Just another RFR250 thread...

LC8Sumi · Dec 14, 2019

Hello Dear R2R!

I think the time has come that I migrate & continue my tanks build here on r2r, instead of the previous forum I've used to use.

About me:
I'm 34, Andras from Hungary, Europe & had been in the hobby for 5 years. I work as an IT-engineer, but I work mostly in waste-water and other water related fields, so I've picked up some knowledge about water, chemistry and biology during the years, although not salt-water specifically. I normally do PLC, microcontrollers and other controller programming / development / engineering voodoo in the industry. Thanks to my dad, we/I always had a tank since I know myself, but those were fresh-water tanks. He is a professor in microbiology / waste-water treatment, so bedtime stories were about this topic & I guess that determined my future interests pretty much

My other hobbies are:
I have two sausage dogs who I truely love & we love huge walks in nature. I also do some 4x4 offroading as much as my wallet permits. Currently I have a Land Cruiser 100-series for this task.
I'd like to appologize in advance for my english. I'm trying my best, but sometimes it just doesn't work out even though I've spent some of my childhood in Ontario, Canada.. It just wears out as years go by

Anyway, back on topic:

My current tank is a Reefer 250 that has been running since may, 2017. I wish I could bring over all the stuff I've wrote about the tank already on that other forum, including my DIY tank controller, and endless experiments with equipment, but I guess I'll just continue on where I have left there..

So the currect setup consists:

Aquarium: Red Sea Reefer 250 DLX (V2)
Return pump: Jebao DCP8000 @ 55% (now upped to 100%)
Circulation pumps: 2x Gyre xf330 + icv6 on OCG program. 40% & -70%
Protein Skimmer: Royal-Exclusive Bubble King Mini 160 VS12
Auto top up: GHL optical sensor w/ 12V Tunze osmolator pump
Lighting: 2x Kessil A360We (sunrise & sunset, 1% intensity, 0% color)
T5 Bulbs: 4x Ati Blue+, 3x Ati Coral+, 1x Ati Actinic
Supplementing: GHL Doser 1.0 - Aquaforest Component 1+2+3+
Coral Feeding: Aquaforest ABEV program
Monitoring & control: GHL Profilux 4 + custom built controller
Heater: Schego Ti 200W

Salt: I've been using RS blue bucket @ 36PPT

Latest top-down picture:

Latest sump-picture:

Latest FTS (Jul, 2019, so not very up to date):

FTS, when tank looked the best (Jan, 2019):

Welcome everyone to my journey

Flippers4pups · Dec 14, 2019

Beautiful system!

Dal-Reef · Dec 14, 2019

From one Reefer 250 to another.. sweet tank.. Looks like a lot of great growth..

LC8Sumi · Dec 14, 2019

I have to admit that I've neglected the tank this year a lot, and that's the main reason why there is a step-back both color and growth wise, compared to the january picture and state of the tank. It's just that the 4x4 activites had steered me off the track (ha-ha) a little-bit (it doesn't really help, that it pulls out a lot of money from the wallet, even more than reefing, if that's even imaginable

).

So my latest addition is the Profilux (~1 month ago) & will be the skimmer next week. I'm hoping these and the returned will for husbandry are going to improve the tank again. I'm also planning on adding a 8x39W ATI T5 fixture to replace the 2x2 Oddysea's in the near future and toying with the idea about going back to balling - as that's what I was doing back then until the start of this year, when the tank looked really great.

Thank You for your generous comments!

Magellan · Dec 14, 2019

Amazing tank sir!! I wish my Hungarian was as great as your English!

Idoc · Dec 15, 2019

This is a beautiful tank. Welcome to R2R... we're very glad to have you. By the looks of that tank, I'll bet you'll have a lot of good information to share.

Buy the way, your English is excellent!

Dal-Reef · Dec 15, 2019

LC8Sumi said:
I have to admit that I've neglected the tank this year a lot, and that's the main reason why there is a step-back both color and growth wise, compared to the january picture and state of the tank. It's just that the 4x4 activites had steered me off the track (ha-ha) a little-bit (it doesn't really help, that it pulls out a lot of money from the wallet, even more than reefing, if that's even imaginable).

So my latest addition is the Profilux (~1 month ago) & will be the skimmer next week. I'm hoping these and the returned will for husbandry are going to improve the tank again. I'm also planning on adding a 8x39W ATI T5 fixture to replace the 2x2 Oddysea's in the near future and toying with the idea about going back to balling - as that's what I was doing back then until the start of this year, when the tank looked really great.

Thank You for your generous comments!

I does not look neglected to me

I think we tend to put our hands inthe tank too much. Sometimes its good to just let it do its thing. Stay on top of parameters but just let it come into its own. Anyway that's my thought.

powers2001 · Mar 2, 2020

@LC8Sumi Love your tank. I have a Reefer 250 also. Could we get some updates?

LC8Sumi · Mar 9, 2020

A small update:

LC8Sumi · Apr 9, 2020

Currently battling some (well a lot of) cyano ..

powers2001 · Apr 9, 2020

@LC8Sumi how do you plan on taking care of it? I would stir up the sand bed and filter out the cyano mechanically to begin with.

