200 Gallon Nuvo EXT Peninsula Build (mixed reef)

[Reef Altitude]

Very nice build… I have something similar in the works and was thinking of almost an exact copy of how you hung the lights. The only difference I was considering is using a hinge to mount the bar to the wall so pulling the cable up would “fold” the whole thing up for maintenance. Nice to see that a concept I was thinking of looks great on your tank.

The 8020 is 4.5 inches wide, it weights around 30lbs. I used two of their floor mount brackets directly into a stud with 4 more 150 lbs wall anchors. A little paranoid sure, but I don't worry about it falling.



With the kessils I hung them high enough that they do not interfere for maintenance. If you can skip the hinge I would but if you are mounting radions 8 inches of the water it would probably be really helpful!

 

[Devaji]

build is coming along nicely!
another question for you. can you get us the dims. inside the stand I would like to plan out a sump system. wondering if two 40br would fit side by side?

I found this on IM website but not sure it is real world useable space or not?
Interior DIMS: Length: 24.5" Width: 66.5" Height: 33.75"

 

[Sean Clark]

build is coming along nicely!
another question for you. can you get us the dims. inside the stand I would like to plan out a sump system. wondering if two 40br would fit side by side?

I found this on IM website but not sure it is real world useable space or not?
Interior DIMS: Length: 24.5" Width: 66.5" Height: 33.75"

The actual usable free area inside the stand is 68x27x34.5 the only * to this is the door closer magnets over hang into the stand about 1.25 inches at every door access. This is likely where the 24.5x66.5 comes from.
I don't see how two 40 breeders could fit if they are 36x18x16.

 

[BlingityBling]

The 8020 is 4.5 inches wide, it weights around 30lbs. I used two of their floor mount brackets directly into a stud with 4 more 150 lbs wall anchors. A little paranoid sure, but I don't worry about it falling.



With the kessils I hung them high enough that they do not interfere for maintenance. If you can skip the hinge I would but if you are mounting radions 8 inches of the water it would probably be really helpful!

Sounds like good advice. I’m not completely set on it yet but definitely leaning towards the hinge idea as I will be using radions. From what I’ve read their ideal height is 9-11” high but I’m also thinking I may put them at 12” from the top of the tank. My 180 has three gen 4’s 7” above the tank because of a canopy and they never run above 65% overall power and have plenty of par. I can’t imagine a few more inches having impact that negative. Devon from the YouTube reefdudes channel has 4 radions hanging on the 8020 cantilevered off just one end with no cable so I’m not worried about strength. also Thinking of running the cables down the inside of the wall for a cleaner look but might do the reefdudes versio, not sure, plenty of time to figure it out as I doubt I’ll see the sump until late January at the earliest.

 

[BlingityBling]

build is coming along nicely!
another question for you. can you get us the dims. inside the stand I would like to plan out a sump system. wondering if two 40br would fit side by side?

I found this on IM website but not sure it is real world useable space or not?
Interior DIMS: Length: 24.5" Width: 66.5" Height: 33.75"

Sean said it perfect… the space is a touch bigger but the door magnets extend inside to shrink the footprint of something like a sump. You could remove the bottoms and still use the top magnets but you’d probably only gain an inch. I’m not going to have any electronics under it. I’m going through the wall into a bedroom closet for apex and dosers and such. Only wet stuff like reactors and uv will be with my sump.

 

[LBReefer]

For the next project we got to work on how to deal with lights for a 18ft ceiling and a hood-less tank. The trick is that the whole thing is sleek, clean and neat so there is nowhere to hide lights or cords. There is also no great way to hang the lights because the ceiling is way up there. Additionally part of the look is that the tank does not divide the rooms too much because its clear with no obstructions.

We settled on 3 A500X lights because they are powerful, compact, and resemble something you might have over a bar or island in your house anyways. Also, the light can be hung high off the water with the 55 degree lens so its not in your line of sight. I also have a spectral x controller anyways so that is nice.

Drawing some sketches we settled on doing a cantilevered beam off the wall and one cable stay. We ordered a piece of 8020 that is 4.5 inches wide to hide all the power bricks on top of. This thing is pretty rigid but also kind of heavy. We used L brackets and very long screws into studs to feel good about holding it up.

Here we got the brackets bolted to the wall:

And finally got the beam and cable stay installed:

The first A500 showed up and we had to see how it all looked:

While we wait for the last 2 A500x's we are using the light from our old tank.

And we have to clean up all the wires, but not really a point until the permanent lights are here.

This was a really nifty idea. I wish I had that skill/creativity.

 

[Devaji]

The actual usable free area inside the stand is 68x27x34.5 the only * to this is the door closer magnets over hang into the stand about 1.25 inches at every door access. This is likely where the 24.5x66.5 comes from.
I don't see how two 40 breeders could fit if they are 36x18x16.

