Vik's 200 gallon peninusla (IM 200 EXT)

[VikS]

Hi All, finally time to start a build thread.

I have an Innovative marine 200 Peninsula on order with white stand. Supposed to ship this week - so I getting ready but am still pretty behind in getting things ready. I had originally ordered their standard 200 but asked about a peninsula layout, and IM said they will be launching the layout in 2 months. So I was on the waitlist. What attracted me toward IM tank was the dimension, 30 deep, metal stand and overall good feedback about quality. Also considered waterbox and redsea but IM seemed to have the based dimensions and best value for money.

I have been in the Saltwater hobby for about 4 years now. First tank was an old 120 gallon tank I bought from a fellow reefer with softies. I ultimately upgraded to mostly SPS. In February this year, We got hit by a storm which knocked out electricity for 3 days. Everything dead - was pretty heartbreaking. Some of the fish were close to 10 years old. Some nice mini colonies. Here is a shot of my old tank before the crash. This tank was very forgiving, I experimented a lot, screwed up a lot and learnt a lot (you know how it goes!) Also blew a fair chunk of green on live sales. Gave away the tank to a local school after the crash.

The old tank was fully automated. Apex DOS water changes, water station, and all the Apex gear. 3 radions and T5. I had moderate success with this tank but tank was not doing that well over the past year or so (some RTN on mim-colonies) and could not figure out what was wrong. Stocking for tank was fairly standard: Tangs (Gem, yellow), Fox Face, hawkfish, mandarin, clownfish pair + others. Some really nice clams too.

Plans for the new tank:

My goal for this tank is to be very different from my previous one. This will still be SPS heavy.

Tank location: This will be in a much more prominent location in the house and becomes a center stage. Tank will need to look good and be quiet.

Lighting: Moving to halides from Radions. I recently acquired Geissman spectra - a halide and T5 combo. Will be hanging these from the ceiling.

Water station: This will be getting an upgrade. Old setup used the 40/20 gallons AceRoto tanks. This is now getting upgraded to 75 gallon tanks. Still to be plumbed.

Sump: I am taking a bit of risk here. Going with a rubbermaid 100 gallon stock tank. Risk here is the location. I am planning to put this in the garage which is not insulated (I am in PA). I will be looking to insulate just the sump area using the pink boards. The remote sump is about 30ft apart.

Equipment: Reusing pretty much all my equipment. Here are some key ones.
- Return pump: Reef octopus VarioS-8
- Skimmer: Reef Octopus REGAL 200SSS
- Controller: Apex + modules
- Parameter monitor: Trident, Reefbot for other parameters
- Calcium Reactor: Dastaco Xtrema A-3
- Refugium: Pax Bellum ARID N24.
- Flow: Ecotech MP60 (x2)

Fishlist (so far):
- Regal Angel
- Sun Burst Anthias
- Moorish Idol
- Achilles Tang
- 2nd Tang (not decided on exact one - Gem or purple)
- Wrasses (not decided exact ones)

Aquascape
- Not figured out yet.
- Still debating live rock (from Tamp Bay) or going dry rock.
- Still debating whether bare bottom.

Stay tuned for more updates. Will be working on the garage sump setup and water station over the next week or two.

Vik

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to seeing more progress. going to be super nice.

 

[VikS]

It is finally shipped! Getting real very quick.

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

I just bought the same tank, but black stand. Also got a 50g EXT to plumb to the same sump, might do a clam refugium with that one. I have someone coming today to give me a quote on re-enforcing the floor, I think where I am going to place mine spans at least 4 joists.

is your flooring on concrete?

what is the plan to plumb to the fish room?

 

[VikS]

I just bought the same tank, but black stand. Also got a 50g EXT to plumb to the same sump, might do a clam refugium with that one. I have someone coming today to give me a quote on re-enforcing the floor, I think where I am going to place mine spans at least 4 joists.

is your flooring on concrete?

what is the plan to plumb to the fish room?

Cool, welcome to the IM club.

I have hardwood floors but no basement. There is a crawl space. There are two support beams running below the tank so I might be ok without any reinforcements. However, I will get couple of jack posts from Home Depot and put them under the support beams. They are cheap and DIY. Do you have a finished basement? Depending on what your placement and flooring situation is, that might be an option.

don’t have a fish room so putting this in the garage. Built out a stand frame last week. Planning to use a 100 g brute and my existing 34 trigger sump. All plumbing will run through the crawl space. I have not decided what size plumbing yet. Likely 1.5 inch for everything. Combination of flex PVC and PVC.

still a long list of things to do. Plumbing, electrical, mixing station.

how is your planning? How long is the wait for the tank.

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

Cool, welcome to the IM club.

I have hardwood floors but no basement. There is a crawl space. There are two support beams running below the tank so I might be ok without any reinforcements. However, I will get couple of jack posts from Home Depot and put them under the support beams. They are cheap and DIY. Do you have a finished basement? Depending on what your placement and flooring situation is, that might be an option.

don’t have a fish room so putting this in the garage. Built out a stand frame last week. Planning to use a 100 g brute and my existing 34 trigger sump. All plumbing will run through the crawl space. I have not decided what size plumbing yet. Likely 1.5 inch for everything. Combination of flex PVC and PVC.

still a long list of things to do. Plumbing, electrical, mixing station.

how is your planning? How long is the wait for the tank.

