IM EXT 200 Gallon Peninsula Build

[WyoNano]

Hello all, this is my first post! A little about me I have been in the hobby for 5 or 6 years with various nanos and frag tanks. Recently i bought my dream tank and figured id finally start a thread. Feel free to follow along for this journey! I plan to take time doing everything correctly for this setup. Feel free to give any advice along the way!

Tank was ordered 12-1-23, find it hard to believe it arrived in Wyoming in under a week! Attached are some pictures! Got the stand assembled on a day off from work on 12-9-23. With the help of 6 friends we were able to get it all together.

 

[WyoNano]

Here is my current setup, its a IM 40L EXT. Please ignore my wiring mess . My wife and I have had a busy summer of moving into our house and getting married.

 

[DCMW1]

Congrats on the new tank. How are you going to suspend your lights? Are you planning on attaching them to the tank or suspending them from the ceiling?

 

[WyoNano]

I currently have 2 ai hydra 64s. Soon I plan to get a 3rd and a few blade grows.

As far as mounting. I'm debating between the HMS mount suspended from the eurobrace. Or I can move the celing tiles and hang the blades and 64's from the floor joists above and drill small holes for the cables. I am leaning more towards the cables as it makes for a cleaner look.

 

[Kasrift]

Following along. I ordered the same tank, getting it this week.

Did they bring it to the garage when they delivered? How many guys did you have to lift it?

 

[WyoNano]

Following along. I ordered the same tank, getting it this week.

Did they bring it to the garage when they delivered? How many guys did you have to lift it?

So my local delivery option isn't know to be the best. I took it upon myself to pick it up from them and bring it home. The risk was I did not have the time to inspect it before taking it home. Very risky , thankfully it all worked out.

The move took 6 people. We initially tried 4 people but the tank is very heavy. To feel assured I got 2 more people. It says 671lbs crated. And I would guess it's every bit of 500+lbs with all the crate stripped off. If I had to do it again I would rent a furniture dolly table thing? Not sure what they are called. As well as suction cups, and I would get the best ones I could get. Luckily I only had to go down 5 steps into my basement from the garage. Feel free to throw any questions my way about it.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along as well!

 

[Kasrift]

So my local delivery option isn't know to be the best. I took it upon myself to pick it up from them and bring it home. The risk was I did not have the time to inspect it before taking it home. Very risky , thankfully it all worked out.

The move took 6 people. We initially tried 4 people but the tank is very heavy. To feel assured I got 2 more people. It says 671lbs crated. And I would guess it's every bit of 500+lbs with all the crate stripped off. If I had to do it again I would rent a furniture dolly table thing? Not sure what they are called. As well as suction cups, and I would get the best ones I could get. Luckily I only had to go down 5 steps into my basement from the garage. Feel free to throw any questions my way about it.

What was the thought process on leveling? Do you just assume it is heavy enough to self level on your carpet? I was debating cutting the floorboards out so it sits on the slab.

 

[TrendChaser103]

Beautiful! looking forward to seeing progress on this build

 

[WyoNano]

What was the thought process on leveling? Do you just assume it is heavy enough to self level on your carpet? I was debating cutting the floorboards out so it sits on the slab.

That is what I am debating today, as it sits on the carpet it is very close to level. The back end of the tank needs to come up a little bit. I am debating on getting leveling feet, shims (only if i can hide them completely) or putting something under the stand altogether.

 

[WyoNano]

What was the thought process on leveling? Do you just assume it is heavy enough to self level on your carpet? I was debating cutting the floorboards out so it sits on the slab.

I am debating using floor planks left over from the upstairs or just completely cutting out the carpet and installing linoleum where the tank sits.

 

[DCMW1]

I currently have 2 ai hydra 64s. Soon I plan to get a 3rd and a few blade grows.

As far as mounting. I'm debating between the HMS mount suspended from the eurobrace. Or I can move the celing tiles and hang the blades and 64's from the floor joists above and drill small holes for the cables. I am leaning more towards the cables as it makes for a cleaner look.

I'm getting a new tank soon and I have drop ceilings in my basement as well. I am trying to figure out the best way to do the lighting. I can't wait to see what you decide.

 

[WyoNano]

I'm getting a new tank soon and I have drop ceilings in my basement as well. I am trying to figure out the best way to do the lighting. I can't wait to see what you decide.

