First Tank - Office RSR 250 Triton Method

Maokin

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Growing up in my younger years I always had a freshwater fish tank, but always wanted to have a saltwater tank. Fast forward many years till fall 2018 and we received a gift of two Betta fish for my two young sons. While caring for our new Betta fish my childhood dream came back to me. After around 4 months of research, I decided it was time for my first saltwater tank. I decided on a Red Sea Reefer 250 tank for my home office with the Triton method and auto water changes.



I purchased my Red Sea Reefer 250 from my LFS and 40 lbs of live Fiji pink sand. For rock, I went with dry 70lbs Reef saver rock from BRS. Ended up needing around 45-55lbs of it. I needed everything to fit in the sump due to the limited space in my office. With a large list of equipment, I knew this was going to be a tight fit. Special thanks to Aaron Gustafson for providing the idea to mount the power strips and cord management on the top of the stand. If not for that everything wouldn’t have fit. Here is my equipment list.


Here is the custom mounting board I created. Just used desk grommets route the cables through. I painted the wood with black spray paint.

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Sump a bit of a mess while parts still arrived and I set up the tank. You can see the 3 RO lines coming from the wall. These are the drain, salt, and RODI lines to the tank. I installed a dedicated 20 amp circuit just for the tank with a GFI outlet for protection. I made sure to turn on my Apex heartbeat too, so if the GFI does trip I will be notified that my apex is offline.

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view of the top of my stand. I have cable raceways that run in a U shape from left to right in the stand. It is all lit from an LED strip that runs along the top of the stand as well. Between the 16 outlets in these 2 Apex energy bar 832 there are only 3 free outlets after everything is plugged in. This shot is from early on in the wiring.

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Sump and stand complete with all equipment. Marine pure blocks have been removed as my Al was extremely high.

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NameQuantity
Reefer 2501
Crystalreef aquatics Sump RSRN2501
Varios-4 Pump2
Apex1
EB832 Energy Bar1
Neptune auto feeding1
Kessil A mounting arm2
neptune dos1
neptune breakout box1
MP402
A360W-E2
H3801
Eheim Jager 125W2
Small BRS Carbon Reactor with Pump1
LED Refreacatomtor1
BRS ROX .8 carbon 3lbs1
Red sea blue 175G salt1
Nyos Quantium 120 Skimmer1
BRS dosing pump3
cabinet light1
WXM VORTECH1
Here is my 7 stage with water saver BRS RODI unit. Has worked like a champ for me. I was able to mount my RODI directly below my PEX water switch. It provides me direct access to a very strong pressure water supply. Originally I had Schedule 40 connector for my RODI feed line, however, it broke soon after install. Upgraded to Scheduled 80 shown here and haven't had any issues. My normal pressure is around 85-95 PSI when the flush valve is off. With the flush on I still get over 60 PSI. I have lucked out and my supply water is only between 30-35 TDS. Most of the time the RO is able to get me to 2 or 0 TDS. DI gets me to zero if I am not there already. I have made around 300-400 gallons of water and show little if any usage on my filters. Not sure how long they will last given the low TDS and I only make around 50g a month.






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Here is the mixing station. I decided to go with Schedule 80 piping just because it looked cooler and matched the valves I used. I went with Cepex valves I got from BRS. The piping is all 3/4 inch. I just went with that as that is the same size used in my tank. So far the valves are very easy to turn, looking forward to it staying that way for a long time. If not with the double Union it is super easy to just purchase another valve without having to re-do any PVC. The RO lines connect at the top too long Acrylic Tubes that go close to the bottom of each barrel.

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My mixing station would be in my basement and consists of 2 50G Norwesco containers and a pump. They sit on a homemade stand with drain. The drain for the stand flows into my sump pump for the house for added protection. Given that my office on the first floor I was able to run RO tubing around 30-40ft from my mixing station to my office for the tank. I have 3 lines run from the tank, drain, fresh RODI and saltwater. The drain line goes directly into the drain for the house. These lines allow for easy making of RODI and Saltwater without having to carry any buckets. The ability to make large amounts of water at once is really nice.



