Defasum’s IM - 50 EXT home office build

defasum

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Starting my 2nd reef tank setup & build. I started about 5 years ago with my first tank. It is a 90 Gallon Planet Aquariums and I have learned a lot with that tank. I have overcome many of the typical issues with the help of R2R, asking questions but mainly researching the forums most of my questions were answered by other posts. I am thankful that there is such a great knowledge base here that is available.

I am trying my hand at an SPS dominant reef this time. I have been mostly successful with LPS and some easier to keep SPS.

I ordered an Innovative Marine 50 EXT with black stand and it finally got here a few day ago. I have quite a bit of equipment that I have accumulated that I will be reusing for this build.

List of equipment that I have on hand:
Skimz UP-22 3 chamber sump
Eshopps skimmer
SCA skimmer
Current-USA eFlux DC pump
Ecotech XR30-blue light
Aqua top heater with temp controller
Two Current-USA wavemaker pumps
Jebao 45 watt UV sterilizer
Jebao 4-head dosing pump
Approximately 50 LBs of dry live rock
Neptune ATO (needs a new sensor)

I immediately put the stand together and quickly realized there will not be enough space for the the equipment so I started building a side cabinet. Picked up an unfinished kitchen cabinet from Home Depot and painted it black. There is also no easy way to mount anything to the inside of the IM cabinet since it is aluminum. I intend to keep the sump and reactors and mostly wet equipment in the IM cabinet and the electronics and dosing bottles in the side cabinet. There wont be any room in the cabinet for the ATO container either so I may put it in the cabinet or to the right of the tank since I’ll have to top it off weekly.

Ordered the plumbing from BRS. Went with orange to match the orange on the sump. I have been cycling the rock for 2 months, seeding with Frits turbo start and simulated feeding with pellets.

Can’t wait to get this wet!
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Peace River

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It looks like you are off to a good start! Congratulations on the new adventure!
 
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defasum

defasum

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Got the plumbing done. Decided to go ahead and build a manifold. One of the frustrations on my other tank is having 3 different pumps in the sump for reactors and such. I know I wont need it for a while but its better to have it and not use it than to need it and not have it.

next up is a leak test.

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defasum

defasum

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Tap water leak test done. Had a small leak at the return barb but it has been fixed now. Tap water has been drained and it's ready for the rocks, sand & salt water. Purchased an ATO container and picking up the ATO at the local LFS soon.

I couldn't get my current-usa wave pumps working so I'm going to have to buy something else. I noticed the specs on the MP-10 for max glass thickness is .375 and my back glass is .5 so it will probably not stay on. the MP-40 is to powerful for a 50 gallon tank IMO. Anyone have any suggestions for wave pumps?
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defasum

defasum

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Thanks for the Nero5 suggestions. I made the plunge and bought 2 of them.

let the tank run through a cycle for a few weeks and added 3 blue-green chromis today.

I also had a problem on my 90 gallon tank where my peppermint shrimp starting feeding on my plate coral that I have had for 5 years : ( when I got it it was a 1 inch frag. I got the shrimp to eat the aptasia, which they did very well for about a month. suddenly they found my plate corral. so disappointing.

Luckily I had this tank to move it to but I don't know if it's going to survive.
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defasum

defasum

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Added a bubble magus protein skimmer today. I'm a big fan of the Nyos skimmers but this skimmer is half the price and was recommended by a friend.
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I've gotta do some work on my 90-gallon. I've got dosing lines I have to route because they are unsightly IMO . I'll be trying the BRS hybrid balling method on it. Tired of manually dosing trace elements.
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A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 76 37.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 69 34.3%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 12.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 29 14.4%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
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