Reefer 250 Build :)

[Arcticfirefighter]

Hi, I have been lurking around in the background on this forum for a year ago and think it’s about time I start my tread for my own build.

So after about 2 years of owning this tank and gathering equipment it’s about time to make a start and put it together. I purchased the tank new and have had it in storage while slowly finding equipment. Here is a list of what I have so far...

1x Reefer 250
2x XR15 pros Gen 4’s
2x RMS Mounts
2x Ecotech MP10’s
1x Quantum Nyos 120 protein skimmer
1x Vectra S1 return pump
1x Neptune Systems Apex system
1x Ecotech Reef Link
1x Skimz MBR127
1x Clearview Lid with feeding cutout (needed to stop the kids feeding the fish Cheerios
1x Grounding probe

I obviously still need to get a few more bits and plan on getting them soon. I’m thinking about going with dry rock and live sand, 2 heaters in the sump and adding a dosing pump to the apex, test kits etc...

My history in the hobby goes back 10 years ago in England, I purchased a complete set up already established, mainly kept fish and really enjoyed the hobby. Fast forward 10 years and I’m settled in Canada and want to get back in to it, only this time I want to start from scratch and not purchase an established aquarium.

This time I plan on getting in to more sps corrals but still want to have a few fish. Before I get this system wet I wanted to reach out to fellow members (especially those with the reefer 250) to see what suggestions you have with the set up, what I could do to improve on it before I fill it with water.

I'm going to try and keep this thread up to date as much as I can and track my progress along the way. I’m definitely going to need a bit of guidance as I have never set one up from scratch.

for the moment I have a few questions...,

1. How many lb’s of dry rock should I put in it?
2. How much live sand shall I put in it and is live sand the better way to go?
3. What else should I put in the sump? It has the carbon pad and filter socks and that’s about it. (First time using a sump, before I had canister filters)

I will try and attach a few pics

Welcome and it is looking great so far. How do you like the Clearview lid? I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of mine.

 

[Matt Jackson]

Welcome and it is looking great so far. How do you like the Clearview lid? I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of mine.

I think the lid is really good, fits very well and does not look out of place.
I had the feeding hatch put in it as well so I didn’t have to remove the whole thing to put food in. I did not know what lights I was going to get when I ordered it though so I got no cut outs put in it for the brackets, I now need to cut it myself for the radion arms. Apparently it’s made from bulletproof material, so the manufacturer told me when I said I would cut it out myself at a later date. I ordered it early though as I heard about the lead time and needed the lid because of the kids.

what lid and options did you go for? There were a few choices if I remember correctly. I have had mine a year lol.

 

[Arcticfirefighter]

I think the lid is really good, fits very well and does not look out of place.
I had the feeding hatch put in it as well so I didn’t have to remove the whole thing to put food in. I did not know what lights I was going to get when I ordered it though so I got no cut outs put in it for the brackets, I now need to cut it myself for the radion arms. Apparently it’s made from bulletproof material, so the manufacturer told me when I said I would cut it out myself at a later date. I ordered it early though as I heard about the lead time and needed the lid because of the kids.

what lid and options did you go for? There were a few choices if I remember correctly. I have had mine a year lol.

I went with the EXO model, it said it was modular so it can be expanded later if need be. I had Just the 1 large feed door put up front and the 2 cutouts for my light mounts. Any other additions make that price jump quickly. The lead time for mine was 70-77 days...lol

 

[Waynerock]

Like what you are doing looks great! Nice tank I love mine Can’t wait to see what to make of it. Here is a picture of mine

 

[Matt Jackson]

I went with the EXO model, it said it was modular so it can be expanded later if need be. I had Just the 1 large feed door put up front and the 2 cutouts for my light mounts. Any other additions make that price jump quickly. The lead time for mine was 70-77 days...lol

Yep there was a supplemental price for everything and it adds up fast. I don’t remember seeing that one!

 

[Matt Jackson]

Like what you are doing looks great! Nice tank I love mine Can’t wait to see what to make of it. Here is a picture of mine

Thanks,

That’s a nice looking tank!
How are you finding yours with no sand bed? What do you have in your sump, any advise on the cycling process from my previous posts?