Sean said it perfect… the space is a touch bigger but the door magnets extend inside to shrink the footprint of something like a sump. You could remove the bottoms and still use the top magnets but you’d probably only gain an inch. I’m not going to have any electronics under it. I’m going through the wall into a bedroom closet for apex and dosers and such. Only wet stuff like reactors and uv will be with my sump.

thanks guys, i figured two 40br side by side would prob. not fly. might just get the new IM sump but not a ton of info on them as there so new.

 

[Harpo]

Sorry if I missed this but did you design the stand or did you have someone engineer if for you?

 

[Reef Altitude]

Sorry if I missed this but did you design the stand or did you have someone engineer if for you?

It's IMs aluminum profile stand. Came with the tank.

 

[Moomee]

The first thing we did after ordering the tank was get a 60 breeder to be the sump. Fortunately there was a half off sale going on and we got it for around 80 dollars. We also got a baffle kit and some black silicone.

The frame through the middle of the tank caused some concern for fitting in a Reefmat 1200 and a large skimmer.

There is a fairly evenly spaced filter, skimmer, and refugium section. The first piece got siliconed in very nicely. Patience and working under the brace did cause some slightly less neat looking silicone joints.

Overall it took a couple of hours to plan out and install the baffles.
Finished product:

What baffle kit are you using? Looks great!

 

[Reef Altitude]

What baffle kit are you using? Looks great!

I used the Fiji Cube 40 baffle kit off BRS. It fits pretty well, the one panel interfered with the slightly thicker top frame but it is acrylic so it was easy to shave a 1/4 inch notch into the top. The 40 and 60 are the same end dimensions so everything fits nicely.

 

[Reef Altitude]

I created a thread on how to light this thing and updated the progress on it here: Lighting 70 inch peninsula mixed reef.

Managing 10 plus feet of cords with a power brick in the middle was the hardest part of getting it all set up. We did end up getting all of our Kessil A500x lights during the black friday sale. We also ran Romex up the wall and installed an outlet right near the beam so things look pretty clean.

Check it out!

 

[Reef Altitude]

Once we started getting things up and running for a while we had to get our ATO going. We first drilled some holes in a 10 gallon aqueaon but it consumed the water in 3 days. It was sitting on top of the sump and holding up the pipes for a few days while everything got tested out.

After we got hangers for all the pipes installed we build a little temporary stand and put it on the end of the tank.

I kept searching for a way to not use the end of the stand so i could preserve it for storage and access but just could not come up with anything. Eventually, I realized that a 20 High would fit in this space at the end almost perfectly and sit just above the sump height.

Of course I broke the first one drilling it out. The drill got just the slightest bit sideways coming back out of the hole and cracked the whole side. So back to petco i went... My half of tank ended up costing full price.

Once it was all drilled we had a bulkhead in the bottom and used a float valve at the very top for filling direct out of my RODI. It takes around 3 hours so the float valve adds a safety net against forgetting its running.

As you can see we built a shelf for it to sit on. Our three year old picked bright yellow paint which was an excellent choice!

We get around 8 days out of it in the winter here so that is probably worst case capacity.

 

[Reef Altitude]

We are getting to the home stretch on equipment. With the lights, we ordered a reefdose 4 and some simplicity modular containers. I wanted to get the aquavitro sentia dose because the modules meant i could have 5 or 6 or 7 heads as needed, but ended up doing the reefdose because it uses the same app as the reefmat and the smart features of the sentia dose were designed for their additives. It also ended up costing much more than the reefdose 4 (on sale at thanksgiving plus 10% off my order coupon code). I really like the app and it is very easy to use. The BRS additive mixes are all programed into it and it is pretty quiet.

Once it was here we needed to select a location. There is room to the side of the sump but it is very hard to access. The yellow tank the auto top off tank sits on has just enough room to set the containers on and place the pump next to them.

We also managed the tubes pretty well all things considered. Two soft tubes fit in a large command wire hook. The tube holders work well with command strips too.

Finally, i used red seas drip tips and the IM cradle XL to hold the tubes. The nubs create a swollen spot that the holder grips pretty well. This all drops in post filter and the outlet jet from the skimmer mixes things really well.

The last thing we added was a 25' long 3/4 inch tube on one of the tee'd off valves from the return pumps. It reaches the sink for easy water changes. The coil fits nicely in that spot behind the sump. It dumped about 10 gallons in 90 seconds which is awesome!

Our next steps are all livestock at this point and letting things settle out.

For as long as I can resist getting new coral and fish.

Which is probably around 10 days.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I like the color-coded tubes you have in your tank!!

 

[Reef Altitude]

Update on fish stock in this tank! It has been running great for around 6 months now and we are finally getting enough fish in here to have some energy.


The Fish:

2 biota yellow tangs
yellow clown gobby
purple tang
2 ocellaris clowns
tomini tang
fire fish

dragon gobby

timor wrasse

six line wrasse
tail spot gobby

The six line is never going to let me get a picture.

The tangs on the other hand... are hungry. ALWAYS.

They cannot stay away from the end of the tank if someone comes over there. Same with the timor wrasse.

So far these are a pretty fun group of fish, the tangs are all fat (purple is getting there, only had him a few weeks) and seem happy.

