200G IM EXT (First tank ever)

[vittpsu21]

That part is the air inlet tubing for the Venturi; the pump mixes air and water together; drawn through that Venturi!

The pump will have more load on it when only sucking in water, which may have caused the error message above!

yeah the pump wasn't even like starting until I unplugged it, could it cause that too maybe?

 

[UncommonSense]

yeah the pump wasn't even like starting until I unplugged it, could it cause that too maybe?

I doubt it… it should have at least tried to run… you’ve got a new one on the way at least!

 

[vittpsu21]

I doubt it… it should have at least tried to run… you’ve got a new one on the way at least!

I had to like triple check, thought maybe I had the piece backwards or something just definitely weird, but yeah glad a new one is on the way. I did try to turn it back on again and it instantly went on so at the very least it will work this way until it arrives!

I did my 2ppm test yesterday for ammonia, I figured it would pass but I tested today and got 1.06 Ammon and 0.25 nitrite so seems like the tank is not quite there yet

 

[vittpsu21]

I will also say this for the skimmer, it seems nice and has a lot of tunable parts but man could they include anyyyy instructions with it at the $900 price tag? I found myself looking at pictures on the internet to see what went where, lol

 

[Grallster]

Sicce customer service is top notch and 5 year warranty. I don’t have the PSK but they are the only return pumps I run.

 

[vittpsu21]

Sicce customer service is top notch and 5 year warranty. I don’t have the PSK but they are the only return pumps I run.

Yeah they had me bypass the controller to debug and made sure power was at the brick. Asked for an address and receipt and that was it! I don’t think they will ship it out until Monday because they are gone for weekend and I didn’t hear back but still pretty good

 

[vittpsu21]

Alright, we are officially cycled, I also have completed my first 30% water change following the cycle and boy was that a first time experience! I’m glad I bought the python for changing water because that sure woulda been way worse without it!

On a side note I ordered my copepods and phytoplankton late last week and should get it Wednesday or Thursday this week. Since my sponge filter still wouldn’t be good enough to do my own quarantine I have went ahead and bought my first set of fish pre quarantined and will wait for those to ship! The plan is to do all my own after this as the sponge filter will be good to go and I have all the meds on hand!


If anyone has any suggestions on things I should look at or do before the fish arrive please feel free to let me know! I will be taking some salinity measurements tonight once things settle after the water change! I’m pretty sure that I may need to adjust one way or another but we shall see!

Some of my takeaways from today are that I will likely get the saltwater ready the night before and not the day of. I figure more time to heat up and make sure my mix is good is probably a smart choice! I also am mid doing research on when I will want to purchase chaeto as I know too early would be bad! So for now the refug light and live rock will stay down there for the pods until I’m ready!

 

[vittpsu21]

Oh! I also used my flipper max for the first time, that thing will take some getting used to! I stayed clear of the silicone so I probably will need some solution for the corners to clean!

 

[Kasrift]

Alright, we are officially cycled, I also have completed my first 30% water change following the cycle and boy was that a first time experience! I’m glad I bought the python for changing water because that sure woulda been way worse without it!

On a side note I ordered my copepods and phytoplankton late last week and should get it Wednesday or Thursday this week. Since my sponge filter still wouldn’t be good enough to do my own quarantine I have went ahead and bought my first set of fish pre quarantined and will wait for those to ship! The plan is to do all my own after this as the sponge filter will be good to go and I have all the meds on hand!


If anyone has any suggestions on things I should look at or do before the fish arrive please feel free to let me know! I will be taking some salinity measurements tonight once things settle after the water change! I’m pretty sure that I may need to adjust one way or another but we shall see!

Some of my takeaways from today are that I will likely get the saltwater ready the night before and not the day of. I figure more time to heat up and make sure my mix is good is probably a smart choice! I also am mid doing research on when I will want to purchase chaeto as I know too early would be bad! So for now the refug light and live rock will stay down there for the pods until I’m ready!

