Another Reefer 250 startup

[Rick Krejci]

Well, it's time for me to start up a brand new system in my new location (Dayton OH). Been in the hobby since Magnum canisters and UGFs were the thing. Been interesting seeing the husbandry techniques advance so much over the years!

The wife is semi-tolerant of my hobby, and since I wanted this in the Family room, I wanted a great looking and quiet tank, so I settles on the Reefer 250. Ordered last Friday, so will likely get it some time next week. I've been investigating my approach for a year now. I decided I generally wanted to keep things simple and use Chaeto to export nutrients. Will be a mixed SPS/LPS/Anemone tank well stocked with fish. Have settled on the following equipment, most of which I have sitting here ready to go:

Lighting - 2x Radion XR15 Pro G4 - will add their new diffusers when they become available
Skimmer - Reef Octopus 110SSS
Return Pump - Reef Octopus Varios-6
Circulation - MP10+MP40

Chaeto in sump with Kessil H380

Neptune Alex Controller and DOS doser for 2 part dosing

50 lb Reefsaver Rock with Aragalive Special grand sand.

I'll update this once the tank is delivered. Any advice appreciated!

Rick

 

[Daddy-o]

:

Any advice appreciated!

Rick

Enjoy!........ and Welcome!!
Cheers! Mark

 

[PiscesPower]

Welcome to R2R, so much great information here.

I got my RSR 250 yesterday and am in the middle of setup. I went with the deluxe and the AI Hydra 26's.

Are you planning on turning the ATO reservoir into a refugium?

 

[Rick Krejci]

Thanks!
Can't wait to get mine as well...excited for you!
I'm not planning on converting the ATO at this point, the 110SSS doesn't take up a huge amount of space (not that there's a lot) so wanted to use the main chamber for it...I'll play it by ear though.

 

[PiscesPower]

Thanks!
Can't wait to get mine as well...excited for you!
I'm not planning on converting the ATO at this point, the 110SSS doesn't take up a huge amount of space (not that there's a lot) so wanted to use the main chamber for it...I'll play it by ear though.

I keep going back and forth on it. I have been using the Red Sea Reef Care program on this tank and its doing well. I thought to do Triton on the new tank and pull the filter socks. Still going back and forth on it. I can use my AI Prime on the fuge, but Chaeto can be hard to come by up here. I have a Skimz mini monster skimmer and it's footprint is not too bad either. I just ordered an Avast Marine Spyglass reactor.

 

[Rick Krejci]

Since the tanks ship from Houston, I figured my aquarium would be delayed, but the truck left there Friday at 10pm...whew! Prayers for those in the devastation down there!

 

[pelphrey]

Tagging along on your journey, the Red Sea tanks are top notch!

 

[Rick Krejci]

The Reefer 250 showed up on Friday afternoon...quite the large palette! I gave the guy some extra to help me move the boxes off the palette and into my foyer so I could unpack since it was raining out.

Everything went together smoothly...very impressed with the quality of everything and all is well thought out. Started putting water in it Friday evening and into Saturday Morning...no leaks at all! By Saturday noon I had an operational system, with return pump, skimmer, lights and all. Got the rocks in, salted the water and then the Aragalive (and ensuing cloud). The skimmer took the gunk out of the water and it was clear within about an hour.

Since then, been setting up the Apex and getting used to it. I looked more at the Reef Mature pro contents, and was a little confused since the nitrogen source was Potassium Nitrate, with no ammonia source. I had some ammonium chloride and Dr. Tims and decided to go that direction a few days before starting in on the Reef Mature Pro.

I'm finding the Reefer very user friendly. The valve adjustment works well and stays pretty dialed in. The Octopus 110SSS is wonderful...dead quiet and lots of bubbles. Very pleased at the sound level overall...it's in a quiet family room and is barely noticeable.

I'm not usually a neat freak, but the sheer amount of wiring was overwhelming to deal with so I mounted most of the electronics on a (removable) board, keeping all electronics off the floor. I have it so I can remove a single item without unraveling other items, so I can maintain my skimmer and so forth easily

The H380 is the loudest item. I asked about it in another thread, and the opinion seems to be it shouldn't be loud at all. I'll work it with Kessil to get a replacement.

All in all, really love the tank and am looking forward to getting through the cycle!

 

[Rick Krejci]

Well, 1.5 weeks in and still in mid-cycle.

I'm entertaining myself with the ammonia monitoring aspect of my Seneye. I got it mainly as a reasonable par meter, but it also monitors free ammonia, so I can keep an eye on it. I've been entering it's values into the Apex test log so I have a nice history to look at. Nitrites are building up and ammonia going down so won't be long now. The free ammonia acts much differently than normally tested total ammonia in that it varies with PH. So as I continue the NoPoX dosing which causes small PH swings, so swings the free ammonia. Cool to follow on the Apex logs...great geek stuff while I'm waiting for larger live things in the tank.

