Red Sea Reefer XL 425 New Build

[Julbra]

I have the Red Sea net cover. works well. easier if you have a Dremel with metal blade or something similar to saw the pieces.

I started cutting with a hacksaw. Right pain. Finding it hard to justify buying an expensive and voluminous cutting tool that I will never use again. I asked around and no one nearby seems to own such a tool

 

[tritonpower]

I started cutting with a hacksaw. Right pain. Finding it hard to justify buying an expensive and voluminous cutting tool that I will never use again. I asked around and no one nearby seems to own such a tool

I actually love my dremel. I use it for lots of things. Depends how often you do home projects. However you do it, the net is worth it in the end.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Nice build so far! Red Sea cover just takes patience and you can wind up with a great end result! If it’s not too late, consider using one size large pack or buying extra to be able to make it into two halves for easier access.

Hope you enjoy your 425 as much as I have.

 

[Julbra]

I actually love my dremel. I use it for lots of things. Depends how often you do home projects. However you do it, the net is worth it in the end.

Well, typically, my polycarbonate cover will arrive this week ; just as I’m about to finish cutting! Luckily I haven’t pushed the splines in yet. I will keep the Red Sea cover in reserve for the holidays, planning an extra cut out for the autofeeder.

 

[Julbra]

Couldn't resist new frags with Halloween discount:

Some of these are going to be tough to keep alive :O

In other news, since I last posted I finished quarantining an Exquisite Fairy Wrasse:

and a Royal Gramma to replace Claude I:

The Gramma was scratching like mad on arrival so I treated with Formalin and he improved in 24 hours.

 

[tritonpower]

Couldn't resist new frags with Halloween discount:

Some of these are going to be tough to keep alive :O

In other news, since I last posted I finished quarantining an Exquisite Fairy Wrasse:

and a Royal Gramma to replace Claude I:

The Gramma was scratching like mad on arrival so I treated with Formalin and he improved in 24 hours.

Beautiful fish. I've learned not to be too disappointed when I kill SPS. It happens.

 

[Julbra]

Broke the bank on a beautiful Scolymia Australis as they are now banned for import in the UK:

In context:

 

[tritonpower]

Broke the bank on a beautiful Scolymia Australis as they are now banned for import in the UK:

In context:

beautiful scaly. tank is looking good. what is growing on the right side of the tank?

 

[Ranjib]

Looks awesome

 

[Julbra]

beautiful scaly. tank is looking good. what is growing on the right side of the tank?

On the right is the euphyllia garden. 2 torches, 2 hammers and one frogspawn, all bought as single head frags. The torch is now 6 heads, will try and get a decent shot of that corner.

 

[Julbra]

beautiful scaly. tank is looking good. what is growing on the right side of the tank?

Here is a detail of the Euphyllia corner.

And a close up of each:

 

[tritonpower]

Here is a detail of the Euphyllia corner.

And a close up of each:

beautiful. be prepared, those things get huge

 

[Julbra]

beautiful. be prepared, those things get huge

Looking forward to it, they have a ton of headroom. Little Hammer at the front is the slowest so far. For the last 2 weeks the clowns are trying to live in the frogspawn. They’re getting stung like mad but seem addicted to it. They’re tough cookies, hopefully they will build some tolerance soon.

 

[AndrewJG]

Nice set-up looks fantastic.

What PAR are you getting on the SPS halfway up the tank with the 2 x 160S, and at what setting?

I have the same set-up and have just moved into the SPS and have my frags maybe just slightly higher.

At present I have the Blues peak at 80% and so have moved my LPS into more shaded areas. I have a Seneye but have been told to not trust it and get an Apogee 510, but due to cost may have to wait a while, so I would be grateful for any advice?

 

[Julbra]

Nice set-up looks fantastic.

What PAR are you getting on the SPS halfway up the tank with the 2 x 160S, and at what setting?

I have the same set-up and have just moved into the SPS and have my frags maybe just slightly higher.

At present I have the Blues peak at 80% and so have moved my LPS into more shaded areas. I have a Seneye but have been told to not trust it and get an Apogee 510, but due to cost may have to wait a while, so I would be grateful for any advice?

Hey there, thank you!

I have the blue peak at 65-70% for 3 hours:

I read through my notes but did not write the PAR down. From memory it was between 250 and 300 PAR on the acros shelf measured with Apogee MQ-510. I will double check when I get some time and let you know.

Note that I went through a 90 day acclimation period when I first added my SPS as they were in pretty low light at the farm (150 PAR). I am pretty conservative now since I have burned 2 blastomussas at the bottom of the tank early on.

The Scolymia at the bottom center is getting 160PAR at peak which is ideal for it.

I will probably try and increase (and extend) the peak very slowly at some point in the future.

 

[AndrewJG]

Thanks for the info and your time in responding , most helpful.

As soon as I put my SPS in I ramped the lighting up and moved my LPS, given the coral farm is only 20 min away and I collected them. They run really high lighting and told me that I really needed to up my lights straight away.
I have had good polyp extension on the SPS frags straight away, so I think having up to 80% may not be far wrong. But I will need to get the MG-510 soon so I can check everything.

Thanks

 

[Julbra]

Getting ready for the (dreaded) 10 day holiday at the end of August. I don't have a tank sitter as I do not trust anyone with my tank (only machines). I do have the neighbour on hand for emergencies though.

Earlier this year we went for 1 week and I found two problems for a longer holiday:
- socks were so full they were like solid cement (all 4 of them)
- skimmer cup was almost full

For the socks issue, I decided to go with the ReefMat500 fleece roller. Easier said than done.

First I had to replace the ATO. I made my own, still gravity fed into the same float valve. It is much larger than the Red Sea one and holds 65L (~17 gallons):

Then modified the sump to fit the mat, after many cuts and bruises:

For the skimmer cup issue I bought the WC100 Reef Octopus Skimmer Waste Collector.

Hopefully these will do the trick.

 

[Julbra]

More tenants!

Yellow Watchman Goby

Midas Blenny

 

[DS204]

Q: Do you notice any improvement to sediment in your sump after adding the reef mat? I am thinking of adding one, and hoping that it will minimize the detritus/sediment that settles in my sump.

Cheers, thx.

 

[Julbra]

Q: Do you notice any improvement to sediment in your sump after adding the reef mat? I am thinking of adding one, and hoping that it will minimize the detritus/sediment that settles in my sump.

Cheers, thx.

I used to use 4 socks changed twice weekly so it was pretty good before, but the mat is superior for sure. It seems to filter out finer stuff than the socks did. It is hard to prove categorically but that’s my impression.