RedSea 625 XXL New Tank Build - "The Whitquarium"

[Soilworker]

Ok, I‘m starting to think of my new fish list. What to add. My current stock is as follows:

-2 Clowns
-1 Royal Gramma Basslet
-1 Female Melanarus wrasse (not changing to male!)
-1 Loepard Wrasse
-1 Tailspot Benny (I want to trade him back to LFS)
-1 fox face Rabbitfish (currently in quarantine)

New Stock List
-Peppermint Bass
-1 bimaculatis anthias
-1 bellus angelfish
-1 orange shoulder tang or 1 White tail bristletooth tang
-Red head Salon fairy wrasse

i like color and movement. This is my thoughts over time of course. This is assuming I lose none in the transfer of the fish from old to new tank. Any thoughts or suggestions.

In addition I am thinking about what corals I will bring over. I dont want any pests coming in. I will inspect each coral before transferring over. Suggestions? I will try to move the corals first. Then catch the fish, acclimate from buckets before adding to the tank. I have used some of the old tank water to add to the new tank so it should cycle quickly. Any tips from experts out there? In the words of my young sons….Leeeeets goooooo!

Why don't you like the Tailspot Blenny? Also are you worried about the angelfish and it nipping at your corals? I've read those can be problematic but maybe not that one.

 

[whitcory]

Why don't you like the Tailspot Blenny? Also are you worried about the angelfish and it nipping at your corals? I've read those can be problematic but maybe not that one.

I am fine with the tail spot and likely will keep him but, I do want a Midas Blenny at some point and worry that they won’t get along. Also that particular angel fish is fine with Cora’s. Many are not though.

 

[whitcory]

OK, tank is set up. I used some of the water from my old tank to help cycle (Mixed up new and old water). I have to transfer the fish from the old to the new tank. I have planned this process pretty well. The pump and protein skimmer have been running for a while now. I did transfer some of the corals over and put a few others in the quarantine tank setup I have. What a stressful process. I have my rockscape pretty much together. I netted the fish and put them in a bucket with water. I then did a drip acclimation process for the fish. I then slowly netted and added them to the new tank. I have visualized this forever and it is so cool to get to this point. Here are a few pics:

Old Tank:

Transfer of Fish into the bucket:

Headed to the tank and new home:

Welcome to the new home!

Blue Lights Shot:

 

[whitcory]

Getting over new tank Syndrome. But it still looks super new. I quartantined a new Foxface Rabbitfish (we call him lace) which I got from Marine Collectors. Great process. This is the first bigger fish I have had. First Herbavore. It is like 5 inches or so. So cool and looks really good. Here is is out of quarantine and into the tank. Adds that beautiful yellow and black splash. I love it. So here are a few full tank shots. Got many more of my old Corals in as well as a few new ones. I like how it generally game out. I think I still need more caves and hiding places but am OK for now. Also will get a better camera lens! This Bahamas Ooolite sand looks good now...but I can see will be a mess to manage. It gets everywhere but that white sand is very cool. I ordered 2 new fish. A Rhomboid Wrasse and a Lyretail Anthias. They are in Quarantine now. Here are the pics...

Before:

Mid-Stage:

With Water:

Now Current. I like to see how it has progressed with a few corals.

 

[Mikey-D]

So..Picked up 2 of these water storage containers from tractor supply company to build out the mixing station. There is a whole section on this site about that process. I wanted a good, high quality mixing set-up to help make my water changing as easy as possible. Especially going to a tank more than double my current size. I saw these units on sale and made the plunge. Tough to get in my car but got the job done!

Once I got them in I went to Home depot about 100 times to get all sorts of plumbing supplies. Who knew that you need a plumbing degree to be in the aquarium hobby. I am not going to lie...I stole a bunch of design ideas for this system from the following reefer - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/suncrestreefs-red-sea-reefer-xl-425-build.358990/

Here is the schematic he designed which I used to copy and make my system.

I followed his thread and simply copied a similar design for my system. I went with a RODI system which I plumbed in my basement from my washer room upstairs. I just did plumbing from the sink in the washer room, and drug the 1/4 inch plumbing down to the basement into the RODI which I drilled into the wall. I hope the wifed doesn't mind the hole to the basement!

I ran the plumbing from the RODI into the "clean" non salt Bin with the corresponding float auto shut off valve. Then have plumbing into the "salt" bin via a pump. I went with a heavy duty pump which broke down so I then went with my old smaller pump from my old tank. Was a pain to re-plumb it but it gets the job done. Not as strong as the old generic one I had. I wish it was stronger.

Here is the pic with the new pump. The whole system came out great with only 1 minor leak. This was more work and time than I thought it would be but I am so happy with it.

I also stole from somewhere, the concept of a hose that retracts to take upstairs to the tank. I plumbed the bins to the pump with an option to pipe to this hose. Great great concept. I love it and it works well. Here is the picture.

Here we go. I'm happy with it. Now on to the rock work and the tank itself.

Is that hose BPA and lead free type?? I love the idea and have been looking for similar for when I build mine.

 

[whitcory]

Yeah it sure is. Works great. I am working to automate water changes also. Seems to be working well.

 

[Mikey-D]

Nice!! This is going to be a steal for sure once I have everything dialed in and installed.

 

[whitcory]

Yeah it’s sweet. Good luck with it. I love just mixing salt, pull the tube to the tank and pump salt or rodi water whenever I need. My next project is using a pump with the 1/4 inch tube to do automatic, app controlled water exchange with, or without the hose. Good luck with it!

