MNBones’s Red Sea Reefer XL 200 G2

MNBones · May 24, 2022

Getting back into this hobby (for the third time) after several years away and have collected the components and infrastructure to setup the Reefer XL 200 G2 that arrives tomorrow.

There was a bit of a snafu when I ordered the tank so it took a few weeks to get the delivery notification, but we made good use of the time.

Setup the RO/DI, fresh-water storage, and mixing station in the utility room.

Setup a Fluval Evo 13.5 to use as a quarantine tank and began a “Dr. Tim’s” cycle with some of the aquascape pieces and some bio-media that will be used in the quarantine tank.

Printed media baskets for chambers 1 & 2 of the Evo.

Tested the pumps and heater.

Did rock sculpture.

Tomorrow will be boring cabinet assembly and leveling along with some test fitting of sump components...

Equipment list (so far)
MarcoRocks + glue and epoxy
7 Stage RO/DI
ReefWave 25 Pump with Controller
VarioS-2 DC Pump
Reef Octopus Classic 110INT Skimmer
Aqua Ultraviolet 15 Watt Classic UV Sterilizer
Finnex 300w THH with HC-810M Controller

HankstankXXL750 · May 25, 2022

Welcome back to the hobby. I just started back up a year ago. Have fun and enjoy.

MNBones · May 28, 2022

Mini-update: The painfully slow process of getting the level correct on carpet + pad is complete. The ‘practical engineer’ me said “just cut 8 small X’s in the carpet/pad so that the leveling feet are in contact with the underlying concrete” – but higher authority says I’m not allowed to wreck the carpet.

The process for the last several days has been:

Adjust level
Add weight
Go away for awhile and let gravity do its thing
repeat…

Today I’m finally at the point where the carpet/pad is fully crushed under the feet and level is correct and maintained when applying force to the tank in all directions (side to side, front to back, and diagonal corners).

I’ll install the cabinet bottom panel, install and adjust the door hinges, remove the door, and begin with the sump placement and plumbing today.

MNBones · May 28, 2022

I’m just a bit disappointed.

After installing the overflow box plumbing, I add some water to the overflow to verify there were no leaks.

Imagine my surprise when the overflow seam leaked.

It is a bit disturbing to purchase a premium aquarium (at a premium price) and have the very first exposure to water uncover a leaky minor seam. It’s easy enough to apply some silicone and correct the leak but it makes we wonder.

Was this the result of a careless worker or an out of calibration machine? Is this common? Are there any more severe issues with tanks manufactured in this batch

Is the same person or machine responsible for the other tank seams? Should I discard days’ worth of fine tuning in-place leveling and bring the tank and stand outside, fill it up and verify all the seams?

Let the paranoia begin...

Meanwhile - The plumbing I was checking didn't leak

MNBones · Jun 4, 2022

I’m a bit behind on this thread due to ‘issues’.

Well, I really should have foreseen the issue since the manufacturer says: “put the tank at least 4 inches away from the wall”. Oops

So, we moved the tank to another wall where it would look fine with rear clearance. Bonus for me is its easier to level on a hardwood floor than on carpet + pad.

Slight delay during sump layout and assembly when I realized the UV Sterilizer needed a better orientation and more rigid mount than I had originally cobbled together. Ordered the wrong set of mounting clamps before finally ordering the correct ones.

Finally the plumbing and electrical is routed, preliminary aquascape in place, the tank filled, salted, and running. I’m waiting for the sand cloud to clear a bit to see if I need more sand while I work on dressing the wiring.

Disappointed in how loud the Reef Octopus VarioS-2 pump is. So-much for DC pumps being ‘silent’ because its defiantly the loudest thing in the system running at setting 3 of 5. The S.O. won’t put up with it during quiet passages of movie watching (the tank is in the den where the TV is…) and It may need to be replaced by something that doesn’t sound like a tiny motorboat in the cabinet. I’ll download a DB meter application and send a reading and audio clip the manufacturer to see what they say.

Meanwhile – The Cycle Has Begun!

MNBones · Jun 5, 2022

Sand looks about right (I think). Dosed a bottle of Dr. Tim.

HankstankXXL750 · Jun 7, 2022

MNBones said:
I’m a bit behind on this thread due to ‘issues’.

Well, I really should have foreseen the issue since the manufacturer says: “put the tank at least 4 inches away from the wall”. Oops

So, we moved the tank to another wall where it would look fine with rear clearance. Bonus for me is its easier to level on a hardwood floor than on carpet + pad.

Slight delay during sump layout and assembly when I realized the UV Sterilizer needed a better orientation and more rigid mount than I had originally cobbled together. Ordered the wrong set of mounting clamps before finally ordering the correct ones.

Finally the plumbing and electrical is routed, preliminary aquascape in place, the tank filled, salted, and running. I’m waiting for the sand cloud to clear a bit to see if I need more sand while I work on dressing the wiring.