The wrasse is so inquisitive. He will eat food about 1 inch from your hand while you are putting it in the tank.

**apologize for the super blue light...**

I would like to add a gold rim tang or another bristle tooth type (white tail or kole yellow eye) and several angels. We are thinking a female tail spot and some kind of centropyge. Also a bangii cardinal, the spots fluoresce so much in the light and its a cool look. I also want to add a bunch of different gobies and blennies so there are large active fish from far away and then as you get closer the tank is "teaming" with activity.

What do you guys recommend for a pretty energetic mixed reef?

Plenty of time to decide, trying to keep this as a journey and not rush.

 

[Devaji]

Update on fish stock in this tank! It has been running great for around 6 months now and we are finally getting enough fish in here to have some energy.


The Fish:

2 biota yellow tangs
yellow clown gobby
purple tang
2 ocellaris clowns
tomini tang
fire fish

dragon gobby

timor wrasse

six line wrasse
tail spot gobby

The six line is never going to let me get a picture.

The tangs on the other hand... are hungry. ALWAYS.

They cannot stay away from the end of the tank if someone comes over there. Same with the timor wrasse.

So far these are a pretty fun group of fish, the tangs are all fat (purple is getting there, only had him a few weeks) and seem happy.

The wrasse is so inquisitive. He will eat food about 1 inch from your hand while you are putting it in the tank.

**apologize for the super blue light...**

I would like to add a gold rim tang or another bristle tooth type (white tail or kole yellow eye) and several angels. We are thinking a female tail spot and some kind of centropyge. Also a bangii cardinal, the spots fluoresce so much in the light and its a cool look. I also want to add a bunch of different gobies and blennies so there are large active fish from far away and then as you get closer the tank is "teaming" with activity.

What do you guys recommend for a pretty energetic mixed reef?

Plenty of time to decide, trying to keep this as a journey and not rush.

tank is coming along nicely!
hows the yellow and purple mixing? did you add them at same time? any aggression?

same question with the six line and timor, most say never mix a 6 line with other wrasses? sad as I am a wrasse guy and love the 6 lines but they can be mean. guessing the size of the tank and rock work is keeping everyone happy.

I love your thought of teeming with life. with bit fish then smaller as you look closer. great idea!!

I am a big fan of the flame angel and its on the list for my 200 IM
so smaller fish tail spots are a cool fish along with a yasha goby pistol shrimp would be cool if they made a burrow right at the short end.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Update on fish stock in this tank! It has been running great for around 6 months now and we are finally getting enough fish in here to have some energy.


The Fish:

2 biota yellow tangs
yellow clown gobby
purple tang
2 ocellaris clowns
tomini tang
fire fish

dragon gobby

timor wrasse

six line wrasse
tail spot gobby

The six line is never going to let me get a picture.

The tangs on the other hand... are hungry. ALWAYS.

They cannot stay away from the end of the tank if someone comes over there. Same with the timor wrasse.

So far these are a pretty fun group of fish, the tangs are all fat (purple is getting there, only had him a few weeks) and seem happy.

The wrasse is so inquisitive. He will eat food about 1 inch from your hand while you are putting it in the tank.

**apologize for the super blue light...**

I would like to add a gold rim tang or another bristle tooth type (white tail or kole yellow eye) and several angels. We are thinking a female tail spot and some kind of centropyge. Also a bangii cardinal, the spots fluoresce so much in the light and its a cool look. I also want to add a bunch of different gobies and blennies so there are large active fish from far away and then as you get closer the tank is "teaming" with activity.

What do you guys recommend for a pretty energetic mixed reef?

Plenty of time to decide, trying to keep this as a journey and not rush.

Love the way your Timor Wrasse looks!

 

[Om84]

Great build. Congrats.
How do you like the Biota Yellow Tangs? Did you purchase them small? Are they coloring up? I just purchased a trio but as known they are very pale. They are healthy otherwise. Just hoping they will color up like that Hawaiian yellows we are used to. Looking forward to your updates.

 

[Reef Altitude]

tank is coming along nicely!
hows the yellow and purple mixing? did you add them at same time? any aggression?

same question with the six line and timor, most say never mix a 6 line with other wrasses? sad as I am a wrasse guy and love the 6 lines but they can be mean. guessing the size of the tank and rock work is keeping everyone happy.

I love your thought of teeming with life. with bit fish then smaller as you look closer. great idea!!

I am a big fan of the flame angel and its on the list for my 200 IM
so smaller fish tail spots are a cool fish along with a yasha goby pistol shrimp would be cool if they made a burrow right at the short end.

The yellows came about 4 months ago, the purple around 2 weeks ago. Everyone is getting along fine, i think having so many and it being a pretty large tank helps a lot. There are no ripped up fins or anything. They do chase each other around some. Everyone is fat and happy looking. The yellows did beat pick at each other for a couple weeks off and on when I added them.

Same deal for the six line and timor, i had heard not to do any wrasses with the six line but the timor and him dont care about each other one bit.