Christian's Red Sea Reefer 250 G2

[ScubaFish802]

Red Sea Reefer 250 G2

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• Aquarium
  • 55 gallons - 36"L x 20"W x 21"H with 1/2" glass
• Sump
  • 10 gallons - 19.2"L x 17.5"W x 13.5"H
  • 3 gallon Stock ATO Reservoir
• Return Pump
  • Sicce Synca Silent 4.0
• Powerheads
  • Red Sea Reef Wave 25 Gyre
  • Icecap 2k Gyre (from old tank)
• Lighting
  • Kessil AP9X & Mounting Arm
• Skimmer
  • Red Sea Skimmer 300
• Organization
  • 2x Red Sea 25cm Slide-Out Control Panels
• RODI
  • BRS 4 Stage Plus 100 GPD
• Rock & Sand
  • CaribSea Life Rock
  • Arag-Alive Fiji Pink Reef Sand
• Cover
  • Red Sea DIY 36"x 24" Aquarium Net Cover Kit
• Filtration & Media
  • Reefmat 500
  • Marine Pure Blocks & Balls
  • PolypLab Genesis Filter Media
• Control
  • Eheim Jager 250w & 150w Heater (150w coming from old tank)
  • InkBird Temp Controller
  • Neptune Apex Pro (A3)

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Table of Contents

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May 31, 2022 - Update #2 - Setup, Rockscape, Tank Transfer
June 06, 2022 - Update #3 - General Update & Pics
June 18, 2022 - Update #4 - Legos & Corals
June 26 2022 - Update #5 - Wire Management & Pics
July 11, 2022 - Update #6 - General Check-In & Pics
July 17, 2022 - Update #6.5 - Reefmat 500
July 30, 2022 - Update #7 - QT Tank Setup
August 7, 2022 - Update #8 - Neptune Apex - Clownfish Eggs
September 3, 2022 - Update #9 - Picture Update
October 3, 2022 - Update #10 - Picture Update
November 11, 2022 - Update #11 - New Wrasse and Full Tank Pic
December 12, 2022 - Update #12 - Wrasse added to display tank
March 02, 2023 - Update #13 - Just Checking In

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Spoiler: Full Tank Shot Progression Pics

May 2022

June 2022

July 2022

September 2022

March 2023

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So I started a new adventure this weekend..

Some background & overview:

My current tank is a Fluval Flex 32.5 Marine with the curved front face. I've been dreaming of something 'larger' with more breathing room, no plastic lid, and I also wanted to get out of an AIO setup. The Flex was a great tank, but a couple of things could have been better. After some thought, and feedback from members in the forums here I decided to go with the Red Sea Reefer 250 G2.

The 250 G2 covered all the bases, an easy to set up 10gal sump & plywood cabinet. Rimless, lidless 55 gal 'low iron' glass tank. Updated revisions to the original reefer design for improved confidence. The final factor was the great customer services reported by other RS tank owners across various communities.

Since my current tank is running smoothly (*knock on wood*) and all my corals are not only alive but growing at their various rates it gives me a chance to take this new tank slow and really start off strong & right. I am younger guy (28yr), and really rushed the setup and start of my first and current tank, cut corners on some equipment and just overall could have done things differently at the start.



Tank Status:

On Thursday the tank was delivered via carrier on pallet. Unfortunately no appointment was scheduled so I was not home to receive it. The same day it poured rain. The boxes were soggy by the time I was home, so I threw a tarp over everything and waited for the rain to stop. The wet boxes made transfer into the house a pain, and my significant other was not a fan at all. After some reassurance to her we were able to get the tank up the stairs and inside on a rolling 'cart' (4 pieces of plywood on wheels).

On Friday I spent the day very carefully planning and then moving my current tank, rock, and inhabitants from one side of the office to the other so that I could put the new tank in it's current location once it was relocated.

On Saturday morning I built the stand, Saturday afternoon I did all the plumbing and 'installed' the sump (if you can call it that, it was pretty simple since Red Sea does 95% of set up for the user). The whole time I forced myself to take frequent breaks so that I was not making silly mistakes. The hardest part was leveling the stand feet and the stand doors. After being satisfied with the level of the actual stand/tank, I went back and forth with the doors for much longer than anticipated until everything was the same height and lined up to the point I was actually pretty impressed with myself.