My nitrates are about 15, mostly from the Red Sea Reef Mature Pro early dosing of Potassium Nitrate. I've pretty much paused the Reef Mature program (except low level NoPox portion to bring Nitrates down) until the rock is "cured", which I didn't originally know was a pre-assumption of the program. What I've learned is that it's a good way to begin the carbon dosing program to reduce nitrates in a controlled manner, but I think the Dr. Tim's or Bio-spira with Ammonium Chloride it the way to go to get through the cycle before-hand. I still find it a bit odd that the Reef Mature program doses Nitrates directly.

Been running the fuge light on some rock rubble in the sump so if algae starts to grow, it does it in there. I'm getting clear bio-film on the glass, but not a hint of algae (diatoms, cyano, green...) anywhere. I think the no algae thing is because of a sterile cycle with no Phosphate source. Tested Phosphates with the Hanna low range and it's still 0, so the BRS Reef Saver rocks aren't leaching anything which is good.

Once I get through the cycle, I'll continue with the Reef Mature Program (or really the NoPox portion thereof) to lower Nitrates and gradually add the fish and then the Chaeto once I start to see some algae growth. Wont add clean-up crew until I need to and generally try to minimize it. I once did the reef cleaners package thing and found to way too over the top, likely causing more problems than they are solving. Plus all the small snails love to get in the overflows. Will try to avoid hermits in general.

Plan on starting well stocked fish only and once I get that very stable and nutrients at an appropriate level (however long it takes), then add the coral/nems. So Radions will be total overkill for a while. Will probably ramp them up over time with the fish so it wont shock the tank once corals are added later. Goal is to minimize change to the equilibrium.

 

[Rick Krejci]

Ammonia Cycle is about complete. Was getting a bit confused that the Seneye was bottoming out about 0.016 ppm free ammonia (equivalent to about 0.4 PPM Total Ammonia read by most test kits), so I put the Seneye in RODI water and it was still reading about 0.016, so I think it's an inaccuracy in the Seneye. I just put in a calibration bias of 0.016 in the Seneye so it reads 0 just to make me feel better :) Will cross check with a friend's test kit to be sure.

Right now the tank looks very sterile with no color/algae whatsoever. The skimmer is pulling out some white opaque gunk with a wet skim, presumably from bacterial activity induced by the NoPox dosing.

Nitrites and Nitrates are still about the same. I do think my bacterial growth is a little phosphate limited, since the Hanna is still dead on 0. I'm going to experiment with dosing a very small amount of phosphate (NeoPhos) to see if that nudges the NoPox into reducing the nitrates more effectively...have read that it can help in situations like mine. Really want to get this worked out before adding in a fish. Probably be in a few weeks at this rate.

Set up my Apex with more advanced controls, so it controls the speed of the Varios as well as the Vortech's and has leak detectors. Established a profile for the Varios for normal operation and Feed operation where the flow is zero, so no water goes in or out of the return pipe. Have one Feed channel for actual feeding, and one for maintenance to stop flow and shut the skimmers. Finally getting the hang of programming...being an embedded Avionics SW person, I had to unlearn most of what I knew and figure out the Apex way :)

Will be setting up the Neptune DOS soon to get 2 part dosing underway.

 

[Flameback Pair]

@Rick Krejci can we get an update on this tank?

 

[Rick Krejci]

Sure...way past due. coming up on a year next month.

I gave up on using the Reef Mature System and just kept it simple...Ammonium Cloride and Dr. Tims and time. Once it was good, I started adding fish. My original idea was to start with fish (no inverts or corals) and once stable add the corals. That way I could treat in-tank if necessary. Was starting to get some diatoms and cyano (and maybe dinos)...not abnormal. Of course I added my first batch of fish and got hit with what I think was brook and/or velvet. Treated the tank with Chloroquine Phosphate (CP) and was able to save most of them. After a month, I added back carbon and had to deal with sky-high phosphates (since CP causes it to skyrocket). Got those down quickly with rowaphos and then let things settle for a little. The CP wiped out any and all algae, coralline, cyano/dinos (although spared the chaeto) so I was back to a more sterile environment.

Really didn't like the lack of bio-diversity with dry rocks. So I ordered some uncured live rock from KP aquatics...the stuff is great! Shipped overnight, it had all kinds of live on it and smelled fresh. I still cured it for a few weeks while some of the sponges died off. Lots of creep crawlies, Did have to spot-hit a few aiptasia for a few months, but they are gone now.

Added another fish from a well trusted person and it immediately got brook...awesome. This time I set up a 20 gallon QT and treated all the fish there, since I had some snails and urchins and such. Lost the new fish but others made it through. I'm assuming the existing fish had built up resistance and the new one just got hit by it.

