Reefer 200 XL G2 Reboot

[Tex11]

Hello,

Long time listener, first time caller.

I wanted to start a build journal of my Red Sea Reefer 200 XL G2. I had originally started this tank in July of 2022 but lost all coral due to some unfortunate circumstances…

A little about my background. I have been reefing for a long time now, my dad had always had reef tanks, in his office, and at our house. I was always intrigued by the hobby and enjoyed helping him. I started my own tank once I was in college and quickly grew from there. I ended up working for a LFS in college and began my own side operation farming corals, primarly acros, from my own personal tank. I ended up making more money selling corals than I did working but could never trust in it enough to pursue it as a career. Life happens, you get married, you have kids, you move, ext… the aquariums get sold, but the thought is always there.

…. I pick this back up. In October of 2022, I did a firmware update on my Profilux, that’s when everything went downhill…

I had set the system up in July but had some major life things keeping me occupied, so it just had some fish, no corals yet. I had purchased lots of good stuff from Adam at Battlecorals years ago, so I went back to him. I got a nice Battlebox in, phenomenal pieces to start the tank. Had good growth, good polyp extension, everything was doing well for 2 or 3 months, then everything went south. At this time, I was using Tropic Marin Pro Reef, but had noticed it was leaving weird substances in my barrels. This is very unusual for this salt, which I have used for years. I read up on the bad batches during COVID and attributed my future problems to this. I was blinded by a bias that may or may not have even existed. Since the firmware update on the Profilux, I had been struggling with PH, I purchased a CO2 scrubber to get my numbers up, I would sit at maybe 8.2 for a few days, then back to 7.4, 7.5 as my highs. Now, from here I was confident that wasn’t possible, so I recalibrated my probes, still the same, 7.5, replenish the CO2 scrubbing media, up to 8.2 for a few days then back down. All while watching everything slowly wither away and die. I don’t know why, with 20+ years’ experience, I never did a separate PH test. I’m an idiot. I also was having very very strange ORP readings, after that firmware update and multiple calibrations my ORP would never go over 0. It stayed parked well below 0, all the fish were growing and doing great, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. That was my huge red flag, but once again, blinders. By now it is probably late November, early December and all but 1 coral is toast. I told myself I was going to restart, new rock, remove the sand bed, the whole nine. I noticed GHL had a new update for the Profilux, so I went through that process. Suddenly my PH is 8.3, ORP is 240…hmm interesting. I had completely removed the CO2 scrubber by now, no reason to spend money on media, so that was no longer in play. This 8.3 PH is at 11 pm, that’s awesome. I had been scrubbing the tank that was at a daytime high of 8.4-8.45 this whole time, there is no telling how high it was getting.

So now, today, I have ripped the original rock out, sucked the sand out and removed all the livestock. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the original aquascape, this was on the to-do list. I also was getting frustrated with the sand; I took a risk with Fiji Pink sand and was burned. With my desired flow, the sand was driving me nuts. I sucked it all out and have gone bare bottom. I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not, but I am really liking it. I tried my best to keep the coralline out of the tank, but alas, so that is already covering the bottom. Meh, I don’t mind it so much this time around. My next major change was the light. I had started this tank with the Kessil A500x. The light can definitely grow and color up SPS. Also, that shimmer is spectacular, loved it. I just could not get the shadowing under control, and the glare off that thing…blinding! I didn’t want to add supplemental lights to this, as I couldn’t find a good mounting option. I’ve used Radions in the past, back in the G3 and G4 days. I was going to go with them again, but the G6 had just come out and to very mild feedback. My last tank, 6 or 7 years ago at this point, I was using an 8 bulb ATI Sunpower, I don’t need to discuss the heritage and ability of this light. However, back to limited mounting options due to the tank location. I was very skeptical of going with a G5 or G6 Radion at this point, and that is when I ran across a video on Youtube, it was from Reefi. I started doing some research, and really couldn’t find a whole lot. The people that use it seem to have nothing but great things to say. It’s a small business, the light is built well, with good components, it is significantly more powerful than the XR30s, and half the cost with a mounting solution. I said, “why not”. I bought the Reefi Uno 2.0 pro with his mount. I’ll do a separate post on the light, as I ‘m already a bit long winded…

