Red Sea E170 max AIO mixed reef build - first reef tank

[kiswanson]

Full tank shots

 

[kiswanson]

Wisconsin Reef Holiday Video

Clink link for YouTube video

 

[kiswanson]

Decided to add some sailfin mollies for hair algae control, since my tank is too small for tangs

 

[jopo4343]

Hi
I have the same tank been up and running for almost 10 month’s.
I have replaced the skimmer with an icecap k1-50 and find it to be a huge improvement over the redsea one. I get more tea looking yucky skimmate in a couple days than I ever got from the redsea one. I found the redsea one to be to really difficult to clean getting it out of back was a real pain it was also difficult to adjust for me at least the icecap turn knob can see the bubbles. It’s also much quieter not the splash back sound of the redsea.
I also in the last two weeks stopped dosing nopox after using it for 9 months I found it not lowering my nitrate and causing red diatoms. After that and the skimmer not sure my tank has looked better. The corals all seem much happier. after stopping nopox my nitrates actually went down from 24 to 16?
Just my observations on the redsea e170 your tank looks awesome.

 

[kiswanson]

Hi
I have the same tank been up and running for almost 10 month’s.
I have replaced the skimmer with an icecap k1-50 and find it to be a huge improvement over the redsea one. I get more tea looking yucky skimmate in a couple days than I ever got from the redsea one. I found the redsea one to be to really difficult to clean getting it out of back was a real pain it was also difficult to adjust for me at least the icecap turn knob can see the bubbles. It’s also much quieter not the splash back sound of the redsea.
I also in the last two weeks stopped dosing nopox after using it for 9 months I found it not lowering my nitrate and causing red diatoms. After that and the skimmer not sure my tank has looked better. The corals all seem much happier. after stopping nopox my nitrates actually went down from 24 to 16?
Just my observations on the redsea e170 your tank looks awesome.

Did the ice cap skimmer fit with the same profile? I’ve actually been relatively happy with the skimmer, and I haven’t had issues with noise. I did place course black sponge at a few areas including the skimmer return area

 

[kiswanson]

Well, my rainbow bubble tip anemone crawled into the MP10 and got sliced (about a quarter sliced off. This was with the rigid nem guards on the side, so he actually crawled in through the middle outflow section. Why would he do something so stupid? Shouldn’t they not like flow?

i didn’t want to take any chances with him fouling the water, and I really didn’t think he could recover from that kind of injury, so he’s unfortunately gone now.

 

[jopo4343]

Yes you can get the skimmer in the back its a tight fit because of the piece of glass that redsea has back there for their skimmer. I am really happy with the icecap skimmer. It skims and skims and is so easy to adjust my water has never been clearer.

 

[jopo4343]

Hows the flow with your powerheads where they are? I have two Nero 3's that I have in the middle of the side walls facing each other. I like the way yours are set up may change mine that way.
Here is a pic of the skimmer

 

[jopo4343]

I was happy with the red sea skimmer for a while but it just stopped skimming and never did skim like the icecap does

 

[kiswanson]

Hows the flow with your powerheads where they are? I have two Nero 3's that I have in the middle of the side walls facing each other. I like the way yours are set up may change mine that way.
Here is a pic of the skimmer

I like the MP10 at the top on the left, but the one lower down in the right has to be kept relatively low since it is near sand. I did add a Red Sea gyre on the right hand side towards the top to add more flow across the acros and that seemed to help.

 

[kiswanson]

Here’s the position of the gyre. I really like the flow it provides. I have it on 30% forward 10 min, 50% back 2 min.

 

[kiswanson]

The sailfin mollies transitioned to saltwater just fine (no acclimatization period besides temperature matching by floating the bag in the tank). One silver male and a black and white Dalmatian female and a orange and whites female. Actually very attractive fish.

 

[zafink]

@jopo4343 Hey, I too have the Max e-170. As far as the icecap skimmer, how is the pump noise specifically compared to the stock skimmer?

Looking for an upgrade, but the ac pump noise specifically bothers me. My living room is near silent so there's nothing to mask over the hum haha.

 

[jopo4343]

The icecap skimmer is very quiet almost silent. I thought the redsea skimmer was loud also.

 

[zafink]

I'm convinced! Buying the ice cap now

 

[kiswanson]

The icecap skimmer is very quiet almost silent. I thought the redsea skimmer was loud also.

How high does it sit in the back, is it still blocked from view by the black acrylic backing. If you have a chance I would live to see a zoomed out picture of how it looks in the rear sump.

 

[jopo4343]

Hi
here is the pic
If these do not work let me know
joe

 

[zafink]

@kiswanson @jopo4343 Curious, do you run the stock pump at full power?

 

[jopo4343]

I do run the stock return pump at full power

 

[jopo4343]

Yes the return pump and the skimmer pump at full power