Reefer 250 Build. 15 years away from the hobby but I am back

Dal-Reef · Apr 23, 2020

canadianeh said:
So I guess you left the back section uncovered for access

The mounting board is off set from the back by about 2 feet. If need access to the back I just rotate the cabinet and have access to the back. Here is a pic of the back. That light colored grove going around the cabinet is were that thin board would got that comes with the cabinet. Which I would not use.

Dal-Reef · Apr 23, 2020

Finally installed the ClairSea.

I have had it since the build started 8 months ago. I knew I was not going to run the ClairSea for several months and m thinking was not to strip the tank of too much during the early months. I did not even run any type of filter tell the 8 month mark. . I was wanting the biology and bacteria to really get established.

Before even getting the tank wet I modified all of the pluming on the Red Sea sump. Removed all of the glass chamber walls except for the return area. I then cut the return pipe to fit the length needed to fix the ClairSea. I also decided to use clear flex tubbing between the down pipe connecting into the ClairSea. This will give me more flexibility when pulling for cleaning and what not.

So far it’s been running for about 5 days and doing its job. I would recommend it for sure

canadianeh · Apr 23, 2020

I installed the clarisea already but I am not planning to run it after I put fish in it. Do you think I will have an issue to leave it off and just let the water run through it?

also, why you install Apex probes In that clarisea chamber? I installed mine in the skimmer chamber and move the skimmer to the front. I am using the skimmer chamber for refugium

Dal-Reef · Apr 23, 2020

canadianeh said:
I installed the clarisea already but I am not planning to run it after I put fish in it. Do you think I will have an issue to leave it off and just let the water run through it?

also, why you install Apex probes In that clarisea chamber? I installed mine in the skimmer chamber and move the skimmer to the front. I am using the skimmer chamber for refugium

On leaving the clarisea I would just let it run since you have it installed. If you do leave and not run need to open the gate valve on the bottom opposite of the down spout. If you have fleece installed it could get pretty nasty if it is not rolling up.

I cut out all of my glass baffles except for the return chamber. So really its just an open sump. The probes are the closest to the return water to give a better idea of what the tank parameters are. The probes are also away from and skimmer micro bubbles and and my doser output so not to skew the readings. The probes just have a nice gently flow from the clairsea. I put skimmer towards the back but is easy to remove cup for cleaning. In from of the skimmer I am about to install some canister filters.

Tcoop0902 · Apr 24, 2020

Very nice!!

Dal-Reef · Apr 24, 2020

Tcoop0902 said:
Very nice!!

Thanks man has been a fun build

Dal-Reef · Apr 24, 2020

Wanted to share this pic. I have have had the ClariSea SK-300 installed for 6 days now and amazed at how clear the water is now. Felt my water was already pretty clean but 20 micron sure does pull out a lot. You can see the pictures on the wall down the hallway. That would be super clear water

canadianeh · Apr 25, 2020

Dal-Reef said:
On leaving the clarisea I would just let it run since you have it installed. If you do leave and not run need to open the gate valve on the bottom opposite of the down spout. If you have fleece installed it could get pretty nasty if it is not rolling up.

I cut out all of my glass baffles except for the return chamber. So really its just an open sump. The probes are the closest to the return water to give a better idea of what the tank parameters are. The probes are also away from and skimmer micro bubbles and and my doser output so not to skew the readings. The probes just have a nice gently flow from the clairsea. I put skimmer towards the back but is easy to remove cup for cleaning. In from of the skimmer I am about to install some canister filters.

How did you attach the two Besta frame on top of each other so that the top portion don’t slide around? Did they come with hardware to secure the two together?

Dal-Reef · Apr 25, 2020

canadianeh said:
How did you attach the two Besta frame on top of each other so that the top portion don’t slide around? Did they come with hardware to secure the two together?

I did not attach the bottom cabinet to the top. I wanted the flexibility to move them independent of each other. You could attach them together with a couple of angel brackets if you wanted

canadianeh · Apr 27, 2020

So I am ordering two 3/4” 2x2 Douglas fir 1 side sanded plywoods. I am also going to order 8 L brackets. Which screws I need that compatible with the plywood thickness and the L brackets?

here are the links of the products. are these the correct products?

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/goodfellow-3-4-inch-2-feet-x-2-feet-sanded-1-side-douglas-fir-plywood-handy-panel/1000432737

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/simpson-strong-tie-2-inch-x-1-1-2-inch-x-2-3-4-inch-zmax-galvanized-angle/1000152082

Dal-Reef · Apr 28, 2020

Tank turned 9 months old today.. I feel its starting to balance out and still got a long ways to go. Early on I thought the tank

canadianeh said:
So I am ordering two 3/4” 2x2 Douglas fir 1 side sanded plywoods. I am also going to order 8 L brackets. Which screws I need that compatible with the plywood thickness and the L brackets?

here are the links of the products. are these the correct products?