Ok, we went over all my shortcomings and the new stuff. So now onto what people actually care about, gear and corals. My dad had his last tank setup well over 20 years ago, it was filled with Pukani. I stole a bunch of that originally, acid bathed it, and used it. This time around I decided to go with Aquaforest AF Rock. My wife and I taped off the tank on a table and started experimenting. We came up with would be the final aquascape, however, it may/probably will require some addendums. Either way, I like the look and so far, like how the rock is behaving. Since I was taking all the livestock out, I didn’t really care about a cycle. I didn’t really have a cycle, there was enough goodies leftover in a sponge in the sump and on the ReefMat to seed it quickly it seems. That was right about New Years, my first livestock went back in, minus a few astrea snails that stuck around (haha). 2 weeks ago I grabbed some Leopard Storm Clowns (that is what TSA labeled them, honestly don’t know what they are, some extreme storm variant, doesn’t really matter, they look nice), and last weekend grabbed 3 bangai cardinals and a mismarked blue eyed kole tang from an LFS. I snagged the kole for $50, I know, I know, call the tang police, but it’s a baby and it was $50, come on… Then for Valentines day I decided to participate in my first ever TSA sale. I ended up snagging 6 mystery SPS, and 4 mystery LPS and 1 mystery zoa for the wife. I felt like the value was, alright. I got 3 mystery high end sps, 2 mystery sps and 2 mystery montis. They sent me a TSA Explosive Ember, CB Maleficent, ARC Fireworks, TSA The Thing, purple stylo, superman monti and a seasons greetings monti. I let the wife have the seasons greetings and more than likely she’ll take the stylo and The Thing. Next go around I’ll get back with Adam at BC to get some more specific favorites. However, for now, this is a decent start and they are doing well. Full polyp extension and colors are holding as advertised. Albeit it has only been a week, but never underestimate my ability to screw up things quickly. I’m going to let them hangout on the frag rack until they encrust a bit, then I’ll get them glued onto the rock.

I'll leave you here for now, hopefully this isn't to boring. I hope to continue posting with all my successes and failures so that someone may learn something.

This tank will be SPS dominant, predominatly acros, but may have a torch or two, we'll see...



The Setup

Red Sea Reefer 200 XL G2

Rock: AF Rock (About 20 lbs)

Skimmer: Ultra Reef Akula 160

Automatic Filter Roller: ReefMat 500

Return Pump: Reef Octopus Varios 2

Powerheads: Mp40 and Reefwave 25

Light: Reefi Uno 2.0 Pro

Controller: GHL Profilux

Doser: GHL Doser 2.1

Salt: AF Reef Salt

Additives: BRS Alk, Cal, Mag
AF Bio S (Started the tank with this and ghost feeding), [AF NP Pro, AF Pro Bio S] - I haven't decided if I am going to go down the carbon dosing road again, we'll see

RO/DI: BRS 5 Stage 150 GPD

Livestock
2 Leopard Storm Clowns
3 Bangai Cardinals
1 Two Spot Kole Tang
8-10 Astrea Snails
3 Hermits
*More to follow

Corals
TSA Explosive Ember
CB Maleficent
ARC Fireworks
TSA The Thing
Purple Stylo
Superman Montipora
Unknown Battlecoral Acro with a hardiness level over 9000
SBB Heart Attack
SBB Orange Blast
SBB Black Panther Milli
SBB Bugs Bunny
SBB Unknown Freebie
*Much More to Follow

I promise, pictures to follow! I need to find a macro lens!


Here are some rough phone pictures to get the ball rolling!

 

[Auto-pilot]

My wife has a weird trick where you can turn any lense Into a macro lense by turning it around or something. Not very conventional but it works haha. Hopefully your coral will take off and you will have a full reef soon!

 

[Tex11]

I had previously purchased the Orphek macro lens kit, but it just does ok. I made an attempt to capture the colors and did a terrible job, but I wanted to get some pictures up for reference.

The one lonely acro, glued to the small rock, is the lone survivor of the wipeout. Somehow, that bad boy survived biblical PH swings and also like 65 degree water, perhaps even a mini cycle when I restarted the tank. It has been about 2 months and that thing has polyp extension and the coralites are beginning to color up. When it fully colors back up I'll let Adam from Battlecorals know to label that thing as invincible on the hardiness scale.

 

[Tex11]

A quick update on the tank. I got an SBB order in from their auction a few weeks ago. My wife actually did the picking and bidding on all of these. She ended up snagging an SBB Heart Attack, SBB Bugs Bunny, SBB Orange Blast, SBB Black Panther, and they threw in a freebie. They all arrived in great condition with full polyp extension in the bags. I got them added to the frag rack with the TSA order...I'm gonna need a bigger boat...

My alk is really high, like 11.6, I believe the AF Rock is leaching alkalinity. I use AF Reef Salt, which this ICP result says 8.3-8.6 alk, so it must be coming off the rocks. I haven't dosed a drop since the reboot, guess I'll just have to add some more corals to use that up .

I also have drastically upped the feedings, can't get my nitrates above 0, I'm really striving to get 2-5, so I may have to start dosing, we'll see. I'm also looking at adding a few more fish, which should help get those numbers up.

