New tank?

[anthonys_aqua]

My home office/game room is getting remodeled and room is getting extended, so plan was to move my tank into the room but Ive been itching to start a new tank.

I was thinking of doing a peninsula that was SPS dominated, I am a big of Reef Bums aquarium so would aim for something like that.

I currently have a waterbox 180.5 which is about 130g in volume, 5x2x2 roughly, slightly short hence 130 and not 150

I was looking at the innovative marine 200 EXT peninsula since the value is so great, $4471 for tank/stand/sump/return pump/lid, only thing is I think there stand is super ugly. Also the external overflow is great for adding pumps to the back wall, ideally Id like to have all 3 viewing panels free of equipment.

My other option would be the UNS R180 Peninsula which alot more modern looking and has fancy accessories but no return pump or lid. I do think its alot better looking but it comes in at $7300.

What do you guys think? Not a fan of red sea or waterbox, cade is nice but theyre even more expensive

 

[mchain275]

I love my Cade peninsula, and the new S3 line is very appealing (particularly the euro-brace), but the pricing is rather eye-popping (perhaps partially attributable to tariffs on imports from Australia that may or may not go away in time). Personally, I would not pay the asking price for an S3 peninsula.

I have an IM 112 which I'm very happy with. The stand assembly was not great in my experience - it just didn't want to come together perfectly square, but it did after some gentle persuasion with a mallet. I would strongly prefer a pre-assembled stand like the ones offered by Cade or Waterbox, but I do feel confident in the stability of IM's stand.

I love the sumps IM includes with their complete systems. They're very well thought out and functional.

Personally, I would opt for the IM 200 EXT peninsula - it's a very appealing price relative to Cade, the sump is great, and the external overflow is a great feature. I often look at the internal overflow in my Cade and regret that it cannibalizes space for more livestock and it constrains placement of circulation pumps.

 

[mescobar]

I saw the eshopps Mariner MP100 at RAP and was quite impressed with the build quality and thick glass. It also seems quite reasonable at $3.3K, the only thing I didn't like about the tank was that the sump doors were not removable like the UNS tanks.

I believe they are coming out with larger peninsula style tanks as well. I'll keeping an eye out for the MP220 when it comes out.
https://www.eshopps.com/mariner-series/

 

[anthonys_aqua]

I saw the eshopps Mariner MP100 at RAP and was quite impressed with the build quality and thick glass. It also seems quite reasonable at $3.3K, the only thing I didn't like about the tank was that the sump doors were not removable like the UNS tanks.

I believe they are coming out with larger peninsula style tanks as well. I'll keeping an eye out for the MP220 when it comes out.
https://www.eshopps.com/mariner-series/

Im not a fan of the internal over flow box, I wanted a clean look for the panels, wanted to place the power heads on the back glass

 

[Smite]

I don't think the IM stands are that bad looking. I love how IM does the external overflow glassed in. Such a cool feature in my opinion. I was between IM and CDA for my tank. I went CDA but it was a close call for me.
IM used to sell just the tanks alone. It's a bummer they don't do that still.

 

[Jimbo327]

Hard to beat the value and look of an IM tank. The stand looks pretty nice to me.

Peninsula tanks are awesome, just hard to get the flow right on the other end.

 

[anthonys_aqua]

Room is about 11ft wide so I am rethinking the 6 footer, but if i go for 5ft id be at the same foot print as my current tank and i dont see any purpose in getting the same size tank

 

[anthonys_aqua]

Revisiting this but with slightly different options around the same size

I can afford both but it almost feels irresponsible spending that much more of a difference for similar footprint

 

[anthonys_aqua]

main difference is tank height is 2" difference and $3000 lol