Ale's tax return tank (Red Sea 250)

[Alenya]

Hallo

Thanks to being unemployed for a few months this year (thanks COVID!) I received a pretty generous tax return. My partner asked, "What are you going to do with it?" And I decided to be fiscally responsible and buy myself a new marine tank <3 since it's a better chance right now than the stock market

Current Situation 15th January:

The tank is 6 months old All my fish are now here! Red cyano outbreak successfully treated. Dino at bay. Finally.


3 months old!

1 month old

Check latest post for updates


********* Original Post *********

I have run a nano reef for about 5 years now, which is a 40 litre (10 gallon) cube. I had initially planned to upgrade to a 90 litre cube, but another marine enthusiast had a 2 year old Red Sea Reefer 250 on the market with some equipment for a pretty good price. The 250 will be a big step up for me with a lot of firsts, but I'm already looking forward to cracking on. I will put some pictures up once I pick up the gear and roll along. I'm a novice for these big tanks (big to me anyhow) so hopefully it will be of interest to anyone else taking a step to these larger tanks. As I love my LPS and softies, this will be an SPS free tank

Equipment:

Red Sea Reefer 250
Return pump Sicce Syncra 3.5
Chiller Hailea HC150
ATO Tunze Osmolator 3155
Skimmer eshopps S-120
Mechanical filter Clarisea 3000

Lights 2 x AI PrimeHD
Auto water changer - my LFS is bringing in a new brand
Wavemakers - MP10
Hardscape - 20kg real reef rock
Cabinet lighting - Strip LED

fish list :

2 x wild caught Clownfish percula DT
1 x Yellow watchman goby DT
1 x Bangai cardinalfish DT
1 x Valentini Puffer DT
1 x Leopard wrasse DT
1 x YellowfinxFilamented hybrid flasher wrasse DT
1 x Yellow wrasse DT
1 x Ember blenny DT
1 x Marine Betta QT

Current stage:

Setting up location for tank in lounge, picking up everything. Then planning out plumbing - RO container next to tank, seawater outside. Also looking at a little trolley I can keep all my 'working' fish gear on/in.

 

[SPR1968]

Well the Nano rock work looked very nice

And welcome to R2R as well by the way!

 

[Alenya]

Thank you! I had a lot of fun designing and building the little arch

 

[WIReefer]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Y2kong]

how did you build the arch and how do you attach it together?

 

[Slarti]

Welcome and congrats on a great investment...

Just did my return last night and you made me think...but I can just imagine the response if I walk in with a new tank!!!

 

[Alenya]

how did you build the arch and how do you attach it together?

Welcome and congrats on a great investment...

Just did my return last night and you made me think...but I can just imagine the response if I walk in with a new tank!!!

Thanks WIreefer, guys, for the welcome

Y2Kong, I smashed up some real reef rock and then reassembled it with marine safe cement. I made a number of loose assemblies before putting them together. I can lift this in one piece no problem! Unfortunately a touch too big for this tank but I hope I can use it in the new one.

Slarti, life is too short Can’t be responsible every time!

 

[Alenya]

Added fishy shortlist, amongst these clownfish of course, my shrimpgoby and one of my favourites the possum wrasse <3 Possum wrasse have given me many hours of entertainment in the nano tank, and I am hoping that having a reasonably peaceful tank will help ensure a low stress environment for these little cuties <3

 

[Alenya]

Bought all the gear I needed from my LFS; went with 2 AI Prime 16HD lights with flex arms, as this will be a non SPS tank. Also invested in a Vortex MP10 wavemaker and an Eheim 250w heater.

Discovered my nano tank rock has vermetid snails pulling it out to do a mass murder over the next couple days. Guarantees it won’t go in the new tank hardscape but hopefully could still seed the sump. Feeling a bit mad about it as it will slow things down.

On a positive note my LFS is helping design the hardscape next week. They’ve asked me to grab some pics of hardscapes I like ❤ They are the best (even though I was scolded about the vermetids ). They also gave me a lead for local seawater supply and said to come in and buy RO since I wont need a heap.

Picking up the actual tank and equipment tonight which is exciting!

 

[Alenya]

IT HAS ARRIVED

A long drive and a couple of hours putting it in its new living space - and I'm wondering what I am getting myself into!
So many cables, so tired. Also missing tubing to connect return pump to the tank and to plumb in the chiller - and to be honest not sure how to do that. The return pump is missing a foot. The wavemaker doesn't seem to be strongly attached to the glass magnet wise either. I need sleep.

 

[Alenya]

Feeling a little overwhelmed today Labelled the plugs and tidied the cable a little. My partner is helping reearrange the living room this weekend so I can put it in its final spot. I have to get materials and tools so I can do some plumbing. I am tempted to put in some valves but suspect fiddling with the layout is going to make it harder for me to get everything done, if I make it too complicated!

I also pulled the rock out of my nano and got to work removing all the vermetid snails I could find. They are only small pieces so I did a freshwater dip to try to kill off anything left on the rock. Not sure if this will kill everything on the rock, but the tank itself is strong and healthy and there is more coralline on the glass, so I expect it will bounce back in a couple weeks. Skimmer is foaming away a little Hopefully will be useful rock to help seed the RSR this way.