In June I purchased my first two clownfish after a 2-week cycle with Dr. Tims. Shortly after I purchase the beginnings of my cleanup crew. After around a month I spooked one of the clowns at night and he got sucked into the MP40 instant death. It sounded like someone cut a 2x4 and my heart instantly dropped. I have since purchased some guards for my MP40’s but have since removed as they get dirty quickly, cut down on the flow and are bulky. After restocking the clownfish to bring me back to two and around a month's time I lost the remaining first clown I purchase to suicide. They were attempting to bond and would frequently chase each other around the tank. The first time I left the tank in a long while and my wife comes home to find Nemo dead on the floor. The remaining clown seemingly very lonely and after a week or two, we decided to purchase another clown. After the death, I purchased a mesh lid for the aquarium to prevent any future jumpers. When I picked up the second clown I decided to pick up a yellow tang as well. It has been around 3 weeks since introducing the new clown and tanks with all seeming to do very well. Currently, I have a PAR meter on rent and will be purchasing my first corals very soon. I plan to start with some zoa’s and likely a hammer coral.

Salt mixing in the tank for the first time.


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Slowly acclimating my new yellow tang here.

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My sons enjoying the tank during feeding time.

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Quarantine/hospital tank. I haven't had to use it yet but will be QT all new fish I get now for 2 weeks plus.

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New tank and clowns in background. Yang (yellow tang) is being shy. Getting better about being shy as he gets more comfortable.

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My giant 3-4 inch emerald crab decided he wanted some seaweed.

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WIll share some new photo's once I get some corals.
 
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Maokin

Maokin

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Wow, awesome setup. This will exciting to follow.
Thanks Yeah so far so good. Having a bit of a algae bloom right now. Think it might be due to the extra food being added with the tang. Going to be increasing the CUC and cutting back on the light intensity.
 
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Maokin

Maokin

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Nice looking tank for sure..... dosing, water-station.... just thoroughly thought out from the start!

Bettas are probably being ignored now!
Yeah betta's pretty easy but kids don't pay much attention to them now that we have the big tanks. Thanks I have been planning for quite a while to make it as low maintenance as possible for me.
 
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Maokin

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Well just acclimated my first corals into the tank yesterday. Wished things looked better but it is what it is. Algae has taken over the rocks and sand, which started after added my tang and second clown. I believe the tang being a slob has contributed largely to the issue. I have started to dose Vibrant and have added some more snails. My emerald crab I believe might be trying to eat the corals so might be sending him back to the LFS. Just ordered some Pods and phytoplankton from algae barn to hopefully help with the algae too.


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Very cool, following!

Question for you, how big is your home office and do you anticipate any moisture issues from water evaporation?

I ask because I have a similar setup (exact same tank and sump) and am contemplating moving my tank into my office. My only hangup is the evaporation moisture in an enclosed space containing computer equipment.
 

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Very cool, following!

Question for you, how big is your home office and do you anticipate any moisture issues from water evaporation?

I ask because I have a similar setup (exact same tank and sump) and am contemplating moving my tank into my office. My only hangup is the evaporation moisture in an enclosed space containing computer equipment.
Run one of those small dehumidifier units. Small, economical, just have to empty them out occasionally.
 
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Maokin

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Very cool, following!

Question for you, how big is your home office and do you anticipate any moisture issues from water evaporation?

I ask because I have a similar setup (exact same tank and sump) and am contemplating moving my tank into my office. My only hangup is the evaporation moisture in an enclosed space containing computer equipment.
My home office is actually a bedroom that Is pretty average size. I would say the room is 13 x 13 with 9 foot ceilings. I did install a ceiling fan and the tank sits right next to a floor return for my furnace. I haven't seen any moisture issues so far and didn't think I would. I do leave the door open 90% of the time. Maybe a larger tank or leaving the door closed could lead to moisture issues? Will let you know if I ever have a problem.
 
