MJSzos - From "Uh Oh" to "Woo Hoo" Build Thread - Innovative Marine INT-100

[mjszos]

Good evening everyone,

-------

INT-100 Tank Build Begins HERE

--------

Original Post:

I am starting this build thread quite early to act as a journal of my adventure in a very unplanned upgrade from a Red Sea Reefer 250, to an Innovative Marine INT-100 following a seam failure. Some of you may be familiar with this thread from earlier this week where I'd noticed some weird growth or critter burrowing it's way into the front silicone seam of my Red Sea Reefer 250. In a panic, I assessed my situation and determined the best path forward was simply to purchase a new tank and setup something in the interim as a holding tank to empty it as quickly as possible.

Now something I didn't expect was showing my wife the seam failure, and without hesitation her response being "guess it's time to buy a bigger tank"

So here is where the new journey begins. Due to a conference this week I've not been home as much as I would like to handle this situation, but as of right now I've purchased a 40 breeder, a SeaChem Tidal 55gal HOB filter, 2x Fluval 200w heaters, and some eggcrate.

I should be finished preparing the RO/DI by tonight (11/20/24), when I get home tomorrow (11/21/24) afternoon I'll start mixing up a batch of water and make sure I get my salinity just right, which fun fact, I don't honestly have any idea how much water I'm making as I'm periodically dumping 5gal buckets into a 45gal Brute, so it'll be an interesting exercise in "a little here, a little there" with salt. On Friday evening (11/22/24) I plan on filling the tank up with the saltwater, getting the filter moving and just doing a quick QC of the full system. On Saturday (11/23) I plan on breaking down the existing tank, I'll be transferring over all of my live rock, the few frags that have survived following some serious problems while I was on my honeymoon in October (virtually everything melted), and then the fish.

The INT-100 should be arriving sometime in late December/early January and I look to be periodically updating this thread with the status of the move, the breeder tank, and then eventually documenting the new tank.

Below is the stocking list I'll be carrying over from the Reefer 250 -> 40 Breeder -> INT-100:

Fish:
1x Swissguard Basslet
2x Black Oscellaris Clownfish (they have some fancy name that I can't remember)
1x Swissguard Basslet
1x Biota Dragon Goby
1x Biota Yellow Tang

Coral:
A few hammers
A few zoa colonies
A couple of mushrooms
a branching GSP

Equipment:
1x Radion XR-15 G6 (I will be purchasing a 2nd one)
1x Red Sea Reefmat 250 (Hoping I can modify this to fit the IM RFS39)
1x Red Sea RSK 300 Protein Skimmer
2x Jebao Gyres (likely will be purchasing 2 more of these)
2x BRS 800w Heaters + Inkbird Controller
RedSea ReefDose 2
RedSea ATO + 5gal reservoir (may need to upgrade this)

The current "decor" in my home office:

The failing seam in the Reefer 250:

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[mjszos]

Following along!

Thanks! I'll post an update later this evening when I get home.

Your little cube is coming along nicely, I know it's a hot take but that (I think branching) GSP is one of my favorite corals. In the existing 50gal, I finally got it to spread across and attach to some rockwork (I'll include photos when I move everything into the holding tank). The stuff grows like a weed, but it adds such an interesting level of depth and movement to the tank.

 

[keelo]

I’m also building my 100ext will be following you

 

[mjszos]

I’m also building my 100ext will be following you

Awesome, have you taken delivery of yours yet?

 

[mjszos]

Well, today is a good day! Status of the various systems below.

I did also run into a weird issue, my refractometer I think is on the fritz. I've tried multiple calibration solutions, but it's not reading correctly at all. I've been sanity checking it against my Hanna (I prefer the refractometer) and it's off by 3-5PPT, the current tank is running at about 32PPT salinity, so I'll be drip acclimating the fish with the freshly mixed water and likely bumping up the salinity in the water I'm taking from the current tank to get it correct.

Red Sea Reefer 250:

The seam is currently holding strong, but inhabitants will still be out of the tank before the end of the weekend.

40 Breeder Holding Tank:

Everything will be ready to go later today - just waiting on the HOB to finish air drying and I can start filling the system up and getting it ready for it's new critters.