On Sunday (today) I am slowing leak testing & filling with additional water.

Here is the 1st round photo dump (ordered from least to most recent):

Next up is gathering the rocks and setting up the scape, cycling, wire management, ReefMat 500 addition, dialing in settings, transferring fish & corals, and so on..

I think the 1st new fish I want to add eventually is a Silver Belly Wrasse. Let me know what you think, any ideas, tips, tricks, feedback, questions and so on! Always happy to chat!!

 

[blaxsun]

Nice setup. Free starfish hitchhiker?

 

[Lavey29]

Congrats a the new tank. Curious about the light mount which appears quite high. Are you doing that for more light spread and not concerned about high par at all?

 

[ScubaFish802]

Congrats a the new tank. Curious about the light mount which appears quite high. Are you doing that for more light spread and not concerned about high par at all?

I am planning on having it ~10" above the water surface based off what I have seen others say. I'm not going to turn it on for a few weeks probably but will definitely lower it based off where the water is once full. This light is new to me for sure, so if that sounds wrong I'm always open to hearing other advice!

Nice setup. Free starfish hitchhiker?

They shipped it all really well! Would definitely recommend!

 

[The Farmer]

Congrats! Looking good so far I love new builds!

 

[ScubaFish802]

Update #2:
Since the last Update I have filled the tank with RODI water. Took about 2 days (morning to afternoon) worth of non-stop running to get all ~65 gallons in.

After the tank was full, I then collected all the sand that was to be used (aiming for 2" sand bed again). Once I had an appropriate amount of sand, I proceeded to rinse it per the instructions on this 'Official Tank Sand Rinse Thread' until the sand rinsed clear. This took far longer than I anticipated, probably somewhere around 100 full rinses with tap and then 2 final rinses with RODI. It was definitely worth it though, instead of having a tank that was cloudy for a couple of days, I immediately had a clean & clear platform to work with.

I then let the tank sit for a day or two, before dropping in some carib sea rock, and starting to play around with scape ideas.

This is the final rock scape I was feeling happy with:
Lots of caves, arches, nooks and crannies, with plenty of space to clean the glass all the way around. While keeping room for both gyres to be fairly hidden behind the main scape.

One mistake I made here was not pre-rinsing all the rock thoroughly enough, after soaking for a bit some dust came from the deep pores, this partially clouded my tank for a couple of hours.

At this point my SO was complaining about the two tanks, buckets, and general amount of space this process was taking up and I had already moved all the livestock into 5 gal buckets in the event that I nuked my previous tank removing the rockwork I wanted to include in the new layout.

So I decided that since I was taking over almost all of my established rock from the old tank, and the marine pure media, that I could probably safely get away with transferring everything into the main tank the next day since my bio filtration and load should not change much.

So the next day I acclimated each bucket, added the corals & fish. The following pics are from the days after, all the way up to today (oldest to newest).

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Bonus Info: I have had a few of the Reef2Reef Partner Member stickers from a year or two ago laying around, decided to slap a couple onto the left hand door for now..

Next Steps: Wire management is in need of serious attention, ReefMat 500 addition incoming.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Before I forget, here is the scape from left/mid/right as well

 

[ScubaFish802]

Update #3: Tank made it through 3-Day vacation away from home. Finished the Red Sea DIY Net cover right before leaving. This was a huge PITA. If they offered a pre-built version for 2x the price it would be fine lol

Finally swapped the 2nd heater (300w) that was just 1” too long for the overflow for a 250w of the same brand. Currently both heaters are hooked up to 1 Inkbird. I will probably get a second so that they are both ran independently.

GSP removed from tiles and glued to all 3 sides of the overflow box to hopefully cover the rear eventually.. tiles places back in tank corner to keep growing more from what was not removed.

Bonus pic of Duncan doing the seductive tentacle suck for good measure

 

[ScubaFish802]

Quick background to this post.. another one of my ‘hobbies’ is legos. Something about putting legos together really helps me clear my mind after a crazy day at work. For instance here is the UCS ATAT that has been proudly taking over our kitchen table for months.

Anyways, while on vacation recently I stumbled into a used Lego store. In the store was a mess of random boats, ships, etc.. it got me thinking, could I float shark guy in my tank as like a fun little joke? Well, he floats! So thinking I’ll seal him and the boat up with some sort of clear aquarium safe sealant and toss em in..

