Red Sea Reefer 200 G2 - First Reef Tank

cubey

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After researching for quite a long time, I finally purchased a reef tank and it was delivered today. I have a 2x2 foot corner in my office so I opted for the Red Sea Reefer 200 G2. Honestly, I'm a little overwhelmed with the size. And the black stand is very sleek, but it shows fingerprints like crazy. I'd probably get the stand in white if I were to do it over again. Although, the black stand should look pretty cool in the dark. And I'm starting to feel my wallet cringe as I load up my BRS shopping cart haha. Maybe I should have gotten a desktop AIO to start with? Although I hear those are trickier with fluctuations in water chemistry.

Anyway, I'm sure once everything is set up that I'll be happy I opted for the "buy once, cry once" route. And I'm sort of all in on the reefer 200 at this point.

I've kept freshwater tanks since 2020 and I've really enjoyed that. I have 2 high tech planted tanks that I'm still fine tuning. Even though the freshwater tanks still need improvement, I wanted to start a reef tank while I have the time and money to do so because it's a much longer journey than planted tanks where the plants are all grown within 3-4 months.

Putting together the Red Sea Reefer stand was honestly kind of a pain. It looks nice, but I felt that things didn't fit together perfectly at times and I had to make it fit with some gentle hammer taps. And it took forever too... but that could just be me. Also, I vastly underestimated how heavy everything was. When it was delivered, my roommate was away so I had to get it up my steps and into my house by myself. I gently rolled it up the steps because I figured it was padded well, but in hindsight that was pretty dumb to do. Knock on wood, the tank is fine though from what I can tell.

I'll probably continue to put everything together tomorrow once my roommate can help me lift the aquarium up onto the actual stand. Then I can start purchasing the other equipment for it. Here's some photos of my progress so far!



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brettonw

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I agree on the stand construction, and the delivery weight.

If you haven't set it up already...

I suggest some foam under the sump to isolate motor noises (I wish I had done this), and move the stand away from the window wall as much as you can, and away from the back wall at least a few inches. Make sure you can get your arm up to your shoulder behind all sides of the tank. You will need the access, and the tank is not movable once it has 500lbs of water and rock in it.
 
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Lavey29

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You have to make sure you get no light from that window or you will have an algae farm. Good luck with your new tank.
 
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cubey

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I agree on the stand construction, and the delivery weight.

If you haven't set it up already...

I suggest some foam under the sump to isolate motor noises (I wish I had done this), and move the stand away from the window wall as much as you can, and away from the back wall at least a few inches. Make sure you can get your arm up to your shoulder behind all sides of the tank. You will need the access, and the tank is not movable once it has 500lbs of water and rock in it.
Thanks for the suggestions! I have moved it as far from the window as possible and there is 4 inch clearance from the back wall. Function over form :)

The tip about the sump is a good one!

I haven’t started this tank yet due to some unexpected expenses. Thankfully I have my freshwater tanks to keep me occupied.
 
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cubey

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You have to make sure you get no light from that window or you will have an algae farm. Good luck with your new tank.
Thanks! I have some blinds that are almost permanently closed because the view is terrible. Perhaps I should install some blackout curtains before starting the tank.
 
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cubey

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So this build is stalled for a bit because I had some unexpected expenses pop up. I probably shouldn’t have started a desktop freshwater tank while starting this tank as well haha.

I did a leak test on the display tank and it’s looking fine. I also adjusted the position of the tank to give proper clearance around the tank for maintenance. Leveling this tank really showed how uneven my floor is in that part of the room and that my corner is not a proper 90 degree corner but oh well.
There’s a chance that we will be replacing the carpet upstairs in the next month which will delay this build further which is unfortunate. I don’t expect any real updates on this tank until the end of October.


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I did receive about half of the gear though and I will spend the next couple of weeks figuring out my saltwater mixing station and my aquascape. I’m debating if I should set up the mixing station in the basement where it’s out of the way or use the tiny bathroom upstairs that is on the same floor as the tank. Pros and cons each way. Ideally I’d put plumbing in the drywall down to the basement but that’s not an option because I’ll be moving in less than two years.

I’ll also be creating my aquascape to be “HNSA” as described by BRS which should be pretty fun! I have the dry marco rocks and glue/epoxy and plan to create a cool rock structure. The plan is for a mixed reef tank with SPS on top, softies and LPS at the bottom. And also plenty of places for the fish to feel safe and swim around. I also would like to try and build it in a way that is easy to transport for when I eventually move. Since it’s a cube, I’m thinking a center mountain-like structure would look really cool and unique. My LFS has something like that in their 3 foot cube display tank and it looks awesome.

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On another note, how does my filtration look?

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cubey

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Following along. I'm considering the same tank. Any regrets?
Hey thanks for following! I have no regrets regarding the tank itself. The black color has really grown on me and it looks awesome. But in hindsight, I should have gone with a desktop aio because it fits my lifestyle at this moment better.

There is a chance that I will move next year which means I have to move this behemoth which will suck. And I have no funds currently to finish purchasing the rest of the equipment. So I will have to wait until November to get this tank started. A desktop aio would be much, much cheaper to start. I could have already started a 10 gallon aio and I work remote so I would have the time everyday to babysit it if I had to. Also I made the mistake of setting up a desktop freshwater tank at the same time... Which is more money/time spent on a different tank.

Once everything is bought and set up, it will be awesome. But that will take time.

If you're curious about the reefer 200 itself you should check out Tuan's thread. He's got a really nice setup. If you have more specific questions feel free to ask and I can try to answer or take some photos of the tank.

Hope that helps a little!
 
