HighEndOfTheLow's Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL

[Brew12]

I'm liking it! I struggle to remember that the scape needs to look good a year or two from now after the coral grows in. It is much less important what it looks like when it is first set up.

I have a large table in my tank that I wish I had made 6 inches lower for just that reason. Ah well.

 

[highendofthelow]

I'm liking it! I struggle to remember that the scape needs to look good a year or two from now after the coral grows in. It is much less important what it looks like when it is first set up.

I have a large table in my tank that I wish I had made 6 inches lower for just that reason. Ah well.

Yes it's that fine line, we're trying to bare in mind the need for growth space and placement.

We've got a few large ish pieces that we need to consider placement for (a reasonable size red cap, green cap, clown hosting torch which I'm going to try and tuck away slightly as the clowns can get a touch territorial) not the mention an interesting scape and plenty of overhangs/ caves / ledges for the myriad of fish we wish to keep.

 

[highendofthelow]

Slowly getting there. The scape isn't there 100% (too even) but we have most of the rock in and the parameters are starting to look and "feel" like they're getting there, skimmer continues to pull a substantial amount however considering there's no fish in there.

I've got various bits of montipora frags that I'll probably throw in this week to test the waters along with any CUC I can get out of my tank.

I'm also in talks with my LFS for a price on an Apex and need to get some sort of package of CUC

 

[highendofthelow]

Ok so we managed to pick up some clean up crew yesterday given that we're now testing no measurable nitrate or phosphates however with mixed success, We now have most if not all the clean up crew out of the 195, I also added 2 urchins and a load of small to medium turbo snails to try and get right into the pukani rock. I suspect I'll probably need another top up but havemost of what I'll need long term.

However as mentioned above there has been a bit of a problem, one of the urchins purchased was miss-id'ed as a multicolour and it is in fact one of the potentially very dangerous flower urchins, these urchins can have a similar sting to various jelly fish and it will not be staying in the tank, it'll probably stay for a few days as i cannot deny its doing a good job on the hair algae but its simply too dangerous to have in the tank long term.

My normal LFS has kindly offered to take it on as an educational / sin bin creature if I wish however I'm awaiting to see if the not so near LFS I purchased it from has anything to say.

Its more thn a bit annoying however there is little we can do about it now and chalk it up to a learning experience (even 12 years on I'm still learning).

We also moved 80% of the coral over from the 195 into the new tank and all look happy I still have a few bits to move and nothing is in its final place however its starting to get there.

Still cant catch the fox face however skulky thing...

 

[highendofthelow]

Funny how you turn your back for a few days to come back to a completely transformed tank ^^

Well it's a been a quiet few weeks here, pretty much just watching the tank do it's thing and watch the CUC slowly make a dent in,

We went away for 4 days over our bank holiday (public holiday) long weekend and left a tank that was in reasonable state but still had a bit to go before we put fish in;

We'd already moved over most of the coral as the new tank was better then the temporary holding tank.

Fast forward 4 days and it's like a completely different tank;

Most of the algae has burnt out leaving nice clean rock;
Water is clearer and there's new growth on the sps and significant improvements in colour with the exception of 1 monti frag (nothing special) everything is looking amazing.

I'll have to pull out the proper camera but for now.

And for personal note a picture of the flower urchin as he's going to my local LFS as soon as I'm able.

 

[Brew12]

Funny how you turn your back for a few days to come back to a completely transformed tank ^^

Well it's a been a quiet few weeks here, pretty much just watching the tank do it's thing and watch the CUC slowly make a dent in,

We went away for 4 days over our bank holiday (public holiday) long weekend and left a tank that was in reasonable state but still had a bit to go before we put fish in;

We'd already moved over most of the coral as the new tank was better then the temporary holding tank.

Fast forward 4 days and it's like a completely different tank;

Most of the algae has burnt out leaving nice clean rock;
Water is clearer and there's new growth on the sps and significant improvements in colour with the exception of 1 month frag (nothing special) everything is looking amazing.