 

[Waynerock]

Thanks,

That’s a nice looking tank!
How are you finding yours with no sand bed? What do you have in your sump, any advise on the cycling process from my previous posts?

Take your cycle slow and keep the lights off. Let that biofilm establish on the rocks before algae hits. When it does hit let it go away naturally don’t dump stuff in to remove algae it willl fade in time.... same old stuff. In my sump I just have a Octo 150ss skimmer and a crappy 25 w green killing machine UV ( jury is out if it works very well) I use 1 sock and keep chemipure blue and floss in the filter cup. I was dosing 2 part but now I just have 1 cheep X1 doser dosing 15ml of All For Reef a day. AFR is AWESOME by the way. I had a reefer 170 with sand before this and hated the sand I always obsessed over keeping clean. BB is the way to go for me. Just remember take it slow it’s so worth it. You can almost have no ugly stage if you do the cycle right! Hit me up anytime for questions I don’t mind giving advice.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Looking good so far! You might want to add 2 Dos pumps If you wanted an sps tank. A stand alone ato is also a good idea. Carbon and gfo works miracles, you might want to look into getting some reactors!

 

[Arcticfirefighter]

Yep there was a supplemental price for everything and it adds up fast. I don’t remember seeing that one!

The EXO is just a bit lighter and limits the amount of condensation that's under the lid due to the extra open areas. These pics of the EXO is off of the ClearView Lids site. Not sure who to give the photo credit too, but they are not my pics. The one pic has an available acrylic centerpiece as well, not sure what it the purpose is exactly. Maybe aids in keeping evaporation down and helps keep the water warmer??

 

[SeaSickness]

Your setup is looking really good! Nice aquascaping.

 

[Waynerock]

The EXO is just a bit lighter and limits the amount of condensation that's under the lid due to the extra open areas. These pics of the EXO is off of the ClearView Lids site. Not sure who to give the photo credit too, but they are not my pics. The one pic has an available acrylic centerpiece as well, not sure what it the purpose is exactly. Maybe aids in keeping evaporation down and helps keep the water warmer??

Man I had some fish that would of loved your lid! I might have to look into that one it looks sweet. I took the Red Sea diy lid challenge and failed miserably

 

[Matt Jackson]

Take your cycle slow and keep the lights off. Let that biofilm establish on the rocks before algae hits. When it does hit let it go away naturally don’t dump stuff in to remove algae it willl fade in time.... same old stuff. In my sump I just have a Octo 150ss skimmer and a crappy 25 w green killing machine UV ( jury is out if it works very well) I use 1 sock and keep chemipure blue and floss in the filter cup. I was dosing 2 part but now I just have 1 cheep X1 doser dosing 15ml of All For Reef a day. AFR is AWESOME by the way. I had a reefer 170 with sand before this and hated the sand I always obsessed over keeping clean. BB is the way to go for me. Just remember take it slow it’s so worth it. You can almost have no ugly stage if you do the cycle right! Hit me up anytime for questions I don’t mind giving advice.

Thanks!

Do you think I should ghost feed it or literally just leave it now and let it do its thing?

 

[Matt Jackson]

Looking good so far! You might want to add 2 Dos pumps If you wanted an sps tank. A stand alone ato is also a good idea. Carbon and gfo works miracles, you might want to look into getting some reactors!

Yep a DOS is going to be my next piece of equipment I buy I think. They seem to get snapped up pretty quick on the selling forum.

 

[Matt Jackson]

The EXO is just a bit lighter and limits the amount of condensation that's under the lid due to the extra open areas. These pics of the EXO is off of the ClearView Lids site. Not sure who to give the photo credit too, but they are not my pics. The one pic has an available acrylic centerpiece as well, not sure what it the purpose is exactly. Maybe aids in keeping evaporation down and helps keep the water warmer??

The lid I have is pretty much just mesh, it has a solid perimeter and a bit in the middle for a feeding flap and that’s it. I am pretty surprised how much evaporation there is on these open top tanks though!

 

[Matt Jackson]

Your setup is looking really good! Nice aquascaping.

Thanks!

 

[Matt Jackson]

Quick update.

I got 10 really small blue legged hermit crabs from my lfs about a week ago. They seem pretty happy, obviously no algae to eat yet so I have just been feeding them pellets.

