Tony's Innovative Marine 200EXT Build

[QuickrdenU]

Hello Everyone! My name is Tony and I'm basically a new reefer out of Wake Forest, NC. I'm going to need lots of help and suggestions to attempt a mixed reef tank with a little automation so feel free to chime in!

**SPOILER PIC**

I've been out of the hobby for about 15 years. I was looking for a decent tank to start with and ended up ordering an Innovative Marine 200(after ordering a deskmate pico for my daughter and I to mess around with in the meantime) with external overflow and white stand. I originally ordered an INT but had a change in heart.

Gear so far:

-(2) Reefbreeders 32” Photon V2 Pro
(After tank matures I may hang these over a 36x36 frag tank connected to the sump and switch to (4) better lights)
-Bashsea 48 Pro Sump
-RedSea 1200 Fleece Roller
-RedSea 900 DC skimmer
-(2)Vectra M2 pump
-(4) EcoTech MP40’s
-AquaUltraviolet 57 UV
-Neptune Apex A3 Pro
-Neptune Trident
-(4) EcoTech Versa pumps
-(3) Simplicity 5L dosing containers with float switches
-Apex Duo pumps for AWC
-Apex Duo for Kalk and Magnesium
-IM HELIO 1000 watt heater
-Marco Rock
-160lbs of live special grade
-(2) Aquamaxx media reactors for GFO and carbon
-Plank XL autofeeder

Eventual Gear
-CW200 Algae reactor
-Geo’s Reef Calcium Reactor

My wife jokes that I only choose the most expensive and complicated of hobbies. She's definitely not wrong... Triathlon, Custom Cars, Metal Fabrication, and now this. And the most expensive of all. 2 young children!

 

[nuxx]

In with you on cars...

Now add watches and see your money fly away

Can't wait to see more!

 

[QuickrdenU]

In with you on cars...

Now add watches and see your money fly away

Can't wait to see more!

Nothing to fancy for me. Just a new Garmin every few years to remind me if my heart is about to explode. Thanks!

 

[Devaji]

welcome to the salty side of life.

when did you order the tank? I ask as i order one ( IM 200 peninsula ) curious to see how far you are ahead of me.

sump: I thought about this alot to I have a fish room under the tank in an unheated basement thought about the 150-300 gal stock tank. but that would require a lot of work to the small room to get it where i would want it.
so I went with the IM RFS 50 or what ever it's called. for only a few hundred more i few it was worth it. I have been really enjoying the glass sump from red sea so this will be interesting.

other sump option are 40br from petco or even the new 60 breeder. all depends on how fancy you need it.

lighting: I will be using 2X 24" reedbreeders photon v2 they worked great over the RS 650P so I am sticking with them. ( granted my 200 with be fish only.) but there worht looking into.
also hear good thinks about the nepthune sky light. if you dont like a ton of shimmer stay away from kessil.

controller: yes apex is the most used option for sure but there are others like Hydros and even more DIY with reef pi.

skimmer: i'll be using a med sized reef octopuss might be even under sized for this tank. but with other export options i'll think I will be fine. reef octo make great skimmers.
other choices are budget-ish coral box expand ability and longevity life reef.

UV: i'll be using pentair 40W UV. aqua UV is another good brand.
also gonna try Ozone on this tank. never used it before so I am supper curious.

Sand: I am a bug fan of special gread reef sand. its the sweet spot of course but not to course. wrasses and still dig a bed but not so fine it blows all over the place. ( it will still get pushed around by the powerheads some)

 

[QuickrdenU]

I’ll check into all those products so thank you. And yeah that’s is exactly what I was looking for in a sand bed. I remember hating when everything got blown away but I’ll definitely have sand sifters so..

Reef Octopus definitely seems like one of the most popular brands. It was on my mind for sure. As for sumps. I feel like they would have perfected these by now… does anybody actually want filter socks? Yet they almost all have them! Maybe a DIY deal is the way to go.

Are you worried about the room being cold? I suppose with my situation, the heat in the summer would be even worse. I’d be curious to hear from someone currently using their garage for this. One day I’ll just have to install a split heat pump system I think…

THANKS AGAIN!

 

[QuickrdenU]

welcome to the salty side of life.

when did you order the tank? I ask as i order one ( IM 200 peninsula ) curious to see how far you are ahead of me.

sump: I thought about this alot to I have a fish room under the tank in an unheated basement thought about the 150-300 gal stock tank. but that would require a lot of work to the small room to get it where i would want it.
so I went with the IM RFS 50 or what ever it's called. for only a few hundred more i few it was worth it. I have been really enjoying the glass sump from red sea so this will be interesting.

other sump option are 40br from petco or even the new 60 breeder. all depends on how fancy you need it.

lighting: I will be using 2X 24" reedbreeders photon v2 they worked great over the RS 650P so I am sticking with them. ( granted my 200 with be fish only.) but there worht looking into.
also hear good thinks about the nepthune sky light. if you dont like a ton of shimmer stay away from kessil.

controller: yes apex is the most used option for sure but there are others like Hydros and even more DIY with reef pi.

skimmer: i'll be using a med sized reef octopuss might be even under sized for this tank. but with other export options i'll think I will be fine. reef octo make great skimmers.
other choices are budget-ish coral box expand ability and longevity life reef.

UV: i'll be using pentair 40W UV. aqua UV is another good brand.
also gonna try Ozone on this tank. never used it before so I am supper curious.