LC8Sumi · Apr 9, 2020

powers2001 said:
@LC8Sumi how do you plan on taking care of it? I would stir up the sand bed and filter out the cyano mechanically to begin with.

Not sure to be honest.
I don't really have a sand bed, so that is out of the equation.
I've tried chemiclean in the past, and while it does wipe out the cyano in a couple days, eventually it just returns (after a couple weeks).
Right now I'm trying to dose lanthanum chloride to bring the phosphate down, but every time I've brought it down in the past I nuked the tank and or got dinos. I just can't seem to get it right.
I'm also using CoralSNOW and zeoBAK, but those do nothing at all.
I'm trying to siphone out as much as I can whenever I do a water change, and hoping for a miracle to happen

Magellan · Apr 9, 2020

LC8Sumi said:
Not sure to be honest.
I don't really have a sand bed, so that is out of the equation.
I've tried chemiclean in the past, and while it does wipe out the cyano in a couple days, eventually it just returns (after a couple weeks).
Right now I'm trying to dose lanthanum chloride to bring the phosphate down, but every time I've brought it down in the past I nuked the tank and or got dinos. I just can't seem to get it right.
I'm also using CoralSNOW and zeoBAK, but those do nothing at all.
I'm trying to siphone out as much as I can whenever I do a water change, and hoping for a miracle to happen

Phosguard works great for me, doesn’t completely strip all the phosphates but keeps them low. If you can get those down, then dose chemiclean and you should be fine.

LC8Sumi · Apr 9, 2020

Magellan said:
Phosguard works great for me, doesn’t completely strip all the phosphates but keeps them low. If you can get those down, then dose chemiclean and you should be fine.

Sounds good, and I've previously tried GFO, and probably every media on the market by now, but what my tank does is it either has cyano (high phosphate) or dino (not that high phosphate), there is no inbetween with this tank strangely.

At least the cyano is less hard on the corals as dinos instantly kill them off, so it's kind of better to have cyano for me.

Magellan · Apr 9, 2020

LC8Sumi said:
Sounds good, and I've previously tried GFO, and probably every media on the market by now, but what my tank does is it either has cyano (high phosphate) or dino (not that high phosphate), there is no inbetween with this tank strangely.

At least the cyano is less hard on the corals as dinos instantly kill them off, so it's kind of better to have cyano for me.

Very true! Dino’s scare me, I would much rather have cyano lol

LC8Sumi · Apr 17, 2020

Well, this is the situation right now..

I have stopped dosing Aquaforest Amino (still dosing component 1+2+3+ and Build, Vitality, Energy). Also stopped dosing Nopox, and restart dosing MB7 and vibrant. Also dosing 1g of Lanthanum Chloride daily. The cyano is not really improving, if anything it is getting worse day by day.

I've now did another 10% water change & siphoned off of the cyano matt as possible.

I've also upped my return pump from 4000lph to 8000lph, and the Gyres to 50%, because there is a lot of detritus stuck onto the rockwork.. I don't understand what's going on.

LC8Sumi · Apr 17, 2020

Also, update on current setup:

Aquarium: Red Sea Reefer 250 DLX (V2)
Return pump: Jebao DCP8000 @ 55% (now upped to 100%) (previously Eheim 1262)
Circulation pumps: 2x Gyre xf330 + icv6 on OCG program. 40% & -70% (previously Tunze 6095 & 6055)
Protein Skimmer: Royal-Exclusive Bubble King Mini 160 VS12 (previously BM Curve A5 DC)
Auto top up: GHL optical sensor w/ 12V Tunze osmolator pump
Lighting: 2x Kessil A360We (sunrise & sunset, 1% intensity, 0% color) (previously main light, 40% color, 100% intensity)
T5 Bulbs: 4x Ati Blue+, 3x Ati Coral+, 1x Ati Actinic (previously: 2xOdyssea 39W fixture with 2xB+, 2xA)
Supplementing: GHL Doser 1.0 - Aquaforest Component 1+2+3+ (previously: Calcium Reactor)
Coral Feeding: Aquaforest ABEV program (previously: Red Sea Reef Energy A&B)
Monitoring & control: GHL Profilux 4 + custom built controller
Heater: Schego Ti 200W

Salt: I've been using RS blue bucket @ 36PPT

I've also pulled the Fuge (24l) and its light (150W ebay FS UFO). I've pulled the GFO (rowa) as well. Currently not running carbon.

Magellan · Apr 17, 2020

Cut back on feeding, turkey baste the crap out of the rock work, and if possible redirect some flow towards the bottom? I understand not wanting to go the Chemiclean route!

LC8Sumi · Apr 18, 2020

The interesting part about basting is, that no metter how I set my gyres and return, I have a feeling that maybe 5% of the floating stuff lands in the overflow.. Not sure what I am missing here. Maybe I have too much flow / surface ripple? Maybe it would be better if the surface didn't move that much, so particles could stick to it & go over the wier comb?