Disappointed in how loud the Reef Octopus VarioS-2 pump is. So-much for DC pumps being ‘silent’ because its defiantly the loudest thing in the system running at setting 3 of 5. The S.O. won’t put up with it during quiet passages of movie watching (the tank is in the den where the TV is…) and It may need to be replaced by something that doesn’t sound like a tiny motorboat in the cabinet. I’ll download a DB meter application and send a reading and audio clip the manufacturer to see what they say.

Meanwhile – The Cycle Has Begun!

I use current pumps. Have three Red Sea tanks in our family room S1000, XXL750, XL525 and a multi tank QT system running through a sump. 6 different current pumps, If the overflows are adjusted right we hardly hear a thing. XXXL900 just arrived at my LFS two days ago. Picking up
Hopefully over the weekend. I will be running two currents for return and one for UV Sterilizer. Seem to be great pumps and very quiet.

ScubaFish802 · Jul 15, 2022

Any update on how things are going?

MNBones · Jul 19, 2022

It’s been a while so there are a few updated to this thread.

First, the VarioS-2 was replaced with a Sicce Syncra SDC. Very quiet pump compared to the (I believe) defective VarioS but substantially less flow. Reef Octopus support was unresponsive both from their support website and phone calls, so I returned the pump to the vendor (Live Aquaria) before the 60-day money back guarantee window closed. The Sicce is rated at 800gph and the VarioS was rated 792gph, but I have the Sicce cranked almost all the way up and it still does not have the flow the VarioS had at the 3 of 5 setting.

Second, there is life in the tank now. I had a pair of clowns in the observation/quarantine tank, and they have been added to the main tank along with some other life.

I’ve decided to do a somewhat unconventional approach to tank cycling. I started with a standard Dr. Tim’s fishless cycle.

Once that was complete, I added the clowns.

We ordered “Algae Barn Galaxy Pods & Phyto” combo pack and introduced the pods 5 days after the fish along with a bottle of both their pink and purple coralline algae. We began evening doses of the live plankton (~ 10ml for our tanks total water volume).

A week after that our order from “Salty Bottom Reef Company” arrived. With a fresh/new tank (no visible algae yet) we didn’t want a full cleanup crew to starve, so we ordered their “Small Invert Sample Pack”. Their customer support was excellent when I called and asked them to delay the shipment until after the 4th of July holiday weekend. Everything arrived well packaged, alive, and went to work immediately.

I wanted to add a few hearty corals right away figuring those photosynthetic organisms would use some of the tank nutrients that ‘ugly tank’ wanted. However, Mrs. MNBones was determined to meet the “free shipping” order threshold and we ended up with 10 frags from “Salty Bottom Reef Company”. We dipped, treated, and rinsed the frags then put them on a rack in the tank.

Finally, we turned on the light! Set the color temperature to 20K, maximum intensity to 50%, and set the acclamation mode to a 20-day ramp up. We are on day 13.

The frags are all looking great and most of them show signs of new growth. I need to visit the photography form and find out what filter(s) I need to get some decent pictures from an iPhone13Pro. Downloaded a few camera apps that were supposed to let me adjust the white balance and tweak the focus (always wants to focus on the glass, not beyond it) but those are not doing the trick.

We also had a ‘pH episode’. We had guests for a week and one of them (and her dog) were sleeping in the den. The Zoa frags were not extending as much or as colorful as they were previously and after a parameter check I found the pH was down to 7.6! I cranked up the skimmer, opened the sump cabinet door, opened the nearby window, and added Kalkwasser to my ATO. We kept the cabinet door and window open for the rest of her stay (except overnight) and pH returned to the usual 8.1.

I am (knock on wood) really surprised at how clean and healthy the tank is at this early stage. The only algae I can detect is some tiny spots of pink coralline on the top of the tallest rocks and the circulation pump which I believe comes from the Algae Barn bottle. I hold out hope that introducing the plankton, coralline algae, pod population, and coral early will help me control excess tank nutrients and tame the inevitable uglies.

And now for some pictures:

The submissive clown fish freaked us out on his first night in the tank. We found him in a back corner laying on his side in the sand with his head against the back of the tank. In the observation/QT tank he was fond of a particular piece of PVC so we put it in that corner and it’s been his safe space/bedroom ever since.

Here’s the guys exploring their new home.

Frag rack while we figure out where to put stuff

Full tank shot

Livestock from Salty Bottom

Small Invert Sample Pack
3 Blue Leg Hermit
2 Red Leg Hermit
2 White Leg Hermit
2 Astrea Snail
1 Ninja Star Snail
3 Cerith Snail
2 Nassarius Snail
1 Emerald Crab
1 Porcelain Crab

Orange Florida Ricordea
Neon green Cabbage Leather
Emeralds on Fire Zoa
Fire and Ice Zoa
Mistique Zoa
Orange Bam Bam Zoa
Purple Dragon Zoa
Radioactive Dragon Eyes Zoa
Rainbow Hornets Zoa
Stargazer Zoa

From LFS (New Wave Aquaria, Plymouth, MN )
Baby’s Breath Favia