Redsea Reefer 425 G2 (Won in the R2R Raffle)

[wakejumper22]

Hi There, I am fairly new to r2r and became a partner member this year as part of the drive. I was lucky enough to win the Redsea Reefer 425G2 package and I thought it’d be nice to not only document my progress with this tank but also share it with the community who made it possible. I’ve been reefing for about 8 years and have had several different tanks. This will be my second one I’ve had that is more than 100 gallons. As I have had success and failures with coral and fish alike I am still learning every day and enjoy the challenges this hobby provides. This new tank will be a jump off the deep end into the world of acros and sps (maybe some lps as well) in hopes to prove to myself I can do it even with a 17 month old kiddo and a full time job as a Firefighter/Paramedic. So here we go!! Thanks for following along.
As of today the tank has just finished cycling and I have two fish. Here is my equipment..

Tank:Redsea Reefer 425G2/W Black Cabinet

Lighting: (2) Redsea 90LED’s with Redsea Hanging light kit

Flow: (2) Ecotech MP40QD

Redsea Reefmat 1200

Redsea RSK 600 with Fresh Air Line

Eheim Heater

Sicce 5.0 Return Pump

Controller/Testing: Neptune Apex A3 with Trident and Dos. “Custom” Voss Water dosing containers

What’s in the Tank:

Marco Rock

Tropic Eden Reef Flakes

Redsea Blue Bucket Salt

Live Stock:

(1) Percula Clownfish
(1) Foxface

 

[StatelineReefer]

Nice lookin' tank ya got there! Now let's get it through a couple years of growing pains and work on those softball sized colonies you're going to have in there.

 

[wakejumper22]

Nice lookin' tank ya got there! Now let's get it through a couple years of growing pains and work on those softball sized colonies you're going to have in there.

Hahaha hoping to minimize the pains. Thank you! We’ll see how she goes..

 

[madcanary]

good looking start. I'm about to pick up the same tank. my 150DT crashed 2 years ago so hoping this one takes it easy on me. looks like you have all the right equipment starting out. have you decided on a 2-part system yet?

 

[LPS Bum]

Hi There, I am fairly new to r2r and became a partner member this year as part of the drive. I was lucky enough to win the Redsea Reefer 425G2 package and I thought it’d be nice to not only document my progress with this tank but also share it with the community who made it possible. I’ve been reefing for about 8 years and have had several different tanks. This will be my second one I’ve had that is more than 100 gallons. As I have had success and failures with coral and fish alike I am still learning every day and enjoy the challenges this hobby provides. This new tank will be a jump off the deep end into the world of acros and sps (maybe some lps as well) in hopes to prove to myself I can do it even with a 17 month old kiddo and a full time job as a Firefighter/Paramedic. So here we go!! Thanks for following along.
As of today the tank has just finished cycling and I have two fish. Here is my equipment..

Tank:Redsea Reefer 425G2/W Black Cabinet

Lighting: (2) Redsea 90LED’s with Redsea Hanging light kit

Flow: (2) Ecotech MP40QD

Redsea Reefmat 1200

Redsea RSK 600 with Fresh Air Line

Eheim Heater

Sicce 5.0 Return Pump

Controller/Testing: Neptune Apex A3 with Trident and Dos. “Custom” Voss Water dosing containers

What’s in the Tank:

Marco Rock

Tropic Eden Reef Flakes

Redsea Blue Bucket Salt

Live Stock:

(1) Percula Clownfish
(1) Foxface

Great looking set-up!

I myself am in the process of setting up a new Reefer 625 G2 to replace my old 75 gal reef. Lots of work but it'll be worth it in the end.

 

[wakejumper22]

good looking start. I'm about to pick up the same tank. my 150DT crashed 2 years ago so hoping this one takes it easy on me. looks like you have all the right equipment starting out. have you decided on a 2-part system yet?

Thanks! I’m deciding between the b-ionic and the redsea foundation program..

 

[wakejumper22]

Great looking set-up!

I myself am in the process of setting up a new Reefer 625 G2 to replace my old 75 gal reef. Lots of work but it'll be worth it in the end.

