[Chad3407]

That I understand. 32x32 gets filled up quick.

 

[Ahogue21]

Well update its up and runnimg got everything transfered in and my temporary light mount may just be my permanent solution

I lost my blue hippo tang in the process but i swear there may have been some issues before the transfer so im going to need more fish currently just a blue damsel and pair of darwin clowns

Some of the nems are placed but i have about 15 more to deal with along with getting the zoas onto some half arch island i have

Ended up with a controller board as mine didnt work how i wanted and ive got 2 kasa wifi strips with an alexa for voice control which has come in handy