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/goodfellow-3-4-inch-2-feet-x-2-feet-sanded-1-side-douglas-fir-plywood-handy-panel/1000432737

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/simpson-strong-tie-2-inch-x-1-1-2-inch-x-2-3-4-inch-zmax-galvanized-angle/1000152082

Yes sir that is what I used

canadianeh · Apr 28, 2020

Dal-Reef said:
Tank turned 9 months old today.. I feel its starting to balance out and still got a long ways to go. Early on I thought the tank

Yes sir that is what I used

Which screws I need that compatible with the plywood thickness and the L brackets? I am worried that the screws will be too long for the IKEA cabinet. Which screws did you use?

Dal-Reef · Apr 28, 2020

canadianeh said:
Which screws I need that compatible with the plywood thickness and the L brackets? I am worried that the screws will be too long for the IKEA cabinet. Which screws did you use?

Just make sure the wood screws have a head on them big enough for the hole on the hinges also the cabinet is not solid so you need to go slow screw into the cabinet. You are correct the length is very important

Dal-Reef · Apr 28, 2020

Confession of a new tank…… Little long but some learned advice….. This is not a debate but what I have learned and with any hobby there are different approaches…

Tank turned 7 months old today. I feel it’s finally starting to stabilize and hit its stride, but still got a long way to go. Early on had some diatoms and cyano like most of us. Got that under control for now. At the 4 month mark I thought everything was all stabilized and I had it all figured out. Man was I wrong.

I had picked up a few easy SPS corals from a couple of my LFS and they were doing OK and thought I got this all figured out. I ordered some nice SPS frags from BattleCorals thinking man this is easy. By the way BattelCoorals were top notch. Even with all of the reading about needing to wait and take your time, I still thought I could add SPS to my 4 month old tank. There were a total of 5 frags and over the course of the next few months I lost all but one including the ones from my LFS. My supplementation was not consistent and I still needed to learn my tank and what it does and does not need to thrive. Every tank is different and you need to find its sweet spot for all of the parameters. Corralline algae growing everywhere is not necessary a sign of a stabilized or mature tank. It’s a good thing but there’s still a lot more to a mature tank.

The main thing for young tanks not using real live rock is you have to get the biology and biodiversity of bacteria established and it takes time. Early on I added live Copepods, Amphipods and still do every 6 weeks or so. At night using a red light my tank is covered in them. Having these little critters helps in keeping everything super clean helping me avoid nasty nuisance algae. I do not have a wrasse to keep the population up. I dose Prodibio BioDigest bi-weekly and feed the tank with Benereef weekly. One very important additional to a young tank is Live Phytoplankton. Do not overlook the importance of Phytoplankton for its biodiversity and the ability to clean algae and detritus in or reef tanks. I add this to my tank 3 times a week after the lights go out. I only do water changes if I start to see nutrients coming up and then less than 10 gallons. I also keep my hands out of the tank.

One important thing I did was getting a doser setup. Having the doser helped me in being constant on dosing Alk and Cal. It really helps in getting the big 3 Alk-Ca-Mag get stabilized reducing spikes. Once the big 3 were stabilized it takes time for the tank to continue to mature.

Final note. It takes time it for Mother Nature to do its thing in our box of water. Don’t rush it enjoy the process and help others who are learning like all of us. Man I love this hobby…

canadianeh · Apr 28, 2020

Dal-Reef said:
Just make sure the wood screws have a head on them big enough for the hole on the hinges also the cabinet is not solid so you need to go slow screw into the cabinet. You are correct the length is very important

so how long the screw that you are using?
How thick is the side of the cabinet?

Dal-Reef · May 25, 2020

Getting frags..

Been a slow process but slowly getting there. I add some SPS around the 4th month of the tank being up and running but was way too soon. I thought I had it figured out. Man I was wrong. Had way too many Alk -Cal swings. The tank just needed to mature more. I am not at 10th month and the tank seems much more stable. Since I have installed a GHL doser and with the Trident I can monitor everything.

Dal-Reef · Jun 24, 2020

Wife and I are working home full time because of the Rona virus and you could see us being home all day having an impact on my PH.

So I installed a CO2 scrubber about 3 weeks ago.. It has had significant impact on my PH. I had been average morning PH of 7.80 and high during the day of 8.18. After the install of the scrubber now getting mornings around 8.25 and topping out around 8.5.

Watching the corals you can see they are happier. Also noticing some additional growth. Corals are also sucking a lot more Alkalinity since the PH is averaging higher.

The installation was very easy and straight forward. I am running a Red Sea skimmer and removed the silencer and connected the venturi intake on the scrubber. I am getting about 2 weeks out of the scrubber media which not bad but sure wish it lasted longer. Working with some of my local reefer buddies to order the media in bulk and safe us a ton of money.