RedSea Reefer 625XXL Build

Rain 625XXL

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Hi guys,

New to the forum and I'd love to share the progress of my redsea 625 tank.I bought this tank back in December 2020 and it has been cycling now for about 4+weeks.

This is my first proper Saltwater tank and my first experiment with a nano tank 5 years ago turned out to be a complete disaster, so i had to give it away to someone with more time on their hands.

Being a very small 90L (20g) tank it was so hard for me to keep the tank parameters right during very hot summers here is Australia. Due to to design of the tank, adding anything external was not possible at all and I finally gave up. It was great tank when everything worked well though.

This time around I wanted to do everything properly and bought a proper tank.

Current setup

Redsea Reefer 625XXL
Redsea 600 skimmer
Sicce return pump
VorTech MP40 x 2 (one is still on its way)
500W Heater
Ai Hydra 32 HD x 3
Seneye Reef with the wifi hub
50kgs of dry rock
30kgs white sand
4 Stage RO system
Redsea Coral pro salt

Other than the stuff above, I have also picked up a Redsea reef water test kit, Hanna PH checker. For some reason the seneye reef is reporting 7.45ph but both the hanna and the redsea test kit show 8.00ph. I have heard that the Seneye is a little hit and miss in this. Current tank temp is set at 25C (77 F) and it is stable and the salinity is just over 34ppm. Tank has already gone through a small cycle thanks to Dr.Tims stuff and currently has 7 Cromis (Only added then yesterday).

Next plan is to get the refugium going and start the skimmer as nutrient levels rise. My local fish store has adviced me to leave it off for a couple more weeks while I monitor the nutrient levels. Also have a redsea tank cover net thingy sitting in the car which I have to assemble.

So that's it for now and I will add pics as soon as I figure how to do it on this forum. Hope you guys have a wonderful day. Cheers

Nathan
 
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Rain 625XXL

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As promised

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20201230_232523.jpg
 

AZMSGT

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Super start. 625 is a good tank. Glad to see you got the newest version. Just a recommendation, get the mesh socks. I have 20 and swap em every three days. I rinse them save em up till I have 16 dirty ones and wash them on sterilize in the cloths washer.
 

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Now for some cable management... lol

Great setup. Planning any modification from the default in the sump area? I say that because we hear people complain a little about the design of the sumps.
 
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Rain 625XXL

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Still need to do heaps of tidying up work and some cable management work. Also thinking of changing the rockscape a little bit and maybe make two different islands. Made the classic mistake of rushing to get the tank cycled and not taking time with the rockscape. I will keep you guys posted. Cheers

Nathan
 

AZMSGT

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Still need to do heaps of tidying up work and some cable management work. Also thinking of changing the rockscape a little bit and maybe make two different islands. Made the classic mistake of rushing to get the tank cycled and not taking time with the rockscape. I will keep you guys posted. Cheers

Nathan
I hear ya on the Rockscape. my 625 is on it’s third version.
 
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Rain 625XXL

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Super start. 625 is a good tank. Glad to see you got the newest version. Just a recommendation, get the mesh socks. I have 20 and swap em every three days. I rinse them save em up till I have 16 dirty ones and wash them on sterilize in the cloths washer.
Thanks mate. I gotta pickup few more of mesh socks from my local fish store. They had a few in stock and I bought all of them. Plan is to get the media cups out of there and run 4x mesh bags. I got filter floss/wool in the media cups atm but I don't think they are doing a good job. Cheers
 

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Welcome :) Awesome tank & setup! Following
 
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Rain 625XXL

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Now for some cable management... lol

Great setup. Planning any modification from the default in the sump area? I say that because we hear people complain a little about the design of the sumps.
Yup, just finished all the cable management last night. My wife was giving me a very hard time about the mess..lol

Sump design is ok, but I wish it had a little more space in the skimmer section. At the moment my Redsea 600 just fits in there with not even an inch of space left to move it around a bit. I am using the space behind the skimmer for bio filter media and I have a Marinepure block sitting in there. That section is massive and I wish they had incorporated a small separate section in there for the refugium.

Also had a few dramas with the return sucking up air every now and then and making all sorts of noises. It took me almost 4 weeks to dial it in. Now it is dead quiet. You really gotta adjust the return 1mm at a time get it dialled in. Bit of a pain and I have heard that a lot of people swap them over for proper gate valves just because of that reason.
 
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Rain 625XXL

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20210105_091455.jpg


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Snapped these pictures this morning. Fish seem to be happy swimming around enjoying the new tank. Also got the cable mess sorted. It is not the best but much better than what it was before
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The biggest issue today was the massive swing in salinity. It was just over 34ppt last night but when I checked it around lunchtime it had dropped to 29-30ppt. Took a sample of water to my local fish store and they also got a lower reading. Auto top off was not dumping any RO water in there and none of us could figure out what caused the salinity to swing by that much just over night. Hanna salinity checker was also also giving all sorts of very low readings that didn't make much sense. Gave it a good shake and a clean and now it is working as it should. Salinity is at around 30ppt now and I will slowly increase this close to 34ppt over the next few days.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced anything like this? No water changes were carried out recently and the only addition to the tank yesterday was the fish. Their acclamation probably took 10L (2.5g) of water out of the tank but that is just a drop of water in a system this big.
 

