My piece of the Ocean (Reefer 250 Build)

[Rory's Reef]

Oh and I managed to snag a Nikon D3400 with a few lenses, so once I figure out how to use the darn thing I'll be posting much nicer pictures.

All I currently know how to use is the iPhone camera lol

 

[Rory's Reef]

Ok, so not a whole lot has been going on since the last update really. However, I did finally manage to get my hands on the piece of plumbing that was leaking and finally have the tank cycling with no leaks. I was able to get the probes hooked up to the apex as well and get quite a bit of programming done. I really like the apex, but the wifi on the new one is not so good. It keeps randomly dropping offline and I haven't been able to find a reason for it yet. But this is where we sit so far...

So I'm not a big fan of the brackets holding up the light. I didn't want anything attaching to the tank and I thought this would be a good alternative since I have vaulted ceilings, but now I'm trying to find a way to disguise them . I also plan on taking the foam off of the MP40's as well. They just stand out too much, which defeats the purpose of placing them on the back wall.

Everything seems to be working out in the sump area with no real issues. There's not too much left to do in this area other than transferring over my ATO from my current tank when it's time as well as the seneye. I think I'm also going to add a water leak detector, but I think I may add it to my alarm system instead of the apex, haven't decided yet.

I really just can't wait to get some critters going in the tank.

And because I'm a nerd, I just couldn't resist adding some color pop. I originally was just going to get some under cabinet led lighting, but I found a way to utilize some color LEDs that pretty much can do any color you can think of. (although the colors won't really be used much, I will use the whites whenever I work underneath.)


Well I still haven't had time to quite figure out the new camera, so I'm still using the iPhone. But now that I have the tank cycling, I might have some time to really dig into it.

I know I've said this before, but I would appreciate any critiques you may have.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

I used this material to create a mount attached to the stand for the HOB lights. I thought about a creating floating canopy attached to the wall behind the stand using this stuff. Pricey...
80/20 Inc. - T-slotted aluminum framing system
https://8020.net

 

[Rory's Reef]

I used this material to create a mount attached to the stand for the HOB lights. I thought about a creating floating canopy attached to the wall behind the stand using this stuff. Pricey...
80/20 Inc. - T-slotted aluminum framing system
https://8020.net

That stuff looks awesome... Wish I saw it before I bought the brackets.
Thanks for the link, I'll have to see if I can design a canopy that will hide the brackets

 

[AcanthurusRex]

Rail for the lights. About $150 but way more versatile than fixed attachments to the back of the stand.

 

[Rory's Reef]

Rail for the lights. About $150 but way more versatile than fixed attachments to the back of the stand.

That definitely would have been a better option. Unfortunately, I don't really want to deal with trying to patch the 4 0.25" holes I made to mount these since I can't match the wall texture and it would just look funny .

I noticed you have your Vortech on the back as well. I was wondering if this is the only place you have them and how it works for you?
I haven't seen a whole lot of people do it this way but I really just preferred the look to them being on the side so I thought I would try it out.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

You can fill .25" holes and touch up and only you would ever know a hole was there. If they are in the studs then you could re-purpose them.
I envisioned the floating canopy connected to the wall via a rail screwed into 2 studs. Something like this fro a top view.
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I still think I might need to do something similar since I don't like the glare from the lights.
If you notice there is no water in the tank; I can't tell is that is the best place for the Vortech. Have a look at this RSR250, this is where I got the idea;

 

[T2Play]

I would add a battery backup to one of the mp40's

 

[Rory's Reef]

You can fill .25" holes and touch up and only you would ever know a hole was there. If they are in the studs then you could re-purpose them.
I envisioned the floating canopy connected to the wall via a rail screwed into 2 studs. Something like this fro a top view.
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I still think I might need to do something similar since I don't like the glare from the lights.
If you notice there is no water in the tank; I can't tell is that is the best place for the Vortech. Have a look at this RSR250, this is where I got the idea;

Yeah I may just have to do something like that. I'm not in any hurry for the time being, but I appreciate all the ideas. I know my girlfriend will be happy if I get rid of them too lol. Now I can look into things and come up with something that will work. I definitely like that floating canopy idea.

It looks like the Vortechs on the back work well for him, so it's definitely possible. I'll just have to mess around with it once I get my corals in to see what they like. It's nice to see that it can be done though. Thanks for the link!

 

[Rory's Reef]

I would add a battery backup to one of the mp40's

I currently have a 1500VA UPS on my RSM130D that I'm going to be transferring over. But I was going to put the Apex on that and get another one for the MP40's. Do you think the VorTech Battery Back-up is a better solution? It definitely seems like they would run for a longer period of time. Do you know if you can hook two MP40's up to one battery back-up or would I need to get a battery back-up for each?

Thanks for your input

 

[Simon Lipscombe]

Lookin good! Love the mini fuge lol

 

[Rory's Reef]

So while my tank cycles I don't have much to do, but I have a smallish update nevertheless.

So I added some Chaeto along with some Pods whom I feed Phyto to every other day.


So I didn't want to spend any more money on mounting the lights. So this was my free solution. I think it'll be ok.





And the star of the show, my captive bred blue tang from @AlgaeBarn acclimating in the QT

 

[AlgaeBarn]

Awesome!! Glad to see the fish is acclimating well and the tank is coming along. The colors on these fish really are very nice, congrats on the new fish!

 

[Rory's Reef]

I have, unfortunately, been sooo busy recently I haven't had a lot of time to dedicate towards my tank. I went ahead and threw in a very tiny clean up crew to get going and transferred over my Blue Tang (name still undecided) from QT this weekend. I plan on doing a bit more this week and updating my thread. In the meantime, heres a couple of photos as I play around with the camera and attempt to learn Lightroom.

She wouldn't stay still for a picture :mad:


And the almost completely empty tank

 

[Rory's Reef]

Picked up a favia today from my LFS to get a little color going... and so it begins

I should be getting my new macro lens this week, so hopefully some nice coral photos to come



#reef2reef #worldwidecorals #mywwccontest

 

[Rory's Reef]

I've decided I need to start moving some livestock over from my RSM130D. So first on the list is my Hammer coral. It's a bit more flow then his last spot, but he's slowly opening so I'll just see how he does over the next few days.

*My photography and editing skills are still lacking, but hopefully I'll get better with the more I take


I also got a few sticks as I just can't do without them. No real color to them yet as I just got them in a few hours ago.

*The one to the far left was a freebie who ended up with RTN so I cut the tip off to try and save him

 

[KJ]

Very nice following

 

[pelphrey]

I like the shelf you added to the light mount! Any updates on the tank, what sand did you go with?

 

[AllTankDylan]

The Fuge, ATO conversion is awesome. Never seen it before. Way better option than using the tiny ATO.

 

[Rory's Reef]

I like the shelf you added to the light mount! Any updates on the tank, what sand did you go with?

Nothing really new other than the loss of one of the acros unfortunately. Will be doing more this weekend. I used the Carib Sea Special Grade Agar-Alive sand and really like it. Not too big of grains but not so small that my high flow kicks it around. I used 40 lbs to get a shallow sand bed.

The Fuge, ATO conversion is awesome. Never seen it before. Way better option than using the tiny ATO.

Thanks. That ATO is pretty useless holding only 2gals of water. I heard of people doing it and I thought it would be an awesome addition to breed copepods for my Mandarin. I doubt it'll do too much in the way of nutrient export, but it'll help a little.