INT-100:

BRS got the best of me. I have purchased a TON of stuff for it, and saved quite a bit due to the great black friday deals.. Purchased items list:

-120lbs Fiji Pink Live Sand
-130lbs Dry Marco Rock
-1x Radion XR15 G6 Pro
-2x 300w Heaters (I opted for this as the 600w, while technically optimal per BRS recommendations, are massive)
-1x 200Gal Red Sea Pro Salt Mix
-1L Bottle of MB7
-1x BRS Refractometer

Aquascaping supplies also purchased:
-10oz Extra Thick Glue (I have some leftover, so 15-20oz should build the scape)
-3oz General Purpose Glue (for covering seams)
-3x 4oz Stone Grey Epoxy (I have 1 or 2 sticks leftover so this should be good)

Left on the list are a few items:

- PVC Piping to build a skeleton of the current tank. I'm really looking forward to having several weeks to build this scape out and get really creative.
- Fiberglass rod to make really irregular shapes in the scape
- Saw blade so I can flatten a few pieces of the Marco rock.. I can't justify the cost of the foundation pieces, and Marco is soft enough that I should be able to cut it myself.
-Radion XR-15 Tank Mount Arm (Out of stock on BRS)


Otherwise we are basically on track to have everything we need to get this new tank up and running as soon as it arrives!

Another update to come later today as the tank transfer occurs.

 

[mjszos]

Part 1 of the tank breakdown/move id consider generally successful.

I was able to fit the overwhelming majority of the rock into the 40 breeder (does anybody know if i should have any weight concerns? I put it on egg crate to try and distribute the load, but these tanks are super thin)

I had to break apart my hammer and unfortunately snipped through a head while doing so, but that was the only real issue. For now, it’s just a matter of observing.

This was the tank getting filled this morning. I’ll likely have to move my plants and their light, but that’s TBD.

Followed by the bulk of the rock moving in.

And to keep the dragon goby happy, I built him a little sandbox in the middle of the tank. I did rinse the sand to try and avoid bringing a bunch of detritus in, but we’ll see what happens.

I did manage to bring over I believe 99% of inverts. There should a starfish somewhere leftover in the sandbed, but I haven’t seen it in months so for all I know the thing melted somewhere never to be found again.

All of the snails are moving around and trying to figure out what’s happening, the clownfish seem to have settled into, funnily enough, the same rock they lived on before. The swissguard basslet is ticked off but found its own home. I’ve yet to see the goby since moving it over but I’m sure it’ll make an appearance tomorrow.

Bubbles the tang is saying hello to his friends. I tried my best to leave a ton of swim throughs for the tang and lots of straight open space for it to swim around in. I know this little breeder isn’t ideal, but it’ll have to deal with it for a bit before it gets a major upgrade.

The reefer is in absolute disarray at the moment, and my god my house stinks. I’m leaving a couple of inches of water over the sand bed so I can sift through it one more time tomorrow for any stragglers, then I’m dumping it.

I cleaned up the skimmer, and I plan on picking up some vinegar and soaking the power heads and return pump in it tomorrow to give them a nice clean, then I’ll drain the sump and start cleaning it all up nicely.

The most stressful part is over. Now it’s just an exercise in patience (as all things in this hobby), and a whole heck of a lot of cleaning.

Cheers and have a great night everyone!

 

[mjszos]

Brief update this morning;

Everyone is swimming around and happy. I ran a few quick tests to see how things are looking:

Ammonia: 0 (I expect to see a minor ammonia spike at some point)
Nitrates: 5-10 (I was struggling with through the roof nitrates on the previous tank due to some mishandling while I was on vacation. I have no idea how high, but seeing as how this is roughly 85% new water, I can only imagine. This rapid drop may cause some problems)
Phos: 0.23ppm (same as above)
Alk: 10.6
Ph: 8-8.2

The plan is to do water changes daily until my parameters are reading where I want them to (mostly phos)

Everyone is swimming and looking happy and eating like pigs, but I’m frankly shocked any of the coral survived the conditions in the old tank that I was trying to correct without going overly aggressive.

 

[mjszos]

Todays update will be a little brief;

The fish are all still doing well, the Swissguard Basslet is still in hiding, but I did watch him eat so that is good.

Unfortunately my hammer did a total polyp bailout, which I’m not surprised by, and my discosoma mushrooms look like they are on their way out.

The yellow tang I feared was suffering from clamp fin but it was more than likely just a minor injury during the move (I tried to be as gentle as possible with it, but it flopped around quite a bit).

It hasn’t been eating nearly as much nori as I’d typically see it eat (usually 1/4 sheet per day, it only ate about 1/8th of a sheet yesterday). To encourage it eating, I moved the nori hanger to another part of the tank and soaked it in garlic… to my surprise it was absolutely uninterested. I cleaned the feeder and dropped a fresh sheet in and we will see.

I’ve also been feeding with a few drops of selcon and I did see everybody eat at least a few bites. I dropped 1-2 pellets near everyone and watched them nibble those up as well.

I intend on doing a water change when my new refractometer comes in on Tuesday to make sure everything is copasetic.

Thankfully none of the fish are showing signs of stress, they’re simply finding their new homes and getting comfortable in the new tank. No aggression from anybody either.