 

[Slarti]

Feeling a little overwhelmed today Labelled the plugs and tidied the cable a little. My partner is helping reearrange the living room this weekend so I can put it in its final spot. I have to get materials and tools so I can do some plumbing. I am tempted to put in some valves but suspect fiddling with the layout is going to make it harder for me to get everything done, if I make it too complicated!

I also pulled the rock out of my nano and got to work removing all the vermetid snails I could find. They are only small pieces so I did a freshwater dip to try to kill off anything left on the rock. Not sure if this will kill everything on the rock, but the tank itself is strong and healthy and there is more coralline on the glass, so I expect it will bounce back in a couple weeks. Skimmer is foaming away a little Hopefully will be useful rock to help seed the RSR this way.

Good stuff, just make sure you have enough room around the tank to get to all the corners...nothing worse than a filled tank to find out the back left corner will never be cleaned!

 

[Brandon Smith]

I can't think of a better way to spend money lol. I can't wait to see more pics

 

[Alenya]

Good stuff, just make sure you have enough room around the tank to get to all the corners...nothing worse than a filled tank to find out the back left corner will never be cleaned!

We are rearranging the whole room, I definitely agree about making some more room! I don’t know how much room to put at the back but I think 6 inches should be ok?

I can't think of a better way to spend money lol. I can't wait to see more pics

Poor again I’ll have some pics once we move it this weekend. My LFS is helping build the hardscape next week too.

I saw them today with a LOT of questions which they answered. Mainly to do with putting in valves (not for Red Sea), how to plumb in the chiller (run it on a separate loop with another pump), and cable management.

Thanks for the comments guys!

 

[Slarti]

We are rearranging the whole room, I definitely agree about making some more room! I don’t know how much room to put at the back but I think 6 inches should be ok?



Poor again I’ll have some pics once we move it this weekend. My LFS is helping build the hardscape next week too.

I saw them today with a LOT of questions which they answered. Mainly to do with putting in valves (not for Red Sea), how to plumb in the chiller (run it on a separate loop with another pump), and cable management.

Thanks for the comments guys!

I am not the expert and you will get better advice from other on here but I think 6" may be a little thin. In the end it is what you are happy with rather than a specific number.

 

[Alenya]

I am not the expert and you will get better advice from other on here but I think 6" may be a little thin. In the end it is what you are happy with rather than a specific number.

I’ll definitely look at it.

My partner wants us to build a canopy. I honestly don’t like the idea of more work, but I guess it’s something we can work on.

 

[Alenya]

Spent the whole day arguing with my partner over the reefscape. He wants a post apocalyptic bridge in the water and the word waterfall was also mentioned. It is also now a floating reef.

Then we spent an hour in Bunnings arguing over a container for the RO so it looks nice in the living room.

 

[Alenya]

Living room has been rearranged and the tank is in its spot Partner for scale! He’s been way too fiesty lately, will need to stop feeding him.

Onto the tank:

And inside, everything is in its place I’ve tidied up the cables reasonably ok, not perfect but easy to get to if needed. Lots of Velcro.

I sorted out the return pump, I had the hose on the wrong overflow pipe. The overflow has been cut short so I need to put some hose over it. I put an internal leader hose in for the moment. The drain pipe from the tank was modified to run across and into the Clarisea; instead of leaving the original drain chamber fallow I decided to run the water return from the chiller into it. The chiller pump is small and separate and will run 24/7 so the flow should ensure there is no stagnant water there. Water going into the chiller is post skimmer.

Last but not least, filled up the overflow box to check for any leaks in the bulkhead. I’ll empty that later but looks good so far!

This week we are levelling and shimming the tank, checking everything is working in the sump then draining it all back out. Working on hardscape at my LFS, FSW (fresh sea water) delivery Friday including a seawater barrel. Cycle starts next weekend

 

[Alenya]

Sat down to play a little TLOU2 and noticed the nano tank was hazy, a first for that tank. I already had a 30% change of water ready and heated up so performed a quick change. Noticed the skimmer was silent and pulled it out - a thorough clean and it was back in action.

It only had hazed up for maybe an hour max so hopefully caught it quick enough and should be clear tomorrow. This tank had quite a bit of chow over the last few days so I expect too many nutrients plus sad skimmer = bloom.

For the Red Sea we bought the parts to level it, a pump and hose to circulate the water in the new saltwater drum and I also picked up three secondhand Tunze wavemakers to add to the tank flow.

Someone had a 3 station doser for sale as the digital clock isn’t working - picking this up as well as the boss is interested in pulling it apart to see if he can get it going. He’s also going to work on a reef Pi for this system.

 

[Alenya]

Nano is happy

We started levelling the tank today. It’s on carpet so proving to be a bit ornery - have put in a couple inches of water and leaving it overnight to settle.

The uncensored version involves another half hour of arguing over whether using a ruler or water level was better, and wedging the corners. Also the boss slipped while I was wedging the back and cracked a piece of coating off the cabinet base; he had to put himself to bed after that one ^.^