Red Sea Reefer G2+ 200

[flfrosty]

Stepping up my game. Going from an EVO 13.5 tp a Red Sea Reefer G2+ 200 with all the bells and whistles.

Quite the learning curve. Struggles with getting the equipment to fit in the sump (pull out panel is nice but useless because mounting anything to it interferes with the skimmer). Struggles with all the cable management. Struggles with the ReefBeat App. Struggles with getting the ReefRun controller to recognize the pumps...

Any helpful tips will be most appreciated.

 

[cdemoss01]

Stepping up my game. Going from an EVO 13.5 tp a Red Sea Reefer G2+ 200 with all the bells and whistles.

Quite the learning curve. Struggles with getting the equipment to fit in the sump (pull out panel is nice but useless because mounting anything to it interferes with the skimmer). Struggles with all the cable management. Struggles with the ReefBeat App. Struggles with getting the ReefRun controller to recognize the pumps...

Any helpful tips will be most appreciated.

wow good luck and you r profile says you joined today! Welcome to r2r!!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Stepping up my game. Going from an EVO 13.5 tp a Red Sea Reefer G2+ 200 with all the bells and whistles.

Quite the learning curve. Struggles with getting the equipment to fit in the sump (pull out panel is nice but useless because mounting anything to it interferes with the skimmer). Struggles with all the cable management. Struggles with the ReefBeat App. Struggles with getting the ReefRun controller to recognize the pumps...

Any helpful tips will be most appreciated.

Best of luck with the new tank!

 

[CasperOe]

Best of luck, will be interesting to follow you Do a better job than be with the updates...

 

[flfrosty]

Thanks for the support. Have water running through the tank. Impressed with the very quiet nature of the tank.

I have everything but the dosing chemicals set up in the sump.

I have not turned on the skimmer or reef mat yet. Water has been surprising clear for the last week. Will be testing parameters today. Any guidance there will be appreciated.

I still have not been able to get the ReefRun controller to recognize the DR ReefRun pump in the app but the pump is running but can't be controlled. Need some help here as well if anyone has suggestions.

I am not a facebook guy so it seems like Red Sea only wants to give advice in their Facebook group because service requests mad on the website have gone unanswered.

I will post some pictures soon.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

 

[flfrosty]

Question about cycling:

It's been two weeks. I have live sand and used the Dr Tims.

I still have zero nitrates, its like it never cycled.

I didn't seed it with any live rock or sponges. I placed some fish food in it this evening thinking that might kick off a cycle?

What am I missing?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Question about cycling:

It's been two weeks. I have live sand and used the Dr Tims.

I still have zero nitrates, its like it never cycled.

I didn't seed it with any live rock or sponges. I placed some fish food in it this evening thinking that might kick off a cycle?

What am I missing?

Did you use Dr. Tim's One and Only plus a bottle of ammonium chloride with it? I did a no-live rock fishless cycle and it took my tank roughly a week to be fully done.

 

[CasperOe]

I followed a very similar approach to yours, it took me 19 days before I started to see signs of nitrate.

Can't explain to you why, however ammonia started to show signs of decreasing on day 16 with nitrates detectable using a Hanna HR checker on day 19.

 

[flfrosty]

I did the Dr Tims but not the ammonia chloride. Did I miss those instructions on the bottle of Dr Tims?

I have had no detectable ammonia. Going to test again this evening after adding the fish food.

I have been running the Reefwave power head so maybe that was another mistake?

Just need to be patient I suppose...

Thanks for the replies!

 

[CasperOe]

I did the Dr Tims but not the ammonia chloride. Did I miss those instructions on the bottle of Dr Tims?

I have had no detectable ammonia. Going to test again this evening after adding the fish food.

I have been running the Reefwave power head so maybe that was another mistake?

Just need to be patient I suppose...

Thanks for the replies!

Ammonium Chloride is to be added on day 1 as per these instructions for Dr. Tims one and only if you do a fishless cycle:

Day 1: Add One & Only and Ammonium Chloride. Shake the bottle well for a few seconds and then pour the One and Only into your tank, sump, or filter. The water may become cloudy but don't worry, this will clear up within 24-48 hours. After the bacteria has been added, add the ammonium chloride to the tank, sump, or filter as well.

• Add the entire bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only.
• Add 4 Drops of ammonium chloride per gallon of aquarium water. Ammonia concentration should be at 2.0ppm and no higher than 5.0 ppm at any time during the cycle. Test ammonia often to get the hang of the testing process.

 

[flfrosty]

Well, there I go not reading instructions...thanks for clarifying.

Thoughts on cycling with a fish?

 

[CasperOe]

Well, there I go not reading instructions...thanks for clarifying.

