Rob’s innovative marine 200 EXT

[RobMcC]

I received an innovative marine 200 ext in September. Seems to be solid. It was a challenge getting it from the road into the house on delivery, as it weighs 800 lb delivered and my house is on a steep hill from the road . I managed to convince the freight guy to help me get it into the house! When I unboxed it, the delivery driver was so impressed he said he was going to buy one too!

I actually ordered the 112G IM a few weeks earlier. I was so impressed with the tank, I ordered the 200 too. I haven’t set up the 112 yet-that will be a new build thread too. I live in a wooden house that has reverse flow plan (living space up stairs, bedrooms downstairs), so it won’t take a multi ton tank in the living space. Therefore this Big 200 tank will be in the garage.

 

[MERKEY]

Oh boy 2 tanks!!!

This is going to be good, following!

 

[RobMcC]

My garage is obviously sloped, so I have leveled an area for the tank. I used self leveling cement. I used the box for the tank as a mould. I left it for a two days to cure and Tuesday i sealed Tuesday cement with acrylic.

 

[RobMcC]

I already have a couple tanks that I am upgrading from:
65g

marine land 150

 

[RobMcC]

Oh boy 2 tanks!!!

This is going to be good, following!

thanks. I’ve been keeping fish tanks since I was 7 and had my first marine tank at 14. Passed my tanks to little brother when o left for
College at 17 and I had a 13 year gap from fish keeping while enjoying life. Got back into it 11 years ago. I’m really looking forward to this big tank. I want many anthias, ideally a huge shoal of red spot cardinals (if I can find them these days), and some tangs and wrasse. I also have a couple of large carpet nems that I’ve had for a few years in a holding tank. For lighting , currently I’m using hydra hd52 in the 150g and Orphek atlantik on the 65g. I’ll use theOrphek on the 11, but after watching the bulk Reef supply test, i will use viparspectra on the 200G. In the past I’ve used ATI , kessil, metal halide, mercury vapor, and most successfully, home made LED.

 

[RobMcC]

I am building the light rig from 80:20 extruded aluminum. I plan to use 6 viparspectra to provide a uniform blanket of light. This just happens to be almost exactly the same dimensions as the 200EXT.

The total weight is approx 120lb. To make the lights easy to raise and lower for maintenance access I am using this garage gator automatics lift platform suspended from the ceiling.

 

[RobMcC]

Tank weighs 600lb and during Covid it’s hard to get enough volunteers available at the same time for a lift that heavy. So I ordered a hydraulic lifting platform from harbor freight. Been waiting almost three weeks now and it still hasn’t shipped...

anyway, things that worked: self leveling cement. It’s really easy to use and the plinth is completely level and silky smooth.

things that didn’t work: the garage gator is very hard to align over the tank, as the two pulleys are offset by 1.5 “. I thought I had sufficiently accounted for this using a plumb line before anchoring the pulleys to a line centered above the tank. Nope. Also even though each line is wound by one motor they often catch and one will wind up looser than the other making consistent leveling very hard. Still I like my light rig. Should provide a good blanket of light.

 

[Mar]

How did harbor freight hydraulic lift work out? I was thinking about going that route

 

[RobMcC]

How did harbor freight hydraulic lift work out? I was thinking about going that route

Seems pretty solid. I haven’t actually used it yet. Aquarium is still on the floor. The lift took a LONG time to arrive though. Harbor freight don’t really provide accurate shipping or tracking info. So be be prepared for that.

 

[RobMcC]

How did harbor freight hydraulic lift work out? I was thinking about going that route

Finally used it. It was solid and made moving the tank easy. Much easier than dead lifting the tank.

 

[RobMcC]

The light fixture is a bit bright. On both channels at 100% I’m getting approx 2000PAR!!!

 

[RobMcC]

Finally making progress. Plumbing (sort of) done. Should have a skimmer arriving tomorrow - reef octopus external recirculating. I always use external skimmers if I have the room, as I find internal ones so finicky. They always seem to overflow any time you are away from home.

I want to incorporate an automatic roller mat on this build. The theiling compact has been sold out for months, so I took a punt on a bubble magus. I realize the company is bankrupt, but it gets reasonable reviews, and looks simple to fix if it breaks.

 

[RobMcC]

Last night i tried mocking up my ‘scape too. Lots of Dead rock, epoxy, cyanoacrylate and accelerator. Which bacteria brands have folks had luck with for seeding (I don’t want to use muck from my other tanks, too many pests)?

 

[RobMcC]

At the moment rock looks a little artificial, but after doing lots of previous scapes that I’m happy with, flat surfaces are good for mounting corals and once acros grow , you can’t see the hard edges.

 

[RobMcC]

Okay. Waited a whole 24 hours after scaping. Out of curiosity, I added a frag (it’s 3” so a colony in some stores...) of a chalice that grows half and inch a week in one of my other tanks. Let’s see if it lasts the night.

 

[RobMcC]

Interesting - chalice looks totally fine today. I did you use a whole 500 mL bottle of Microbacter 7 and of Dr Tim's eco balance. I haven't tested anything. so know idea of parameters

 

[RobMcC]

Insta-tanking seems to be working. Added 4 cuttings from another tank on Sunday. All still doing well.

 

[RobMcC]

I added some fish on the 20th April. So far so good.

Hmm. Cant add video...

 

[RobMcC]

8 months in. Mostly good so far. Water parameters have been stable. All fish, bar one, have done well. Sadly the one that didn’t do well was a nice regal angel from LiveAquaria

Still battling with some algae issues, but nothing major.

 

[RobMcC]

FTS under full blues and one with a little white

Some random close shots

Fish stock

pseudanthias tuka
Pseudanthias smithvanzii
Acanthurus Achilles
Macropharyngodon bipartitus
Macropharyngodon ornatus
Xanthichthys auromarginatus
Cirrhilabrus isosceles
Cirrhilabrus brunneus
Cirrhilabrus cyanogularis
Cirrhilabrus lunat
halichoeres timorensis
Halichoeres chrysus
Halichoeres melanurus
Nemateleotris exquisita
Gobiodon okinawae

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