Dan's Innovative Marine 200 EXT

[Dannyboy402]

Hey guys! I decided to post a build thread here for the first time in a long time haha. I posted this in the photography forum but I think this tank needs it's own build thread since it's my current tank and I'd like to share what I go through from time to time.

Around November of 2023 I started contemplating getting an upgrade. I told the wife my idea and she thought it would be a good idea and that because she'll get her kitchen back haha. I was looking at a few different tanks and I decided on a Innovative Marine 200 EXT. This tank would go into the basement just because of the weight. I didnt want to stress out the floor and tile in the kitchen. I could also finally automate my water changes relatively easily since the water mixing station was in the laundry room to the right of the tank.
So I ordered the tank and while I was waiting I ordered everything else. I decided to upgrade the lights from AI Hydras to Ecotech Radion's. I also picked up some gently used MP40's for this tank.
Moving this behemoth was quite the task. It took 4 grown men to move this tank from the garage to the basement.

Tank on the stand! Ready to get this thing plumbed and full of water!

Getting things transferred was stressful but since I planned it out I had only lost 1 acro frag. My body definitely hurt but it was worth it! I don't remember how much rock that's in here but I did end up getting more rocks for more acros haha. The addiction is real!

Here's a photo dump from recent pics!

Mystic Sunset Montipora....Pretty but takes over really fast. I wish I either isolated this coral or never put it in.

Cheech! The Potters Angel! The acro next to him was a piece I fragged off the main colony. I kind of left it on the sandbed and it grew into another colony haha.

My wife loves cowfish so I took the risk and bought her one for Christmas. Her name is cheese and she's very well behaved. Loves her nori and LRS. Occasionally I'll spot her blowing on the sandbed to find bristleworms to eat.

Remember those mushrooms I had a friend hold onto for me? I still have them and they're looking the best they've ever have. They changed color over the years but here it is today. I still can't find anywhere else that has these since I want more of them haha.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

incredible!! you take amazing pics! love your tank!

 

[Dannyboy402]

incredible!! you take amazing pics! love your tank!

Thank you! I try to get better every time I'm behind the camera!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

youve piqued my interest in the cowfish!

 

[Dannyboy402]

For the past month I battled dino in the tank. It was completely preventable but I got it handled in a weeks time. If I had to guess how it started was that the series of events created the perfect storm for this to come and show its face. First ingredient to this mess was low nutrients. I've been battling low nutrients and no matter how much I fed my tank (4 to 5 times a day) I couldn't get the nitrates and phosphates into a healthy range. My nitrates and phosphates were always undetectable or low with Salifert and Hana Checkers. Then I went to change out the bulb on my UV sterilizer and I ended up breaking the quartz sleeve. So I took the UV sterilizer offline while I was waiting on the replacement sleeve to come in.
I think the UV being down let the Ostreopsis really take hold of a small spot on my sandbed and frag racks. To other reefers out there, really knowing your tank, curiosity and not panicking helps in early intervention. So knowing what I knew about dino I went out and bought neonitrate and started dosing the tank until I hit about 7 or 8 ppm in nitrate. For phosphate I whipped out ReefRoids haha. I thought the corals would appreciate the extra food. They weren't dying but they just weren't as colored up as before. I only had to nitrate and reefroids for about 3 days until they held on their own. I also stopped collecting skimmate for the time being and dosed microbacter7 the duration of the treatment and continued after I didn't see dino anymore.
Then the quartz sleeve showed up and I quickly got the UV up and running. Instead of being in the sump like it usually was I put it directly into the display. The pump was hovering above the spot of dino on the sandbed. The tank ran like this for about 3 more days until I saw the string of dino turn white and dissipate.
I continued to watch the sandbed and frag rack for any signs of returning and then returned the UV sterilizer back to the sump where it belonged.
I hope this brings some hope to others who are battling dinos!

July 31st: Here are my pet dino's under the microscope. I think most reefers should add a microscope to their tools!

And here's another sample of water after 5 days. The concentration of dino had greatly reduced in numbers.

 

[Dannyboy402]

youve piqued my interest in the cowfish!

