Mike's Innovative Marine Nuvo EXT 100

Mike Kearns · Jul 23, 2020

Got my sand today

5 20 pound bags of Carib Sea special grade reef sand. $23 a bag on Petco.com. $6 to ship 100 ponds via ups. That had to be expensive for them. I have this in my 46. I like it way better than the Fiji pink sand I have in my nano

Daniel@R2R · Jul 24, 2020

Following!!

Mike Kearns · Jul 25, 2020

So my tank was unloaded from the trailer on Thursday and I called them on Friday and got my appointment for Monday! So excited! Also got some translucent blue PETG for my 3D printer so I can make some accessories for my sump. Last night I printed 2 filter sock silencers and they work great.

I might print some filter cups next.

Mike Kearns · Jul 27, 2020

It’s here! Delivery was easy and the driver put it in my garage. Everything was super well packaged and there was no damage. I can’t believe how thick the glass is in person.

Mike Kearns · Jul 28, 2020

Got the stand put together except for the front doors on my break today. It’s looking good. Now I have to find a couple people to help lift it on the stand

spschiebel · Jul 28, 2020

I like it. My biggest attraction to IM aquariums is the APS aluminum framed stands. No needing to worry about water damage to plywood or worse, MDF. No corrosion and lightweight.

Looks like some decent space alongside your sump too.

CJ Monty · Jul 29, 2020

Mike Kearns said:
Got the stand put together except for the front doors on my break today. It’s looking good. Now I have to find a couple people to help lift it on the stand

What size fiji sump did you go with?

Mike Kearns · Jul 29, 2020

CJ Monty said:
What size fiji sump did you go with?

It is the 30. I am so happy with it

Mike Kearns · Jul 29, 2020

spschiebel said:
I like it. My biggest attraction to IM aquariums is the APS aluminum framed stands. No needing to worry about water damage to plywood or worse, MDF. No corrosion and lightweight.

Looks like some decent space alongside your sump too.

Yeah. I am impressed with it. I can pick the whole thing (without the sump lol).

Mtterry · Jul 30, 2020

I'm following this. I'd love to see what you end up doing for plumbing and stuff for the Fiji-30, Im struggling to find reviews outside of their site. BRS has none really. Would love to see pics of the sumps in action! I'd be replacing my simplicity 150ss with the fiji30.

Mike Kearns · Jul 30, 2020

Mtterry said:
I'm following this. I'd love to see what you end up doing for plumbing and stuff for the Fiji-30, Im struggling to find reviews outside of their site. BRS has none really. Would love to see pics of the sumps in action! I'd be replacing my simplicity 150ss with the fiji30.

I am hoping to start the plumbing mock up this weekend. I agree there wasn’t very much info on this sump so I hope I can keep a detailed record. Thanks!

CJ Monty · Jul 30, 2020

Mtterry said:
I'm following this. I'd love to see what you end up doing for plumbing and stuff for the Fiji-30, Im struggling to find reviews outside of their site. BRS has none really. Would love to see pics of the sumps in action! I'd be replacing my simplicity 150ss with the fiji30.

It is a beautiful sump and they added a lot of smart features. Price relative to its peers is great but I think all these prefab sumps are pricey. I almost pulled the trigger. Look at the size of the fuge carefully and make sure you are ok with that.

Mtterry · Jul 30, 2020

CJ Monty said:
It is a beautiful sump and they added a lot of smart features. Price relative to its peers is great but I think all these prefab sumps are pricey. I almost pulled the trigger. Look at the size of the fuge carefully and make sure you are ok with that.

Right now I don't have a fuge. I have two cor 20s, an rsk-300, a small Santa Monica scrubber that doesn't do much .. some 2 dosing lines, 1 ato line, 4 probes, and a trident pickup line. Would gain some cleanlieness, a fuge. Would have to re-work my plumbing obviously.

Mike Kearns · Jul 30, 2020

CJ Monty said:
It is a beautiful sump and they added a lot of smart features. Price relative to its peers is great but I think all these prefab sumps are pricey. I almost pulled the trigger. Look at the size of the fuge carefully and make sure you are ok with that.

I had the same thought before I ordered this tank about how expensive they are but after I diy ed one for my 46 gallon I realized my skills are not up to my wants lol so I decided to go for it. The fuge is on the small side. I am debating making it a mini display fuge with some sand, rocks, and fancy macro algae. Not just a cheato spinner.

Mike Kearns · Jul 30, 2020

Speaking of diy I started working on a jump screen. Using a window screen kit I got on clearance from Lowe’s, 3D printed corners, and clear netting. I have the same thing on most of my tanks although this is the first time I am using corners that let the top sit inside the tank. Only one left to print. I had to print them one at a time. Whenever I tried more than one the print failed.

Mike Kearns · Jul 31, 2020

Here is a picture of my 46 gallon bow front tank. I really like the aquascape I did when I moved everything from the 20 Long I had. I figure its got about 60 lbs of rock. I knew I was going to go bigger someday so I overloaded. My plan is to move it to the new tank as is, although I will take time to glue/putty some more spots. With the larger footprint of the new tank I figure I will have about another foot in width for more rock. Might try and build some sort of rock tower. Also because of the greater depth front to back I will have room for some sand dwelling corals like scolies, trachies, fungia etc.

Mike Kearns · Aug 1, 2020

It’s on the stand! Now I can start the plumbing. I decided to assemble and leak test in the garage so my wife won’t be bothered by the glue smell and if (when) it leaks I don’t have to worry.

Mike Kearns · Aug 1, 2020

Here is my first go at mocking up my plumbing. I don’t have all the unions installed yet (blue tape). Anyone have any advice? The white pvc pipes is just for mock up. I have blue pvc for final assembly.