Vik's 200 gallon peninusla (IM 200 EXT)
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Devaji
5000 Club Member
Merry Christmas!
aww that's a good Dog. I was joking with the GF that I wanted a puppy for Xmass guess what no puppy. all we have is a cat and my fish. good thing I have a big tank in the works.
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VikS
Active Member
Progress for today. Water station plumbed and running. 75 gallon each. Top tank is RODI water, bottom saltwater. Gravity gets water into the bottom container (manual using gate valve). There is a pump which circulates the saltwater when needed to mix.
I still need to hook up the RODI (with autoshutoff) and the apex DOS for auto water change.
I still need to hook up the RODI (with autoshutoff) and the apex DOS for auto water change.
You specified the Dastaco A-3. I have a similarly sized system and got the A-2, and have been concerned that it is oversized, so the A-3 would be even more so, making it difficult to maintain lower alk. Can you share your reasoning on sizing? It would be helpful to at least me.
VikS
Active Member
If I had to redo, I will certainly go smaller. I had bought it a few years ago for a 300 gallon upgrade (but decided on 200gallon now)
But, I have been running the A3 on a 120 gallon for couple of years. It certainly was oversized for that tank to begin with (I had to put a timer on), but once the SPS took off, I was able to leave the setting at 1 on Dastaco with 1 vent. Note that I found setting below one very unreliable. Pushing to 2 dosed too much. additional water volume should help now with this new build.
I think A2 should be perfectly fine for this size tank. It is a great piece of gear and you will love it. Support is top notch - join their Facebook group. If you don’t have a lot of alk consumption, I will suggest put a timer on for initial months.
happy to answer any questions.
Mywifeisgunnakillme
Valuable Member
Nice to know. This was the reactor i eas was thinking of. My buddy has it and has to stop running it because it couldnt run low enough while his corals are still smaller. My thought, for my 200, is all for reef until that dosing that becomes more lesst effective than the reactor.
VikS
Active Member
Not much progress on the build but I have been hoarding stuff past few weeks.
- UV sterilizer - Pentair 50ES. This thing is huge.
2) A chiller. I will need it in the summer. It was on 21% discount. Too good to pass.
3) some new apex gear - Flow meters. I got 4 x 1 inch ones - mostly for manifolds. 1 for UV, 1 for chiller, and 2 for reactors.
4) motors for hanging the light - these will let me move the lights up and down using motors. This thing cost about 200 bucks but I thing it is going to be cool.
also got lot of plumbing and rocks. Trying to settle down on aquascape this week.
As a side project, I am revamping my freshwater tank. I currently run a 44 gallon FW. Planning to upgrade to a discus tank. I will run it with a sump. So bought a few goodies for that.
1) got an innovative marine 48’’ stand only which was on sale for 200 (compared to 800). Again too good a deal to pass up.
2) Bought a 75 gallon from Petco for $100. Also bought a glass drilling kit - good luck to me!
3) Modular marine overflow.
- UV sterilizer - Pentair 50ES. This thing is huge.
2) A chiller. I will need it in the summer. It was on 21% discount. Too good to pass.
3) some new apex gear - Flow meters. I got 4 x 1 inch ones - mostly for manifolds. 1 for UV, 1 for chiller, and 2 for reactors.
4) motors for hanging the light - these will let me move the lights up and down using motors. This thing cost about 200 bucks but I thing it is going to be cool.
also got lot of plumbing and rocks. Trying to settle down on aquascape this week.
As a side project, I am revamping my freshwater tank. I currently run a 44 gallon FW. Planning to upgrade to a discus tank. I will run it with a sump. So bought a few goodies for that.
1) got an innovative marine 48’’ stand only which was on sale for 200 (compared to 800). Again too good a deal to pass up.
2) Bought a 75 gallon from Petco for $100. Also bought a glass drilling kit - good luck to me!
3) Modular marine overflow.
Mywifeisgunnakillme
Valuable Member
Those articas last! I have a 1/10th horse power that has got to be over 15 years old and no sign of slowing down!
Where did you find the chiller on sale?
I
Where did you find the chiller on sale?
I
Mywifeisgunnakillme
Valuable Member
Where are we at???
VikS
Active Member
Not much to show for. Busy times plus garage is cold. Waiting for things to warm up a little but I am almost there. Crawl space plumbing is the last thing left. Electric stuff checked off.
However I did set up a reef style discus tank (freshwater). Used a petco 75 gallon and my spare reef gear.
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Devaji
5000 Club Member
how you liking the Discus? someday i want to set up a heigh tech nature style planted FW tank. and a few more reefs....
keep us posted I am excited to see the IM 200 Peninsula!
VikS
Active Member
The discuss tank is going to be great. Looks like it is going through a mini cycle ( I upgraded from a smaller FW tank), hoping to not lose anything. I put in 4 small discus which have been mostly hiding. I will pick up some large ones once I get these to survive. Frankly only thing you need for discuss is high temperature in tank and easy way to change tap water.
200 will be up soon! Will update here.
rtparty
2500 Club Member
Any updates? Really interested in seeing pics and dimensions of the stand. Been planning a custom 250g peninsula (72*36*24) but could go this route and save over $3k. Not sure the 6" extra left to right is worth $3k.
The custom stand and setup would be a total pain as well.
The custom stand and setup would be a total pain as well.
VikS
Active Member
I went through the same process, custom tank was not worth the extra money. My tank has been sitting in the garage but I assembled the stand the day it came. For now it is just serving as extra storage for stuff. What do you want to know about the stand?
I have the white and it is very sleek looking. For peninsula, doors all around except the overflow side. I can share pics etc, just let me know what you are after.
I also ended up buying just the stand for 100 gallon because it was on sale at BRD for 200$. One downside is that there are no shelves etc. I have not tried drilling since it is all metal.
rtparty
2500 Club Member
Appreciate the response!
I'm mostly looking for inner dimensions and pics of how/where all the braces are. Trying to plan what sump to use, how to setup an electronics cabinet under the stand, and other equipment planning.
Mywifeisgunnakillme
Valuable Member
Shelves are super easy. No drilling needed at all. I am surprised these models dont have shelves. The smaller units do. Just get a few of these and cut a board to length and width u want:
I havent opened my stands box yet, but if no shelves if i need them (sump is fish room) definitely the route i would go...
VikS
Active Member
The stand is pretty open. So you have the entire area to work with. Think similar to the 80-20 type stands. Here are a couple of pics (kids own the stand area right now!)
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rtparty
2500 Club Member
Thank you for the pics! I can't believe how poor IM's website is. Only one picture and very little info.
Those push open and close for the doors look to eat up at least a couple inches around the interior of the stand. That's a bummer but I can work around it
VikS
Active Member
How big of a sump are you looking for though? The stand is fairly wide. I am not a fan of those magnetic latches. I might look to replace these with something with a sleeker profile at some point.
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