JJ's Red Sea Reefer 250 G2+

[tuscani]

Hi all, I am brand new to all of this! Stopped by the LFS and got hooked immediately. LOL. Hoping to use this thread to track progress and get feedback. Have only had my tank 10 days. LFS set me up and brought all the stable\pre-mixed water and some live rock. My goals for now are to just let things be for a bit and then add some new easy coral and maybe a tang. Thoughts?

Current setup is as follows:

Red Sea Reefer 250 G2+ System (54 Gal)
Ecotech Radion G6 XR15 (QTY 2)
Caribsea 40lb Fiji Pink Sand
Live/Dry Rock
Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite Protein Skimmer
Syncra Silent 3.0 Pump
Jebao MLW 10 Wavemaker
Eheim 150w Heater

Live Stock:

2 - Orange Storm Clown Fish
2 - Emerald Crab
2 - Peppermint Shrimp
1 - Neon Green Star Polyp (GSP)
1 - Halloween Hermit Crab
1 - Blue Legged Crab
1 - Strawberry Conch
1 - Horseshoe Crab
1 - Bumble Bee Snail (Hitchhiker)

Water parameters:

Salinity 1.027
pH 8.2
Alk 6.7 (looking to get this up a bit)
Calcium 403
Mag (TBD, test arrives today)
Nitrate 5
Phosphate 0.14 (Added Chemi-pure Elite yesterday)
Ammonia (TBD, test arrives today)

Thanks!

 

[OctaviusBrine]

Looking good! Following along as I have a g2 250 as well.

 

[Jim Gomoll]

Welcome to the Reef Side.
Nice system you're starting with even though you cheated by having LFS do the set up. Just kidding... I'd like to have that done myself but somewhat of a control freak when it comes to knowing my tank and how/why every thing works. Doing a build/set up on your own you will learn allot.
Enjoy the reef side, we have cookies

 

[tuscani]

Welcome to the Reef Side.
Nice system you're starting with even though you cheated by having LFS do the set up. Just kidding... I'd like to have that done myself but somewhat of a control freak when it comes to knowing my tank and how/why every thing works. Doing a build/set up on your own you will learn allot.
Enjoy the reef side, we have cookies

Ha.. yes I do feel I cheated a bit but no regrets! In my defense, I was heavenly involved in the entire setup process so that I can learn. I know not exactly the same but still beneficial of course.

 

[Subsea]

Following.
On your algae thread, I already suggested you invest in biodiversity of micro fauna & fana.

Enjoy the ride. I have been addicted 53 years.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hi all, I am brand new to all of this! Stopped by the LFS and got hooked immediately. LOL. Hoping to use this thread to track progress and get feedback. Have only had my tank 10 days. LFS set me up and brought all the stable\pre-mixed water and some live rock. My goals for now are to just let things be for a bit and then add some new easy coral and maybe a tang. Thoughts?

Current setup is as follows:

Red Sea Reefer 250 G2+ System (54 Gal)
Ecotech Radion G6 XR15 (QTY 2)
Caribsea 40lb Fiji Pink Sand
Live/Dry Rock
Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite Protein Skimmer
Syncra Silent 3.0 Pump
Jebao MLW 10 Wavemaker
Eheim 150w Heater

Live Stock:

2 - Orange Storm Clown Fish
2 - Emerald Crab
2 - Peppermint Shrimp
1 - Neon Green Star Polyp (GSP)
1 - Halloween Hermit Crab
1 - Blue Legged Crab
1 - Strawberry Conch
1 - Horseshoe Crab
1 - Bumble Bee Snail (Hitchhiker)

Water parameters:

Salinity 1.027
pH 8.2
Alk 6.7 (looking to get this up a bit)
Calcium 403
Mag (TBD, test arrives today)
Nitrate 5
Phosphate 0.14 (Added Chemi-pure Elite yesterday)
Ammonia (TBD, test arrives today)

Thanks!

Tank is looking great!

 

[Subsea]

I really like your artistic expression with aquascaping.

Now you should focus on your bio-chemistry and get diversity of micro fauna & fana, that establish multiple nutrient pathways that process both organic & inorganic nutrients o to live food to feed hungry mouths via the microbial loop, That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

What do you envision for your display?

 

[tuscani]

I really like your artistic expression with aquascaping.

Now you should focus on your bio-chemistry and get diversity of micro fauna & fana, that establish multiple nutrient pathways that process both organic & inorganic nutrients o to live food to feed hungry mouths via the microbial loop, That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

What do you envision for your display?

Thanks.. I guess no specific goals right now. Just to learn as I go here.

 

[tuscani]

Oh man.. I had quite the scare this weekend. I got my Hanna Ammonia checker and it was reading 3.0! This seemed odd to me as my Nitrates are 5.0. I had fed the fish just before testing so just assumed bad reading,. Tested a few more times and same.. ugh! Yet livestock all appear fine. I am panicking now trying to devise a plan.

But first was thinking am I doing something wrong here?! I was getting ready to head out to pickup a Seachem Ammonia Alert badge but figured I would watch a few people using the test on YouTube. First thing I notice is people are using 18 drops of the reagent and then 12. Seemed odd to me as I was only doing four per the instructions. Did a little more research and checked my order... Doh! BRS sent me a fresh water test kit vs salt\marine. Ha! Swapped it out and retested.. 0 Ammonia. Whew. Quite the roller coaster ride. I am glad I did not start any drastic remediation's.

 

[tuscani]

Ok, here is where I am sitting.. let me know your thoughts. After adding the blue hippo tang, I added a few corals:

1 - Bicolor Hammer
1 - Red Lobo

Salinity 1.025
pH 7.9
Alk 7.6
Calcium 403
Mag 1000
Nitrate 0.5
Phosphate 0.03
Ammonia 0

Observations..