If you squint hard enough these are good pictures.

Orange Blast

Freebie

Heart Attack

Bugs Bunny

Frag rack, the Black Panther milli mini colony off to the side

 

[LondonrulesJL]

Nice build, how are you finding the Ultra Reef 160? In particular, how's the noise?

 

[Tex11]

Nice build, how are you finding the Ultra Reef 160? In particular, how's the noise?

Thanks!

The build quality is second to none, I've used Bubble Kings in the past, and the Akula is on another level. It is one of the quietest skimmers I've owned, now, that is relative to everything else on the tank running. When I turn it off for maintenance or feeding you do notice the tank get quieter. However, I wouldn't call it loud, it's definitely quieter than the reefwave when it ramps up.

It skims really well, my only problem currently is the occasional microbubble that oozes into the tank. When I first unboxed the skimmer it had a piece of foam where the venturi attaches to the pump through the wall of the skimmer. I thought this was just a piece of packaging, well, it wasn't. It's a foam gasket to, I assume, help with microbubbles that oozes out around the venturi. I need to just order the replacement, but everyone is out of stock. I could probably just shove some filter floss around the venturi, but I'd like for it to be OEM.

That being said, the actual skim it produces is phenomenal. The control is unreal, you can really dial it in. Full open to full close is probably 100+ turns, it's ridiculous. It can also be completely disassembled. As in, every piece can come apart, if you're that into cleaning it. For me it's only been about 8 months, so I haven't done anything except clean the collection cup. On that note, the collection cup is huge, seems like it could hold over a gallon. Great for you procrastinaters out there. Needless to say, I will probably purchase these for future builds.

 

[Tex11]

I have a somber update tonight. I had an RTN event that took the freebie, Heart Attack, The Thing, probably going to lose the superman, perhaps some others. I had checked the tank before heading off to work, full PE, everything looked great. Came home around 4, they were toast. I think it was a combination of a flow problem and underestimating the Reefi. I was using the SPS default settings and had reduced the highest peak to about 110w, with an acclimation period of 30 days at 70%. This may have been to quick for everything to adjust. I have since changed my spectrum and brought the wattage down quite a bit to a peak of about 85w. I also moved them all off the rack and glued them into the scape and they all look a lot better.I suppose the flow just wasn't right on that frag rack. I have never struggled to keep SPS, I'm starting to feel like this tank is cursed. In the past, my acros grew like weeds, couldn't seem to do wrong. Needless to say, I am being humbled by this little tank. I also had my three cardinals all commit suicide into my powerheads, that is a personal first for me.

I am doing 10-15% weekly water changes, and the ALK has been slowly coming down. I don't usually test much else, considering I had a die off, I figured I'd test. My phosphates were elevated at 0.46ppm as shown by the Hanna ULR checker. Everything else was exactly where you would want it. I'm trying not to chase numbers, but I may attempt to bring down the phosphates. My wife has a small 15 gallon tank in our son's room. She shares all the same water, salt, she even took some pukani out of my tank before the rebuild. That tank is doing great. So, at least I know it isn't something related to my water or salt.

I'm showing fairly good growth on everything, even on the ones that died, I'll try and provide pictures next week, ideally with no more loss...

 

[CoachRichardson]

Any updates?

 

[Tex11]

Sorry for the delay!

Short story: Everything is doing amazing and I'm back on track!

Long story:
Picking up where I left off on March 11th, I've had a total reversal. The wife and I participated in SBB 2 year anniversary sale, and snagged a good haul. I think 21 pieces in total, 13 of those going into my tank! In preparation for all these new acros, I needed to get my nitrates and phosphates under control. Despite my best efforts overfeeding I could never get nitrates above 0. So, I decided to start dosing, and dosing I did. I started with I believe 10ml every day, and then testing 24 hours later. After probably 3 days, 30 mls later, still barely showing a result. So, this being a delicate hobby and a fairly scientific process, I decided to dose 40ml at once. That moved the needle on my nitrates, I was sitting at about 10 ppm, as shown by Red Sea test kit. Now, phosphates. My last post I mentioned they were .46ppm, well, further testing showed they were 0, as shown by the Hanna ULR tester. Either dumping nitrates in dropped them down to 0, or I had a middle finger worth of smudge on my cuvette. Here I decide to introduce phosphate dosing. I was a bit more clinical with the phosphate dosing. I started with half the required dose, with a goal of 0.05ppm. I tested a few days in a row and I believe the second day I was showing 0.02, awesome! I maintained this level for about 2 weeks, which is about how long before my SBB order shipped. In those two weeks, I saw measurable growth in my Maleficence, my Superman monti (which was essentially bleached) was beginning to turn blue again, same story for basically every coral in the tank. However, my alkalinity would still climb, about .2 dkh per day. I would do a water change, around 8 gallons, it would drop it to about 10.8 dkh, and then by day 7 it would be 12-12.1 dkh. A warning for anyone thinking of using the AF Rock, it leaches bad.

