Getting back in with a reefer 200xl

cmac330 · Jul 14, 2020

After a couple years away from the hobby I decided to start up a small tank and chose the Red Sea Reefer 200xl as it had the right footprint and clean look I was going for.

I put everything together in early June and had water in and flowing June 5th.

My return is an ecotech vectra m2

Lighting is a Kessil a360we (have had sitting unopened for a couple years)

Currently the only power head is a tunze 6040 Nano stream but will be switching to the octo pulse 2 as soon as it arrives (the tunze is way too loud)

Currently 50lbs of live rock and a Chaeto refugium have been more than adequate filtration. As this tank will be mostly LPS, softie, and nems filtration should be simple as the corals will also help filter and should be forgiving. I have two reef octopus reactors should I decide to beef up the filtration but currently I have no plans to run a skimmer.

Once I can figure out how to cleanly mount an apex system that will be done as well. Dosing has been done by using red seas ABC kit until parameters stabilized, now I am switching over to tropic marin all-for-reef.

For me the concept is simplicity with this tank.

cmac330 · Jul 14, 2020

Using the ammonia dosing method I was able to cycle the tank in one week and added my clownfish. I chose one black storm and one orange storm clown. I made sure the black storm was double the orange storms size and they have bonded relatively well.

I was also fortunate that my black storm seems to have taken a liking to my larger Rose bubble tip anemone.

Current stocking list
2x RBTA
2x ocellaris clowns
1X naoko wrasse
1x grafted monti cap
8x assorted zoas (they have names but I just pick what I like)
1x frogspawn (purple tipped green)
1x orange rhodactis mushroom
2x peppermint shrimp
2x cleaner shrimp
1x bane of my tank (large emerald, my wife loves them and my local shop has bubble algae so he is a preemptive measure as well)

Next step will be getting my euphyllia garden up and running. Anyways here are a few tank shots as it has progressed.

cmac330 · Jul 23, 2020

A month and a half in and everything is settling in nicely. Trying to add corals slowly and intentionally but it’s easy to get carried away.
Side note, added the reef octopus power head and could not be much happier. Other than having him that every wave pump seems to it is the best pump I have ever used. Form factor is small, it’s easy to angle (my mp40s never allowed me this), and it really moves water in and around the rock.