 

[ScubaFish802]

Update #4: Some pics just to update things are still alive 1st small water change today. Working on keeping nutrients up in this new tank.

Clownfish with and without orange filter. They've been cleaning the right side of the pot so maybe starting eggs again.. (stopped laying cycle when transferred). Basslet lurking as usual.

Blue Solomon Tree with and without orange filter. This little guy has really been catching my eye. Was able to get it to attach to rubble before transferring.

Not sure what these zoas are, but they've been hanging out, same with the scroll coral. Both were given to me by local reefers.. Scroll coral is finally getting color back on right side again. New ring of polyps around the outside coming in..
already touched up the bits of cyano there..

and finally.. Shark Guy & boat went through many rounds of food safe Krylon clear coat while disassembled.. I think that's pretty much it for right now! Happy Reefing

 

[ScubaFish802]

 

[Jeffcb]

Nice build! I have a 250 and have enjoyed it.

 

[M4sonic]

nice tank!( also nice ATAT )
looking to get the 300 g2 myself, mind if i ask you a couple questions?
Hows the new gate valve working out? and does your 250 also have the reinforced corner strips?

keep up the good work!

 

[ScubaFish802]

nice tank!( also nice ATAT )
looking to get the 300 g2 myself, mind if i ask you a couple questions?
Hows the new gate valve working out? and does your 250 also have the reinforced corner strips?

keep up the good work!

The valve seems to be working well. I’ve been frequently turning off my return pump and feeding reef roids to try and raise phos, since transferring tanks I have been having a hard time keeping nutrients up anyways.. even with frequent shut downs it is easy to keep quiet and reset. The adjustments seem to be very precise.
It does have the new ‘Armored Seams’, though interestingly enough only on the front seams, not the back. It seems the silicone on the front corners is at least 2x the width of the silicone on the back 2 corners (assuming to address the front seam leak issues of the 1st version). It also has the new “reinforced all plywood” cabinets.

Front:

Back:

 

[powers2001]

@ScubaFish802 great start. Sorry about the rain but looks like you got through that. I have a Reefer 250 too.

 

[ScubaFish802]

@ScubaFish802 great start. Sorry about the rain but looks like you got through that. I have a Reefer 250 too.

We’ve definitely managed haha
I’ll have to check your thread out next!

Currently letting some new frags settle in from some of the great members here on R2R.. so I’ll be sure to update again at some point soon here

 

[ScubaFish802]

Update #5: That wire management I talk about at the start of each tank but never actually do.. Well I finally cleaned things up a bit. I think it came out pretty good..
2x Red Sea Slide Out Control Panels (25cm) - both placed on the right side stacked.

I left the top one clear for future dosing pumps or whatever else that catches my eye.. I put two panels since only having one in the center seemed like a huge waste of cabinet space. This was a good chance to use up some extra Corsair fastening cables from when I built my work computer.

My skimmer has been about 1" too low, so when I ordered the control panels, I also ordered the new PolypLabs Genesis Rock. Figured it was a win/win as far as raising the skimmer and getting additional surface area in the sump.

and finally for this post, two of the frags that showed up recently from other R2R members in the Livestock forum.

 

[ScubaFish802]

as always, thanks for reading

 

[ScubaFish802]

Update #6: Just a general check in.

Threw a cheap closet light from Walmart so I could see inside the cabinet, would like to set up something on a switch for the door eventually.. maybe a magnet switch or something so it is 100% automated..
Nice to be able to see inside the sump though for now.

Someday that GSP back wall will fill in..

Random photo dump

(don't mind the random clips and plugs with nori, trying to keep snails and hermits fed since new tank has been pretty clean.. working on keep nutrients from bottoming out still..)

and finally.. I am most excited that I believe I have finally found a Silver Belly Wrasse from a distributor online. I am patiently awaiting to see if it is real or not now and if it does arrive (paid paypal G&S of course)

 

[ScubaFish802]

I'll call this Update #6.5: Finally saw the Reefmat 500 in stock on @SaltwaterAq. They seem to have a warehouse near me, I ordered late Friday and received it early Sunday.

It's a tight fit with the skimmer and Reefmat together but I was able to make it work with the ATO. I think it's time to start thinking about a different solution for the ATO setup..