Red Sea Reefer 200xl build

[monti mike]

Hey Mike - Fellow 200XL owner here. How much total flow do you estimate you're putting around that tank with the MP10's and your return pump? I'm struggling to get flow dialed in on my end due to the form factor of the tank. Everything pointed "across" the tank seems to be creating some significant backblow around the glass. Have two 6095 Nano streams dialed down to 30% alternating, so I'm estimating about 1400gph total at any point including the return pump on the Y.

Just looking for comparison points, as your polyp extension looks great and I have a suspicion I'm blasting mine with way too much flow.

Thanks

I have the flow cranked up pretty high. The return pump is the Ecotech Vectra S2 and I have it on the max setting. I’m also using the split return nozzle to help break up the return flow a bit.

The two mp10s are on the same side and I switch off between nutrient transport mode and reef crest random. I keep the mp10s on antisync with the max setting at 50%.

This seems to work for me. The sand barely moves but it’s not enough to cause “bald spots” on the ground. I’m also not seeing any dead spots in the tank. I read an article a while back and it was about how flow may be just as important, maybe more important than light for sps. So I’m still looking at my flow and trying to see if there’s anything I can do to increase the random flow... I’m eyeing the random flow generator because it looks like a pretty cheap easy and effective way to increase the randomness of the return pump flow.

pics of my flow setup:

using the split return

two vortech MP10s on the right side

VorTechs are slightly staggered right now. I may raise up the right one to match the other one.

Return pump cranked up ALL THE WAY!

 

[monti mike]

This is the random flow nozzle I’m looking at. It has pretty good reviews. My only concern is it breaking the surface water too much and splashing = salt creep nightmare. I’d also have to test that it doesn’t create a siphon when the return pump is off and flood the sump.

Random Flow Generators for Loc-Line

Attaches to 1/2", 3/4" Loc-Line and creates random flow patterns. Vivid Creative Aquatics 3D printed random flow generators easily snap onto standard Loc-Line segments for a custom flow pattern through their patent pending randomized design. Each RFG is made of reef-safe PETG plastic and made to...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[monti mike]

Apex and tigger pods were delivered today from reef nutrition. The bottles are full of pods and you can actually see them! No empty bags of water here!

 

[swiss1939]

Curious what algae reactor you got that barely fits in the sump? I just got a reefer 170 and am trying to find one to fit that with my skimmer but everything is just an inch or two too wide! Probably won't fit in my sump cause yours is about 2" larger but it's worth a look.

No interest in a refugium cause i don't want light spilling into the rest of sump.

Tank looks to be a good start!

 

[monti mike]

Curious what algae reactor you got that barely fits in the sump? I just got a reefer 170 and am trying to find one to fit that with my skimmer but everything is just an inch or two too wide! Probably won't fit in my sump cause yours is about 2" larger but it's worth a look.

No interest in a refugium cause i don't want light spilling into the rest of sump.

Tank looks to be a good start!

Thanks @swiss1939! It’s the reef octopus 150 light reactor. It *barely* fits and I had to get creative to make it work. I really thought I would have to return it ... but I’m so stubborn that I found a way! It’s like a puzzle in there. Some may say overcrowded - I say space efficient!

 

[monti mike]

A few more progress pics - 2 months of growth

Acropora nana- this one bleached out a little when it was light acclimating. It’s a lighter blue color now but it’s growing well. This one is showing a good mix of vertical growth and encrusting.

anacropora spongodes - I love this coral. It’s a glowing green color and it’s growing like a weed. It has a lot of open space around it to grow and make a nice colony.

Unknown millipora- this guy has been interesting to watch. I got it on a live sale as a “multicolor milli” and it was a neon green when I got it. It’s completely encrusted over the plug since I got it and drastically changed color. It’s a little hard to see with the blue light but it’s turned almost like a light purple color with green polyps. I really don’t care what color it is as long as it’s happy and growing.

 

[monti mike]

Apex and tigger pods were delivered today from reef nutrition. The bottles are full of pods and you can actually see them! No empty bags of water here!

@Reef Nutrition - thanks for the awesome pods! The pipefish are loving the tigger pods and tigger feast. It gives me some peace of mind that I can feed them if they’re getting low on natural pods in the tank!

 

[monti mike]

It looks like the black slugs have moved on to my WD frag it was encrusting on the plug and now half of it has exposed skeleton. What a nightmare. I’m feeling pretty deflated right now. This really sucks.