I'm torn tbh, while one side of me wants to drill small holes to mount from the 2x6's above with cables. The simpler side of me says to just get the HMS arms.

 

[Kasrift]

I'm torn tbh, while one side of me wants to drill small holes to mount from the 2x6's above with cables. The simpler side of me says to just get the HMS arms.

Bayareareefer had a video on YouTube showing his tank and he took a "sit stand desk" and removed the mechanical part that lowered and raised the desk to make a canopy that is electric to raise and lower.


I was going to build a canopy for mine to get rid of light spill.

 

[Kasrift]

Since we are going on the same journey with the same tank, I'll probably be your biggest commenter in here. Similar to you, ran a smaller tank for a little while (2 years so less than you).

What are you thinking for lights? I get my tank tomorrow, but still have to collect some equipment. Originally I was thinking of using my 2 Noopsyche k7 pro v3 on the tank and adding two more, but the 30" width is interesting so I might go with something else. Looking at Reefis maybe.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

Looking great! I have that tank as well and love it! Following along

 

[WyoNano]

Bayareareefer had a video on YouTube showing his tank and he took a "sit stand desk" and removed the mechanical part that lowered and raised the desk to make a canopy that is electric to raise and lower.


I was going to build a canopy for mine to get rid of light spill.

I really like this idea and have followed this build for quite some time. I am curious how one leg of that would work on a peninsula style with an extension essentially to reach the full length of 70". Its something i may try later down the road.

 

[WyoNano]

Since we are going on the same journey with the same tank, I'll probably be your biggest commenter in here. Similar to you, ran a smaller tank for a little while (2 years so less than you).

What are you thinking for lights? I get my tank tomorrow, but still have to collect some equipment. Originally I was thinking of using my 2 Noopsyche k7 pro v3 on the tank and adding two more, but the 30" width is interesting so I might go with something else. Looking at Reefis maybe.

Glad to hear it! I am really in love with this size. Was debating a waterbox, red sea etc butttt, i really wanted that 30" wide and after seeing it in person it really blows the others away imo. 60x30x24 was another size i was contemplating by CDA.

For lighting I recently picked up a steal from a 75g aqueon teardown. For $500 I got 2 hydra 64's only a month or two old. A ton of other equipment, tank, and sump. Most i dont plan on using for this but I assumed I would at least use the lights later down the road on a frag tank. Worst case scenario, I could always sell the lights and I essentially made money $500 or so and got a bunch of free rock equipment and a sump. These were my thoughts when I bought it, 6 months later here we are and they have a use lol.

All that being said my plan as of now is to pick up another hydra 64 and run all 3 with 2 blade grows on each side. I ran a glow on my 40L for a short time and really liked the spread. Very similar to T5's, just wish i had got the grow over the glow as the spectrum is a little too much on the purple side for me. I currently run two hydra 32's on my 40L EXT. I would be picking up radions for this build but, since the 64's are already here I might as well put them to use. Now that AI has new Gyre's I may give them a try and essentially keep it all on one app, would be nice!

 

[WyoNano]

Update! Rock and sand arrived today. 200lbs Fiji Pink, around 160lbs of Carib sea life rock (of course brs has a sale a few days after I order) 2 300W Eheim Heater's and a tub of Aquaforest cement to get me started. Still missing another 40lbs of sand to come in but should be good to start aquascaping this weekend. If anyone's interested maybe ill do a timelapse while working on it.

Side note I was hoping to get a 36" arch as well as a 24" but since I cant seem to find one currently I may just build off the 24 as my main piece. Let me know your thoughts! If a 36 is needed as the show piece and anyone can point me to one I may just pull the trigger. For now maybe over the weekend I can build something nice!

Leaning heavily towards getting the HMS arms and 73" rail to get my lights on it and get it going fairly quickly. I do have some rock cycled in the 40L (80lbs or so), could very easily get the rock transferred over and convert that tank into a quarantine system with frag racks, seems to make the most sense to me, thoughts? 40L has been pest free, running a year now and just getting through its first real ugly stage.

 

[WyoNano]

Another update before the holidays! Settled on a aquascape, ended up using all the rock, in fact I may end up getting a few more pieces. I was able to use my mixing station to get this filled up before Christmas. Had one small leak on the secondary drain and we are up and running. For cycling I threw a few rocks in from my 40G sump, on order is Bio-digest/start. Hoping after the holidays to get the lights put up. Let me know your thoughts, thanks!