So, I let the DT go fallow for a few months, which worked out great since the pod population exploded. Added the fish back and they had a feast for a while.

Have added a Maxima Clam and a few corals, everything has been healthy and happy for about 3-4 months now. I'm just keeping everything as-is until I figure out where I want to go with it. My fish are: Yellow Tang, Flame Hawk, 6x Green Chromis, 2x clowns.

Decided to go away from Radions and to T5's, with a 6 light ATI dimmable. Just liked the better coverage and I'm not a shimmer person. It's more than enough light for about anything.

Upgraded the skimmer to the Reef Octo Regal 150sss...great skimmer.
The H380 was great as well, but a bit overkill, so I went with the H160 when it came out. Definitely sized better and far more controllable.

Have 2x MP40's placed on the back. Work in concert with the return outlet to give a top to bottom back to front flow which is good for keeping stuff in suspension.

Have removed all filter media (socks/floss) and just let everything flow around or get caught in the Chaeto.

Overall things are not stable and great. I've always been a low water change person, and this tank is no exception. Will just change every once in a while. If I decide to go SPS, I'll get a bit more serious about if, but for now just dose Alk and Cal.

My biggest problem is lack of nutrients despite heavy feeding and a good population of fish. I actually dose both Nitrates and Phosphates in the ATO water and still get very little readings and very little for the CUC and tang in the DT. I supplement with Nori. Cheato grows and out-competes it I suppose.

Biggest lessons:
- Always quarantine!!!
- Don't treat in the DT. It seemed to work out OK, but really didn't kill everything.
- Next time, I'll probably just get Live Rock to start with and leave it cure in the DT to get biodiversity up there. And then just quarantine and add fish.

I suppose there's a reason why the above are considered best practices in the hobby. In earlier days, ich was rare and velvet and brook almost unheard of. Not any more.

I'll try to be better about any further updates...I was getting pretty discouraged through all of that stuff, but now things are smooth.

 

[Rick Krejci]

 

[pelphrey]

Looks great! kp aquatics has been on my mind for awhile now, even with my tank coming up on 2 years the bio diversity just isn't there. Really thinking about getting 10 pounds let it go through its stages in a bucket and add it to my sump!

How did you hang the ATI fixture, from the ceiling?

 

[Rick Krejci]

Looks great! kp aquatics has been on my mind for awhile now, even with my tank coming up on 2 years the bio diversity just isn't there. Really thinking about getting 10 pounds let it go through its stages in a bucket and add it to my sump!

How did you hang the ATI fixture, from the ceiling?

Yea, I just did the 10 lbs and used a small tank to cure it in. I tried to preserve as much life as possible by not letting ammonia get too high. I did get what I assume is a pistol shrimp. I hear clicking but haven't lost anything or seen anything. I also got some other worms, including one Eunice worm, but I'm thinking it's a rock-dweller, not a bobbit. Just today, I notices some red tentacled coming from a hole in the rock, and it's a bivalve of some sort...tentacles look like a scallop?

I actually made a wood frame around the top of the tank (an open at the top canopy) that first the ATI just right. I really dislike light shining into the room and the glare of bare lights (radions or t5s) so this was a neat looking solution. I'll take a pic of it next update, or sooner if someone is interested. I just bought one of those cheap white bookshelves from Target and cut everything to side. Matches very well! Rimless fans will gasp I'm sure, but I find it a lot more convenient than a plexi lid (had/have one of those as well) and solves the light issue.

 

[pelphrey]

Would love to see pictures!

 

[Flameback Pair]

Upgraded the skimmer to the Reef Octo Regal 150sss...great skimmer.

I received one of these from BRS but it didn't fit my Synergy T-26 Triton sump. Bummer because they get great reviews and float switch in the cup and controllable speeds with the Apex. Unfortunately I had to send it back.

BTW, I have a RSR 250 too.

 

[Rick Krejci]

Here's the canopy. Made it completely from this:
https://www.target.com/p/3-shelf-bo...3/-/A-52504642?preselect=51934435#lnk=sametab

Could use a little touch-up, as the quality of the white covering on the wood was pretty crappy. But it got the job done.
Basically just made a 3 sided frame that sit on top of the sides and back of the tank. Then there are larger pieces on the sides and the front just attached at the 2 points and can rotate open and closed. The fixture just sits on the inner frame and can slide forward and back. Makes it easy (for better or worse) to get my hands or grabbers in there.

It will also fit the aquatic life 36" hybrid fixture, but it was a little deep so the back lights were more or less useless.

Rick

 

[Flameback Pair]

Very genious !!! Way to go. B-)

 

[Flameback Pair]

Are you using your Apex to control your Regal 150-S skimmer?