RedSea Max E260 - First Reef, Lets do this!

Jexter

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I've had freshwater tanks off and on since I was 12 but always wanted a reef tank. But could never make myself pull the trigger until i knew for certain (or as certain as one can be) that I would not be moving. Three years ago moved back 'home' to raise the kids and bought a house we never intend to move from. After setting up a small fresh water tank for my daughter 6 months ago I started to get the itch to finally give it a go.

I researched (for the 3-4 time in the last 20 years) on whats required and after hours and hours of reading and youtube I started looking for a tank.

After poring over options and losing out on some craigslist/facebook items that were much more reasonable, a RedSea Max-E 260 popped up on craigslist (with a very substantial credit thrown in at a LFS). It was out of my price range but was exactly what I wanted so i fired up eBay and sold off my vintage video game collection and convinced my wife I didn't really 'spend' any money on it............yet :)

Starting this thread late as I'm 3-4 months in now and couldn't be happier with it. (Will back post stuff at some point)

I work from home and this is setup in my office. Awesome stress relief to spin my chair and stare at it for 5-10mins 4-5 times a day.

Looking forward to learning a lot and maybe someone will be inspired by my ups and downs as i have by many of the threads here and other places.

Setup Day
IMG_1284.jpg


Rock/Water/Sand Day
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Current State
IMG_1922.jpg



Current Inhabitants
  • 2 Clown fish (Penny & Wise - my daughters choice)
  • 2 Torches
  • Bi-Color Hammer
  • An Island of Xenia
  • 2 Shrooms (1 with child in tow)
  • Zoas - Space Queen, LA Lakers, Lich Kings, Devils Armor, Fruit Loops, Toxic and ?? can't remember the name of the orange/red/pink/blue guys
  • Jason Fox Favites
  • Devils Finger Leather
  • Red Goniopora
  • Purple Pol Birds Nest
  • Fried Circut Platy
  • Waste Management Crew (Emerald Crab, Blue crab, 3 Nassarius and 4 gigantic Trochus)

Current Gear Running
  • RedSea MAX-E 260 stock (return pumps, skimmer, AI lights)
  • Tunze Assomolater ATO
  • Bag of carbon
  • Icap 3k Gyre
  • 3DReefing Diffusers
Current Maintenance
  • Weekly water changes (20-25%)
  • Bi-Weekly Carbon replace
Current Goals
  • Don't kill anything
  • Put the RedSead DIY net together before I have a sad event with one of my clowns.
  • Place all the new WWC items around the tank
  • Finish quarantine setup so I can go buy some new fish!
  • Get lenses for my phone so the pics look better
  • Explain the credit card bill and the delivery coming after participating in my first WWC live sale
 
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JoshH

Tank Status: Wet...ish, growing things....
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Don't kill anything

Explain the credit card bill and the delivery coming after participating in my first WWC live sale


;Hilarious ;Hilarious ;Hilarious ;Hilarious ;Hilarious

Looks like an awesome start man! And good luck explaining the bill!! :p
 

PanchoG

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was out of my price range but was exactly what I wanted so i fired up eBay and sold off my vintage video game collection and convinced my wife I didn't really 'spend' any money on it............yet :)

LOL!

Welcome to R2R!!
 

boacvh

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Following. Looking great! Like you I had only freshwater experience in the past and last year I decided to finally make the jump to a mixed reef [emoji2]. Almost a year here and loving it. I think I could put your "it was out of my price range..." on pretty much everything I ended up getting vs what I originally planned hahaha
 
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Jexter

Jexter

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Following. Looking great! Like you I had only freshwater experience in the past and last year I decided to finally make the jump to a mixed reef [emoji2]. Almost a year here and loving it. I think I could put your "it was out of my price range..." on pretty much everything I ended up getting vs what I originally planned hahaha

Thanks! It's definitely not a cheap endeavor but i'm trying to be patient and get basics running and stable with what should be solid equipment and move on slowly after that.
 
