Figured I'd start a build thread for this guy, changes happening all the time so it would be good to document it.
I used to have freshwater aquariums through most of my early years in life, but I am a reefing n00b. Spun the tank up (as in put rocks in it) in Nov 2018. I've wanted a salt tank for a VERY long time, and decided to start now as my little girl is obsessed with oceans and marine life. I am big on automation / IoT, hence the Apex. Automation is a must as I need to be able to leave the aquarium for 2 weeks with maybe one - two checkups on it from someone who knows nothing about them. I also have a company and some days can't give it daily attention as much as I might want to.
I'll also state I am a very active home brewer, and it's quite funny how the two hobbies cross over in terms of equipment and water chemistry For example, I had zero issue finding pumps for water changes, my lab grade pH meter can now point out how terrible Apex probes are, and part of my brewery has become a testing area for water and aeration of live food. I also learned just how much damage standing salt water can do to stainless steel.
I started with this, and still have it for now
Reefer 250 with the stock sump setup (v2)
Two AI Prime lights and gooseneck mounts
Reef Octopus Classic 110INT skimmer
2 x Current USA eFlux circulation pumps
Current USA eFlux DC return pump
Neptune Apex system with ATO (which won't fit the 250) and AFS
A pair of 150W Eheim heaters for redundancy
APC BackUPS Pro BR 1350VA (temperature drops FAST in my basement)
Also some poundage of dry rock (no idea how much) and 40lbs of live sand.
When I finished cycling my population was:
1 blood shrimp (pretty)
1 skunk shrimp (active)
2 Nassarius snails (these are incredible, love how they dig the sand and roam like the creatures in Tremors)
1 long spine urchin (little fella, room to grow)
2 scarlet hermit crabs
1 dwarf blue leg hermit crab
1 emerald crab
Why the Red Sea Reefer 250?
I wanted a full solution of very high quality. I didn't know enough about individual components and the RSR gave most of the full setup at a high quality (in terms of the tank), with a correspondingly high price. I had researched different options for up to a year but I loved how the RSR's looked, that they were consistently top rated, and that the setup time would be minimized. With all the things to concern myself with in a new saltwater setup, aquarium build quality wouldn't have to be one of them.
Size wise I went with the 250 because I didn't realize I'd be putting this in my basement, I thought it would be main or 2nd floor and weight would be a concern. I have no regrets but I would have probably gone 350 or even 425XL if I knew it would be dropped in the basement. But here we are. I'll probably end up expanding later though, maybe to even the 6 or 7 series. Who knows. Starting with a smaller tank may be much smarter anyway so I have less to deal with, you can always go up.
Here are some initial pics during assembly and deployment in November.
It's certainly well packaged. Picked this up from aquariumdepot.ca in November, he trucked it to my door the same day. It weighs a ton, I can't imagine how much work putting in an XL model would be :/
My daughter loves her new tank
And putting it together... It's basically IKEA furniture, a 3 year old can assemble it.
The cabinet is really nice, like I said the finish is fantastic even if the guts are IKEA with a mediocre fitment.
Speaking of which, it's not a top notch cabinet. Manage your expectations. The finish is great but at the end of the day it's rough pressboard with IKEA assembly parts. It wouldn't be terribly difficult to split the wood or the parts if you overtighten, the feet are cheap plastic with a nail through them (which break easily) and I had to 'convince' some of the parts to fit together. In addition, many of the... nuts?... didn't fit flush so the caps you're supposed to use to cover the ugly holes wouldn't go in. But you're not paying for the cabinet so much, I think, as the tank itself. Regardless, keep some extra tools handy if you need to shave some wood down or drill out the holes a bit more. I'd also recommend some better feet, possibly levelling feet from Home Depot, just make sure you place them on the load points and not screw them into the side. This wood would tear like cardboard when given ~800lbs+ of shear force.
This is a RSR250v2 by the way, not the brand new one (v3) that came out literally 1 month after I bought this one. I didn't know this, which led to hilarity and more money a few months later.