I got the apex set up, way easier to set it up online rather than the controller. I had the lights on for the first time this evening, I’m going to have them on for a few hours each day I thinks from now on.

I also just got a “Quarantine” tank, it’s a13gallon Fluval evo sea, got a skimmer etc... for it. The plan is to set this up and get a fish in quarantine for a few weeks before adding it to the main tank. Once that one is up and running I will post some pics

 

[DeniableArc]

Like what you are doing looks great! Nice tank I love mine Can’t wait to see what to make of it. Here is a picture of mine

Hey

Hey mate I have the same setup with 3 primes and 2 neros. Just ordered some diffusers last week. Care to share your Parameters and light schedule? I run lights at 100% uv v b rb 10% g r w.

 

[Waynerock]

Hey mate I have the same setup with 3 primes and 2 neros. Just ordered some diffusers last week. Care to share your Parameters and light schedule? I run lights at 100% uv v b rb 10% g r w.

Dang man what chu doing up at 4:30!! Get some sleep! Love the Goni’s I got a soft spot for them. Thank looks great and like what you did with the sump. Here is my lighting, I started with Saxby and just tinkered with it till I was happy. Good choice with 3 primes. Do you like them? I think they are just as good as the big boys especially having multiple ones and getting great coverage and not having to spend a fortune. As far as parameters...
Alk 9.0
Cal 460
Mag 1460 ish
No3 around 5
Po4 around 0.03
PH 8.0-8.1

 

[DeniableArc]

Dang man what chu doing up at 4:30!! Get some sleep! Love the Goni’s I got a soft spot for them. Thank looks great and like what you did with the sump. Here is my lighting, I started with Saxby and just tinkered with it till I was happy. Good choice with 3 primes. Do you like them? I think they are just as good as the big boys especially having multiple ones and getting great coverage and not having to spend a fortune. As far as parameters...
Alk 9.0
Cal 460
Mag 1460 ish
No3 around 5
Po4 around 0.03
PH 8.0-8.1

Yeh I like the primes very under rated I was considering the 26 but I think the pucks are to close, I have only just boosted the lights up from 60% in the last 4 months and I’m seeing good growth now. I m using aqua forest balling with almost the same parameters as you. I’m in Australia and it’s 7 am now. What’s you max on the neros? I run 25% random during the day then 50% at night with a hour of pulse at 60%. I think I will max all blues when I get the diffusers from 3DReefing and from the vids I have seen that should give me about 200 par 8”.

 

[DeniableArc]

Hi, I have been lurking around in the background on this forum for a year ago and think it’s about time I start my tread for my own build.

So after about 2 years of owning this tank and gathering equipment it’s about time to make a start and put it together. I purchased the tank new and have had it in storage while slowly finding equipment. Here is a list of what I have so far...

1x Reefer 250
2x XR15 pros Gen 4’s
2x RMS Mounts
2x Ecotech MP10’s
1x Quantum Nyos 120 protein skimmer
1x Vectra S1 return pump
1x Neptune Systems Apex system
1x Ecotech Reef Link
1x Skimz MBR127
1x Clearview Lid with feeding cutout (needed to stop the kids feeding the fish Cheerios
1x Grounding probe

I obviously still need to get a few more bits and plan on getting them soon. I’m thinking about going with dry rock and live sand, 2 heaters in the sump and adding a dosing pump to the apex, test kits etc...

My history in the hobby goes back 10 years ago in England, I purchased a complete set up already established, mainly kept fish and really enjoyed the hobby. Fast forward 10 years and I’m settled in Canada and want to get back in to it, only this time I want to start from scratch and not purchase an established aquarium.

This time I plan on getting in to more sps corrals but still want to have a few fish. Before I get this system wet I wanted to reach out to fellow members (especially those with the reefer 250) to see what suggestions you have with the set up, what I could do to improve on it before I fill it with water.

I'm going to try and keep this thread up to date as much as I can and track my progress along the way. I’m definitely going to need a bit of guidance as I have never set one up from scratch.

for the moment I have a few questions...,

1. How many lb’s of dry rock should I put in it?
2. How much live sand shall I put in it and is live sand the better way to go?
3. What else should I put in the sump? It has the carbon pad and filter socks and that’s about it. (First time using a sump, before I had canister filters)

I will try and attach a few pics

Nice build mate