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Maokin

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Bit of an update here. Mostly going well. The birdnest coral and one zoa I purchased sadly perished soon after putting in the tank. I believe my dip process needs some adjusting I forgot to start with acclimation then dipping. Lesson learned for next time. The birds nest was more of a test SPS really. The zoa that died was the one the emerald crab dragged off so likely he killed it. After around 3 weeks in the sump, I put the crab back in the display and all seems good. I have to keep him as my wife really enjoys him. All my soft corals are doing great with good polyp extension. I plan to attach my GSP to the back wall soon. My torch coral is pretty bleached out and not sure exactly why. It does seem to have good polyp extension still though. Posting to ASKBRS and reaching out tidal gardens didn't yield anything I am doing wrong, so I plan to just wait and hopefully it will recover. I did do an ICP test and discovered that I have overdosed Iodine, ICP link below. Perhaps that is why the torch coral is unhappy. All the rest of the parameters are pretty much spot on. My Aluminum is also good after removing the marine pure. I have done a 30% water change after discovering the overdose and continue my daily 3% water changes. I plan on doing another Triton ICP towards the end of Dec to ensure Iodine is back to safe levels.

I have been dosing Vibrant now for about 5 weeks and while things have improved algae is not completely solved. Mostly cyano in the display at this time. I have green hair in the sump with my kessil H380. I have replaced my chaeto as it was infested with hair algae. After 3 weeks with the new chaeto it too is becoming infested with hair algae. Hopefully, once I beat this algae problem I can replace the cheato one more time and not have the hair algae grow back.

I did have a dkh scare recently. The reagent bottle leaked in the storage container and after that, I don't think it worked properly. my dkh normally is around 9 and my last 3-5 reading came in really low in the 5-6 range. I didn't think that the reagent could be bad but after ordering 2 new reagents my dkh is now reading between 8.5-9.5 again. At the price of the reagents, I will always keep a spare one around just to double-check any vastly different numbers. Luckily I didn't have anything to fix the dkh problem so I left things along till my new reagent came.

Attached are some recent photos. I have added a tuxedo urchin, Sixline wrasse and some more snails since the last update. Looking to maybe add a diamon goby and some more coral soon. Also, I recently found what looks to be some baby snails, see picture. I posted to the ASKBRS facebook group and have mixed reviews on if they are baby trochus or limpets. I don't have any limpet snails in my tank so trochus seems like the best guess. I have 3 red banded and 3 white trochus snails. Hoping that is what it is so I can sell to my LFS for some free stuff.

Finally had some suggestions that torch might benefit from some high nutrients. Currently 0 Nitrate and .02 phosphate so I have decreased my fuge photoperiod and turned off my carbon/GFO reactor. Trying to get Nitrate and phosphate more balanced to the Redfield ratio as that could be why I have algae.


Here are my parameters from my testing yesterday. Fell behind on testing trying to get back to weekly testing and 3x a week dkh testing.

dkh: 8.9
Calcium: 450
Magnesium: 1275
Nitrate: 0ppm
Phosphate: .02
pH: between 8.1-8.25


Here is my latest Triton ICP test

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Looks like tank is underway !!

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Hey cool tank. Sorry about your battle with algae. That happens for about a year with a new tank. I did the vibrant thing as well. It gets rid of algae and is effective. Just remember cheato is algae and so is part of the life on the coral. My coral stopped up taking alk and calc when I dosed it. My chaeto died off. I did a bunch of large water changes and things started to come back.


Test nitrate and po4 and try to keep them in range when using the vibrant. Nitrate you want between 1ppm to 20ppm. If it's 20 or above do water changes. Po4 you want below .10. You can use gfo safely to reduce the po4. Once they are in range and algae is just about gone, change water and stop the vibrant. I regret vibrant to this day but it did clear my tank up. It set me back a few months.

As for the torch. They can be difficult. It can be alot of different things. Have you tested your parameters. Where is the torch located in the tank? What softies did you have?
 
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Hey cool tank. Sorry about your battle with algae. That happens for about a year with a new tank. I did the vibrant thing as well. It gets rid of algae and is effective. Just remember cheato is algae and so is part of the life on the coral. My coral stopped up taking alk and calc when I dosed it. My chaeto died off. I did a bunch of large water changes and things started to come back.


