Innovative Marine 150 EXT with a 8 Foot Frag Tank

xiaoxiy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
809
Reaction score
1,350
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Some of you guys may remember my SPS Canyon Nano Reef. I've had ups and downs with that tank including change of aquascape. The tank peaked around May of 2019 with a west Mariculture aquascape. The coloration of the tank was crazy, and the acropora were growing great.



Shortly afterwards, the tank crashed. While I was unable to pinpoint the cause of the crash, I was able to eventually get things stabilized out. Unfortunately, the damage had been done. I had basically lost half of my acropora, and the other half had completely browned out. I was pretty disappointed in myself and ended up rescaping the tank. The tank was on auto pilot.



The 34 gallon cube started feeling packed and dense, and I started eyeing larger tanks. One tank that caught my eye was the Fiji Cube 81g EXT tank. It was an aquarium kit that had the footprint of 36x24x22, and had an external overflow. I had previously only heard about Fiji Cubes in passing, but had never seen the quality of their tanks in person. After doing some research, I learned that they were based out of Minneapolis MN, only a few hours away from me. I reached out to some fellow reefers who had good things to say about the tank. After messaging them on facebook, the owner of the company replied within 30 minutes. I ended going on what felt like a limb, and ordering the tank.

To my pleasant surprise, Fiji Cube's customer service remained top notch. Many of my facebook messages were responded to within hours, even on weekends and some nights as well. Two weeks after ordering the tank, it was on the way to my house.



On arrival, the tank packaging looked fantastic. Everything was shipped on a pallet via Freight. The tank was protected in a well-packaged cardboard box with styrofoam spacers, which was in turn situated within a sturdy MDF container.



I was amazed by the quality of the tank, stand, sump and ATO. All five panes of the tank consisted of 1/2 inch low iron glass and looked crystal clear. The stand was made from plywood and professionally finished. Moreover, the ATO resevoir and ATO lid were also made of ultra clear low-iron glass as well!



With some help from a close friend, I was able to get the tank moved to my fish tank room and immediately started working on the plumbing.



Shortly after leak testing the tank, I transferred everything from my old Red Sea Reefer 170 over to the new tank.






My eventual goal is for the tank to have minimal rockwork, with huge acropora colonies that occupy the top of the tank. Thanks for tagging on to the beginning of this awesome adventure!

 
OP
OP
xiaoxiy

xiaoxiy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
809
Reaction score
1,350
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
any updates? do you like the 800gph overflow or do you wish it had the 1200gph overflow box?
did you go with the 20" sump or 24"?
1200gph overflow and 24 inch sump. The ATO had to be placed outside of the stand however, to make room for a kalkwasser reactor.

The tank has been plugging along steadily!
IMG_3132.JPG

IMG_3133.JPG

IMG_3135.JPG

IMG_3136.JPG
 

Blue Spot Octopus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
3,315
Reaction score
1,395
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Very nice, I have their 44" sump. How is the quality of the stand, plywood vs MDF, paint or veneer?
 
OP
OP
xiaoxiy

xiaoxiy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
809
Reaction score
1,350
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Very nice, I have their 44" sump. How is the quality of the stand, plywood vs MDF, paint or veneer?
It's a semi-gloss paint over plywood. I like the stand a lot. It feels much sturdier than my Red Sea Reefer 170 sump.

I got my hands on my spouse's new Iphone and took some new pictures of the tank. Man.. these pictures are so much more crisp than the ones I'm used to taking. I've got so much green/purple coraline on my sand :eek:. Maybe I need to get a couple tuxedo urchin.

IMG_8067.JPG


IMG_8743.JPG
 

Blue Spot Octopus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
3,315
Reaction score
1,395
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Do you have a Giesmeann Infinity over your tank now? What are your bulb choices, I have that light as well.
 
OP
OP
xiaoxiy

xiaoxiy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
809
Reaction score
1,350
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Do you have a Giesmeann Infinity over your tank now? What are your bulb choices, I have that light as well.
I do! I'm running Pheonix 14k on a M80 ballast and 2x Purple Plus and 2x Blue Plus as supplements. My photoperiod is as such:

TimeHalideT5
8:00-12:00ONOFF
12:00-17:00ONON
17:00-21:00OFFON

Following! Love the double streams!
Glad to have you along for the ride. I love the streams.
 

Blue Spot Octopus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
3,315
Reaction score
1,395
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I ran the Phoniex 14K and funny I found it to be very yellow, it needed a lot supplementation to keep it viewable, do you find that true as well. I also run a M80 ballast.
 

Blue Spot Octopus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
3,315
Reaction score
1,395
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
That's funny because I bought 3 bulbs, two 250 and 1 150 and all three of them are very yellow, I wonder if they were fakes, and these were bought years ago. The 250 are run on M80 ballast and the 150 is ran from the Giesemann ballast.
 
OP
OP
xiaoxiy

xiaoxiy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
809
Reaction score
1,350
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
That's funny because I bought 3 bulbs, two 250 and 1 150 and all three of them are very yellow, I wonder if they were fakes, and these were bought years ago. The 250 are run on M80 ballast and the 150 is ran from the Giesemann ballast.
That's so odd. There is absolutely no hint of yellow in mine.

Two bulbs that I found way too yellow were the Ushio 14k and the Giesemann Megachrome Coral (14k).
 

Blue Spot Octopus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
3,315
Reaction score
1,395
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I guess I will have to buy some Reef Brite XHO to save the day. Back on the hunt.
 

Blue Spot Octopus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
3,315
Reaction score
1,395
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I will post a picture of my tank, dry with a piece of white paper to show my Infinity light. Thanks for posting your experience. Your tank looks great and will only get better. Happy Reefing.
 
OP
OP
xiaoxiy

xiaoxiy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
809
Reaction score
1,350
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Here is an update of 2 months worth of growth on some of my faster growing acropora. The dates of the pictures are Feb 18th, March 18th and April 17th.

Blue Bonnet 2-18-2020.JPG
Blue Bonnet 3-18-2020.JPG
Blue Bonnet 4-17-2020.JPG

Millepora 2-18-2020.JPG
Millepora 3-18-2020.JPG
Millepora 4-17-2020.JPG

Pink Floyd 2-18-2020.JPG
Pink Floyd 3-18-2020.JPG
Pink Floyd 4-17-2020.JPG

Pink Lemonade 2-18-2020.JPG
Pink Lemonade 3-18-2020.JPG
Pink Lemonade 4-17-2020.JPG


For this acro, below is 1 months of growth (March 18th to April 17th)
Something Sinister 3-18-2020.JPG
Something Sinister 4-17-2020.JPG
 

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: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top