Thanks for checking out my Red Sea Reefer 250 “rebuild!” This build started because of the need to replace a 55 gallon tank that sprung a leak in January 2020. My 55 gallon was an upgrade from a 26 gallon during a move back in 2013. In total, this tank has been going for 8 years now and has been through some major issues and learning moments. Some examples include a newly added fish wiping out all of my existing fish, bubble algae completely taking the tank over (which turned it into a FOWLR), and then the failed seam. I’ve learned a lot over the years and I’m excited to turn my tank back into a reef.
I was ready to hand in the towel and just give away my fish to a good home and get out of the hobby. Luckily my wife convinced me otherwise and I'm back in the thick of reef keeping.
Due to the sudden nature of needing to find a replacement tank as quickly as possible, I did not have a lot of time to plan a full build. I gravitated towards a Red Sea Reefer because they looked sleek and we’re ready to go out of the box. Thankfully all of my inhabitants survived the fiasco, but they were all crammed into a temporary 20g tank. I knew I needed a tank delivered sooner rather than later and bought the Reefer 250.
I was able to seed my new dry rock with some of my old live rock. Using that and Biospira, my tank cycled in just over a week. I then started adding my inhabitants one at a time and then the pair of clowns last over a month.
Fish
Lemonpeel Half Black Hybrid Angelfish
Tomini Tang
Onyx Clownfish Pair
Six Line Wrasse (in QT)
Inverts
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Giant Turbo Snail (6.5 years old)
10 gallon CUC /w hermits from Reef Cleaners
Equipment
Tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Sump: Stock 11g running dual 225 micro filter socks
Refugium: Kessil H80 Tuna Flora growing Chaeto
Lighting: Red Sea Reef LED 90 x 2
Return Pump: Reef Octopus VarioS-4
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Essence S-130
Flow: MP40 /w Battery Back-Up
ATO: Tunze Osmolator 3155 /w Innovative Marine 5 Gallon Reservoir
Lessons I learned and mistakes I made to serve as a reminder to myself throughout this build
Initial Shot
Current Equipment
Everyone Transferred Over and A Few Corals Added
My Crazy Clowns
Lemonpeel Half Black Hybrid Angelfish
Tomini Tang
Most Recent Tank Shot (Sorry for the blurriness)
Next Steps and To-Dos
I was ready to hand in the towel and just give away my fish to a good home and get out of the hobby. Luckily my wife convinced me otherwise and I'm back in the thick of reef keeping.
Due to the sudden nature of needing to find a replacement tank as quickly as possible, I did not have a lot of time to plan a full build. I gravitated towards a Red Sea Reefer because they looked sleek and we’re ready to go out of the box. Thankfully all of my inhabitants survived the fiasco, but they were all crammed into a temporary 20g tank. I knew I needed a tank delivered sooner rather than later and bought the Reefer 250.
I was able to seed my new dry rock with some of my old live rock. Using that and Biospira, my tank cycled in just over a week. I then started adding my inhabitants one at a time and then the pair of clowns last over a month.
Fish
Lemonpeel Half Black Hybrid Angelfish
Tomini Tang
Onyx Clownfish Pair
Six Line Wrasse (in QT)
Inverts
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Giant Turbo Snail (6.5 years old)
10 gallon CUC /w hermits from Reef Cleaners
Equipment
Tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Sump: Stock 11g running dual 225 micro filter socks
Refugium: Kessil H80 Tuna Flora growing Chaeto
Lighting: Red Sea Reef LED 90 x 2
Return Pump: Reef Octopus VarioS-4
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Essence S-130
Flow: MP40 /w Battery Back-Up
ATO: Tunze Osmolator 3155 /w Innovative Marine 5 Gallon Reservoir
Lessons I learned and mistakes I made to serve as a reminder to myself throughout this build
- Pay up and buy quality equipment from the start instead of paying more by upgrading later on
- Stability is key and held in the highest regard
- Defer to keeping my hands out of the tank when possible
- Don’t panic or over react to problems, sometimes trying to fix things with more changes just makes the situation worse
- Quarantine every fish, even if just for observation for a few weeks
- Test regularly as needed and log the results
- Stress can be a major livestock killer
- Not all advice is good advice
- The reefing scene and technology has changed a lot, don’t stop learning
Initial Shot
Current Equipment
Everyone Transferred Over and A Few Corals Added
My Crazy Clowns
Lemonpeel Half Black Hybrid Angelfish
Tomini Tang
Most Recent Tank Shot (Sorry for the blurriness)
Next Steps and To-Dos
- I think my Zen Reef Frag Rack order is lost in the abyss due to COVID, need to replace my temporary frag rack. It's great, but is just huge for my size tank
- Get fake frag plug rock in the tank for my Zoa garden
- Start looking into dosers
- Clean up coords and organize equipment
- Get better at taking photos
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