I'll have to pull out the proper camera but for now.

And for personal note a picture of the flower urchin as he's going to my local LFS as soon as I'm able.

I wish I had a live in source for grown coral! My poor lil frags are trying, but they grow so slow!

 

[highendofthelow]

I wish I had a live in source for grown coral! My poor lil frags are trying, but they grow so slow!

To be honest; my 4x2x2 used to grow coral at a crazy rate; But the 195 was slow in comparison,

For you it may not look much but for me some of these colours I haven't seem reliably for at least the last 6 months. I'm looking forward to see how some of these come out over the next week or two.

It's about time I updated this thread with some slightly more interesting pictures plus it be really cool to try and document some of the growth (or for most pieces recovery).

Now all we need is for red sea to sort out the distribution issues for zig zags and I could get the cover net sorted and fish in!

 

[mch1984]

Enjoyed reading through this build. You may have mentioned it and I just missed it, but how are you liking the gyres now that you are full and have a the tank going? I have two of them for my 90 but it isn't wet yet so I'm curious what you think. Tank is looking good by the way.

 

[highendofthelow]

Enjoyed reading through this build. You may have mentioned it and I just missed it, but how are you liking the gyres now that you are full and have a the tank going? I have two of them for my 90 but it isn't wet yet so I'm curious what you think. Tank is looking good by the way.

Hey mch1984

The gyres are currently on the left and right hand side approx 6 inch down running + 40% - 40% OGC (one of the two random rebuild flow patterns) originally I had the flow higher at around 60% but it blew my sand around too much

Pros :

They move a staggering amount of water, literally the whole water volume seems to move and not a "cone" or "jet/beam", and the flow it creates isn't crazy it kinda ramps up and down in both forward and reverse mode, I can easily see wrasse and anthias loving the flow. I also seem to have reasonable polyp extension on my sps and LPS on the sandbed seem to like it.

They're virtually silent compared to my old MP40's (none quiet drives) that I had past experience

Price wise for a pair of XF250's, controller and magnet upgrade they're significantly cheaper then MP40's and don't even start on MP60's plus the spares and repairs are easily accessable and not expensive.

Cons :

I don't know if it's just my tank still being a bit algae'd up but they look like they're going to need more maintenance then MP40's this shouldn't be a problem and I was horribly lax in the old tank

Flow wises it sometimes feels a bit ... laminar in the broadest sense I'm used to the high frequency pulsing of mp40's (reef crest 100%) i suspect at some point down the line I'll probably need to add more flow to combat this laminar flow from the back of the tank pointing forward.

Elusive battery back up? You can wire a 12 volt into the controller which I'll probably look to use with my APC PSU once I shut the old tank down.

Placement:

I considered placing the gyres on the back but as soon as I had them on the left and right sides I knew I'd be losing so much .. potential and flow dynamics it really makes a huge gyre /currents and undercurrents

Bottom line am I happy with them? Yes extreamly for the price, do I suspect I'll need more flow? Probably but given the cost I can live with that (infact the thought of another 2 x XF250's on the back glass set to ~10-20% is super exciting when used in conjunction with the existing)

I'm not bashing vortechs I think they're a great product both the vortechs and the gyres have pros and cons but if your vaguely budget concious or like the whole left right wave thing then gyres are probably more appropriate then mp40s in my experience.

As it stands for larger tanks I'm leaning towards gyres, anything smaller around a 2ft cube I'd probably go vortech.

 

[mch1984]

Hey mch1984
Cons :

I don't know if it's just my tank still being a bit algae'd up but they look like they're going to need more maintenance then MP40's this shouldn't be a problem and I was horribly lax in the old tank
.

That’s the one big down side I’ve heard. I’ve been told as much as once a month the need to be torn down and clened. I guess we’ll see if that stands up. I’m glad to hear there is another happy customer.

I have to agree on the extra flow on the back of the tank. Mine not even up yet and I’ve considered putting a couple small power heads on the back glass point forward.