I also put a very scientific water level system in place as you can see from the photo below.

 

[mjszos]

Some good news:

The Yellow Tang is continuing to show improvement with the potentially injured fin, I can see some damage on tip of it, but it's no longer clamping it all the time and swimming around more. Additionally, it is continuing to eat nori and get back to itself. I'll continue to feed with Selcon to try and nip the HLLE issues in the bud.

The Swissguard is showing up a little more, but it's still quite skittish.

The clowns are being clowns and decided the intake for the HOB is their new home. Not worried about these guys, as long as they're generally upright they're fine.

The Dragon Goby was caught red handed playing in its sandbox, which made me really happy as I was concerned about the bare bottom causing undue stress. I've been feeding all around the tank, but making sure some of the food is landing in the sandbox for him.

 

[keelo]

Awesome, have you taken delivery of yours yet?

I bought my setup used but it is new for me lol

 

[keelo]

I bought my setup used but it is new for me lol

I need to add a thank thread button on my account how do we do that ?

 

[mjszos]

I need to add a thank thread button on my account how do we do that ?

You can do so by following the instructions on this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/so-you-want-a-my-tank-thread-badge.590311/

Looking forward to checking it out!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Thanks! I'll post an update later this evening when I get home.

Your little cube is coming along nicely, I know it's a hot take but that (I think branching) GSP is one of my favorite corals. In the existing 50gal, I finally got it to spread across and attach to some rockwork (I'll include photos when I move everything into the holding tank). The stuff grows like a weed, but it adds such an interesting level of depth and movement to the tank.

My wife an I love our GSP! We love how it looks like sea grass, and adds color to a tank.

 

[mjszos]

My wife an I love our GSP! We love how it looks like sea grass, and adds color to a tank.

Absolutely agree. Don’t get me wrong it can definitely be a pest, but I love the branching variety as it creates such a neat effect in the tank.

Wishing you and your wife a happy thanksgiving!

 

[mjszos]

Ain’t no day like delivery day!!!

130lbs of Marco Rock

A whole whack ton of goodies from BRS + 80lbs of Fiji Pink and a 200gal bag of Red Sea Coral Pro

Unfortunately in all of the madness my order picking got mixed up as I only received 80lbs of sand, as opposed to 120lbs.

Total inventory pictured (or not):

- 130lbs Marco Rock
- 80lbs Fiji Pink Live Sand
- 1x Radion XR15 Pro
- BRS Refractometer + Solution
- Various Aquascaping supplies (glue, epoxy, etc)
- 2x 1L dosing containers (purchased before the old tank teardown)
- 1Gal Soda Ash mix
- 1Gal mixing containers (for the soda ash)
- 2x 300w BRS Titanium Heaters
- 200Gal Red Sea Pro mix
- 1L MicroBacter7
- Red Sea Dosing Holder
- Red Sea Dose 2
- Various RO tubing

All I’m missing at this point is an arm for the Radion and the new tank.

I’ll be going to the hardware store on Friday morning to pick up some PVC to make a skeleton of the new tank, and some fiberglass rods then it’s time to get started on this scape. I’m super looking forward to taking my time with it and really building something special.

I wish everyone a happy thanksgiving, enjoy your meals and time spent with family or friends.

 

[keelo]

I just placed my order for sand on my setup, do you think 80 pounds has us covered ? Don’t want a real deep sand bed but somewhere around 1.5 inches

 

[mjszos]

I just placed my order for sand on my setup, do you think 80 pounds has us covered ? Don’t want a real deep sand bed but somewhere around 1.5 inches

I wanted a 2” sand bed with Fiji Pink, according to the BRS Calculator around 110lbs should accomplish this. They just seemingly forgot to send me another 40lb box. I did reach out to their customer support, so I’m not too worried about them making it right.

Here’s a link to the calculator, you just enter the tank dimensions and type of sand and it’ll get you most of the way there.

Aquarium Sand Bed Calculator - Bulk Reef Supply

Bulk Reef Supply - Saltwater Aquarium Supplies for Reef Tanks

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I think in your case I’d estimate around 100lbs for 1.5” (I don’t have the dimensions to calculate it for you). I think I overdid it since I have less DT space than you in the EXT.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

I just placed my order for sand on my setup, do you think 80 pounds has us covered ? Don’t want a real deep sand bed but somewhere around 1.5 inches

I put 80 lbs of sand in my 100 EXT, the sandbed is about 1 - 1.5 inches deep in most spots.

 

[mjszos]

I put 80 lbs of sand in my 100 EXT, the sandbed is about 1 - 1.5 inches deep in most spots.

I’m beginning to think I may have bought too much sand, lol.