Never-ending Reef Tank Shenanigan's (RSR250--65gallons)

Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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Hello fellow reefers!!! Haven't done one of these build threads in along time, so here we go. It's been almost 3 years since I've had reef tank. Before I filed for divorce I sold all my coral and then my reef tank setup back in 2019. The divorce was finalized this year, and starting life all over again. Life's great, and even better now because I'm starting a new tank!! Let shenanigans begin.

Wasn't sure when I started looking for a reef tank to purchase that I would have ended up with a free tank setup. Personally I don't like paying full price and I'm ok with purchasing most items used/like new condition. I had made a few bids on some reef tanks setups for sale. Ranging from 120-240 gallons. Then I found an ad for one on FB, and it was listed for free. Complete RSR250 crated up with lights, return pump, RODI, misc stuff. I ended up buying and changing some items such as skimmer, return pump, and powerheads. The reason why it was for free is that the guy who owned it just wanted to get rid of it and had no time to start it back up. He had moved from San Francisco to Palm Springs. So that's how I ended up with a free reef tank setup. What an awesome score in my book.

Typically I'm the kind of person that takes the time to research things and then come up with a game plan to execute. So I spent some time looking around R2R for ideas on the sump and control board setups. I wanted to give credit to a few people(@Broadfield , @Eight , @SuncrestReef , @Butuz ) on here that inspired me to do what I've done with my tank so far, and what I plan on doing. One of the my favorite things about reef forums.

The plan was to make a clean and useful setup. Clean and organized with everything contained in the sump area or having a side cabinet with it all hidden.

Mixed reef tank is where I'm headed with mostly LPS, softies, zoas, and some SPS. You know how that goes!? I'm only going to do "this" with my reef on corals. Then $$$$$$ later you have a mixture.

Equipment:
Almost all these items were purchased used

Tank: Red Sea 250 w/V1 sump, I modified the sump to accommodate Clarisea 3000 roll.

Lighting: The tank came with 2 AI 26 HD hydra's. So I'm going to stick with those for now. But I did purchase a 36" hybrid T5 fixture to add over the tank with the hydra's. Thinking about OR3 Blue plus in place of the T5's. So that's on the table down the road too.

ATO: Tunze Osmolator 3155

Return pump: Vectra M2 pump in the sump to help eliminate multiple pumps. Hence the manifold built to supply everything with one pump.

Skimmer: Nyos Quantum 120 skimmer. Went with this because of how quiet it is. Little small for the tank I plan on building. But I plan on running some sort of chaeto reactor or similar.

Powerheads: x2 MP10QD, RS 25 wave, 1 Nero 5. Thinking I will add another Nero 5 and place them both on the overflow. Keeping the back of the tank water movement and detritus from building up back there.

Heater(s): Cobalt dual 300watt heater

Controller: Neptune Apex(full version), Trident to monitor ALK, CAL, MAG.

Media reactors: Aquamaxx XS reactors. 1 for carbon as needed, 1 for backup for GFO or whatever.

RODI: BRS stage 5 with a water station with brute trash cans

Substrate: 50lbs of dry rock that I made the aqua scape into. Using super glue, sand, accelerator to help the glue set fast. 60lbs of Carib sea live sand(special grade).

Supplementation:
Not sure but I've had experience with calcium reactors and dosing pumps.

Quarantine tank: 20 gallon standard glass tank with hang-on the back filter.

Here's some shots of the tank. Started the bacteria cycle on 11/12/21, and now playing the waiting game. Cheers!!

Plumbing manifold


Sump and DT without sand


DT with sand and started cycling


DT photos


DT 11.20.21.jpg

DT 11.20.21(2).jpg




DT 11.20.21(3).jpg


DT 11.20.21(4).jpg




DT 11.20.21(5).jpg



DJ power strip.jpg



sump electronics.jpg
 
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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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Apex EB832 has stopped communicating with the Apex fusion. When it's been working good till recently. After troubling shooting I've found that it must be the CAN transceiver on the EB832. The issue is it's stuck in bootloader mode. It was sent off to fixreef.com to have it repaired.

Concerns me that I found all these threads on these Apex Fusion problems. With all that we all invest in our reef tanks, and for a poorly built component to fail after being used for less than a year is red flag, to say the least.
 
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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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EB832 is coming back from fixreef.com!! Great service and communication, thanks Alex!! There wasn't anything wrong with it, but I went ahead and upgraded the 12v PSU while it was there. That part tends to fail on these EB832. Once I get it back I will troubleshoot some more with the Apex head unit. Currently the head unit recognizes my Trident, but it wouldn't communicate with the EB832. To be continued..........
 
