THE RASTA REEF ( Innovative Marine INT 200 GAL BUILD )

Mr. Fishy Fish

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Cool, we both got an innovative marine at the same time! Where's the IM club at. For future references, Marco dry rock doesn't need curing. Marco dry rock is mined, so they don't have those dead organics on them that dried rock from the ocean does. Here's a link to the info on their site http://www.marcorocks.com/frequently-asked-questions/

Hats off to you though, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Any updates? I'd love to see the plumbing and the tank.
 
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Cool, we both got an innovative marine at the same time! Where's the IM club at. For future references, Marco dry rock doesn't need curing. Marco dry rock is mined, so they don't have those dead organics on them that dried rock from the ocean does. Here's a link to the info on their site http://www.marcorocks.com/frequently-asked-questions/

Hats off to you though, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Any updates? I'd love to see the plumbing and the tank.
Thats awesome! congrats on your purchase!I know there should be a IM group , we need more info on these things!
My thought with the marco rock was to really get it seeded with beneficial bacteria as early as possible, it was in those brute cans for over two months before i put it in the tank the other day so im hoping the in tank cycle will be less of an issue. I could have seeded with old tank rock but just figured i had the time so id go through this process and have loved using the MicroBacter start XLM seemed to do the trick.

Just finished the plumbing , getting photos up, would love to see yours as well!
 
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Tank arrived in green shape!!
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got the stand up and Ready!

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Leveled Up!

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Finally after 3 attempts got the right crew over and got this beast moved. It was very heavy and with IM placing the leveling pad directly onto the bottom of the tank there was no glass for the suction cups, but 7 big guys later we made it happen! Suction cups are a MUST... I have a lot if anyone needs a tank moved!




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Got the sump drilled and in More on that in the next post!
 

Mr. Fishy Fish

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Thats awesome! congrats on your purchase!I know there should be a IM group , we need more info on these things!
My thought with the marco rock was to really get it seeded with beneficial bacteria as early as possible, it was in those brute cans for over two months before i put it in the tank the other day so im hoping the in tank cycle will be less of an issue. I could have seeded with old tank rock but just figured i had the time so id go through this process and have loved using the MicroBacter start XLM seemed to do the trick.

Just finished the plumbing , getting photos up, would love to see yours as well!

Oh, that's smart and productive. I think you're definitely going to cycle without an issue because of that.


Also, seven people? God dang. That must have been a lot of beers as compensation. Personally, I'm going to hire a company to move it downstairs from my garage. I'm not willing to take the chance with the stairs, it's just too daunting. How much would u say it weighs? I'm assuming approximately 500 pounds.

On a side note. I love the white stand, it's going to make the Jamaican style plumbing pop out. What lights are you planning to use for this system? Also, are you going to run a QT? Or are you going for the disease management route?
 
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Rausch

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Oh, that's smart and productive. I think you're definitely going to cycle without an issue because of that.


Also, seven people? God dang. That must have been a lot of beers as compensation. Personally, I'm going to hire a company to move it downstairs from my garage. I'm not willing to take the chance with the stairs, it's just too daunting. How much would u say it weighs? I'm assuming approximately 500 pounds.

On a side note. I love the white stand, it's going to make the Jamaican style plumbing pop out. What lights are you planning to use for this system? Also, are you going to run a QT? Or are you going for the disease management route?
Thanks, i watched that Mike Paletta 500 gallon build probably 100 times over the last couple years getting ready for this one so i figured id just get the rock soaking early

Ya it definitely took all 7 between moving the dollies and being able to hold weight going up a few stairs we had out front. I was hoping the video worked to show a bit of it. Ya the moving company is a great call, i had a few friends over the first night and we tried to pick it up, the look on one guys face was priceless... i think it is 585 lbs from what i could find, it definitely felt every bit of that.