 

[highendofthelow]

That’s the one big down side I’ve heard. I’ve been told as much as once a month the need to be torn down and clened. I guess we’ll see if that stands up. I’m glad to hear there is another happy customer.

I have to agree on the extra flow on the back of the tank. Mine not even up yet and I’ve considered putting a couple small power heads on the back glass point forward.

Yes, I suspect what I'll end up doing is getting a container of water+vinegar, disconnecting 1 pump at a time and letting them soak on the floor by the tank vs actually removing them entirely and taking them to the sink if that makes sense.

Disassembly is a bit of a pain so if I can just vinegar soak them and brush it be easier. I guess time will tell!

 

[najer]

Just caught up, nice work, looks great.

 

[highendofthelow]

Just caught up, nice work, looks great.

Hey Najer,

Glad to see your still here for the ride. As I said I'll try and find some time over the next day or two to throw up some photos if nothing else it would be useful to track colour changes and new growth

 

[mch1984]

Yes, I suspect what I'll end up doing is getting a container of water+vinegar, disconnecting 1 pump at a time and letting them soak on the floor by the tank vs actually removing them entirely and taking them to the sink if that makes sense.

Disassembly is a bit of a pain so if I can just vinegar soak them and brush it be easier. I guess time will tell!

I'm sure that's worth trying, I'll have to keep that in mind.

 

[highendofthelow]

Success!

Ok so they're not the coral photos I promised but after multiple attempts trying we finally caught the magnicent foxface.

Given that we were moving a few bits over we also took the opportunity to move the clowns and their torch host; therefore that is all the coral (except a few random bits of montipora branches on the sandbed) out of the old tank.

The only thing holding us up now is zig zags which have been on back order for weeks and we can shut the old tank down (huzzah!)

 

[highendofthelow]

So I finally cracked out my DSLR (100mm F8 ISO 200 Shutter Variable for the most) and took some random shots so in no particular order

The algae is really growing well under the XR15 and there is a load of copepods in there which is excellent.


Noted ~20 or so of these Hydroids (presumed) on the glass a few days a go,
I'm not overly concerned at the moment I'm pretty confident when the tanks full of wrasse etc anything wont last long.

Random left hand side shot

Right hand shot

Skimmer went nuts today for the first time, no idea why other then my foam went..super foamy.
So I'll have to keep an eye on it for the next few days.


Coral shots uploading next.

 

[highendofthelow]

Red / Multicolour'ed Acan frag

Recovering Acropora Granulosa (possibly the biggest change in coral colour wise)

Blasto

Candycane frag

Cleaner shrimp

One of the 2 Duncan corals

Green Favia

Forest Fire frag looking fuffy.

Green and red eyed Chalice

Green Monti Cap

Hammer Frag

"Kaleidoscope" Acropora (this is also showing new growth and a change in colour)

Maxima Clam

Milka

 

[highendofthelow]

A mixed colour Chalice, this thing has changed more colour in my ownership then i can count, as a general rule low light = more green blue high light = red Orange

Purple Monti

Red Favia, this has a bit of interest on the mouths, kinda like orange "glitter" around the greenish mouths

Red Monti Cap

Red Monti "Digi"

"Afterburn" ?? Montipora, this was sold as a miss Id'ed nub which seems to have grown into an Afterburn Monti (before i nearly lost it) its currently red with gray polyps but it has had blue polyps when it was a touch larger.

"Reverse Jedi Mindtrick" Monti (brought as brown frag)

Montipora Setosa

Superman / Reverse Superman Montipora

Acropora Tricolour i think...(it was given to me to try and save a stripping colony which i did manage to save a small frag of).

 

[najer]

Great pics, lovely corals.

 

[highendofthelow]

Great pics, lovely corals.

Thanks ^^; it's unfortunate that between moving house I lost a few real nice pieces during the upheaval and as you can see some of the pieces got roughed up over the months (mostly being too cramped and burning each other)

Still.. can't do anything about them now and I have the fun of hunting out new pieces.