Haha I was pretty hesitant on getting one but my wife loves them. I took the risk and had my LFS get one in for me and quarantine it before I put it in my tank. At first "Cheese" the cowfish wasn't too keen on the flow in the tank but she got used to it and doesn't really struggle anymore. She had to learn how to eat as well. At first I used to feed the other fish their food and then hand feed her to make sure she was eating. Now I don't have to hand feed her anymore and she's the first to get to the food. She didn't bother any clean up crew including my sexy shrimp.

 

[MiltonMMLN]

What incredible images and what a beautiful reef! I'll definitely be checking it out; the animals look fabulous! Congratulations :)

 

[Dannyboy402]

What incredible images and what a beautiful reef! I'll definitely be checking it out; the animals look fabulous! Congratulations :)

Thank you! I'll try and keep up on the posting as much as I can!

 

[Dannyboy402]

Here's some coral pictures to feed your eyeballs :)

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hey guys! I decided to post a build thread here for the first time in a long time haha. I posted this in the photography forum but I think this tank needs it's own build thread since it's my current tank and I'd like to share what I go through from time to time.

Around November of 2023 I started contemplating getting an upgrade. I told the wife my idea and she thought it would be a good idea and that because she'll get her kitchen back haha. I was looking at a few different tanks and I decided on a Innovative Marine 200 EXT. This tank would go into the basement just because of the weight. I didnt want to stress out the floor and tile in the kitchen. I could also finally automate my water changes relatively easily since the water mixing station was in the laundry room to the right of the tank.
So I ordered the tank and while I was waiting I ordered everything else. I decided to upgrade the lights from AI Hydras to Ecotech Radion's. I also picked up some gently used MP40's for this tank.
Moving this behemoth was quite the task. It took 4 grown men to move this tank from the garage to the basement.

Tank on the stand! Ready to get this thing plumbed and full of water!

Getting things transferred was stressful but since I planned it out I had only lost 1 acro frag. My body definitely hurt but it was worth it! I don't remember how much rock that's in here but I did end up getting more rocks for more acros haha. The addiction is real!

Here's a photo dump from recent pics!

Mystic Sunset Montipora....Pretty but takes over really fast. I wish I either isolated this coral or never put it in.

Cheech! The Potters Angel! The acro next to him was a piece I fragged off the main colony. I kind of left it on the sandbed and it grew into another colony haha.

My wife loves cowfish so I took the risk and bought her one for Christmas. Her name is cheese and she's very well behaved. Loves her nori and LRS. Occasionally I'll spot her blowing on the sandbed to find bristleworms to eat.

Remember those mushrooms I had a friend hold onto for me? I still have them and they're looking the best they've ever have. They changed color over the years but here it is today. I still can't find anywhere else that has these since I want more of them haha.

Wow, you really should consider entering Photo of the Month with some of those photos!

 

[Dannyboy402]

Hey guys! I decided to post a build thread here for the first time in a long time haha. I posted this in the photography forum but I think this tank needs it's own build thread since it's my current tank and I'd like to share what I go through from time to time.

Around November of 2023 I started contemplating getting an upgrade. I told the wife my idea and she thought it would be a good idea and that because she'll get her kitchen back haha. I was looking at a few different tanks and I decided on a Innovative Marine 200 EXT. This tank would go into the basement just because of the weight. I didnt want to stress out the floor and tile in the kitchen. I could also finally automate my water changes relatively easily since the water mixing station was in the laundry room to the right of the tank.
So I ordered the tank and while I was waiting I ordered everything else. I decided to upgrade the lights from AI Hydras to Ecotech Radion's. I also picked up some gently used MP40's for this tank.
Moving this behemoth was quite the task. It took 4 grown men to move this tank from the garage to the basement.

Tank on the stand! Ready to get this thing plumbed and full of water!

Getting things transferred was stressful but since I planned it out I had only lost 1 acro frag. My body definitely hurt but it was worth it! I don't remember how much rock that's in here but I did end up getting more rocks for more acros haha. The addiction is real!

Here's a photo dump from recent pics!

