Red Sea Reefer 250

[tmcjilton]

After being in the hospital recently and unable to give my existing 65gal reef any attention for an extended period of time, I lost quite a bit of corals and was about to do a 100% water change. On my trip to WWC for some water I ended up leaving with a Red Sea Reefer. I figured now was the best time to upgrade since I had lost a lot of corals and would be doing somewhat of a reset on my existing tank. Ever since I first saw the Reefer tanks I fell in love. I knew that eventually (soon) I would be upgrading anyway since my existing tank was a struggle to maintain due to its limitations. It was a 65gal tank that was designed for freshwater and I was running a large canister filter (which I will never ever do again). After about 6 months I had great success but it was such a pain to maintain it with the canister filter, etc. So while I was getting my water jugs filled I had a hypothetical discussion with my friend at WWC (who knows how badly I’ve wanted the Reefer) about just transferring my fish and rock to a new tank, and everything that would be involved. I contemplated for a while and ended up leaving with a Reefer 250, among other things. Here’s what I ended up getting along with some existing equipment that I’m using on the Reefer:

Red Sea Reefer 250 (new)
Nyos Quantum 120 (new)
Ecotech Vectra S2 (new)
Ecotech Radion XR15 Pro G4 x2 (existing)
Ecotech Vortech MP 40w (existing)
Ecotech Vortech MP 10w (existing)

I also got 60lbs of new sand for the new tank. I drained most of the water from my existing tank and moved it aside to setup the Reefer and added the new sand along with my existing rock. Filled the tank with 100% new water and acclimated my existing livestock to the new tank. I am beyond happy with how this setup looks and will be documenting my progress from here on out. Here‘s a shot of the tank all setup:



I still need to do some rock scraping but did this whole switch in a hurry and just got it in there so I could get the system running. I also have a ton of wiring/mounting to do and clean up in the cabinet but will post some more pictures soon.

 

[phatduckk]

Nice! Congrats!

 

[Billldg]

First and foremost, glad you are out of the hospital.

Tank is looking great so far!!!

 

[powers2001]

@tmcjilton great to see another reefer 250! I've got one also. Awesome tanks! Subscribed.

 

[tmcjilton]

Started cleaning up under the tank and ran out of time. Still more work to do.

 

[powers2001]

@tmcjilton I would suggest your first upgrade should be an automatic top-off unit with reservoir. Be sure and research everything first!

 

[tmcjilton]

@tmcjilton I would suggest your first upgrade should be an automatic top-off unit with reservoir. Be sure and research everything first!

 

[powers2001]

@tmcjilton the stock ATO must be working for you. I gave mine a try and after a week was frustrated with the leaking and inconsistent levels so I took it off and topped off by hand until I bought and set up a Tunze Osmolator. Now I'm replacing that with an Apex ATK.

 

[tmcjilton]

@tmcjilton the stock ATO must be working for you. I gave mine a try and after a week was frustrated with the leaking and inconsistent levels so I took it off and topped off by hand until I bought and set up a Tunze Osmolator. Now I'm replacing that with an Apex ATK.

I’ve only had this tank for a week but haven’t had any issues with it yet. I’ll definitely keep an eye out though. Thanks for the advice. When you say inconsistent levels, did you have an issue with the float valve?

 

[powers2001]

@tmcjilton yeah the float valve didn’t always shut off the drip at the same water level.

 

[tmcjilton]

@tmcjilton yeah the float valve didn’t always shut off the drip at the same water level.

Good to know. I’ll be watching for any issues.
Do you have the v3 sump? I’m interested to know more about your setup.

 

[powers2001]

@tmcjilton no I bought it as V1 but now have a custom sump for it. The link to my build thread is in my signature line.

 

[tmcjilton]

@tmcjilton no I bought it as V1 but now have a custom sump for it. The link to my build thread is in my signature line.

Just read your thread. Looks like you’ve put a lot of work in. Looking forward to following along your thread too.

 

[powers2001]

@tmcjilton thanks for the visit to my build thread! I'm taking really slow right now and hope to get some great buys during Black Friday sales.

 

[tmcjilton]

@tmcjilton thanks for the visit to my build thread! I'm taking really slow right now and hope to get some great buys during Black Friday sales.

Looks like you’re doing an awesome job. I’m definitely getting some ideas from you already. Thanks!

 

[tmcjilton]

Re arranged rock work and added a few new corals to frag rack.

Added:
1 Green Slimer
1 Illuminati Zoa
1 Chalice
1 Blasto

 

[tmcjilton]

So far so good with everything. Had to leave town for a quick work trip so the wife is babysitting the reef and I’m constantly checking in every now and again making sure everything is stable. I think she’s getting annoyed, lol.

On another note I’m getting pretty antsy about possibly getting a controller. I know very little about what’s available but my LFS (WWC) sells the Apex. I’d love some input from anyone who can comment regarding Neptune vs GHL running my equipment specifically. You can read my equipment list in the thread. What I do know is that I can use the Apex to control my Vortech’s, Vectra, and Radion’s using the WXM. And as far as I know it’s pretty much no different than what I’m doing now with the Reeflink. Meaning I can create a program and change EcoSmart modes, etc for the Vortech’s and have full spectrum control of the Radion’s. Great, I can already do that. What I can’t do, and what I want to do is have the ability to monitor things, turn off my skimmer during feed mode (as the sump water level rises due to lowering speed of return pump), and in the future handle dosing, ATO, and maybe more. Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Naturalreef]

Glad you are out of the hospital as well! Your tank looks great! The Reefer 250 is my next upgrade. Following

 

[powers2001]

So far so good with everything. Had to leave town for a quick work trip so the wife is babysitting the reef and I’m constantly checking in every now and again making sure everything is stable. I think she’s getting annoyed, lol.

On another note I’m getting pretty antsy about possibly getting a controller. I know very little about what’s available but my LFS (WWC) sells the Apex. I’d love some input from anyone who can comment regarding Neptune vs GHL running my equipment specifically. You can read my equipment list in the thread. What I do know is that I can use the Apex to control my Vortech’s, Vectra, and Radion’s using the WXM. And as far as I know it’s pretty much no different than what I’m doing now with the Reeflink. Meaning I can create a program and change EcoSmart modes, etc for the Vortech’s and have full spectrum control of the Radion’s. Great, I can already do that. What I can’t do, and what I want to do is have the ability to monitor things, turn off my skimmer during feed mode (as the sump water level rises due to lowering speed of return pump), and in the future handle dosing, ATO, and maybe more. Any input is greatly appreciated.

I have an Apex and love it. I don't think you can control Vectras with Apex WXM yet or may never. Ecotech is coming out with a controller called the Mobius. And they're coming out with they're dosing pump the Versa. I really like Ecotech's products but I'm going a similar but different route with my Apex. See my build thread in the link in my signature line.

 

[Ranjib]

Any update . ? Following along. Tank looks great .