Thanks again, yes my wife demanded the white stand which gave us a few extra months to prepare because they where backordered. For lighting im running Radion's, 2 - Gen 4 Pros with updated mobius chip and a Gen 5 Pro. First time not using a T5 supplement so we will see how that goes... Right now im not planning a qt, i have a stand alone 150 gallon system i keep that i will put new frags into to watch for a week or so before transferring . As for fish im going the TSM and Marine Collectors route, pay a little more but i know i am getting quarantined healthy fish, i leave that to the Pro's
 
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Rausch

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Took a day and got to work on getting everything set up on the tank... First i took some old sumps of mine and decided to do some DIY . I love the look of Nathans old 200 gallon sump from tidal gardens videos so i made a rendition of my own.
Started by marking each sump where the drilled holes could be lined up with unions

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First two holes drilled into one sump, placed seals and marked with sharpie drill marks onto the second sump

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Holes drilled ... phew... was worried about cracking the trigger systems sump. Now to scrub clean

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Bulkheads and unions added and glued, So glad i went with the unions instead of uniseals, gives you a little extra wiggle room to get everything fit together.

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Holding water! should be good to go

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Now onto the plumbing
 
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Finally... the plumbing! This was my first time hard plumbing with no flexible tubing. I was definitely a little concerned at first but after everything got going it was so much nicer then dealing with flexible tubing and how it bends and kinks...

Sump is in place
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I built this saw jig to hold the saw more steady while cutting the pipe, definitely did the trick and this saw is perfect with the inch marker, got these cuts measured out perfect.

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Got the main overflow with gate valve complete. added the union so i can be able to position the sump to fit before tightening

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Focused and got through all the measurements and cut away. took a few trips back and forth with the pipe to shave a 1/4'' off here or there but eventually everything lined up nicely. all glued and setting in the garage

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the aftermath...

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got the bean animal plumbed in and ready for water while the glue cured

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moved into the tank room and after the glue for the overflows set, it was time to add the plumbing

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I love using these unions and gate valves. gives you so much room to work and allows your system to be completely reworked if you need to change anything

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Built this power rack to fit over the sump to allow access from the side instead of using a equipment cabinet that blocks access

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Plumbing is complete! the return pump is split into the refugium/frag tank to push water through to return into the return pump section. I also plumped the ATO that i will run on a Ecotech Versa into the refugium section as it is plumbed into the return pump section the water level mimics that of the return, this gives my L2 space without the float getting stuck on anything. I also added a couple gate valves as i plan to add some media reactors. Again, unions everywhere

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Screens to protect from anything getting into the return pump section

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Time to get it wet!! finally~!

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Stopped the water flow from the basement about half way , NO LEAKS! so happy, i was expecting a couple for my first go but taking it slow and listening to the experts pays in the end... No Rush

At this point i decided to add the rock work as the bacteria should do fine with this much water in the system and being exposed to air for an hour or so shouldn't kill off too much.

Got the scape carried up and placed, came together pretty quick, so glad i preplanned this made it go together so much faster and i wasn't moving the rock around on the glass inside the tank, set it and move on!

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Inkbird and Eheims... My trusty combo

Filled and ready for lights~ Here is a full open cabinet shot, everything is flowing nicely, plus with the bean animal and DC pumps this tank runs SILENT , its crazy without the surface water ripple you wouldn't even know its running, much different from my last marineland corner overflow, that thing has some noise to it

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I had to get creative getting the lights on here, getting those pictures together. IMG_4618.JPG
 
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Rausch

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Decided to go with Gyres on this Build and Innovative Marine gave me a couple of their new Wavelinks to try out on their tank!! Super excited to use these as i can put them on the back overflow which i cant do with my MP40's . Im not putting any of my Mp 40's on this tank and just going with a complete back wall of flow leaving the sides open for viewing and making cleaning the glass that much better. I love my MP 40's but im trying something new


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Putting the new G5 pros on this tank with some G4 Pros, decided not to go with the G5 blues as i think the pro's get blue enough as it is and wanted to stick to a similar color palette with the G4's

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Went with the RMS, had to do some modifications to get these to work on this tank...

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Removed the mounting bracket and the two screws holing on the back plastic panel, replaces with long screws and the center clamp screw was replaced with a wall anchor screw, putting them directly on the wall behind the tank

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I then reattached the facing to cover the screws and it came out pretty well, they are solid in the wall and its great because there is not sagging! the lights stays really level, I took the foam padding from between the Gyres magnets to fill the gap between the cover panel


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All Done!! Rockwork is set and lights are going ! feels good to finally get to this point!


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Some under the tank work to complete but otherwise water is flowing well
 
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