Ken S
New Member
Hello All, I am the proud owner of a new Innovative Marine 200g EXT Peninsula! I have a build thread going in a local Reef Central forum. Not sure if it is OK to post a link to it here, or not, so I won't for now until I get approval for that. But I will describe the build and post some pics here. I started in this hobby about 33 years ago with two tanks, a Perfecto 220g then to a Tenecor 180. I greatly regretted getting an acrylic tank. Ask me why 
I got out about 16 years ago. About a year ago the wife and I went to a LFS just killing some time and it was all over. I got the itch again. The hardest part was talking the wife into letting me spend $30K for a tank set-up and a whole home generator The generator is an absolute must where we live. We have lost power 27 times in 9 years, many for multiple days, lost all our food, such a huge inconvenience! We purchased the tank in April 2024 and started the build, it was a slow go but I think very well planned, we didn't rush and included some neat and interesting touches. One being a quartz slab for the floor and up the wall behind a tank. I work for a stone fabrication company. I had them make a slab for the tank to sit on with a mitered apron around the perimeter of 3 sides that is proud/higher than the of the surface of the slab by 1/4" and I had them hog a trough through the middle. Then I notched the bottom plate of the wall (my floor drain is directly behind this wall). The thought was any kind of leak or overflow would be captured by the slab, run down the trough, through the wall and straight to the drain! I tested it and it works perfectly. And it looks good, the tank sitting on a slab with another slab up the wall behind the tank! This is all detailed with pics on the RC thread and again, I'll post a link here if I am allowed to. We weren't going to get the generator for a year or so, but in early July a storm rolled through and we lost power for 3 days. We were supposed to host a July 4th party for family and friends and that got ruined. We were staying in a nearby hotel with the dog because is was literally 100 degrees inside the house. That was the last straw. We called the generator company. It was literally final tested and inspected yesterday, its working perfectly and now we are ready for the next power outage.
Tank is an IM 200g Peninsula EXT as mentioned, plumbed through a wall, sump in back/unfinished area, Octo Regal 200 INT, UV, sump has a good sized fuge, two Sicce 7DC pumps for returns, 2 MP40's and an AI Orbit 4 gyre for flow, lighting is three Radion G6's and 2 Kessil A360xe's hung from an RMS rail from the ceiling. Inkbird temp controller, Duetto ATO. I had a lot of help from my LFS. First and current inhabitants are a Golden Tail moray and 6 blue/green chromis.
I actually kept all the live rock I purchased about 32-33 years ago! I kept it in a barrel all this time! When I met my wife, I was in the process of selling off livestock from my previous tank. She would say, "Why are you getting rid of this? It's so beautiful!" I had just had it with the upkeep. We got married & moved and I had the movers bring it to the new house. Previous tank was a mix of sps, softies, a snowflake eel, purple & yellow tangs, various other fish through the years, but BY FAR the most stunning livestock in the tank were a mated pair of HUGE, wild caught Blue Stripe Clarkii's hosting a Ritteri (Heteractis Magnifica) anemone. The female was 5" and male about 4". They are still the biggest clowns I have ever seen in my life! They would spawn every 10-14 days like clockwork the entire time I had them. The nem got absolutely HUGE! It was about the size of a dinner plate when I got it. I had it for 15 years along with the clowns. When I sold it, it was 24 inches across and 18 inches tall. When I put it in the tank, it moved around for 3 days, then parked dead center of the tank and never moved again for 15 years! My wife never saw the clowns/nem, they were the first things sold off :-( The guy that bought it called me around 3 months later and said it had died, fouled his tank and only the male clown had survived :-(
Anyway, I am trying to replicate my previous tank. I filled the rock barrel with saltwater in April when we bought the tank. I treated it like a tank, water changes, testing basic parameters, feeding, bacteria, even put a damsel in there. Rock went in the tank about 8 weeks ago. Haven't seen much of an ugly phase at all yet. I am not ready for a nem yet but I have been doing research. Doesn't seem to be much available and my LFS guy says he hasn't been able to keep one alive in years. He ordered a large one in for me as he is willing to hold it until we think my tank is ready. I went up there the day he got it, it was beautiful, looked healthy and was about 14 inches across. But it melted and died 3 days later :-( He ordered in another and it was melted/dead in the bag when he got it :-( We are going to keep trying, but it's a little disheartening seeing the first two die so fast. His plan is to get hold of another and put it straight in a hospital tank with Cipro. I don't recall these problems 30+ years ago. I do recall the owner of the previous (now closed) LFS 30+ years ago warning me Ritteri's are very difficult to keep, but mine flourished. I guess I just got lucky.
OK, some pics!
Pics1 & 2 - Full shots of the tank, note the quartz slabs
Pic 3 - shows the notch in the bottom plate of the wall, you can see the back of the slab with the trough
Pic 4 - cool little mixing valve I found on Amazon, plumber plumbed it in and I have my RO dialed in at 77 degrees
I have a small thermostat I found from a tea kettle connected to a special threaded 1/4" NPT/push-connect tee and it fits and works perfectly to verify the temp. I didn't fully trust the setting on the valve, but it is dead on!