Now we reach March 30th, our SBB order arrives. All arrive in great condition, everything looking amazing. I kept them in the frag rack for a few days and decided to just glue em where I wanted them. In this 10 days, I've had to begin dosing 10-15ml of NeoPhos per day to maintain a measurable level. I dose, 24 hours later I test, if I'm lucky it will read 0.02 ppm. I've had to do a bit of nitrate dosing to keep it 10-20ppm as well. I am now seeing my alk fall! After the weekly water change, which was 7 days from today, my alk was 11.1 after the water change, it climbed two days in a row, to 11.5, then about monday, it began falling. This morning I tested and it was 10.8! I've finally got some uptake! I know it has only been 10 days, but I've maintained full PE and color on every piece that came in! Everything is looking absolutely phenomenal!

I also messaged a fellow user of the Reefi Uno 2s @Haacheew, and asked if he would share his settings. He was kind enough to give some pointers with these lights, as well as the config he uses. I also swapped the 90 degree reflector for the 120 degree. I definitely should have been using the 120 from day 1, the difference is stark. Since changing, I have been bumping the power back up to get some matching PAR that SBB had these pieces under. I purchased an Apogee SQ-420X to get some measurements, and was sitting at about 350 PAR at the highest pieces with the 90 degree, after swapping to the 120, that dropped to about 200-250 PAR at the highest piece. I've had significant power increase since making the swap, and it provides a much better spread, with a seemingly impossible PAR consistency across the tank. Another user @Kasrift, is offering to loan his Apogee MQ-510 meter to compare results with my 420X. A huge shout-out to both of these members for being a positive influence in the community. I hope I can pay it forward with some data from both of these instruments to help someone out!

My wife took some great macro shots of the new additions, these are a few old shots that I have on hand. She is working on getting the rest to me! I'll post those new shots as soon as I get them!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Great looking pictures!!!

 

[Tex11]

This is a bit misleading, my next post has a more accurate telling. I don't want to delete this for posterity sake.

I figured I'd stick this in this post for anyone who cares!

The Apogee 510Q, who @Kasrift was kind enough to loan, arrived today. I want to preface this with my scientific method before presenting my findings. It took about a beer, maybe a beer and a half to collect my results. It involved my two hands, when not occupied by an ice cold beer, and two Apogee wands tied together. With those important details out of the way, my findings!

Basically, there is marginal difference in the readings. I'm talking on the absolute high end 10-15 µmol/m2/s at any given reading. It seemed the higher the output I pushed the lights, the more the gap closed, to within 1-5 µmol/m2/s between the two. I cranked only blues, this is where I would get the biggest difference between the two, maybe a max of 20 µmol/m2/s difference at only blues. If I turned the blues off and just moved to white, the readings would show essentially identical. Mind you, all the differences sided with the 420X on the higher side of this, 510X at 350, 420X would be 355-360. In the open air above the water, dang near identical. I'm not sure what constitutes a margin of error with this information, but I'd say everything is probably within my margin of error.

This is just hanging out around the water cooler, but from what I saw, if you have a laptop the 420X seems to be just fine. If you need something to provide a readout the 510Q is the way to go. I'm sure someone will have plenty to say about this and that is great. Hopefully it leads to something useful for someone out there. I don't know what any of this proves, they perhaps have a 1% difference with the 420X being 1% high on the 510Q. This was using the immersion setting on their software on my laptop.


I attached some pictures I took. I don't have the skill my wife has, but here is something to look at. You can really see the growth on that Maleficence, before and after!

 

[Tex11]

Ok, I put my beers down and redid my test. I logged the data this time. I placed each wand at the same two locations, one top center, one bottom center. I took 20 seconds of readings, with the 420X this is very easy,you hold it there and click "Start" and it pumps out a nice csv. The 510Q required me to press sample at 1s intervals, which I did as accurately as one could hope. I took the data out of the 510Q and stuck it with my 420X numbers and voila, here we go. This was done at my peak power for my tank during the day and with full flow. The previous tests were done with no flow. Needless to say I'm an idiot and the numbers are further away than I thought.

However, they are consistently 20 µmol/m2/s apart. Well, as consistent as two readings could be.

I'm not sure what to take away from this, is 20 µmol/m2/s a big enough difference? Is 20 µmol/m2/s enough to change colors or damage tissue? Is 20 seconds enough time? I have no idea and will let someone smarter than me determine this.