MuffinMonster's Red Sea Reefer 250!

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MuffinMonster

MuffinMonster

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What's up everyone! I apologize i have not updated this thread, it has been a wild ride since i was last on here with Covid, switching jobs and just life in general!

The tank has been running ok, everything's automated so i really dont do too much other than sit back, watch and continue to be patient waiting for the tank to be ready for coral to go in! I have been battling algae issues, but no surprise as i started barebottom (no sand) and all new dry rock etc... So i expected some issues. It is requiring me to be more patient than i thought it would take though!

Heres some updated photos, i added a Lubbocks Wrasse, Exquisite Wrasse and a Tomini Tang to the main display tank yesterday finally!

Again, sorry i dont have beautiful pictures of the tank filled to the brim with coraline and SPS sticks! I wish i could, but waiting on tanks to mature is a slow and steady process! So if you plan on starting barebottom with dry rock, heres a photo of what to expect during the process! lol!

Lubbocks.jpeg
Exquisite.jpeg
Tomini.jpeg
Tank Update.jpeg
 
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Well...... It has been 3 years since starting this tank.... My life has changed quite a bit since the first write up, in a lot of good ways, needless to say so has my vision and motivation with this tank.

I originally started this tank with the vision of it being a bare bottom SPS tank at the very beginning of 2020. I knew from the get-go I was playing the waiting game with this tank as I started with a new tank, dry rock and no sand, little did I think 3 years would go by before I do anything. I was ready to add coral at the beginning of 2021 after the tank matured 12 months, but at that time I was in the process of looking / purchasing a home. We landed a house and moved in May of 2021. The week we were moving I got a promotion at work, which meant working more hours, which meant less time to focus on the tank hobby.

After catching up with the move, with the new promotion and getting settled into the house I knew I was then ready to add coral finally, then come the new-house projects.... Months go by and we add a furry four legged Great Dane puppy to our family in the fall of 2021(no one told me how much attention and hard a puppy is to take care of, it sealed the deal on me not having kids).... By the end of 2021 I still had not done anything or added any coral / fish to the tank. Here comes 2022 and there are more house projects, more keeping up with the puppy, more life getting in the way of me and my tank hobby.... It is now 2023, the tank has not even had one gallon of water changed since the move 20 months ago in May of 2021. Outside of that really the last couple years have been great, but ive been so focused and busy with other things I lost track of my tank. For the last few months I have really been debating selling everything off, but I have been unable to come to that final decision to let it go. I can't do it.

So this past weekend I made a decision, I am keeping the tank, I am making time for it, I actually cleaned it up and changed 5 gallons of water finally. The reef tank hobby has been one of my favorite and is very relaxing and enjoying to be a part of, I would be devastated to let it go. With that, I did compromise to let go of my dream of a hard SPS only bare-bottom tank. I added sand, I want to add a bunch of wrasse's and maybe one tang to the tank along with easier versions of LPS and SPS corals that don't require strict constant work.

Attached is a picture below of the current status of the tank (sorry for the dirty glass), and my Great Dane puppy who has had my attention since he step foot in the house. I promise to have updates to come! The tank is absolutely matured and ready for me to fill it up.
 

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Last weekend I added two test corals, a green slimer type acro and a toxic splatter hammer. I wanted to get one SPS and LPS to monitor for a few weeks before I order more corals. I plan on using WWC for most of my coral as I really want aqua-cultured coral in the tank and will go SPS heavy with a couple LPS mixed in. Also on 1/14 I ordered a Tsunami Clearview Lid because I plan to add 4 different Wrasse to the tank.

Just today I downsized skimmers, I've been running the Simplicity 240DC but its meant for a much bigger tank than what I have. The Eshopps S-120 is a beautiful looking and very well built skimmer, it has been in my tank for 3 hours now and is already producing great foam and is extremely quiet (bonus tip: I am so happy I plug it in and let it do its thing, I dont have to mess with the DC speed pump that I never know how to set... Only adjustment is water level and air). The Eshopps is rated @ 40gal heavy bio-load, 90gal medium bio-load and 120gal light bio-load. As I plan to have 8-10 fish in the tank and a ton of coral I should be more on the heavy side which means the Eshopps will be rated less than what I need. That is the plan because I have the Clarisea Rollermat that does the heavy lifting so I wanted to under-size the skimmer instead of the big one I had on their so it performs well.
 

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Ordered a ClearView Lid a while back that came in this last weekend. These things are beautiful and fit perfectly! With that now on the tank I will be picking up a Yellow Coris Wrasse and Pink Streak Wrasse this Friday at my LFS. Will be adding at least 2 more wrasse in the next couple months as well, just don't want to add too many fish too fast!

Also I ordered some coral and inverts from World Wide Corals. I got a Vibrant Purple Monti and some GSP that I plan to glue to my overflow. I have more corals inbound from WWC this upcoming Friday as well.

Since adding the tang and feeding the tank more I have had some green hair algae pop up, hoping the tang and inverts will be cleaning what has grown up the next few weeks. Really need to order some pods to add to the tank and some phyto to feed, I think ill be ordered a bunch from Dinkins Aquatic Gardens soon as ive heard good things about them.

Also really need to get an orange filter for my camera again for better tank pictures as my dog ate mine a couple weeks ago.... lol
 

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Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

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