New set up - RedSea Reefer 625 G2

FishyLips · Oct 13, 2022

Hello everyone,
I am building out (with lots of help from my Aquarium Shop), a new REEFER™ 625 G2. I am very excited and after some initial research, and ease of consolidation, I choose many components from RedSea to compliment the tank. I have the 160S lights, the 900 Skimmer, the ReefMat 1200, two ReefWave 45's and the ReefDose. There are other components, but I can list them later.
I've had the tank up and running for about 47 days and put in a couple of clowns and PJ Cardinal fish last week. There is several pounds of live sand and live rock. I'm actually very happy with how the tank looks now and credit my Aquarium Shop for some great sump planning and work. There is a refractor, some mud and the ATO down there, accompanying the skimmer and ReefMat. Interestingly, RedSea made it tight to fit all the equipment, but it fits. There was some back and forth regarding a potential space for a refugium, but the mud really helped to make it work, or that is the goal.

I'm learning all this and luckily, I work from home, so I get to spend some time maintaining the simple set up now. My goal is a mixed coral tank with beautiful colors. I'll let you know when I need some community guidance. Thanks.

SaltyT · Oct 14, 2022

Looking good! I feel your pain about RS sumps being too tight on space, I had to nix the fuge to get my equipment to fit.

Gumbies R Us · Dec 22, 2022

Wanted to see if you had any updates on your tank!

FishyLips · Dec 23, 2022

Hi and thanks for the follow up. The tank is doing well, maturing and supporting life. We now have about 14 fish, two shrimp, several hermit crabs and some snails, as well as a Duncan, brain acan, leather, frogspawn and zoa.
Maintaining water chemistry has been relatively easy so far and I am not spilling as much during water changes, so I am happy. I set up a manageable way to mix and pump water from nearby into the tank. I remove the water using a gravel syphon. I am also dosing some RS Foundation products to help maintain balance. The refugium is working well and includes the mud and a plant provided by the LFS.
Key things I have learned:
- Sand scratches glass when using the magnetic glass cleaner! I find that I am cleaning more often now.
- Valentin puffers like to eat acan corals when they are hungry.
- There could be some benefit in RS making the ATO reservoir less wide to accommodate the ReefMat and Skimmer size. My skimmer fit, but at a slight angle because of the wide top. It works, but I don't like the angle and should have placed everything prior to cutting the ReefMat connector hose.
- ReefMat roller should be adjusted to minimize the amount of mat rolled during each increment. The pace I use is 1.5-2.0 inches and I am going through the roll faster than I would like. It works though.
- There are lots of pumps necessary for this thing to work: 1- Main pump, 2- Skimmer pump, 3- Reactor pump, 4- Dosing pump (I use a pump to circulate water because the material was staining my sump glass. It is effective, but optional).

Lots more, but I'm still learning from everyone. Thanks.