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cubey

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So time for an update finally.

Water Mixing Station:​

The first thing I did was build my water mixing station in my basement. Thankfully, my dad has woodworking tools and skills and we built some wooden platforms for the brute trashcans to sit on. Honestly, it was more work than I expected. I can see why people just use cinderblocks and a piece of plywood. But it was a fun project and the end result is nice. In the future I may add a pump and some plumbing to the station but for now I'm going to just use buckets for water changes.

Moved the location of aquarium:​

With my roommate moving out, I have the whole place to myself so I put the aquarium downstairs in the living room which will make water changes much easier since it's closer to the basement.

Built HNSA (Habitat Negative Space Aquascape):​

I built an HNSA following the BRStv youtube video. I think it came out well, but it took a long time and I made some mistakes. Things I would do differently next time:
1) Make sure the foundation pieces are perfectly flat! The foundation is slightly not flat because I glued them together on cardboard and not a perfectly flat surface like a table. The structure is stable unless I grab it and move it around, but it's annoying. Shouldn't be a problem once I put the sand in I'm pretty sure, but I reached out to BRS to see what if they had any suggestions.
2) Just buy the tub of marco powder for $12. Way easier than collecting the dust from smashing apart the dry marco rocks and the dust had different sized particles even after sifting with a collander.
3) Spend less time making it perfect. I spent way too much time trying to get things "just right" when it was good enough.
4) Don't force it. If the shelf keeps breaking despite epoxy... it wasn't meant to be.
5) Cave structures are really cool, more structurally sound than arches/shelves, and easier to create.
6) Use a small but not too small rock when pushing the epoxy into the seams of the rocks. I used a rock that was too small and tried to "texture" the epoxy seam, but it looks a little too smooth to me. I should have used a bigger rock to create bigger divots.

I'm curious how my structure will do from a coral and fish perspective. I think the fish will be happy with the numerous caves/coves I've built. And I think I have various placement for coral with different flow and light requirements. But you can only theorize so much.

What's next:​

I have all the equipment I need to start and the AlgaeBarn ultimate cycle kit. I'm letting the aquascape soak for a day to get rid of the dust then I'll remove the water and start the cycle. I also have the AquaBiomics live reef rubble arriving on Thursday so I'm curious how well (or not) that will work. I'm hoping it will decrease the time it takes for the tank to mature and reach stability, but we will see. I think the odds are 60/40. I'll probably buy the light and some automation in the next month. I may also build some smaller rock structures for a zoa garden or something because I have the space.
 

brettonw

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Water Mixing Station:​

The first thing I did was build my water mixing station in my basement. Thankfully, my dad has woodworking tools and skills and we built some wooden platforms for the brute trashcans to sit on. Honestly, it was more work than I expected. I can see why people just use cinderblocks and a piece of plywood. But it was a fun project and the end result is nice. In the future I may add a pump and some plumbing to the station but for now I'm going to just use buckets for water changes.

Very nice! I considered something like your pictures but ultimately put the trash cans on wheels and use a pair of utility pumps with a hose. I ran some zip-ties through holes near the top of the can to hold the hose in place, so a) I don't have to reach all the way into the can to find it, and b) so I can run the pump to aerate the water while I mix it. I keep a freshwater can and a saltwater can (the latter with a heater and powerhead) - so I only have one RO/DI unit.

I'm curious how you change the media in your RO/DI units - are they mounted to the front of your stand, or just sitting there?
 
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cubey

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Very nice! I considered something like your pictures but ultimately put the trash cans on wheels and use a pair of utility pumps with a hose. I ran some zip-ties through holes near the top of the can to hold the hose in place, so a) I don't have to reach all the way into the can to find it, and b) so I can run the pump to aerate the water while I mix it. I keep a freshwater can and a saltwater can (the latter with a heater and powerhead) - so I only have one RO/DI unit.

I'm curious how you change the media in your RO/DI units - are they mounted to the front of your stand, or just sitting there?
Oh that's a clever way to do it. I actually only have one rodi unit as well. My saltwater can is on the left and my rodi on the right. I have a 7 stage rodi unit (I know, overkill lol) so the left side is just the RO stage and the right side is the DI stage. I then have a switch to decide which can to fill up.

I haven't had to change my media yet. But yeah they're just sitting on the ground. I'll probably just disconnect them when I need to service them. Do you have your RO/DI unit mounted?
 

Gumbies R Us

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Thank you! I spent a literal month of my life working on it hahaha. It was honestly quite fun. It's like an arts and crafts project!
It takes a while to figure out that perfect design you want, but the process is very enjoyable, that is for sure
 

brettonw

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Oh that's a clever way to do it. I actually only have one rodi unit as well. My saltwater can is on the left and my rodi on the right. I have a 7 stage rodi unit (I know, overkill lol) so the left side is just the RO stage and the right side is the DI stage. I then have a switch to decide which can to fill up.

I haven't had to change my media yet. But yeah they're just sitting on the ground. I'll probably just disconnect them when I need to service them. Do you have your RO/DI unit mounted?
Oh, I see - yeah, I mounted both parts of my RO/DI on the wall over the freshwater can, and I pump from there to the saltwater can. I like the way you lifted yours off the ground with a drain valve. I wished I had thought to raise my cans after I started having water in them...
 
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cubey

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Oh, I see - yeah, I mounted both parts of my RO/DI on the wall over the freshwater can, and I pump from there to the saltwater can. I like the way you lifted yours off the ground with a drain valve. I wished I had thought to raise my cans after I started having water in them...
Yeah having the drain valve is nice. It's never too late! Haha
 

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