I also have crawlspace, it is about 30" tall. If I already had support beams, I'd probably go the same way you did with the jacks, but I think mine might be slightly more complex. Attached is a sketchup I just threw together. If you look at the peninsula and know what joists are running perpendicular to it, you can see that the sump, one end of the peninsula and the 50 Gallon lagoon I want to place are all on the same couple of joists, so I think I'll need a little more. The contractor I spoke with said they would probably put down concrete pads to use to jack up the floor, and sister the joists together so they won't twist.

I think I'm gonna put the sump in the laundry room just on the other side from the back of the 200 gallon display, and I ordered it with 1" drains. I want to plumb the tank drains together at the sump, with the main from one plumbed to the secondary of the other and vice versa.

Now that I made a sketchup, I'll take some pics and start a build thread, maybe later tonight or tomorrow. I have to pull out the lighting in that room first though, it's a dining room and the fixture hangs down pretty low right near the where the end of the tank will be.

 

[VikS]

I also have crawlspace, it is about 30" tall. If I already had support beams, I'd probably go the same way you did with the jacks, but I think mine might be slightly more complex. Attached is a sketchup I just threw together. If you look at the peninsula and know what joists are running perpendicular to it, you can see that the sump, one end of the peninsula and the 50 Gallon lagoon I want to place are all on the same couple of joists, so I think I'll need a little more. The contractor I spoke with said they would probably put down concrete pads to use to jack up the floor, and sister the joists together so they won't twist.

I think I'm gonna put the sump in the laundry room just on the other side from the back of the 200 gallon display, and I ordered it with 1" drains. I want to plumb the tank drains together at the sump, with the main from one plumbed to the secondary of the other and vice versa.

Now that I made a sketchup, I'll take some pics and start a build thread, maybe later tonight or tomorrow. I have to pull out the lighting in that room first though, it's a dining room and the fixture hangs down pretty low right near the where the end of the tank will be.

Checked out your sketch. Looking good. any reason to combine the drains? Also what sump are you going with?

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

Combining so I only have to maintain one system, and I want the 50G to be a display tank with clams. I bought a geos reef sump, but it won't be shipped until March because he's so backed up right now. I told him I was willing to wait because I want something really nice with a roller built in. I ordered this one: https://www.geosreef.com/product/geo-su46r-pro-rm/

 

[Devaji]

wow I did not know you could get he IM peninsula style. how cool I am aquascaping my RS 650P now. good luck keep us posted

 

[VikS]

wow I did not know you could get he IM peninsula style. how cool I am aquascaping my RS 650P now. good luck keep us posted

Thanks. I had ordered an EXT200 regular with them and then changed my mind to getting a peninsula (Waterbox was the only option). Called them to cancel and fortunately asked them for a peninsula layout. They said they had 1 coming in 2 months. So it all worked out.

 

[Devaji]

Thanks. I had ordered an EXT200 regular with them and then changed my mind to getting a peninsula (Waterbox was the only option). Called them to cancel and fortunately asked them for a peninsula layout. They said they had 1 coming in 2 months. So it all worked out.

that's great I am excited to fallow your progress.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Update?

 

[VikS]

Not much progress at my end. We got hit by a snowstorm last week, tank delivery got delayed. delivery scheduled for Wednesday now.
I want to
Get plumbing and electrical out of the way next week. Will see how that goes.

 

[VikS]

Tank got delivered today. Assembled the stand - looks pretty nice. Tank will be in the garage until I figure plumbing and electrical out. (Hopefully not long).

 

[Devaji]

nice tank! glad you got it. looks sick
BUT gotta ask whats with the inflatable banana?

 

[VikS]

nice tank! glad you got it. looks sick
BUT gotta ask whats with the inflatable banana?

Lol, it’s a dog toy/pillow.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Sweet! Quick put together on the stand!!

 

[VikS]

Sweet! Quick put together on the stand!!

Did you have an issue with the end caps? They don’t stay put on mine. Other than that the stand was quick assemble, probably took 1-2 hours.

 

[Devaji]

Did you have an issue with the end caps? They don’t stay put on mine. Other than that the stand was quick assemble, probably took 1-2 hours.

nice man RS stand took me a lot longer that that.
now just gotta get some friends over to get the tank up there.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Did you have an issue with the end caps? They don’t stay put on mine. Other than that the stand was quick assemble, probably took 1-2 hours.

Mine is still in the box while i finish the garage/man cave. I've put together a 20 gallon and a 25 gallon lagoon before though. I think the end caps mostly just stay via gravity on the top and being sat on by the stand on the bottom. Once in place not a big deal because you'll never see them again, but some do seem tighter than others while setting up. Probably just a variance in the plastic end cap or alluminum during manufacturing.

Overall i REALLY like the stand!

Toss some coconut oil on the door locking mechanisma and plates... ive found that keeps rust at bay.... (its magnetic so i dont think they can use alluminum or stainless)..