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20210105_091455.jpg


20210105_091516.jpg


Snapped these pictures this morning. Fish seem to be happy swimming around enjoying the new tank. Also got the cable mess sorted. It is not the best but much better than what it was before
16098571541147444021196782338707.jpg


The biggest issue today was the massive swing in salinity. It was just over 34ppt last night but when I checked it around lunchtime it had dropped to 29-30ppt. Took a sample of water to my local fish store and they also got a lower reading. Auto top off was not dumping any RO water in there and none of us could figure out what caused the salinity to swing by that much just over night. Hanna salinity checker was also also giving all sorts of very low readings that didn't make much sense. Gave it a good shake and a clean and now it is working as it should. Salinity is at around 30ppt now and I will slowly increase this close to 34ppt over the next few days.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced anything like this? No water changes were carried out recently and the only addition to the tank yesterday was the fish. Their acclamation probably took 10L (2.5g) of water out of the tank but that is just a drop of water in a system this big.
Make sure your refractometer is calibrated. Sometimes you get bad surprises with these. Also, how long did you let mix before testing?
 
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Rain 625XXL

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This mix has been in the tank since the cycling started 4 weeks ago. Initially it was just over 35ppt and then I removed a bit water from the tank and once the auto top off had filled the tank back up, salinity was stable closer to 34ppt for weeks. Even did a check on all parameters before putting the fish in and it was still reading between 33.5-34ppt.

Even the guys at my local fish store had no answers. I even took my hanna salinity checker there and tried it in their tanks and it was giving an accurate reading and we had even cross-referenced the results with their refractometer and there well within the tolerance levels.
 

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This mix has been in the tank since the cycling started 4 weeks ago. Initially it was just over 35ppt and then I removed a bit water from the tank and once the auto top off had filled the tank back up, salinity was stable closer to 34ppt for weeks. Even did a check on all parameters before putting the fish in and it was still reading between 33.5-34ppt.

Even the guys at my local fish store had no answers. I even took my hanna salinity checker there and tried it in their tanks and it was giving an accurate reading and we had even cross-referenced the results with their refractometer and there well within the tolerance levels.
Are you consumming a lot of RO in your auto-top off? Suggesting a leak (which I hope for your sake is not the case)?
 
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Rain 625XXL

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Not at all. That's the first thing I looked at as soon as I saw the lower salinity. It still had heaps of water and when I checked the sump, the water level was also the same and it wasn't dropping anything into the return chamber. I am going to pickup a good old refractometer tomorrow just so that I dont lose my mind over this issue. I have also done a recalibration on the hanna checker as well. Let's see how things go the next few days.
 
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Rain 625XXL

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Quick tank update...

I have been monitoring the water condition over the last few weeks and everything has been normal.

My second MP40 finally arrived. Added more dry rock to the tank along with two new members.

1. Yellow tang
2. One Black ice clown fish - waiting for another to become available at my LFS.

All fish are doing well and they look very healthy. I have also started the skimmer, added some carbon and also turned on the refugium lights on. Last water test returned Nil ammonia and nitrite and 1ppm of nitrate. This water has now been in the tank for like 2months and i am planning on doing a water change this weekend.

Enjoy the pics.
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Rain 625XXL

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Just a few questions..your input is much appreciated.

1. How many AI 32 hydra lights would you recommend for this tank. I have three atm, but wondering if this would be enough for SPS. Tank is a redsea 625xxl

2. How big my weekly water changes be? I am planning on doing weekly 100L water changes. I can up this to 200L if necessary.

3. What do you think of my setting on the LED lighting.
Screenshot_20210123-060104_myAI.jpg


Fuge light

Screenshot_20210123-060255_myAI.jpg


Your response is much appreciated. Thank you.
 

Phil D.

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Thanks mate. I gotta pickup few more of mesh socks from my local fish store. They had a few in stock and I bought all of them. Plan is to get the media cups out of there and run 4x mesh bags. I got filter floss/wool in the media cups atm but I don't think they are doing a good job. Cheers
I use the 225 micron felt socks and they get a lot of the detritus out.
 

Phil D.

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Just a few questions..your input is much appreciated.

1. How many AI 32 hydra lights would you recommend for this tank. I have three atm, but wondering if this would be enough for SPS. Tank is a redsea 625xxl

2. How big my weekly water changes be? I am planning on doing weekly 100L water changes. I can up this to 200L if necessary.

3. What do you think of my setting on the LED lighting.
Screenshot_20210123-060104_myAI.jpg


Fuge light

Screenshot_20210123-060255_myAI.jpg


Your response is much appreciated. Thank you.
Get rid of the red and green, grows algae. I have 2 AI Hydra 26 HDs and run the blues and UV at 68% and the whites at 8%.
 

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