Pic 5 - My workspace
Pic 6 - Sump area
Pic 7 - Mr. Golden Tail Eel - first inhabitant
I got out about 16 years ago. About a year ago the wife and I went to a LFS just killing some time and it was all over. I got the itch again. The hardest part was talking the wife into letting me spend $30K for a tank set-up and a whole home generator The generator is an absolute must where we live. We have lost power 27 times in 9 years, many for multiple days, lost all our food, such a huge inconvenience! We purchased the tank in April 2024 and started the build, it was a slow go but I think very well planned, we didn't rush and included some neat and interesting touches. One being a quartz slab for the floor and up the wall behind a tank. I work for a stone fabrication company. I had them make a slab for the tank to sit on with a mitered apron around the perimeter of 3 sides that is proud/higher than the of the surface of the slab by 1/4" and I had them hog a trough through the middle. Then I notched the bottom plate of the wall (my floor drain is directly behind this wall). The thought was any kind of leak or overflow would be captured by the slab, run down the trough, through the wall and straight to the drain! I tested it and it works perfectly. And it looks good, the tank sitting on a slab with another slab up the wall behind the tank! This is all detailed with pics on the RC thread and again, I'll post a link here if I am allowed to. We weren't going to get the generator for a year or so, but in early July a storm rolled through and we lost power for 3 days. We were supposed to host a July 4th party for family and friends and that got ruined. We were staying in a nearby hotel with the dog because is was literally 100 degrees inside the house. That was the last straw. We called the generator company. It was literally final tested and inspected yesterday, its working perfectly and now we are ready for the next power outage.Tank is an IM 200g Peninsula EXT as mentioned, plumbed through a wall, sump in back/unfinished area, Octo Regal 200 INT, UV, sump has a good sized fuge, two Sicce 7DC pumps for returns, 2 MP40's and an AI Orbit 4 gyre for flow, lighting is three Radion G6's and 2 Kessil A360xe's hung from an RMS rail from the ceiling. Inkbird temp controller, Duetto ATO. I had a lot of help from my LFS. First and current inhabitants are a Golden Tail moray and 6 blue/green chromis.
I actually kept all the live rock I purchased about 32-33 years ago! I kept it in a barrel all this time!
When I met my wife, I was in the process of selling off livestock from my previous tank. She would say, "Why are you getting rid of this? It's so beautiful!" I had just had it with the upkeep. We got married & moved and I had the movers bring it to the new house. Previous tank was a mix of sps, softies, a snowflake eel, purple & yellow tangs, various other fish through the years, but BY FAR the most stunning livestock in the tank were a mated pair of HUGE, wild caught Blue Stripe Clarkii's hosting a Ritteri (Heteractis Magnifica) anemone. The female was 5" and male about 4". They are still the biggest clowns I have ever seen in my life! They would spawn every 10-14 days like clockwork the entire time I had them. The nem got absolutely HUGE! It was about the size of a dinner plate when I got it. I had it for 15 years along with the clowns. When I sold it, it was 24 inches across and 18 inches tall. When I put it in the tank, it moved around for 3 days, then parked dead center of the tank and never moved again for 15 years! My wife never saw the clowns/nem, they were the first things sold off :-( The guy that bought it called me around 3 months later and said it had died, fouled his tank and only the male clown had survived :-(Anyway, I am trying to replicate my previous tank. I filled the rock barrel with saltwater in April when we bought the tank. I treated it like a tank, water changes, testing basic parameters, feeding, bacteria, even put a damsel in there. Rock went in the tank about 8 weeks ago. Haven't seen much of an ugly phase at all yet. I am not ready for a nem yet but I have been doing research. Doesn't seem to be much available and my LFS guy says he hasn't been able to keep one alive in years. He ordered a large one in for me as he is willing to hold it until we think my tank is ready. I went up there the day he got it, it was beautiful, looked healthy and was about 14 inches across. But it melted and died 3 days later :-( He ordered in another and it was melted/dead in the bag when he got it :-( We are going to keep trying, but it's a little disheartening seeing the first two die so fast. His plan is to get hold of another and put it straight in a hospital tank with Cipro. I don't recall these problems 30+ years ago. I do recall the owner of the previous (now closed) LFS 30+ years ago warning me Ritteri's are very difficult to keep, but mine flourished. I guess I just got lucky.
OK, some pics!
Pics1 & 2 - Full shots of the tank, note the quartz slabs
Pic 3 - shows the notch in the bottom plate of the wall, you can see the back of the slab with the trough
Pic 4 - cool little mixing valve I found on Amazon, plumber plumbed it in and I have my RO dialed in at 77 degrees
I have a small thermostat I found from a tea kettle connected to a special threaded 1/4" NPT/push-connect tee and it fits and works perfectly to verify the temp. I didn't fully trust the setting on the valve, but it is dead on!
Pic 5 - My workspace
Pic 6 - Sump area
Pic 7 - Mr. Golden Tail Eel - first inhabitant