 

[monti mike]

It’s hard to see from a still picture, but there’s strings of tissue coming off and waiving in the water.

And here’s the other acro that I first found the black slugs on

 

[Lukeewh]

That sucks man. Nothing I read on them is good news. I hope you find a way to beat them.

 

[monti mike]

It could just be RTN because the tank is still new. It’s a risk I took adding sps so early. I hope it’s RTN from tank maturity instead of pests eating it. Either way, I’ll give the tank quite a while before adding anything else and monitor closely.

A few hours later and it’s gone.

 

[monti mike]

Why did it have to be the WD!? Do I have bad karma from wronging someone in the past all the red section was new growth since I got it. Bummer!

 

[monti mike]

Acro pest police

Don’t worry - I’m ordering pods constantly and also raising baby brine shrimp. I’m mixing together live tigger pods and tigger feast (dead pods) and he’s eating both which is great. I would feel absolutely terrible if I let him starve.

 

[monti mike]

That sucks man. Nothing I read on them is good news. I hope you find a way to beat them.

Thanks @Lukeewh . Your try your best to keep pests out but there’s only so much you can do. I’ll keep you all updated good or bad. You’re along for the ride! Hopefully it’s good news but I can deal with the frustrating stuff too.

 

[monti mike]

Some great polyp extension from all the other acros tonight. Sorry the pics are so blue. I’m using the polyp lab flashlight and it’s very blue but great for looking at the colors pop at night.

 

[monti mike]

Some great polyp extension from all the other acros tonight. Sorry the pics are so blue. I’m using the polyp lab flashlight and it’s very blue but great for looking at the colors pop at night.

The last picture is from the acro where I found the black slugs. No visible signs of any tonight on this coral or any others.

 

[monti mike]

Parameters today:
Salinity - 1.0263 (GHL probe)
Temp - 79.7 (GHL probe)
pH - 8.04 (GHL probe)
Nitrate - undetectable (Nyos test kit)
Phosphate - 0.01 (Hannah phosphate ULR)
Alkalinity - 8.2 dkh (Hannah alk)

 

[monti mike]

I just finished my nightly siphon of the sick acro and found another black slug.
See it?

How about now?

No? Give up? Here it is

they’re surprisingly fast and can crawl on a surface and glide through the water. It would be interesting to see what this thing looks like under a microscope. I’ve only found them on the white part of the acro. I wonder if they’re eating the acro or if they’re just cleaning up dead tissue on the skeleton. I really can’t find much to get a good ID on what it is.

 

[monti mike]

A few more progress pics - 2 months of growth

Acropora nana- this one bleached out a little when it was light acclimating. It’s a lighter blue color now but it’s growing well. This one is showing a good mix of vertical growth and encrusting.

anacropora spongodes - I love this coral. It’s a glowing green color and it’s growing like a weed. It has a lot of open space around it to grow and make a nice colony.

Unknown millipora- this guy has been interesting to watch. I got it on a live sale as a “multicolor milli” and it was a neon green when I got it. It’s completely encrusted over the plug since I got it and drastically changed color. It’s a little hard to see with the blue light but it’s turned almost like a light purple color with green polyps. I really don’t care what color it is as long as it’s happy and growing.

Remember this acro that was encrusting but the color wasn’t great??? Well... I found acropora eating flatworms on it. I was looking at the tank at night with the blue flashlight and I saw something that didn’t 100% match the coral. I grabbed a pipette and sprayed it and a flatworm came flying off. I sprayed the rest of the coral and probably found 8 flatworms that I sucked out. I was so disgusted at the time and pretty depressed about it. I cleaned off every coral, dipped them, sprayed them and scrubbed frag plugs before going in the display: My main goal with the new tank was to prevent pests. How did these things sneak in?! There must have been a couple of eggs that I didn’t get off.

 

[monti mike]

I ordered a magnetic frag rack, melafix, and flatworm stop. I’m planning on taking every frag off the rock and dipping once a week in melafix. I’ll dose flatworm stop daily as that’s supposed to make the acro less palatable for the flatworms. The hardest part is going to be removing the a. Nana from the rock. It’s pretty well encrusted at this point. I’ve read that after dipping once a week for 6 weeks it should break the flatworm’s lifecycle and that should be the end of it. The melafix gets delivered Thursday. I’ll post pictures of whatever drops off. I was hoping to give you all a thread build of only positive things and awesome acro growth, but I guess that’s not going to happen yet!