Hello reefing community.
I have been planning a new tank build for a few months now and figured I would get a build page started. Now to be honest the tank has only recently been ordered and won't be set up for the next few months. But I figured this would still give me opportunities to brain storm with other like minded reefers.
The reason I chose this tank was space available and sale price. I looked at RedSea, Waterbox, etc and while all are amazing tanks, I was constrained to a 5' length but wanted largest volume. The IM 170 footprint was hard to beat at 59"L x30" W and shallow at only 21.7"H. This combined with an aluminum stand and sale price of 40% off, I decided to bite the bullet and ordered Mid December 2022. The tank is a Made to Order and has a 12-16 week lead time. This just so happens to coincide with our new home construction timeline completion.
So with that in mind, I have been slowly piecing together gear for the past several weeks and will continue to look for other pieces until the tank arrives and the new home is complete. My current tank is an IM SR60 AIO tank that I love as well, but really long for the sump and space to put real equipment in. So for now, I have donated all my coral to my cousin in law who is housing them for me until I have the new tank up and running. So the tank is essentially a FOWLR with some softies.
Tank Equipment list:
Tank: IM 170 INT, went INT for the coast to coast overflow.
Stand APS stand, black.
Lighting: I will be doing 4 Radion XR 15 gen 5 blues.
Lighting mount: I want the lights to be floating appearance like Reefdudes peninsula tank. So I am going to be building a custom rack form 80/20 or similar. More pictures to come of planning.
Sump: IM RFS 50 sump (74 gallon capacity)
Return: Vectra M2
Flow: Neptune Wav x 2 on back wall. Likely adding Nero 5 or 3's in the middle. I also have a pair of Ice Cap 2k gyres on my current tank that I will try and incorporate. All flow will be directed from the back wall so to leave the sides clean of equipment and open for viewing.
Skimmer: TBD, Simplicity vs Reef Octo model
Fleece Roller: Planning on Red Sea Mat 500, but the sump won't allow for this in the first chamber, so I'll have to see the sump in person to determine how to best plumb this.
UV: deciding. Will be run off a Reef Octo Varios 2 pump I currently have all with a manifold built off of this.
Controller: Apex Pro with Trident
ATO: Tune Osmolator
Dosing: Versa for Alk/Ca
AWC: Versa
I'm sure there are more that I'm missing but that's the majority of equipment I believe. Now this tank was not originally planned when we started and designed our house (full custom), but once it was framed I decided to upgrade and wife gave the approval. So I was able to incorporate it on a wall around the corner for our wet bar/ coffee bar area. This also allows me to wrap the counter top around the corner to have a work station and built in look. Also allows for cabinet space for the ATO and AWC reservoirs, as well as control board area that is not under the tank. Plus the sink drain is accessible for the AWC.
Well anyway I have rambled enough. I may not actively update this until the tank arrives and I have more picture to show. But until then here are some Sketch up designs of what I want to do. Picture of house and riverfront views included as well.
I have been planning a new tank build for a few months now and figured I would get a build page started. Now to be honest the tank has only recently been ordered and won't be set up for the next few months. But I figured this would still give me opportunities to brain storm with other like minded reefers.
The reason I chose this tank was space available and sale price. I looked at RedSea, Waterbox, etc and while all are amazing tanks, I was constrained to a 5' length but wanted largest volume. The IM 170 footprint was hard to beat at 59"L x30" W and shallow at only 21.7"H. This combined with an aluminum stand and sale price of 40% off, I decided to bite the bullet and ordered Mid December 2022. The tank is a Made to Order and has a 12-16 week lead time. This just so happens to coincide with our new home construction timeline completion.
So with that in mind, I have been slowly piecing together gear for the past several weeks and will continue to look for other pieces until the tank arrives and the new home is complete. My current tank is an IM SR60 AIO tank that I love as well, but really long for the sump and space to put real equipment in. So for now, I have donated all my coral to my cousin in law who is housing them for me until I have the new tank up and running. So the tank is essentially a FOWLR with some softies.
Tank Equipment list:
Tank: IM 170 INT, went INT for the coast to coast overflow.
Stand APS stand, black.
Lighting: I will be doing 4 Radion XR 15 gen 5 blues.
Lighting mount: I want the lights to be floating appearance like Reefdudes peninsula tank. So I am going to be building a custom rack form 80/20 or similar. More pictures to come of planning.
Sump: IM RFS 50 sump (74 gallon capacity)
Return: Vectra M2
Flow: Neptune Wav x 2 on back wall. Likely adding Nero 5 or 3's in the middle. I also have a pair of Ice Cap 2k gyres on my current tank that I will try and incorporate. All flow will be directed from the back wall so to leave the sides clean of equipment and open for viewing.
Skimmer: TBD, Simplicity vs Reef Octo model
Fleece Roller: Planning on Red Sea Mat 500, but the sump won't allow for this in the first chamber, so I'll have to see the sump in person to determine how to best plumb this.
UV: deciding. Will be run off a Reef Octo Varios 2 pump I currently have all with a manifold built off of this.
Controller: Apex Pro with Trident
ATO: Tune Osmolator
Dosing: Versa for Alk/Ca
AWC: Versa
I'm sure there are more that I'm missing but that's the majority of equipment I believe. Now this tank was not originally planned when we started and designed our house (full custom), but once it was framed I decided to upgrade and wife gave the approval. So I was able to incorporate it on a wall around the corner for our wet bar/ coffee bar area. This also allows me to wrap the counter top around the corner to have a work station and built in look. Also allows for cabinet space for the ATO and AWC reservoirs, as well as control board area that is not under the tank. Plus the sink drain is accessible for the AWC.
Well anyway I have rambled enough. I may not actively update this until the tank arrives and I have more picture to show. But until then here are some Sketch up designs of what I want to do. Picture of house and riverfront views included as well.