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Jexter

Jexter

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Got my order from Algae Barn yesterday! Dropped in the Clean Chaeto and Pods in my AquaMaxx last night. I see lots of suggestions of running the light in an alternate day/night cycle so I'm going to go with that to start and see how growth goes. Pods all over the tank today. One step closer to one of my goal fish (Mandarin)

IMG_1675.jpg



Had Velcro'd the light (IM ChaetoMax) to the side but the coverage was not great so attached to the top with the included hardware. With the super low profile HOB refuguim its not centered perfectly, may have to mess with it a bit as I get a very slight bit of bleed into the tank. Unsure if that would cause any algae growth issues in tank

IMG_1676.jpg
 
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Jexter

Jexter

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Well I planned on uploading photo's of my small quarantine tank all set up and ready for new fish..............but then last night i noticed white spots on one of my clowns (Wise) and he would not eat for the first time ever. Looks like Ich to me so seems like i got the quarantine tank up just in time!

Fish Ward - Packed their bags and they are off to QT. Sorry guys, looks like 11 weeks of vacation for you.
IMG_1689.jpg


Spots on smaller guy - best pic i could manage
IMG_1693.jpg


In goes round one of the med recommended by my LFS
IMG_1687.jpg



On a brighter note my small frag rack from Reefing Art came and I'm supper happy with it. Will hold my WWC Live Sale frags when they arrive.

IMG_1704.jpg
 
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Jexter

Jexter

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Quick update. Full dose of Cupramine is in as of yesterday (FLS guy was right, getting the copper test was very wise and good peace of mind that i dosed correctly). Both are now eating very well so that's got to be a good sign. Reduction in Ich spots as well (can't find one today) so going as well as could hope.
 
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Jexter

Jexter

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My WWC live sale purchases arrived today. Super happy with them. Chilling in the frag rack acclimating away.

IMG_1728.jpg

IMG_1718.jpg

IMG_1717.jpg
 
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Jexter

Jexter

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hey, I as well have a redsea max e 260. I was curious how your light settings are ?

I run them from 8am to 8pm with a 30min ramp up.
I used this BRS video as a guide for intensity (even though they were setting up a 170 and not a 260) - BRS - 170 Setup

I've scene all kinds of schedules/intensities posted and have thought about trying them but this is what i started with 4 months ago and everything seems to be happy, colorful and growing so i have resisted the temptation to mess with it.

If I can bounce a question back, what do you use for flow in your tank? Just the return pumps or have you added something to help move water? I'm currently just using the return pumps and i think i have several dead spots that are feeding my cyno\dino issues that flare up now and then. Thinking of adding a small Gyre to get some more flow going.
 
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OpenOcean33

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I run them from 8pm to 8pm with a 30min ramp up.
I used this BRS video as a guide for intensity (even though they were setting up a 170 and not a 260) - BRS - 170 Setup

I've scene all kinds of schedules/intensities posted and have thought about trying them but this is what i started with 4 months ago and everything seems to be happy, colorful and growing so i have resisted the temptation to mess with it.

If I can bounce a question back, what do you use for flow in your tank? Just the return pumps or have you added something to help move water? I'm currently just using the return pumps and i think i have several dead spots that are feeding my cyno\dino issues that flare up now and then. Thinking of adding a small Gyre to get some more flow going.
I am currently using just the return pumps. However, I myself went through a nasty spell of dinos. But a gyre is what I would like to put in my tank eventually or an ai neuro pump. I dont feel I have many dead spots though
 
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Jexter

Jexter

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I am currently using just the return pumps. However, I myself went through a nasty spell of dinos. But a gyre is what I would like to put in my tank eventually or an ai neuro pump. I dont feel I have many dead spots though

Ya i think my attempt at aqua-scaping caused a few. I've removed some rock but still feel like I have dead spots. Do you have the return pumps wide open or did you reduce it at all via the click wheel thing on the pump? I have them both wide open now, when i first put together i did not.
 
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