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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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Auto feeders have been a concern of mine in the past, and decided to try the Avast Marine Plank auto feeder. Reviews and video sold me on it. I had the APEX auto feeder before, and didn't like it. My plan is to install this in the return pump chamber in the sump.

ON SALE FOR THE WIN $149 with free food & shipping!!!

 

powers2001

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EB832 is coming back from fixreef.com!! Great service and communication, thanks Alex!! There wasn't anything wrong with it, but I went ahead and upgraded the 12v PSU while it was there. That part tends to fail on these EB832. Once I get it back I will troubleshoot some more with the Apex head unit. Currently the head unit recognizes my Trident, but it wouldn't communicate with the EB832. To be continued..........
@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 what is the 12v PSU?
 

powers2001

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Auto feeders have been a concern of mine in the past, and decided to try the Avast Marine Plank auto feeder. Reviews and video sold me on it. I had the APEX auto feeder before, and didn't like it. My plan is to install this in the return pump chamber in the sump.

ON SALE FOR THE WIN $149 with free food & shipping!!!

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 I will be getting one of these too. Love the idea of not having a feed mode to feed several times a day without scheduling equipment to shut down. It will be awhile before I get this I have so much on my shopping list.
 
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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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The 12v power supply unit on the EB832. If you search on R2R, it tends to fail because of cheap capacitors. That fails a lot based on what I have read. 1-2 years into usage.

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 I will be getting one of these too. Love the idea of not having a feed mode to feed several times a day without scheduling equipment to shut down. It will be awhile before I get this I have so much on my shopping list.

lol…. I have the same list too.!!! Don’t we all
 
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LBReefer

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Auto feeders have been a concern of mine in the past, and decided to try the Avast Marine Plank auto feeder. Reviews and video sold me on it. I had the APEX auto feeder before, and didn't like it. My plan is to install this in the return pump chamber in the sump.

ON SALE FOR THE WIN $149 with free food & shipping!!!

I've been looking at these too. I love anthias and these look like a good solution to their unique feeding requirements.

Do you program these with the Apex? Is it fairly straight-forward?
 
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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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Happy Turkey day!!! Been cooking!!! Which I love to cook! Today it’s on the Traeger Timberline 1300. Brined the turkey for 2 days, dry out for 1 1/2 days, injected with butter and seasoning. Homemade stuffing, made some bruschetta for appetizers. Bunch of other standard appetizers; cheese , meats, crackers, deviled eggs, etc.
 

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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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I've been looking at these too. I love anthias and these look like a good solution to their unique feeding requirements.

Do you program these with the Apex? Is it fairly straight-forward?

Apex controls it easily. Plug it into the apex EB832 and set it up as a feeder. Setup your amount of time you want it to run. 15-20 seconds for as many times a day you want too. Whatever time that works for your fish load. Simple and works.


Here’s a video about setup and breakdown on it:


 
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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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Day 17 on initial nitrifying bacteria cycle I’ve been getting NH3 0ppm, N02 0ppm, N03 5ppm for a few days now. Going to look for a fish this week to add to get some natural ammonia to the system. Monitoring levels to see how the bacteria handles it. I’ve added Dr. Tim’s(once), Microbacter7(daily dose after 10 days of Dr. Tim’s). No lights on for another month or two. Well that’s the plan anyways.
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powers2001

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@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 if you don’t have your tank covered for blackout yet here’s a tarp from Ace hardware for $6.

 
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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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Received my EB832 from fixreef.com and it works great. Deleted my Trident and EB832 from the APEX and then reinstalled the EB832. My tank is not ready for the Trident and I think it will be Jan-Feb 2022 till I put some softies/coral in the tank.

Purchased 3 fish; 2 - Ocellaris clownfish, 1 - Midas blenny. The clown fish are so small, I think they are the smallest I have purchased ever. Midas blenny usually have a lot of personality, but this one is still hiding out for now. My daughter named the Midas blenny - Forest. The clown fish names are Nemo and Marlin(of course)!! d I'm looking forward to getting a couple of black storm clown fish. Those two will be my last clown fish for this tank.
 
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Perfectly_Imperfekt1

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Avast Plank feeder has arrived with some food to go with it. Set it up on the top of the tank for now. Works amazing!! Tried a few trial runs to see how much time it takes to apply enough food to the tank for my 3 fish. Next thing to do is program the apex for the feeder. Debating on the little pump that’s in the down tube to run 24/7.

Looking into this splitter and plug them both into it and use one plug on my EB832.

Cablelera ZADA36PQ-Y-P2 Power Cord Extension & Splitter, NEMA 5-15P to NEMA 5-15R x 2, 13A, 125V (Black)


#avastplankfeeder #rsr250 #feeder

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A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 65 37.1%
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    Votes: 59 33.7%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.3%
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