Nitrate and Phosphates dropped quite a bit.. any concern there? Calcium and Magnesium appear lower as well. I also ordered some Red Sea Reef Energy AB+ coral food.

Some of my numbers from last week were:

pH = 8.2
Nitrate = 5.0
Salinity 1.027
Alk 6.7
Calcium 403
Phosphate 0.14

Thx!

 

[tuscani]

Tank update!

Salinity 1.025
pH 7.8
Alkalinity (dKH) 7.2
Calcium (Ca2) 600
Magnesium (Mg2) 1045
Nitrate (N03) 0.0
Phosphate (P043) 0.06
Ammonia (NH3) 0.03

Only thing I am dosing now is Magnesium. Odd my Calcium shows so high.. I will check that again tomorrow.

Bummer no more Nitrates. I am trying not to chase numbers but I am also OCD. Ha!

I think I am getting little hair algae on my Zoa as well.. but nothing major. Also, I moved the Meteor Shower Cyphastrea to under the rock as I think it was getting too much light and flow. Other corals seem to be doing great. Even the lobo.

Updated live stock list:

Fish:
2 - Orange Storm Clown Fish
1 - Blue Hippo Tang

Inverts:
2 - Emerald Crab
2 - Peppermint Shrimp
1 - Fire Shrimp
1 - Halloween Hermit Crab
1 - Blue Legged Crab
1 - Strawberry Conch
1 - Horseshoe Crab
1 - Bumble Bee Snail (Hitchhiker)

Coral:
1 - Clove Polyp (Softie)
1 - Neon Green Star Polyp (Softie)
1 - Bicolor Hammer (LPS)
1 - Red Lobo Brain Coral (LPS)
1 - Meteor Shower Cyphastrea (LPS)
1 - Nirvana Zoa

 

[Not_Erick]

Any updates?

 

[tuscani]

Going great! I have been feeding more and only have the skimmer running half the day. Hoping I get some more Nitrates here. I fought a little Aiptasia.. I used Aiptasia X and it has not returned after a week, but I added a few peppermint shrimp and a file fish to be safe. Just hoping he doesn't eat any corals. Seems hit and miss if they will or not. I also added some more CUC.

I also added a redundant heater and put them both on an Inkbird controller. I think I am ready to invest in a RODI unit.. I want the BRS 5 Stage Premium Plus but out of stock and no ETA

Updated stock and parameters below. I thought for sure I lost a emerald crab but he just molted. I am still only running lights at 40%. I am thinking about increasing but corals seems happy so I may just let it be.

Oh also added some AlgaGen ApoCyclops Pods!

Alkalinity (dKH) = 7.5
Ammonia (NH3) = 0.07
Calcium (Ca2) = 424
Magnesium (Mg2) = 1635
Nitrate (N03) = 2.5
Nitrite (N02) = 0.031
pH = 7.7
Phosphate (P04) = 0.05
Salinity = 1.025


Fish:
1 - Filefish
1 - Lawnmower Blenny
2 - Banggai Cardinalfish
1 - Blue Hippo Tang
2 - Orange Storm Clown Fish

Inverts:
5 - Astraea Snails
5 - Nassarius Snails
2 - Peppermint Shrimp
2 - Emerald Crab
2 - Scarlet Skunk Shrimp
1 - Fire Shrimp
1 - Halloween Hermit Crab
1 - Blue Legged Crab
2 - Strawberry Conch
1 - Horseshoe Crab
1 - Bumble Bee Snail (Hitchhiker)

Coral:
1 - Peach Octospawn (LPS)
2 - Red Acan (LPS)
1 - Meteor Shower Cyphastrea (LPS)
1 - Nirvana Zoa (Softie)
1 - Clove Polyp (Softie)
1 - Bicolor Hammer (LPS)
1 - Red Lobo Brain Coral (LPS)
1 - Neon Green Star Polyp (Softie)

 

[tuscani]

Quick update... I am a bit perplexed. I assume this is a start of GHA? I have solid CUC and my parameters appear fine. Think I may try an Urchin. Just undecided on what type.

5 - Astraea Snails
5 - Nassarius Snails
2 - Peppermint Shrimp
2 - Emerald Crab
2 - Scarlet Skunk Shrimp
1 - Fire Shrimp
1 - Halloween Hermit Crab
1 - Blue Legged Crab
2 - Strawberry Conch
1 - Bumble Bee Snail (Hitchhiker

Alkalinity (dKH) = 8.6
Ammonia (NH3) = 0.07
Calcium (Ca2) = 555
Magnesium (Mg2) = 1535
Nitrate (N03) = 6.8
Nitrite (N02) = 0.018
pH = 7.7
Phosphate (P04) = 0.06
Salinity = 1.025

 

[Not_Erick]

Yup thats gha, has it spread like wildfire yet?

 

[tuscani]

It has. And I lost a head in my hammer but I think that’s related to an alk swing

 

[tuscani]

Well that hammer head seems to have fully bailed.. do I need to cut it off or anything? The other appears to be ok though. I finally got my PAR meter and took some measurements. Honestly, these numbers are better than I expected at only 50% intensity. My plan is to increase 1% each day and retest at 5-10% increments. Thoughts?

 

[OctaviusBrine]

You don’t have to cut it you can leave it unless it bothers you. There are claims that people have had luck with them growing back. I don’t think that’ll be the case if yours bailed though.

 

[tuscani]

You don’t have to cut it you can leave it unless it bothers you. There are claims that people have had luck with them growing back. I don’t think that’ll be the case if yours bailed though.

Ok great.. I will let it be. I just wanted to make sure there was no harm in leaving it.

 

[tuscani]

Yeah the second head bailed today. Bummer. Will try again once I get my light intensity up a bit here.