Lovealien + Fatbabyy's Red Sea Reefer 250 Build Thread

[lovealien]

Hi all ---

Here is @fatbabyy and my Red Sea Reefer 250 build thread. After taking a long break from marine tanks, I'm back in the hobby, and a lot has changed with my approach since my early DIY days. This tank has been up for about a month and a half, is through its cycle, and has been running pretty stable for the last few weeks.

Our current setup is:

Red Sea Reefer 250
Red Sea ReefLED 90 lights
Red Sea Reefer RSK-600 Skimmer
Aqua Euro USA Max Chill 1/10 HP Chiller

We are also stocked with:
60+ LBS live rock
80+ LBS live sand
4 Chromis
1 GSP frag
1 Xenia frag

And our CUC is:
Lawnmower Blenny
Cleaner Shrimp
Sand-sifting Star
~10 assorted Hermits
~10 assorted Snails

We are monitoring and dosing Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium. We use only RoDI for top-offs and real ocean water from our LFS (LAX Aquarium) for water changes.

We hope to keep this thread updated with our progress. Any wisdom and advice is welcome!

- Lovealien + @fatbabyy

 

[fatbabyy]

Plus a video for good measure!

 

[Salty Lemon]

I'm going to be following this one. I like the aquascape.

 

[lovealien]

thank you! the rockscape was assembled by chris at LAX aquarium in Los Angeles

 

[lovealien]

hey all -- its been an eventful week here on the reef --

we added a bunch of frags:

duncan coral
elegant coral
orange zoas
yellow hawk zoas (?)
australian red mushroom
orange ricordia
trumpet corals (?)

as well as a red linkia star

we did a 5% water change and our parameters have remained solid at:

ammonia: 0 PPM
nitrites: 0 PPM
nitrates: 20 PPM
salinity: 1.025
calcium: 450 PPM
alkalinity: 8.4 dkh

new coral pics:

full tank shot:

thomas and puppy admiring our progress:

hope everyone had a great weekend. we will continue to update this thread with any new developments!

we also made a thread regarding our Red Sea ReefLED 90's, hoping to put together some information on programming them. that thread is here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...ighting-schedule-program-reefbeat-app.626790/

watch for more action soon!

 

[fatbabyy]

Thomas and Puppy are almost as addicted to this hobby as we are! ;Happy

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Cool! Following along!

 

[fatbabyy]

Cool! Following along!

Thanks! We are very excited!

 

[powers2001]

@lovealien and @fatbabyy great start !!!!! I have a REEFER 250 also, link to build thread in signature line.

 

[fatbabyy]

Hey Reefers!

It's been 11 days since our last post, and with the amount we've added it's safe to say the addiction is STRONG.

Current parameters:
Calcium - 450 PPM
Alkalinity - 10 DKH
Ammonia/nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 30 PPM
Salinity - 1.024%
Temp - 77 degrees

We have added:
INVERTS
-3 emerald crabs (hair algae help)
-5 turban snails

FISH
-Kole Tang (3 in)
-Diamond Goby
-6 Line Wrasse (1.5 in)

CORALS
-Several assorted Zoa frags
-4 assorted Mushrooms
-Green Hammer Coral
-Flowerpot
-2nd GSP
-2 Acanth colonies

EQUIPMENT
-Nero 5 powerhead (set to 1 second pulse @ 45%)

We also made some changes to our lighting schedule, lowered the water level on the sump, and raised the skimmer. We lowered chiller temp to 77 to better accommodate the reef, and are dosing for alkalinity and calcium. This is all not to mention installing new blinds to help keep morning light from beating in.

Here are some pics & vids

 

[lovealien]

thanks @fatbabyy --- also here's the update to our lighting schedule with the Redsea LED90s using ReefBeat -- still trying to find an optimal schedule but we've been happy with this one so far.

 

[Alexio84]

The corals are looking very happy under this lights.

 

[powers2001]

@lovealien and @fatbabyy nice cats in post #5. Is the one on the right a Scottish Fold?

 

[powers2001]

@lovealien and @fatbabyy updates please!!

 

[fatbabyy]

@lovealien and @fatbabyy nice cats in post #5. Is the one on the right a Scottish Fold?

Yes! They are both Scottish Folds, but only one has folded ears.

 

[fatbabyy]

Ok, a LOT has changed in the aquarium since our last post. I think photos/videos will be the best way to show this. Enjoy

And please ask any questions about anything you see!

 

[oysterjake]

What is your current light schedule. I’m not having great results on lips with the factory settings (same lights & 250 tank). I’m going to switch to the one you list in this thread but wanted to ask if it’s still working well