Innovative Marine 150 EXT with a 8 Foot Frag Tank

[CoralDanimal]

April 25th FTS! Monti cap is growing back again and healing at the sites I accidentally broke.

The tank looks great! Love the dimensions - it’s like a RSR 300 XL but better (more depth). Quick question - I have a RSR 170 and I’m looking to upgrade very soon. How did you transfer so effortlessly and your tank just didn’t skip a beat? Did port it all over and then just add in freshly mixed saltwater or did you cure & cycle rock/water beforehand?

 

[xiaoxiy]

The tank looks great! Love the dimensions - it’s like a RSR 300 XL but better (more depth). Quick question - I have a RSR 170 and I’m looking to upgrade very soon. How did you transfer so effortlessly and your tank just didn’t skip a beat? Did port it all over and then just add in freshly mixed saltwater or did you cure & cycle rock/water beforehand?

I did the transfer in a single day! Most of the rock I used was a part of the old aquascape already, so I didn't have to cycle the tank again. It was time consuming, but overall pretty simple.

1) Took down the RSR170 and stick everything in a temporary holding container with old water.
2) Moved all my cryptic zone LR in the sump of the RSR170 into the holder container too
3) Transfer equipment from RSR170 to FijiCube (AKA lights, return pump, powerheads, heaer, apex and misc)
4) Add new sand to the FijiCube
5) Filled the FijiCube halfway with new salt water
6) Added all the rocks, corals and inhabitants into the FijiCube
7) Added cyrptic zone LR to the FijiCube Sump and covered with fresh saltwater
8) Topped off the tank with freshly mixed saltwater and turned on the return pump!

I didn't even bother preheating the new salt water. The tank temp started out as 72F (room temp), but heated up to 77-78F within a couple hours.

EDIT: I JUST READ THROUGH YOUR TANK TRANSFER NIGHTMARE

I think there are several reasons my tank didn't crash with the transfer and kept growing without issue, although this is just pure speculation.

I had a bunch of live rock hidden away in my sump as a cryptic section as well as 1L of seachem matrix bio-media, which may have helped buffer any bacterial/biodiversity loss with the tank transfer. While I didn't temperature match the tank, everything else (including alkalinity and salinity) were basically matched.

I think the way my tank was setup also had some inherent forms of stability which may have also helped keep it from crashing. I run a 3G automatic daily water change via ApexDOS on both tanks system, which was continued after the tank swap as well. The tank also gets consistent feeding via a pellet feeder, as well as EasyBooster and EasySPS twice a day via a doser. I also have an alkatronic, and closely monitored alkalinity consumption twice a day, which I would match my overall dosing to to prevent spikes.

But honestly, it may have just been blind luck that everything didn't immediately crash with the transfer....

 

[FMF0331]

;Woot

 

[Whisnantrider]

Your tank looks great! I was looking at the Fiji Cube site this morning and this same tank caught my eye. Also thinking about the Waterbox Frag 85.3, I like the shallower dimension for some reason.

 

[CoralDanimal]

I think there are several reasons my tank didn't crash with the transfer and kept growing without issue, although this is just pure speculation.

I had a bunch of live rock hidden away in my sump as a cryptic section as well as 1L of seachem matrix bio-media, which may have helped buffer any bacterial/biodiversity loss with the tank transfer. While I didn't temperature match the tank, everything else (including alkalinity and salinity) were basically matched.

I think the way my tank was setup also had some inherent forms of stability which may have also helped keep it from crashing. I run a 3G automatic daily water change via ApexDOS on both tanks system, which was continued after the tank swap as well. The tank also gets consistent feeding via a pellet feeder, as well as EasyBooster and EasySPS twice a day via a doser. I also have an alkatronic, and closely monitored alkalinity consumption twice a day, which I would match my overall dosing to to prevent spikes.

First, thank you for such a thoughtful response. It really means a lot to me and I definitely appreciate it. I was blown away that you hunted down my thread and read my transfer crash story as well. People like you are what make this hobby & forum so amazing.

Looking back on it and after reading your write-up, I think there were two major flaws in my transfer:

1. Not enough bio-rich rock / media was brought along. I just had one rock structure that was ~2 years old and there wasn't a lot of rock in the refugium. Contrast that to your tank where you brought everything along + a big cryptic section which I'm sure was bio-rich. As I get ready for my next tank, I'm going to add as much live rock to my current tank to maximize the bio-footprint for transfer.
2. I transferred sand between tanks whereas you just did new sand. If my sand was meticulously clean, maybe this wouldn't have been an issue and while I did vacuum it often, I'm sure it was a nutrient sink and my guess is moving some of this over (even if it wasn't a ton) probably kick-started the issues and the lack of bio-rich footprint from #1 made it so my tank wasn't able to handle it and the downward spiral ensued.

Final question (and thanks again for all your help): did you try to maximize the amount of water you could take from your RSR 170 to your Fiji Cube 81 to help bring over the good bacteria in the established reef water or was it essentially 100% new saltwater in the 81 when you transferred?