-J
I used to have freshwater aquariums through most of my early years in life, but I am a reefing n00b. Spun the tank up (as in put rocks in it) in Nov 2018. I've wanted a salt tank for a VERY long time, and decided to start now as my little girl is obsessed with oceans and marine life. I am big on automation / IoT, hence the Apex. Automation is a must as I need to be able to leave the aquarium for 2 weeks with maybe one - two checkups on it from someone who knows nothing about them. I also have a company and some days can't give it daily attention as much as I might want to.
I'll also state I am a very active home brewer, and it's quite funny how the two hobbies cross over in terms of equipment and water chemistry For example, I had zero issue finding pumps for water changes, my lab grade pH meter can now point out how terrible Apex probes are, and part of my brewery has become a testing area for water and aeration of live food. I also learned just how much damage standing salt water can do to stainless steel.
I started with this, and still have it for now
Reefer 250 with the stock sump setup (v2)
Two AI Prime lights and gooseneck mounts
Reef Octopus Classic 110INT skimmer
2 x Current USA eFlux circulation pumps
Current USA eFlux DC return pump
Neptune Apex system with ATO (which won't fit the 250) and AFS
A pair of 150W Eheim heaters for redundancy
APC BackUPS Pro BR 1350VA (temperature drops FAST in my basement)
Also some poundage of dry rock (no idea how much) and 40lbs of live sand.
When I finished cycling my population was:
1 blood shrimp (pretty)
1 skunk shrimp (active)
2 Nassarius snails (these are incredible, love how they dig the sand and roam like the creatures in Tremors)
1 long spine urchin (little fella, room to grow)
2 scarlet hermit crabs
1 dwarf blue leg hermit crab
1 emerald crab
Why the Red Sea Reefer 250?
I wanted a full solution of very high quality. I didn't know enough about individual components and the RSR gave most of the full setup at a high quality (in terms of the tank), with a correspondingly high price. I had researched different options for up to a year but I loved how the RSR's looked, that they were consistently top rated, and that the setup time would be minimized. With all the things to concern myself with in a new saltwater setup, aquarium build quality wouldn't have to be one of them.
Size wise I went with the 250 because I didn't realize I'd be putting this in my basement, I thought it would be main or 2nd floor and weight would be a concern. I have no regrets but I would have probably gone 350 or even 425XL if I knew it would be dropped in the basement. But here we are. I'll probably end up expanding later though, maybe to even the 6 or 7 series. Who knows. Starting with a smaller tank may be much smarter anyway so I have less to deal with, you can always go up.
Here are some initial pics during assembly and deployment in November.
It's certainly well packaged. Picked this up from aquariumdepot.ca in November, he trucked it to my door the same day. It weighs a ton, I can't imagine how much work putting in an XL model would be :/
My daughter loves her new tank
And putting it together... It's basically IKEA furniture, a 3 year old can assemble it.
The cabinet is really nice, like I said the finish is fantastic even if the guts are IKEA with a mediocre fitment.
Speaking of which, it's not a top notch cabinet. Manage your expectations. The finish is great but at the end of the day it's rough pressboard with IKEA assembly parts. It wouldn't be terribly difficult to split the wood or the parts if you overtighten, the feet are cheap plastic with a nail through them (which break easily) and I had to 'convince' some of the parts to fit together. In addition, many of the... nuts?... didn't fit flush so the caps you're supposed to use to cover the ugly holes wouldn't go in. But you're not paying for the cabinet so much, I think, as the tank itself. Regardless, keep some extra tools handy if you need to shave some wood down or drill out the holes a bit more. I'd also recommend some better feet, possibly levelling feet from Home Depot, just make sure you place them on the load points and not screw them into the side. This wood would tear like cardboard when given ~800lbs+ of shear force.
This is a RSR250v2 by the way, not the brand new one (v3) that came out literally 1 month after I bought this one. I didn't know this, which led to hilarity and more money a few months later.
-J
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