Test nitrate and po4 and try to keep them in range when using the vibrant. Nitrate you want between 1ppm to 20ppm. If it's 20 or above do water changes. Po4 you want below .10. You can use gfo safely to reduce the po4. Once they are in range and algae is just about gone, change water and stop the vibrant. I regret vibrant to this day but it did clear my tank up. It set me back a few months.

As for the torch. They can be difficult. It can be alot of different things. Have you tested your parameters. Where is the torch located in the tank? What softies did you have?
Yeah I am still doing vibrant and it seemed like things were getting better but they have gone back down now. I think I am going to stop dosing it. I just sent off another ICP test will have to see what it comes back with. The torch is still not coloring up nice but still not dead. I turned off my fuge and reactor for a few days to see what would happen. I was able to get NO3 up to around 5ppm and PO4 to .20. Turned reactor back on and dropped PO4 back down to .05 with NO3 still at 5ppm. My fuge is overrun with GHA right now going to try to restart the fuge in a few days. Need to try and get all the GHA out of the fuge before i do though. Also going to go with a larger ball and shorter lighting period on the fuge to start. My h380 is only like 7 inches off the water so the light is super bright and I can't ever get it to tumble.

I am also switching to 2 feedings a day to up the nutrients in to hopefully get things to hover in the NO3 .5-2ppm and PO4 around .05. I have cyano as well. Doing a chemiclean dos to hopefully clear that up.

Attempted to attach my GSP with plug and all to the back wall. It has failed 2 times now. I plan to remove it from the plug to hopefully get it to stay next time.
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Zoa's are doing well. Plan to make a zoa garden on this rock just making sure they like the flow and lighting here. So far after a week here, they seem good. Will look to more permanently attach soon as crabs keep knocking them off the rocks.
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Picked up a Ricorda Florida mushroom at my LFS. So far it is doing great.
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Another of the new Ricorda
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Full tank shot.
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I was excited to read about your setup and tank build, props, and love the aquascape, but too bad about the clowns :( and now algae problems... I’m sure it will get better for ya though.

So what happened to the MarinePure, does it leach aluminum?

After 10 years with a BioCube29 I’m finally upgrading and setting up a REEFER625 now, and am planning on trying MarinePure too...

Following.
 
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Maokin

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I was excited to read about your setup and tank build, props, and love the aquascape, but too bad about the clowns :( and now algae problems... I’m sure it will get better for ya though.

So what happened to the MarinePure, does it leach aluminum?

After 10 years with a BioCube29 I’m finally upgrading and setting up a REEFER625 now, and am planning on trying MarinePure too...

Following.
The only two options on the Aluminum are the Kessil mounts in the water and the marine pure. BRS has documented that marine pure does leach Aluminum so that is my best guess. Another thing that probably caused issues with me is I had the small blocks of Marine pure and I squished them into the bottom of my sump causing a lot of dusty fines. This probably compounded the Aluminum it was leaching. Since removing I haven't had any Aluminum problems. You might be ok if you have the larger blocks and make sure not to rub them together to create any dusty fines. Tons of people use them so I must have done something wrong, so must have been the dusty fines.

yeah, it was sad about the clowns. I have a mesh top now so no one is jumping out again. The current pair of clowns I have haven't started nipping each other yet, so far so good.
 
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Maokin

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I attempted 2 times again to attach my GSP to the back glass, still without success. I created a post here to see if there are any suggestions.


Also going to be restarting my Fuge again for the 3rd time. Torn right now between getting a mix of macro algae and just getting a ton of Chaeto. My first batch of chaeto was around 100g or 4oz lasted me a few months and grew to 600G under my H380. My second batch was just 50g or 2 oz and has become infested with GHA in 2 months. Algae barn has mixed Macro algae packs https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/macroalgae/ultimate-macroalgae-pack/. Otherwise looking to go with 150G 6oz or 3 tennis ball sizes of chaeto for my 7.5G fuge.
 

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