Sand: I am a bug fan of special gread reef sand. its the sweet spot of course but not to course. wrasses and still dig a bed but not so fine it blows all over the place. ( it will still get pushed around by the powerheads some)

The IM RFS 50 does look nice. I might call them monday and ask about it. It wouldn’t allow for a fleece roller it doesn’t look like but I like all the other features. You plan on using it with the bio balls and just rinsing out the sponge or using socks? And I like that it’s huge!

 

[Devaji]

The IM RFS 50 does look nice. I might call them monday and ask about it. It wouldn’t allow for a fleece roller it doesn’t look like but I like all the other features. You plan on using it with the bio balls and just rinsing out the sponge or using socks? And I like that it’s huge!

yeah it a real bummer you cant add a roller mat BIG design flaw IMHO. I guess you could might just have to cut some acrylic IDK we will see once i get it. for now I was thinking filter cups with floss changed 2-3X a week.
yeah it huge and add some nice water volume for sure.

 

[Devaji]

I’ll check into all those products so thank you. And yeah that’s is exactly what I was looking for in a sand bed. I remember hating when everything got blown away but I’ll definitely have sand sifters so..

Reef Octopus definitely seems like one of the most popular brands. It was on my mind for sure. As for sumps. I feel like they would have perfected these by now… does anybody actually want filter socks? Yet they almost all have them! Maybe a DIY deal is the way to go.

Are you worried about the room being cold? I suppose with my situation, the heat in the summer would be even worse. I’d be curious to hear from someone currently using their garage for this. One day I’ll just have to install a split heat pump system I think…

THANKS AGAIN!

in my case I am worries of the cold we have long winters here. all tho the basement says around 55ish that is a long way off from 75-77. more worried about the electric bill.
thought about doing one of the hot water heater -heaters but more stuff to do and failure points. so I decided to stick with an under tank sump.

life reef skimmer as way less popular that reef octo. but they have a dedicated fallowing and the owner Jeff will talk your ear off why his skimmer are better than others.

 

[death-by-reef]

this looks really interesting!!
I cant wait to see how this turns out, What is your stocking gonna be like? im pretty new here to. i don't no if 2 XR30s would be better than 3 XR15s

 

[death-by-reef]

oops my bad i thought you said XR15s my bad
an AI Hydra might be good? IDK

 

[QuickrdenU]

in my case I am worries of the cold we have long winters here. all tho the basement says around 55ish that is a long way off from 75-77. more worried about the electric bill.
thought about doing one of the hot water heater -heaters but more stuff to do and failure points. so I decided to stick with an under tank sump.

life reef skimmer as way less popular that reef octo. but they have a dedicated fallowing and the owner Jeff will talk your ear off why his skimmer are better than others.

Something is telling me I’m not gonna have this thing up and running for quite awhile! I really don’t want to do things more than once. Definitely not more than twice! This life reef website has definitely gotten me interested.. I might have to give them a call. And those photon lights look legit! And for a good price. Be sure to come back if you get that sump soon. I normally wouldn’t care about changing out floss but we do leave for trips now and then. It would be great to have one less thing to worry about while gone.

 

[QuickrdenU]

this looks really interesting!!
I cant wait to see how this turns out, What is your stocking gonna be like? im pretty new here to. i don't no if 2 XR30s would be better than 3 XR15s

I would like to overstock the display tank on both fish and corals. Never had sps so I’d like to try some up top. I like it busy, bright and psychedelic! Which is why I’m stressing out so much about the gear, sump volume, and ease of water changes. But at the same time I have patience so I’m ok waiting for things to get stable over time. There is just so much to relearn about all these new products. For example, I was all about refugiums but now I’m leaning towards a scrubber. I may go back and forth a million times who knows… So I really appreciate the help from people that have more recent experience!

 

[death-by-reef]

Cool! Can’t wait to see this blossom

 

[tautog83]

Mines been sitting in my room for 4 months now , had to rethink light and sump. If you can add their sump do it

 

[Devaji]

Something is telling me I’m not gonna have this thing up and running for quite awhile! I really don’t want to do things more than once. Definitely not more than twice! This life reef website has definitely gotten me interested.. I might have to give them a call. And those photon lights look legit! And for a good price. Be sure to come back if you get that sump soon. I normally wouldn’t care about changing out floss but we do leave for trips now and then. It would be great to have one less thing to worry about while gone.

will do I dont think I will be getting the tank until sometime in Feb. guess that is the price we pay for 40% off. eh.

i'll deff. have a build thread going.

yeah I am always been interested in the life reef skimmers. if I every go bigger than say 300 most likely get one. or if my current skimmers kick the bucket. I like how you can use any pump.

 

[Sean Clark]

Following along. Those two kids are about to seem down right affordable.

 

[QuickrdenU]

Following along. Those two kids are about to seem down right affordable.

TELL ME ABOUT IT!

Ordered some stuff..

Bashsea Pro Sump
ReefBreeders Photon 32-V2 Pro x 2
RedSea ReefMat 1200
Finnex TH-S 500W x 2
Vectra M2 Pump
Neptune ATK v2
RedSea RSK 900 skimmer

Gonna chill for a bit until my blood pressure settles and then think about the rest..

 

[death-by-reef]

Can we get some pics

 

[QuickrdenU]

Can we get some pics

Just finishing up the mixing station. It turned out pretty nice and for cheap. Will post some pics tonight. And the closet is getting full of new fish tank stuff!

 

[death-by-reef]

Sounds good