Just make sure to check the salinity for the fish that arrive. They often ship at 1.019 instead of 1.025. Awesome to hear you are almost live with fish! What are you adding first?

 

[vittpsu21]

Just make sure to check the salinity for the fish that arrive. They often ship at 1.019 instead of 1.025. Awesome to hear you are almost live with fish! What are you adding first?

I tried to keep it pretty simple, so this plus my initial clean up crew (the lfs was out of them should get them Thursday) but I was planning on 6-8 trochus, 10 nassarius, 8 cerith, 3 astrea... I keep goin gback and forth on hermits...

 

[Kasrift]

I tried to keep it pretty simple, so this plus my initial clean up crew (the lfs was out of them should get them Thursday) but I was planning on 6-8 trochus, 10 nassarius, 8 cerith, 3 astrea... I keep goin gback and forth on hermits...

Are you ordering from Dr. Reef or pre quarantined fish?

 

[vittpsu21]

Are you ordering from Dr. Reef or pre quarantined fish?

both, he is who I ordered from but he is also doing the quarantining, just for the first set! I will be doing all my own quarantine in the 40 gallon after that

 

[OctaviusBrine]

Welcome to the IM club I have the 200 EXT peninsula and couldn’t be happier!

 

[jrawk1120]

Well we are up and wired, connected, and tested. The lights still gonna be off for a while as we are cycling but at least they are up! Unsure if I’ll want a third light or not, when I put the lights on they seemed ok but likely only time will tell. I’m still fairly certain I’ll order the extended arms no matter what just to get a little more range into the middle though they are not too far off tbh

I recently built a frame out of 2020 aluminum and let me tell you, it’s fantastic.

Could mount a couple rails to the ceiling and hang from that, add, subtract, shift, all you want.

 

[vittpsu21]

I recently built a frame out of 2020 aluminum and let me tell you, it’s fantastic.

Could mount a couple rails to the ceiling and hang from that, add, subtract, shift, all you want.

Yeah I really struggled with the lights, I didn't like the first solution so I scrapped it, held on to the original mounts. Then got the rail and some 3d printed hangers for now

 

[vittpsu21]

Well the pods will arrive today, and then I am hoping my LFS will have cleanup crew in stock (they said today or tomorrow). I didn't trust the refractometer it just wasn't honing in right and changing between calibrations pretty frequently, all in 1 set period. So I went and bought the digital one from Hanna, well let me tell you... it came back as 31.8 instead of the 35 my refractometer was reading. So now just adjusting the levels a bit to be right before the pods arrive and the inverts go in!

 

[Kasrift]

Well the pods will arrive today, and then I am hoping my LFS will have cleanup crew in stock (they said today or tomorrow). I didn't trust the refractometer it just wasn't honing in right and changing between calibrations pretty frequently, all in 1 set period. So I went and bought the digital one from Hanna, well let me tell you... it came back as 31.8 instead of the 35 my refractometer was reading. So now just adjusting the levels a bit to be right before the pods arrive and the inverts go in!

If you are already getting quarantined fish, make sure the clean up crew comes from a fishless system or QT them. Ich can encyst on their shells during that phase of their lifecycle.

 

[vittpsu21]

If you are already getting quarantined fish, make sure the clean up crew comes from a fishless system or QT them. Ich can encyst on their shells during that phase of their lifecycle.

yeah the lfs has them separated so I should be ok I think but can also just qt. With inverts though you can't use copper from what i've researched so I am mostly just watching them then?

 

[Kasrift]

yeah the lfs has them separated so I should be ok I think but can also just qt. With inverts though you can't use copper from what i've researched so I am mostly just watching them then?

No copper, just a separate system. I just got an order in from Reef Cleaners and scrubbed them all with a toothbrush and they are in a 2.5g Aquaeon.

 

[vittpsu21]

No copper, just a separate system. I just got an order in from Reef Cleaners and scrubbed them all with a toothbrush and they are in a 2.5g Aquaeon.

Ah ty! good to know!