My RSR 250 build; Back at it after 6 year hiatus

[Weasel1960]

Just caught up on your build thread....looks great.

 

[Zach B]

Looking good! Love the corals

 

[dmy535]

Been so busy with work that I haven’t updated in a while.... all corals dong well. Parameters have been super stable. Today however, my bta decided to move for no apparent reason.... he’s been happy In one spot for months but today decide to move. Now he’s resting up against my torch before lights out... so I will have to see if he still same spot in the morning. May have to pull torch off his spot so he doesn’t get stung. Id hate to lose it...

 

[dmy535]

Update on the nem, he did a little lap, found a spot for the day, decided he didn’t like that either. Was walking on sandbed a bit, which was a little weird, and then started going to the back side of rocks and tank where my clowns reside and host a corner.... thought maybe the nem was trying to entice them? They seemed a bit curious and kept going close to it, then the nem decided to find a spot under the rock over hang but on the back side of the rock scape. Luckily I have views of tank on all 3 sides but he was just hanging out yesterday fully open but not getting light. Such a weird creature. Like I said he hadn’t been in previous spot for months without moving so seeing jimmy moving and acting like he’s not happy is interestingly. No changes in flow or lighting either. All other corals, torch, hammer, frogspawn, Duncan, favia, enchinata, are open and looking great as well. Parameters all in check as well. So something to continue to monitor.

 

[dmy535]

Update on the nem, he did a little lap, found a spot for the day, decided he didn’t like that either. Was walking on sandbed a bit, which was a little weird, and then started going to the back side of rocks and tank where my clowns reside and host a corner.... thought maybe the nem was trying to entice them? They seemed a bit curious and kept going close to it, then the nem decided to find a spot under the rock over hang but on the back side of the rock scape. Luckily I have views of tank on all 3 sides but he was just hanging out yesterday fully open but not getting light. Such a weird creature. Like I said he hadn’t been in previous spot for months without moving so seeing jimmy moving and acting like he’s not happy is interestingly. No changes in flow or lighting either. All other corals, torch, hammer, frogspawn, Duncan, favia, enchinata, are open and looking great as well. Parameters all in check as well. So something to continue to monit

Well an update! The nem is back out and now I have 2! Both Nems look great and healthy. But explains a lot!

 

[dmy535]

Well an update! The nem is back out and now I have 2! Both Nems look great and healthy. But explains a lot!

Love their colors!

 

[dmy535]

Both anemones are doing well. I started noticing some cyano on sand bed so decided to upgrade my flow because the area it started in has some really low flow and I’ve always been meaning to get another power head anyways. So I got an ice cap 2k & 4K controller and so far very impressed with how much flow it gives without being over powering! It’s a lot of water movement, but it’s gentle unlike powerheads with a straight stream!

I started with tropic Marin pro reef salt, and just switched recently because the price, and its never available when I need it. I also dislike that I needed to mix, then dose the bucket before I could add to tank because parameters always mixed low.... I decided to go with IO Reef crystals because it mixes to the perimeters I want. And it’s ewsily available everywhere.

 

[powers2001]

Did I already ask this, but is your Icecap controller the dual wi-fi one? That’s what I have but haven’t used it yet just played with the software quite a bit.

 

[dmy535]

Did I already ask this, but is your Icecap controller the dual wi-fi one? That’s what I have but haven’t used it yet just played with the software quite a bit.

Yes it’s the new dual WiFi partly why I got a 2k and a 4K. So far really happy with the performance. Lots of flow without blasting things. Currently deciding what to do with mp40.... right now put it on around 15% running “nutrient export” behind the rock work to keep it so I don’t have dead spots.... debating this or selling it. Not sure yet

 

[dmy535]

Did a water change today with the new IO reef crystals. Was super happy to see that the mix, mixed at my desired parameters at 1.026.

did a bit of re aquascaping on some frags to find a new desired spots for them with new flow and since my anemones decided to take up some big real estate they were starting to encroach on the torch. So moved the torch up 4” and so far the torch loves the new spot.


Photos taken with iPhone and icecap lenses

also did some cord management with the new pumps’

 

[dmy535]

Got some new gear today and excited to be setting them up:

- 2 icecap dosing containers (1 gal size)
- got an extra apex energy bar 8... ran out of plugs!
- sicce 1.0 pump for my carbon reactor (finally)
- Red Sea reefdos2 (excited to get back into dosing with this!)

went with the reef dos because I did lots of research and reading... for the price point and features this was a highly rated dosing pump. I could’ve gone with the apex dos, but was $150 if I went with the containers (bad reviews on the sensor in the container) or $50 more if I just did the apex dos unit itself. Again, reading reviews, so far the reefdos has some amazing reviews.

almost went the cheap route with the jebao units, but heard some horror stories.... plus, I don’t want to do everything on a budget or cheap... I’ve done that on my last tank and it always costs more to replace because something isn’t working correctly and then end up getting a new one or getting the one I wanted/needed in the end anyways.

once I get everything set up I’ll be snapping some photos!