Mystic Sunset Montipora....Pretty but takes over really fast. I wish I either isolated this coral or never put it in.

Cheech! The Potters Angel! The acro next to him was a piece I fragged off the main colony. I kind of left it on the sandbed and it grew into another colony haha.

My wife loves cowfish so I took the risk and bought her one for Christmas. Her name is cheese and she's very well behaved. Loves her nori and LRS. Occasionally I'll spot her blowing on the sandbed to find bristleworms to eat.

Remember those mushrooms I had a friend hold onto for me? I still have them and they're looking the best they've ever have. They changed color over the years but here it is today. I still can't find anywhere else that has these since I want more of them haha.

Wow, you really should consider entering Photo of the Month with some of those photos!

Thanks for the compliment! I have entered before and I’ve won twice!

 

[Dannyboy402]

Welp did an oopsie. I got some frags in a few weeks ago and didn't rebase the acros like I usually do. I found flatworms on an acro when I was taking pictures of them. I've been blowing them off daily and catching them so they don't float away. I have two wrasses that should help.
To get ahead of the flatworms I bought a frag tank and i'm going to get most of the small frags out of the tank, dip and rebase. Not how I wanted to start a frag tank but it is what it is!

 

[Dannyboy402]

Quick update!
Got rid of the flatworms by basting the corals daily with a turkey baster and sucking out the flatworms that were floating around. Also a sixline helps as well haha. I thought I was going to lose all of my acros I even went and setup a frag/qt tank for them. It's up and running but I don't have anything in it.

Also about a month ago I lost my Potters Angel aka Cheech. I had him for about 6 years and I know they don't live as long as other fish. He just stopped eating one week and wasn't as active.

Here are some pictures I took the other day! Some of the acro's are mad from having to raise nutrients to combat the dinos in the summer but they're on the mend!

 

[ruxsir]

Beautiful tank!

 

[Dannyboy402]

Thank you!

 

[rdander]

I just got the same IM 200 ext tank and am in the process of setting everything up. Planning to use 4 Radion xr15 on the RMS bar similar to yours. Do you find you get enough light coverage on the 30” wide front to back? What intensity are running them at?

I’m migrating my 75g reef and 90g reef into the 200g tank. So the radions (2 on each tank currently) are moving from those tanks where I run ab+ around 65% intensity with diffusers on.

Thanks for sharing your build experience. Looks awesome!

 

[Dannyboy402]

I just got the same IM 200 ext tank and am in the process of setting everything up. Planning to use 4 Radion xr15 on the RMS bar similar to yours. Do you find you get enough light coverage on the 30” wide front to back? What intensity are running them at?

I’m migrating my 75g reef and 90g reef into the 200g tank. So the radions (2 on each tank currently) are moving from those tanks where I run ab+ around 65% intensity with diffusers on.

Thanks for sharing your build experience. Looks awesome!

I started with 4 xr15’s and recently added another one because I found someone selling two locally for $200! I added one to the 200 and one to the frag tank. I think it’s plenty of light because the frags I cut I leave them at the front of the tank on the sandbed and they grow pretty well. I could reduce some of the shadowing with an AI blade but it’s probably not needed.
Peak intensity is at 60% at mid day and tapers off from there.
I hope this answers your questions!

 

[rdander]

I just got the same IM 200 ext tank and am in the process of setting everything up. Planning to use 4 Radion xr15 on the RMS bar similar to yours. Do you find you get enough light coverage on the 30” wide front to back? What intensity are running them at?

I’m migrating my 75g reef and 90g reef into the 200g tank. So the radions (2 on each tank currently) are moving from those tanks where I run ab+ around 65% intensity with diffusers on.

Thanks for sharing your build experience. Looks awesome!

I started with 4 xr15’s and recently added another one because I found someone selling two locally for $200! I added one to the 200 and one to the frag tank. I think it’s plenty of light because the frags I cut I leave them at the front of the tank on the sandbed and they grow pretty well. I could reduce some of the shadowing with an AI blade but it’s probably not needed.
Peak intensity is at 60% at mid day and tapers off from there.
I hope this answers your questions!

Thank you, definitely does.