Camron's Red Sea 250

[Camron]

Hello everyone. Welcome to my build page.

I have a Red Sea 250.

A bit about me, I had a 35 gallon bow front freshwater planted aquarium for years. I have always wanted to have a marine tank. I finally got the opportunity a couple months ago when a turn key setup went for sale on Facebook marketplace.

I have wanted a tank so long, that I have watched countless hours of BRS, Tidal Gardens, Reef Dudes, Mad Hatters Reef, Reef Builders, etc.

After leak testing for over a week, with full water, I added rocks and sand.

I used the tropic eden reef flakes. They are pretty in the tank, but had a lot of plastic strands mixed in. Below isn't even a third of the total amount in the bag.
This picture is what was left after rinsing multiple times, and filling the sand in one cup at a time. I had to pull more plastic strings off my powerhead and off the plastic teeth at the top of the overflow.

 

[Camron]

I have a small QT tank set up for my clowns.

I have been ghost feeding my aquarium while using bacteria in a bottle.
Bought some zoas off a local reefer so my tank has something in it while we wait on the Fish QT.

 

[Billldg]

Looking good so far. Looking forward to seeing this come together.

 

[powers2001]

@Camron great to see another reefer 250, I have one also! I'm going to get some more Tropic Eden sand, hope it doesn't have those plastic strands!

 

[Camron]

Sorry for the delay in updating. I clearly added the clowns to the display tank and bought 2 Banggai cardinals.

I jump started my cycle with a bottle of some Dr. Tims. Then I used a a couple doses (perhaps 3-4) of FaStart-M, and a couple doses of MicroBacter7 (perhaps 5-8), and even a dose (only one of this, I think) of Vibrant.

I am currently feeding marine cuisine frozen food mixed with frozen blood worm blobs or dots (Av. at Peco).

10/25/2019 little ugliness

added some CUC. @reefcleaners hooked me up. I bought the 25 gal cleaner package with Hermit Crabs

update 11/3/2019

Current water parameters: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, Sal 1.026, DKH 7.5, PH 8.2, Cal 480

My Dkh went down to 6.5, so I added a tsp of baking soda to some RO water and slowly added that to kick my Dkh back up.

Also, I have not done a single water change.

 

[powers2001]

@Camron nice start!! can we get a list of equipment and livestock so far?

 

[Camron]

@Camron nice start!! can we get a list of equipment and livestock so far?

Hey, so for lighting I have AI PRIME 26s.
Skimmer is the one that came with it, the octo. Return pump is the one that came with it, almost fully closed as the thing really pushes some water (it doesnt have lettering on it).

I have carbon in a media bag and use pillow floss in red sea media cups.

I also have a non controllable wave maker I got off amazon cheap.

My ato ball valve broke a couple days ago, some piece went into the pump and made it pop apart. Thankfully I heard it and removed the bits of plastic. Not sure what caused that lol. I bought a tunze on sale and am now looking for ato water storage options.

Livestock: my zoas are going strong and I added two more small frags, one is red and one is green. I also added a single head of hammer coral and a monty that is blue with green polyps (just did this sunday).

Livestock clown fish are happy and non aggressive.
1 Banggai cardinal lives, the other would not eat anything at all ( tried a little bit of everything from pellets to various frozen foods) and eventually passed.
And I added a Lawnmower blenny

Parameters from memory
Sal 1.025
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Amm 0
Ph 8.2
Calc 430
Alk 7.9 ( raising this slowly to 8.5)
Mg 1350
Phosphate .046

I have a kessel fuge light that came with the tank, but I don't have room in the sump to put on a refugium.

I will take some pictures tonight. Baby is coming soon, so I have been caring dor the tank but not taking as many pictures as I had hoped.

Any tips anand advice is great, and I love questions!

 

[Camron]

 

[Dierks]

Great Looking Tank. Following along with your build thread as it looks great!

 

[Camron]

Quick update, baby girl was born on December 31, 2019.

The wonderful wifeo got me an Innovative Marine ATO Reservoir which is working great with my Tunze!

I also just ordered some rock flowers and Ricordia for the tank from reeftopia. I will post some pictures when everything arrives.

Needless to say my recent addition to the family has been keeping my hands full, but I have been maintaining my aquarium - although I have neglected to update this thread! More updates are coming soon.

 

[Camron]

I got my order from reeftopia. Everything was double bagged, separated, placed in styrofoam cooler with a heat pack.

I bought 6 ultra rock flower anemone, one ricordia orange, one rocordia florescent green, and 25 golden astrea snails. My order got free shipping. Additionally, i spent enough to get 24 blue legs for free and I got a free extra rock flower. Posting pictures below.

 

[Camron]

The 2 rock flowers here are my original 2.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Looking good

 

[Camron]

It is a sad day. It appears my tank is failing.

 

[ying yang]

Im new so not much help.but if you know what the problem is then address it, if not ask for help to find out what's going on and how to make it right as every problem always got a answer,good luck anyhow

 

[powers2001]

It is a sad day. It appears my tank is failing.

@Camron at first glance it appears to be some type of macro algae but you’ll have to get better, closer photos possibly without strong blue light. If it’s macro algae the nightmare is over.

 

[Camron]

@Camron at first glance it appears to be some type of macro algae but you’ll have to get better, closer photos possibly without strong blue light. If it’s macro algae the nightmare is over.

It is the seals, the bubble you see is the seam coming loose between the two panes of glass

 

[powers2001]

@Camron I see it now. If it’s under warranty you should be in luck. There are countless stories on the R2R RS show off thread telling of guys getting tanks with defects and RS honoring the warranty.

 

[Camron]

@Camron I see it now. If it’s under warranty you should be in luck. There are countless stories on the R2R RS show off thread telling of guys getting tanks with defects and RS honoring the warranty.

Yeah, I put in a support ticket last night, haven't heard anything. It is amazing how the tank looked fine for so long and then randomly started to separate. Terrifying, really.

 

[powers2001]

Yeah, I put in a support ticket last night, haven't heard anything. It is amazing how the tank looked fine for so long and then randomly started to separate. Terrifying, really.

@Camron kind makes me wonder if I’d be better off with a Waterbox or some other made in the USA assembly line or custom built.