Thoughts on cycling with a fish?

I'd rather ghost feed; at this stage, any source of ammonia will do you well. Despite the ammonia levels allegedly should not be deadly to a hardy fish, I don't like that approach much.

I have little experience with cycling a tank with a fish in, so I am not the right one to guide you on this sadly but I am sure there's plenty experts on the matter here on R2R!

Do you have the ammonia chloride bottle? If not, consider throwing in a cube of frozen mysis or similar.

 

[flfrosty]

Thought I should post some pics...

 

[flfrosty]

Questions:

1) How much evaporation are those out there with similar tanks experiencing?

My research fell short of noticing that despite being sold the ATO+ option with this set up the overflow tank has been discontinued with this model...so for now I am adding RO water and wondering how much others are going through.

2) Is anyone using the ATO+ sensor in this sump? Seem like the height where the sensor is mounted is higher than the height of the filter gate going into the pump chamber? If I have a reef mat and skimmer, can I just pull that gate out?

3) Any recommendations for an external overflow box that would look nice and not break the bank? Thinking for now a 5gal bucket with a lid because some of those overflow boxes are spendy...but not the look the wife would appreciate haha

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[flfrosty]

FYI, I read somewhere that while starting up a new tank the Reef Mat could be left off for a few weeks.

This may be true but also leave it out of the sump if you do so.

Leaving it in the sump and plumbed the 'toilet paper' will erode. I had big flakes of it rolling around my tank yesterday...

 

[flfrosty]

OK, need some help here...

I went to the grocery store. Returned to a tank that was in the overflow stage. I mean water was only going down to the sump through the overflow pipe...

I had to crank the valve open a few turns to resolve this issue. The tank had been running fine at the old setting for a month? All fish and inverts are accounted for. A few minutes later and I had to adjust it back toward the original setting.

What is going on!!! Does the valve get clogged and need to be cleared somehow? This tank is just over a month old...

 

[flfrosty]

RIP Neon Goby who must have gotten stuck on his way down the drain...

Keeping the diary entries going...

Water just was not seeming to be real clear. Reefmat roll seemed pretty clean and was dispensing about an inch a day.

Had not kicked the skimmer on yet but figured it was time.

Upon closer inspection, the piece of the reefmat that holds the roll in place at the bottom was not attached and was just floating around in the chamber. Some youtube videos later I picked up the clue that once that piece is pressed down toward the bottom it needs to be locked in by twisting it.

Two days later, the roll has dispensed over 10 inches of roll, roll definitely looks dirty.

More importantly, water is looking soo much clearer.

Maybe it allowed the neon goby to escape and I will find him in the sump one day...assuming he made it out of the valve alive once I opened it up to clear the clog.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

RIP Neon Goby who must have gotten stuck on his way down the drain...

Keeping the diary entries going...

Water just was not seeming to be real clear. Reefmat roll seemed pretty clean and was dispensing about an inch a day.

Had not kicked the skimmer on yet but figured it was time.

Upon closer inspection, the piece of the reefmat that holds the roll in place at the bottom was not attached and was just floating around in the chamber. Some youtube videos later I picked up the clue that once that piece is pressed down toward the bottom it needs to be locked in by twisting it.

Two days later, the roll has dispensed over 10 inches of roll, roll definitely looks dirty.

More importantly, water is looking soo much clearer.

Maybe it allowed the neon goby to escape and I will find him in the sump one day...assuming he made it out of the valve alive once I opened it up to clear the clog.

Sorry about your loss!

 

[Ianfaulk]

OK, need some help here...

I went to the grocery store. Returned to a tank that was in the overflow stage. I mean water was only going down to the sump through the overflow pipe...

I had to crank the valve open a few turns to resolve this issue. The tank had been running fine at the old setting for a month? All fish and inverts are accounted for. A few minutes later and I had to adjust it back toward the original setting.

What is going on!!! Does the valve get clogged and need to be cleared somehow? This tank is just over a month old...

I have the same tank and I still have issues with the overflow after I put the tank on feed or maintenance mode. I have to adjust the overflow dial often for whatever reason. I am using a 5 gallon bucket inside of a white ottoman style furniture. If you're interested I can take a pic of it and show you what it looks like. Also I still haven't installed my reefmat and am not sure I will at this point. I'm trying to decide on if I want to use that space for frags or install the reefmat later on.

 

[flfrosty]

Just saw that RedSea is coming out with 5 and 10gal reservoirs. RedSeaCans...

Having my LFS hold a 10gal for me. $99 is steep for what looks like a plastic jug but tired of refilling and it is more economical then some reservoirs out there.

I can put the ATO+ system they sold me (with no reservoir included) to good use now haha. So far it has just been an expensive leak detector.