Awesome! Yeah my ultimate goal is to keep things simple and easy.. eventually doing automatic water changes etc..

 

[madcanary]

Thanks! I’m deciding between the b-ionic and the redsea foundation program..

both solid choices the read sea is definitely a holistic approach, Ive heard B-ionic is a really simple system. I'm switching away from trident this time and am going with ATI

 

[wakejumper22]

both solid choices the read sea is definitely a holistic approach, Ive heard B-ionic is a really simple system. I'm switching away from trident this time and am going with ATI

B-ionic has been a tried and true approach I think and more affordable than the redsea program. But I’ve seen a lot of success with redsea as well that intrigues me

 

[blaxsun]

Thanks! I’m deciding between the b-ionic and the redsea foundation program..

I've used Nyos and Red Sea (currently using Nyos which has been working well).

 

[wakejumper22]

I've used Nyos and Red Sea (currently using Nyos which has been working well).

Glad to hear! I don’t think you can go wrong either way.

 

[blaxsun]

I don't think so either. They're generally the same thing. I like the Nyos supplements because it's one less bottle.

 

[wakejumper22]

I don't think so either. They're generally the same thing. I like the Nyos supplements because it's one less bottle.

I haven’t looked into the nyos system until you said this! I’ll check it out…

 

[blaxsun]

I haven’t looked into the nyos system until you said this! I’ll check it out…

Iodine, Stronium and Active Elements. Seems to be working great so far...

 

[BetterJake]

That is so awesome, congrats on winning! Looking good so far, can't wait to see this progress.

 

[wakejumper22]

That is so awesome, congrats on winning! Looking good so far, can't wait to see this progress.

Thank you! I can’t wait to see where this tank takes me..

 

[wakejumper22]

Quick Update: Tank has been doing well. Diatoms have started and have been persistent on the glass. Almost not even worth cleaning because they return a few hours after I clean it. Set up my dos with Brightwell Alk and Calc powder 2 part as I plan on using the reef moonshiners method and these supplements don’t add trace elements like others do. Trident has been working great and seems to be very accurate. I linked it with the dos to keep my Alk at 8.6, Calc at 450. Seeded the tank with some Purple Helix to get some coraline going and added a small CUC to start. Did lose my clownfish as I found him on the floor one
Morning which I’m pretty upset about. I thought I had time for a lid but that will be my next purchase. Tank is still cloudy from the diatoms etc but hopefully with the start of a refugium and adding some more CUC I can take care of that.

 

[wakejumper22]

Update 2/10/2023-

The tank is coming up on 3 months old. I’ve made a few changes along the way. I ended up selling my reef led 90’s and going with the 3 XR-15’s to work with mobius and my mp40’s. Although I’m wondering now if the XR-15G6 Pros will be enough for the acros that I eventually want to keep. I will be adding 2 of the AI Blade Grows with a custom mount to the tank to supplement which I think will be enough.

I’ve had a few fish additions and losses.. I added a nice juvenile purple tang I got for cheap from a local reefer needing to find a home for it. I also added a white tail bristletooth tang. So livestock so far-

Foxface
3 Blue/Green Chromis
Purple Tang
White Tail Tang
1 cleaner shrimp
Clean up crew snails

I did attempt a convict tang, I quarantined him for a few weeks and threw every food available at him. I eventually got him eating mysis and he appeared to be doing well but came home one day to him deceased. I was pretty upset as I tried everything to keep him. I’m convinced he has something internal that wasn’t allowing him to eat


I’ve only added a few “test corals” so far.. waiting on the tank to age a little bit and get all the kinks out before going all in. The corals I have added are doing well. I’m following the reef moonshiners program and so far so good. I’ll Post a few pictures after only one month of starting the program. I went with this as a way to save from doing water changes.

Hoping to start adding some more Montipora soon. Second icp test should be back shortly and we’ll go from there.

 

[wakejumper22]

 

[ClickChris]

Hey, I am thinking about buying the max version of this tank. Looking for an update. How is it going for you? Any new pics?