Ado's Reef (IM 200 EXT)

[Ado]

The day is finally here, my new tank has arrived.

Background:

Been in the fishkeeping hobby on and off for about twenty years. I have had most types of freshwater tanks; Large Planted, Discus-Species Only, Predator Tanks, Cichlids, PICOs etc. About 2 years ago, I took the plunge into saltwater with your typical biocube starter tank. The tank was simple, a pair of clowns and some softies. Very simple, easy to maintain tank. I had the opportunity to obtain a 40 IM AIO tank and created a macroalgae/sponge tank dedicated to frogfish. This tank was much more challenging with the live feedings and excessive nutrients this created. Last year, I created a 40 breeder tank intended for more difficult corals. I have learned so much from this tank when it came to dosing and proper upkeep.

The 40 breeder had its ups and downs like most new tanks. Back in September, I purchased a decent hammer coral from my LFS. I dipped and acclimated as usual, but this was not enough. Within a few weeks, I had a massive outbreak of flatworms. I lost most of the tank from these pests and the follow-up treatment into a tank crash. Green-Hair Algae took over with the nutrient explosion and took months to reign it in. The tank began to recover, new torch heads, SPS had decent bases growing etc.

I decided that my current mixed reef DIY tank needed an upgrade. I spent a lot (maybe too much) time researching size, type, manufacturer etc... The great folks on R2R helped me a long the way and brought up a great concept, what is the goal of the tank? Immediately I knew, I have always been drawn towards tanks with various acro colonies that branched out into the water. This is where the decision was made to build a tank designated for SPS growth.

The Build:

Tank: Innovative Marine 200 EXT

Sump: RFS 50

Return Pump: MightyJet XL - 2656 GPH DC Submersible Return Pump

Heater: 2x 300 Watt Titanium Heaters attached to Inkbird Controller

Flow: (2) Maxspect XF350 Cloud Edition Gyres powered by Hydros WaveEngine

Lighting: x4 Reefi Uno Pro 2.0

Protein Skimmer: Aquamaxx DFC-280

Controller: Hydros Control X4, X8, and WaveEngine


These are the immediate items I believe needed to get this build going. I do plan on adding a UV system, Calcium Reactor, dosing pump system and much more as the tank progresses.

I plan to keep this thread as a notebook of sorts for planning and tracking updates. Thank you to anyone who reads this. Looking forward to any feedback and assistance. Would love to hear others stories on similar builds.

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[Ado]

The packaging and freight was top-notch. I have never seen anything so secure

 

[Ado]

Putting the stand together was interesting. Instructions were not exactly clear. Basically put these bars up but does not include spacing etc. I did some math and kept them evenly spaced during this process.

 

[Ado]

Stand complete and tank is up! This aquarium is beautifully constructed. The glass is very thick and high quality. I am very impressed.

 

[Dannyboy402]

Congrats and enjoy! I got mine in December.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Stand complete and tank is up! This aquarium is beautifully constructed. The glass is very thick and high quality. I am very impressed.

Stand looks great!

 

[Ado]

Congrats and enjoy! I got mine in December.

Nice! How is the build coming? What are your plans with it?

 

[Dannyboy402]

Nice! How is the build coming? What are your plans with it?

It's good! I feel like the return pump is a little under powered. I'll probably upgrade it in the future. Everything else is doing great though. I transferred everything from my waterbox to this tank. Corals have grown a lot in the short amount of time it's been setup.

 

[alpenreef]

I got the 170 day before yesterday. Almost ordered the 200 but was talked out of it because of weight. It does sit above a basement steel beam but “it’s probably ok” wasn’t good enough apparently Anyway, I also just built the stand and did all the plumbing. Today I cleaned and rinsed the tank and the sump.
What’s next for you?
I am about to order live rock and sand - still haven’t decided on any equipment. Not sure how to best light 30x60 - it’s tricky.

 

[Ado]

It's good! I feel like the return pump is a little under powered. I'll probably upgrade it in the future. Everything else is doing great though. I transferred everything from my waterbox to this tank. Corals have grown a lot in the short amount of time it's been setup.

I was on the fence as well with this return pump. I'm going to purchase a second for redundancy anyway so will use this one as a backup.

Great to hear about the corals! I'm going to be transferring the contents of my 40 into this one...giving me anxiety haha

 

[Ado]

I got the 170 day before yesterday. Almost ordered the 200 but was talked out of it because of weight. It does sit above a basement steel beam but “it’s probably ok” wasn’t good enough apparently Anyway, I also just built the stand and did all the plumbing. Today I cleaned and rinsed the tank and the sump.
What’s next for you?
I am about to order live rock and sand - still haven’t decided on any equipment. Not sure how to best light 30x60 - it’s tricky.

The 170 is a great tank! Mine is on the ground floor over the concrete slab, was told I could park a truck on

I should be finishing plumbing today, busy work week here. Will add pics of course.