 

[xiaoxiy]

Your tank looks great! I was looking at the Fiji Cube site this morning and this same tank caught my eye. Also thinking about the Waterbox Frag 85.3, I like the shallower dimension for some reason.

Thanks! I really enjoy the FijiCube so far. I think either WB or FijiCube would be excellent choices. I was also looking at the CADE aquariums, but there weren't any options available in the U.S. at the time I was looking.

First, thank you for such a thoughtful response. It really means a lot to me and I definitely appreciate it. I was blown away that you hunted down my thread and read my transfer crash story as well. People like you are what make this hobby & forum so amazing.

Looking back on it and after reading your write-up, I think there were two major flaws in my transfer:

1. Not enough bio-rich rock / media was brought along. I just had one rock structure that was ~2 years old and there wasn't a lot of rock in the refugium. Contrast that to your tank where you brought everything along + a big cryptic section which I'm sure was bio-rich. As I get ready for my next tank, I'm going to add as much live rock to my current tank to maximize the bio-footprint for transfer.
2. I transferred sand between tanks whereas you just did new sand. If my sand was meticulously clean, maybe this wouldn't have been an issue and while I did vacuum it often, I'm sure it was a nutrient sink and my guess is moving some of this over (even if it wasn't a ton) probably kick-started the issues and the lack of bio-rich footprint from #1 made it so my tank wasn't able to handle it and the downward spiral ensued.

Final question (and thanks again for all your help): did you try to maximize the amount of water you could take from your RSR 170 to your Fiji Cube 81 to help bring over the good bacteria in the established reef water or was it essentially 100% new saltwater in the 81 when you transferred?

I tried to use some old tank water (just to minimize the amount of new water I would have to mix lol). I think I used approximately 15-20 gallons of water from my RSR. It water I had taken out before I removed the rock/kicked up detritus from the sand in the process of moving.

Looking back, I also remember swishing my LR (both in from the aquascape and cryptic section) around to remove/rinse any settled detritus as well. I suspect the key to my successful transfer was retaining as much biodiversity as possible, while minimizing gunk from the old tank.

I didn't regret using new sand at all. There was enough fauna from the rocks that the new sand was bustling with microfauna and bristle worms again within a month of the setup.

 

[xiaoxiy]

After a lot of debate, I ended up swapping from my MH/T5 setup to two Reefi fixtures.



For those of you interested in the PAR values my acros were getting with the halide/T5 here they are.

 

[xiaoxiy]

WWC Yellow Tips - One of the stunning but more under appreciated corals imo.
Feb 2020

March 2020

April 15, 2020

May 29, 2020

 

[drawman]

That is some nice growth!

 

[leicaguy]

excellent tank I just ordered one and looking forward to the delivery

 

[Gabe]

Thanks for leaving the review that directed over here. This helped me make a decision on my next tank .

 

[xiaoxiy]

Thanks for leaving the review that directed over here. This helped me make a decision on my next tank .

Glad to be of help!

I've been having fun with GIPHY and growth pictures. Here's the past month (May 15th to June 12th)



And here's a good ol FTS.

Since my last update, I got rid of my big ol' red caps and also fragged the WWC OG Bounce.

 

[xiaoxiy]

Everything continues to do well under the Reefi LEDs.

June 18th coral shots:

 

[xiaoxiy]

And June 18th to 28th growth:

 

[xiaoxiy]

Hi all! The tank has continued to plug away. In the interim, I’ve drilled through my floor and moved the sump to the basement. I also took The opportunity to add a frag tank as well.

Basement Sump

Display and Frag Tank

 

[sticksreef]

Mind sharing your nutrients and dosing? Water change schedule? Thank you! @xiaoxiy

 

[Michael Baumann]

Any regrets with this tank and sump? Just moved to Florida and looking for a smaller tank than what I've had due to being in an apartment and not a 3100 sq ft house.

The Cade, this one and maybe a custom are what I'm considering.

 

[xiaoxiy]

Mind sharing your nutrients and dosing? Water change schedule? Thank you! @xiaoxiy

Oops. I somehow missed this question, sorry!
I don't know where my nutrients sit at. I don't test anything besides alk and salinity on this tank.

I dose saturated Kalkwasser (1440ml), ATI Essentials PRO (~10ml each bottle), Easy SPS (5ml) and Easy Booster (5ml) daily in my tank. I feed NYOS goji and aloe pellets on an autofeeder.

My water change is automated, and it does 10.78 liters daily (a bit over 2.8 gallons)

Any regrets with this tank and sump? Just moved to Florida and looking for a smaller tank than what I've had due to being in an apartment and not a 3100 sq ft house.

The Cade, this one and maybe a custom are what I'm considering.

I like having this tank and sump. The only gripe I have with it is not having enough room in the stand, hence why I drilled through the floor and moved everything downstairs. Those CADE tanks look slick as heck; it's what I would go with in the future if I didn't have much room in my living space.

 

[Gabe]

My water change is automated, and it does 10.78 liters daily (a bit over 2.8 gallons)

Are you using an Apex Dos for this or another method?

 

[xiaoxiy]

Are you using an Apex Dos for this or another method?

Apex DOS!

Growth continues to plug away.