 

[Jeffcb]

Got some new gear today and excited to be setting them up:

- 2 icecap dosing containers (1 gal size)
- got an extra apex energy bar 8... ran out of plugs!
- sicce 1.0 pump for my carbon reactor (finally)
- Red Sea reefdos2 (excited to get back into dosing with this!)

went with the reef dos because I did lots of research and reading... for the price point and features this was a highly rated dosing pump. I could’ve gone with the apex dos, but was $150 if I went with the containers (bad reviews on the sensor in the container) or $50 more if I just did the apex dos unit itself. Again, reading reviews, so far the reefdos has some amazing reviews.

almost went the cheap route with the jebao units, but heard some horror stories.... plus, I don’t want to do everything on a budget or cheap... I’ve done that on my last tank and it always costs more to replace because something isn’t working correctly and then end up getting a new one or getting the one I wanted/needed in the end anyways.

once I get everything set up I’ll be snapping some photos!

Nice equipment! I just installed a ReefDose and app. I have not fired it up yet but will this weekend. Looks very cool. Let me know how you like yours.

 

[powers2001]

Yes it’s the new dual WiFi partly why I got a 2k and a 4K. So far really happy with the performance. Lots of flow without blasting things. Currently deciding what to do with mp40.... right now put it on around 15% running “nutrient export” behind the rock work to keep it so I don’t have dead spots.... debating this or selling it. Not sure yet

@dmy535 I was looking at the Coralvue website and saw that they discontinued this product. I hope they will service one if needed.

 

[dmy535]

Got the equipment installed today and super excited and happy!

 

[dmy535]

The reefdose has malfunctioned on me daily for 1 of the heads... it’s loose in the housing and causing a clicking noise and then the head jams. I’ve tried switching sides but it still does it with the same head no matter what side it’s on. Contacted BRS who told me I needed to contact Red Sea support. Submitted a ticket but haven’t heard back yet... BRS also does not sell the replacement heads. For now, the head works if it’s got pressure on the front pushing it back in, so I’ve added some tape to it to keep the head more secure and stable... this helps for now... pretty disappointed

 

[powers2001]

The reefdose has malfunctioned on me daily for 1 of the heads... it’s loose in the housing and causing a clicking noise and then the head jams. I’ve tried switching sides but it still does it with the same head no matter what side it’s on. Contacted BRS who told me I needed to contact Red Sea support. Submitted a ticket but haven’t heard back yet... BRS also does not sell the replacement heads. For now, the head works if it’s got pressure on the front pushing it back in, so I’ve added some tape to it to keep the head more secure and stable... this helps for now... pretty disappointed

@dmy535 I took all the heads off my ReefDose4 to remove the tubing since I won't be using for another 3-4 months. This takes the roller pressure off the tubing keeping them from deforming in a pinched manner. I put all the heads back on since I didn't want to store them different and one jammed really bad. I thought I would break it getting it off in order to put it in right but it was okay. I heard a rumor Neptune is planning a smaller doser than the DOS and it might be a 4 head. Looking forward to that.

Mitch.

 

[dmy535]

Grabbed a new piece this weekend. Love it! Baby goniopora!

 

[dmy535]

Loving the doser! It’s keeping everything steady and the app is user friendly. Only issues was my calcium head never worked. Had to file a claim with Red Sea, and within 2 emails they sent me a new head. Just arrived today. I calibrated the new head and it’s fixed. Now I can stop manual dosing calcium!

Since I’ve been dosing alkalinity and manual dosing eh calcium, I’ve seen so much explosive coralline algae growth as well as the coral skeleton really taking off! Love it.

 

[dmy535]

Sad day... first, picked up a couple frags yesterday. King Midas zoa, fire and ice zoa, ,ystic sunset Monti and a walt Disney acro (second attempt at acro).

After dip and acclimation is was pretty sure the Walt Disney wasn’t going to make it. This morning it doesn’t look good. There’s a tiny bit of fluorescence left,in the polyp holes, but the skeleton is pretty much white...

Tested all parameters too, and it’s spot on. Guessing LFS was a bit different from what I had. Hoping it’ll come back, but doesn’t look good right now.

Second issue of the day, clowns doing great this morning. Swimming and no signs of anything. Did some tank maintenance earlier; algae glass, filter sock, skimmer, new carbon, and a feeding. All ate well. 2 hours later noticed female laying sideways on sand struggling to right herself... breathing heavy. Doesn’t look good for her. If I lose her this will be a tall a bad day....

 

[dmy535]

Still battling my Cyano, but the coral snow and zk Cyano is helping with the additions of micrbactor 7. I’ve been testing every week and my No3 stays at 5ppm…. I have a really thin sand bed, so I’ve been adding new sand to make it a bit thicker. I’m thinking this will help the beneficial bacteria. So got a bag of aragonite sand (dry), rinsed it really well and added a few inches to only 1/2 the tank. Didn’t want to shock the system. Tank was slightly cloudy for about 30 minutes and it quickly disappeared. Hoping I didn’t shock the system at all, but going slow. Corals and fish all seem to be fine.