Red Sea Reefer XL 425 Build

[TexanReefer]

I am looking to piece together my Reefer 425 build, I've been waiting months for everything to come back in stock (some of it is still unavailable...). So in the mean time I want to make sure I'm getting all of the correct equipment, and I would appreciate your guys' critique.

Equipment:
Red Sea Reefer XL 425 (white)
3x XR-15 Blues w/ Mounting Arms
Nyos QUANTUM 160 PROTEIN SKIMMER
Ecotech Vectra M2 + Barb/Screen Kit
2x Echotech MP40
2x Eheim Jager 200W TruTemp Heaters
Tunze Osmolator 3155 Auto Top Off
BRS Carbon Reactor + ROX 0.8 Carbon from BRS

Testing/Controllers
Hanna Checkers (Phosphate + Alkalinity)
Hanna Instruments Marine Salinity Tester
Refractometer
What test kits do I need?

Rock/Sand:
40lbs CaribSea Liferock Shapes
40lbs CaribSea LifeRock
60lbs CaribSea Fiji Pink (going for ~1.5" depth)

Lifetime Livestock:
2x Ocelaris Clowns
1x Midas Blenny
1x Tomini Tang (is a one-spot foxface too big? I would prefer that, but I don't want to have fish that could outgrow the tank)
1x Diamond Goby + Tiger Pistol Shrimp (do these pair?)
1x Melanurus Wrasse


I plan on building a manifold return with 3 gate valves. I have some questions though...

1. Is UV worth it? I can't find much verifiable info on this...
2. Can an Algae scrubber replace a refugium? What size Algae scrubber would I need?
3. Is an Apex Controller worth it? should I get it starting out or down the line?
4. Is there anything you recommend I get that I'm missing?

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

algae scrubbers replace fuges just get one rated for ur tank size and remember to scrape every 1-2 wks

for test kits the main ones are
nitrate, phosphate and the 3 foundation elements which are alkalinity, magnesium and calcium
ammonia test kit is needed for cycle only but might become useless after

 

[Caleb M]

A lot of that gear is good stuff

- The tiger and pistol shrimp do have a symbiotic relationship. The Goby is practically blind and the shrimp acts as the fishes eyes. It might take time for that to work but its super cool when it works out. Maybe add them together and at the same time in the tank.

- UV sterilizers are great, make sure you have one that is rated for your tank and get an extra bulb too. They work great on some algae and cleaning the water. I've had great experiences with them, throw in water changes and have that bad Larry going really helps a lot! "Well for me it was great haha"

- An APEX controller is a amazing piece of gear. It automates a lot of tedious parts of the hobby. You can have all sorts of different sensors and probes that let you know whats going on with your tank. You can litterally do almost everything with this thing. It can even send texts to your phone if something is wrong. It has graphs so you can see how your flow is and you can digitally track your parameters and see what is going on. Now the kick is, there Wicked expensive. All those little do-dads come at a price. But totally worth the investment if you can afford it.

But this is just my 2 cents, there are a lot of great people on here that can help more then me and probably have much more experience In about everything! But have fun and never stop learning!

 

[TexanReefer]

A lot of that gear is good stuff

- The tiger and pistol shrimp do have a symbiotic relationship. The Goby is practically blind and the shrimp acts as the fishes eyes. It might take time for that to work but its super cool when it works out. Maybe add them together and at the same time in the tank.

- UV sterilizers are great, make sure you have one that is rated for your tank and get an extra bulb too. They work great on some algae and cleaning the water. I've had great experiences with them, throw in water changes and have that bad Larry going really helps a lot! "Well for me it was great haha"

- An APEX controller is a amazing piece of gear. It automates a lot of tedious parts of the hobby. You can have all sorts of different sensors and probes that let you know whats going on with your tank. You can litterally do almost everything with this thing. It can even send texts to your phone if something is wrong. It has graphs so you can see how your flow is and you can digitally track your parameters and see what is going on. Now the kick is, there Wicked expensive. All those little do-dads come at a price. But totally worth the investment if you can afford it.

But this is just my 2 cents, there are a lot of great people on here that can help more then me and probably have much more experience In about everything! But have fun and never stop learning!

Does the diamond goby sand sift the entire tanks sand bed?

 

[Caleb M]

Does the diamond goby sand sift the entire tanks sand bed?

Yes they do, just remember to have a decent sized sand bed and a small sand grain size like 0.5-1.7 sized grain, kinda a sugar like consistency.

 

[TexanReefer]

Yes they do, just remember to have a decent sized sand bed and a small sand grain size like 0.5-1.7 sized grain, kinda a sugar like consistency.

is CaribSea Fiji Pink small enough?

 

[Caleb M]

is CaribSea Fiji Pink small enough?

On BRS, and marine depot they both say its .05- 1.5

So im going on a limb here and saying yes it is off of that information.