 

[whitcory]

So....My wires are an absolute MESS. So I picked up this thing from Adaptive Reef. I also got the base stand along with it. I got it in White to match my tank. I organized all my gear and it looks pretty sweet. Check it out. I also added a few LED lights inside the sump area on the ceiling. I control all of it via my SIRI app on my phone. I'm pretty happy with how it came out I would love to see how you guys organize your gear. I have seen some good stuff. Anyways, here it is. Thoughts?

Now for mine!

 

[whitcory]

DISASTER STRIKES...So I have no clue what has happened but...my tank was going well. Numbers looked good, and changing the water frequently. I was feeling really confident and good about how the tank was looking. Corals were all transferred over and really coming to life well. Here are some of the pics and how the tank was looking.

So, I guess you could say I was sort of feeling good and confident about my setup and how things were rolling. Well then...

 

[whitcory]

My confidence got the best of me. I ordered a Lyretail Anthias from TSM Aquatics (which is a great company BTW) and I always quarantine/observe in a quarantine tank for at least 3-4 weeks before adding to the display. I though, "TSM quarantines and I have vacation coming up with no time for that so what the heck!" I was set for a 4 day out of town vacation so I figured I didn't have time to quartantine. So I put him directly into the display. Here he was....

I noticed one day that my Tailspot Blenny was looking like a pale white flesh across his body. He was eating but hiding out constantly and dipping quickly to the sand. I also saw my clownfish do the same, Royal Gramma, and then small but noticeable spots on my Foxface! I had vacation literally in 2 days and no time to do anything. Wrasses were fine. Long story but within 2 or so days Royal gramma, Tailspot Blenny, 2 clowns, and yes, the anthias were all gone. I had most of these guys for like 1-2 years. Shocking to say the least. The Foxface was acting funny and hiding with spots but I assumed he was a goner. With vacation pending and no choices I went to the LFS and bought this Rally Pro and Kick Ich Pro. I dosed it up until my vacation. I had no idea if it would work or not and took off for vacation expecting the worst and hoping for anything.

Much to my surprise, upon the return from vacation the Foxface was still alive with no spots and acting a little bit like himself. The 2 wrasses were alive and kicking like NP, and the Tiger Watchman Goby were all alive and kicking. I finished the dosing but took a hit. These setbacks suck but you learn from them. Lost several fish, a bit dejected, but opportunity to rebuild and be smarter about it. I will never cut out on quarantine or anything again. I will treat the survivors. I have no clue what took them out or of this stuff even worked but...Time to rebuild. Any thoughts out there from the experts? Moral of the story is Never, ever, ever, get confident on the fish aquarium gods! They will smack you in the face the second you do!

 

[whitcory]

It has been a while. Things are going well. So I decided to get this thing. The only thing I have to say is...why did I wait soooo long to get this. Now keep in mind I have the 625 XXL old model. So I didn't have the sump capable for this. I had to buy this blade from Red-Sea. It took me like 30 minutes to cut out. Not exactly easy but do-able. I put this thing together with the help of some internet online sites. Fairly easy. I would say that the pads have maybe like 2 months before needing to change. They are easy to change. I admit not having to rinse and wash those socks is the best thing ever. I highly recommend splurging on this thing. Here are a few pics.

 

[whitcory]

Soo I just added these 2 wrasses. Beautiful. They get along so far. I may run into trouble soon as I have 4 wrasses. Also added a copperband recently. Anyone with history with yellowtail or leopard wrasses combined with others? The melanarus wrasse I have is a bit unhappy! I hope they all can co-exist. Thoughts?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Soo I just added these 2 wrasses. Beautiful. They get along so far. I may run into trouble soon as I have 4 wrasses. Also added a copperband recently. Anyone with history with yellowtail or leopard wrasses combined with others? The melanarus wrasse I have is a bit unhappy! I hope they all can co-exist. Thoughts?

Love the wrasses you got!

 

[whitcory]

Love the wrasses you got!

Yeah they are pretty cool. I think the Melanarus has to go. It is getting chippy in there.

 

[whitcory]

Wanted to provide an update on the tank. It is going fairly well. Got this Nyos Carbon Dosing G2 Opus. It works like a charm. Just plug it in, put it in the sump, and let it go. Not a bad upgrade at all. My tank appears to be hitting its stride. Very clear, I change water now like every 2 weeks or so. Not major outbreaks, and things are going mostly well. The only exception is the fish mix. I had a Melanarus Wrasse I have had for like 3-4 years. I put in a new Leopard wrasse and problems immediately began. I wanted the new leopard wrasse so I finally captured the Melanarus and turned him in to the LFS. The tank all in all seems happier now.

 

[whitcory]

So this arrived today! Nice looking fish. Spotted Tamarin Wrasse. Got him hanging out in the acclimation box for now. The Leopard Wrasse is checking him out. Let's hope for peace! I am a bit crazy with the wrasses. Had to get rid of the Melanarus to make room for these new guys so everyone gets along. Here are a few snaps of some of my crew. Peace for now. I have to get better camera skills!

 

[jp_75]

Where did you get your Tamarin from?

 

[whitcory]

This place called Strikers Reefing. They have good stuff if you can catch them when they get new stuff in.

 

[whitcory]

OK, so as an update, does anyone have this NYOS protein skimmer. I bought it with this tank and it has worked well for the 1.75 years I have had it but....It doesn't automatically start up to a full bubble anymore. When I turn it off for any reason, and start it up it will crank but not bubble up to a full skim. I have to remove the cup and take it out of the water before putting in back in and the top on. WHEN it works it's great but this is annoying. Thoughts or suggestions from anyone on this? Oh and BTW, no comments on my messy sump. I know it's a mess!!!