The lighting is my toughest decision as well. The 30 inch width is amazing but makes it a challenge. I already have a 32" reefbreeders I can incorporate into this build. In my mind, I think I'm going to put that in the center with Kessil AP9X on either side. I would probably add led strips later for supplementation. I did start looking into Reefi Unos too, now I'm torn.

Are you going with Tampa Bay Saltwater? They are about 30 minutes from me

This weekend, I have about 200lbs of marco rock that will be broken apart and pieced back together for the main aquascape. The goal is a habitat negative space design.

 

[alpenreef]

The 170 is a great tank! Mine is on the ground floor over the concrete slab, was told I could park a truck on

I should be finishing plumbing today, busy work week here. Will add pics of course.

The lighting is my toughest decision as well. The 30 inch width is amazing but makes it a challenge. I already have a 32" reefbreeders I can incorporate into this build. In my mind, I think I'm going to put that in the center with Kessil AP9X on either side. I would probably add led strips later for supplementation. I did start looking into Reefi Unos too, now I'm torn.

Are you going with Tampa Bay Saltwater? They are about 30 minutes from me

This weekend, I have about 200lbs of marco rock that will be broken apart and pieced back together for the main aquascape. The goal is a habitat negative space design.

I would go with Tampa Bay Saltwater but they don’t have stock until April and then that stock is spoken for until I don’t know when. I am going to order from Gulf Live Rock instead. I may put some marco rock on top the live.
Still have snow in my yard, very jealous of where you are. I used to live near Fort Myers so I know what I am missing.
Of course. No basements in Florida …

 

[Ado]

I would go with Tampa Bay Saltwater but they don’t have stock until April and then that stock is spoken for until I don’t know when. I am going to order from Gulf Live Rock instead. I may put some marco rock on top the live.
Still have snow in my yard, very jealous of where you are. I used to live near Fort Myers so I know what I am missing.
Of course. No basements in Florida …

I miss the aesthetic of snow, not the work involved. The water table is so shallow here, would love a basement haha

Going to check out Gulf Live Rock today, thinking about some extra seeding.

My new dilemma now is the lighting fixture. Ceilings are too high, leaning towards 80/20 in wall or stand

 

[Dannyboy402]

I was on the fence as well with this return pump. I'm going to purchase a second for redundancy anyway so will use this one as a backup.

Great to hear about the corals! I'm going to be transferring the contents of my 40 into this one...giving me anxiety haha

Oh 40 is nothin! Is the tank going in the same spot or a new one? My new tank was going in a new spot so I kept my old one running while I got the 200ext ready. That way I could just transfer everything once parameters matched. The thing I hated most was removing all of my apex and then getting all of the wires neatly organized again haha.

 

[Ado]

Oh 40 is nothin! Is the tank going in the same spot or a new one? My new tank was going in a new spot so I kept my old one running while I got the 200ext ready. That way I could just transfer everything once parameters matched. The thing I hated most was removing all of my apex and then getting all of the wires neatly organized again haha.

New spot, not far across the room. Did you cycle before adding the old tank contents? I've read mixed reviews on this. I can imagine haha cable management is one of the toughest parts of tank setups lol

What did you decide for lights? The eurobrace makes me wary of mounts.

 

[Dannyboy402]

New spot, not far across the room. Did you cycle before adding the old tank contents? I've read mixed reviews on this. I can imagine haha cable management is one of the toughest parts of tank setups lol

What did you decide for lights? The eurobrace makes me wary of mounts.

Nope! I used my old rock and got new sand. Transfer went smooth and only lost a couple acros.
For lighting I'm using 4 XR15's on RMS arms and multi light rail.

 

[alpenreef]

I miss the aesthetic of snow, not the work involved. The water table is so shallow here, would love a basement haha

Going to check out Gulf Live Rock today, thinking about some extra seeding.

My new dilemma now is the lighting fixture. Ceilings are too high, leaning towards 80/20 in wall or stand

Please decide on something so I can just copy it I have been agonizing over lighting for days and nowhere near a decision. Right now I am trending towards 2 xr30 with 2 x 57 ai blade glows, but maybe not

 

[Ado]

Nope! I used my old rock and got new sand. Transfer went smooth and only lost a couple acros.
For lighting I'm using 4 XR15's on RMS arms and multi light rail.

How do you like the RMS with eurobrace? That's the easiest option but not sure how stable

 

[Dannyboy402]

How do you like the RMS with eurobrace? That's the easiest option but not sure how stable

It holds pretty secure. There's some rubber padding on the mount that grips the glass and then a screw at the top to lock the mount to the rail. So I have it so it puts enough pressure but not too much on the glass that it won't move if bumped into. I'd say it's pretty solid and I have enough faith that it wont come crashing down.

 

[Ado]

It holds pretty secure. There's some rubber padding on the mount that grips the glass and then a screw at the top to lock the mount to the rail. So I have it so it puts enough pressure but not too much on the glass that it won't move if bumped into. I'd say it's pretty solid and I have enough faith that it wont come crashing down.

Nice! This is my backup plan if I can't figure out a way to attach the fixture. Tank is in place so not much room for construction...

How do you like the xr15s?