Manny’s Dream Build - Red Sea Reefer 525 G2+

[MVsea1]

10 years in the game and after getting so much advice and guidance from reading R2R threads, here i am...about time right!? Long story short, I finally have my dream tank! (well, for now)

- Red Sea 525 G2
- 2 Neptune SKYs
- Red Sea ReefMat 1200
- DC Red Sea Skimmer 600
- Red Sea ATO +
- 2 Red Sea Reefwave 45
- IM 15 gallon ATO reservoir

Love having everything under the Red Sea ecosystem and app (minus the lighting & ATO resevoir), just makes things easier. This time around I went with ocean live rock vs. dry for the insta-tank effect...and also wanted to avoid the Dinos nightmare I had with my previous tank. I started that tank with bare dry rock and ran it way too clean which led to my nitrates and phos. bottoming out and eventually dinos. So even though I almost instantly had a bryopsis outbreak this time (treating with flucanozole), I like that I'm starting right off with the biodiversity that ocean live rock brings. I feel the benefits outweigh the risks. Think I'm going with a mixed reef so open to fish and coral stocking suggestions. Here’s what I have so far and my wish list.

Livestock:
- 2 Bengai Cardinals
- 2 Chalk bass
- 2 Money cowry snails

Wish List / Stocking Ideas:
- Pair of Clowns
- Firefish
- Royal Gramma
- Yellow Tang
- Engineer Goby
- Blue Throat Trigger
- Small school of reef chromis

Getting all of these fish from LFS with amazing quarantine practices (follows humblefish methods). Check them out if you’re in the west palm beach, FL area or follow on YouTube - Tanknicians.

Will keep you guys updated along the way. My next project is cable management…yikes . What products is everyone using for that??

 

[1112-425XL]

Nice setup, looks great!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

10 years in the game and after getting so much advice and guidance from reading R2R threads, here i am...about time right!? Long story short, I finally have my dream tank! (well, for now)

- Red Sea 525 G2
- 2 Neptune SKYs
- Red Sea ReefMat 1200
- DC Red Sea Skimmer 600
- Red Sea ATO +
- 2 Red Sea Reefwave 45
- IM 15 gallon ATO reservoir

Love having everything under the Red Sea ecosystem and app (minus the lighting & ATO resevoir), just makes things easier. This time around I went with ocean live rock vs. dry for the insta-tank effect...and also wanted to avoid the Dinos nightmare I had with my previous tank. I started that tank with bare dry rock and ran it way too clean which led to my nitrates and phos. bottoming out and eventually dinos. So even though I almost instantly had a bryopsis outbreak this time (treating with flucanozole), I like that I'm starting right off with the biodiversity that ocean live rock brings. I feel the benefits outweigh the risks. Think I'm going with a mixed reef so open to fish and coral stocking suggestions. Here’s what I have so far and my wish list.

Livestock:
- 2 Bengai Cardinals
- 2 Chalk bass
- 2 Money cowry snails

Wish List / Stocking Ideas:
- Pair of Clowns
- Firefish
- Royal Gramma
- Yellow Tang
- Engineer Goby
- Blue Throat Trigger
- Small school of reef chromis

Getting all of these fish from LFS with amazing quarantine practices (follows humblefish methods). Check them out if you’re in the west palm beach, FL area or follow on YouTube - Tanknicians.

Will keep you guys updated along the way. My next project is cable management…yikes . What products is everyone using for that??

Tank looks great!

 

[BanZI29]

Great looking start! can't wait to see what you put in it!

 

[MVsea1]

*Update*

Added 6 reef chromis yesterday. Beautiful coloration and love how they school together. They’re also absolute pigs and ate within 30 mins of introducing them, good sign!

One week after dosing flucanozole for bryopsis and it’s definitely turned white and dying off. Even the hair algae has receded a bit. Magic cure?? Lol. Also added two additional money cowries and a conch. Thinking about adding a cleaner shrimp and hermits to the CUC. On the fence though..although they are technically reef safe I’ve had them before and they walk all over the corals causing them to close up. Cool additions but not sure if it’s really necessary.

My focus now is finishing up stocking the tank with fish. 2 clownfish on order as well as a firefish. Definitely getting some tangs to keep the algae under control but will add them last and at the same time of course to limit aggression. Still trying to figure out which tangs to get (yellow tang is a must for me). Also considering a Royal gramma, engineer goby, wrasse and maybe a mandarin down the line….but don’t want to overstock the tank. What do you guys think? Getting a minimum of 2 tangs (my “showpiece fish”), maybeeee 3 if I can pull it off but might be a little much for my 5 foot 140 gallon tank.

Oh..also added 2 tester corals, 2 Zoa frags. Opened up right away. Eventually I’m choosing one of those rocks to be a Zoa garden. The rest of the tank will be LPS and sticks, maybe even a plating monti. TBD.

Also going to rent a par meter from BRS to make sure I have that right. Have no clue what type of par these Neptune SKY lights put out based on the intensity I choose. Anyone with SKY lights have insight on that?

Loving this build so far!

 

[MVsea1]

9 days in after dosing flucanozole and what a huge difference! (I’m something of a scientist myself lol) Did its job, even the GHA is almost completely gone. This is the tank under whites. When I add some tangs hopefully they will keep that under control moving forward. Another few days and I will add carbon again and do a big WC. I did have a bit of cloudy water a few days after adding the 6 chromis. Most likely a bacterial bloom due to the added ammonia and bacteria went nuts. Already clearing up so not worried.

Organizing this hot tangled mess is my next project. Keep putting it off lol. What is everyone else out there using for cable mgmt?

 

[TheSharksDen]

9 days in after dosing flucanozole and what a huge difference! (I’m something of a scientist myself lol) Did its job, even the GHA is almost completely gone. This is the tank under whites. When I add some tangs hopefully they will keep that under control moving forward. Another few days and I will add carbon again and do a big WC. I did have a bit of cloudy water a few days after adding the 6 chromis. Most likely a bacterial bloom due to the added ammonia and bacteria went nuts. Already clearing up so not worried.

Organizing this hot tangled mess is my next project. Keep putting it off lol. What is everyone else out there using for cable mgmt?

I literally just posted too about this. I’ve battled it for months now! I did 2 treatments and the second one at day 10 I did a 4 day black out. 100% gone!

Glad you’re good to go also!