Reefer 250

Jake270 · Apr 16, 2018

So At Easter we got a new Red Sea Reefer 250 and Have been pretty busy since. Started with about 50# of the caribesea life rock and 40# of sand
running the Hydra 26's that came with the tank
A Sicce Synacra SDC 7.o, wat too much flow but great pump
MP40WQD dialed way back as well
Tunze Osomolator
and rounding off with an Eshopps S-200 protein skimmer. Currently way too big, but if fits.
Cycled with media from 20g tank and some Dr. Tim's and things went amazingly well.

After getting everything set up and put on a battery back up after a serious mishap previously with some freshwater fish, the customizing began. Wasn't much but drilled the ATO container and converted to a mini refugium, figured it couldn't hurt. Got all the plumbing looking nice and ordered a 10g top off container to match the color scheme under the tank that no one ever sees except me. But i don't think I'm the only one like this.

Everything tested out nicely and put in a big black ice clown. Unfortunately she went on a hunger strike for 8 days and would not eat. I tried several different foods, garlic, entice, pellets, frozen, large small didn't matter. The only thing i didn't try was flake. I do believe it was a separated pair on a trade in and could have had something to do with it. We lost her unfortunately.

Coral has started with some softies a few LPS and a few Sticks I couldn't pass up at the frag show this weekend. Well see how it goes. Pushing a little quick at the moment but half the fun is trying new things. Always have the 20g tank if things start to look really bad and can transfer. Pictures to follow

Jake270 · Apr 16, 2018

Jake270 · Apr 16, 2018

So the skimmer is going absolutely bizzerk and i can't really tolerate it so going to run in a bucket of tank water to try and get it to settle down a bit and then go from there. But in the mean time heres some of the corals we added.

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If anyone knows what the red SPS is I would appreciate it. I just can't remember what the gentleman that sold it to me said it was.

Jake270 · Apr 23, 2018

So moving right along. I know Some may think I’m playing with fire and I might be but we all do things differently.

Added a reef link to more precisely control the MP40 and set different schedules hopefully didn’t blow away all the corals while at work today. We’ll see.

So the first clown went on hunger strike and refused to east after trying everything and we lost her. Unfortunate. The melanarus wrasse and the little naked clown that was intended for this tank are doing greats the naked clown was relocated to the nano and is getting along quite well now.

Headed to a LFS where I had a gift card and come home with a pair of Clarkii’s pretty good looking fish and they are settling in nicely. Then came more coral and more coral
Picked up some really nice acans, a amazing wellso, green digi, a few more rocordia and a nice blue rhodactis, purple frogspawn, and rounded it off with some chuckies bride and pink panther zoas. Anyways everything doing good so far and we’ll see how it goes. I know I’m moving fast and y’all can say it when I come crying back that there was an issue but until then enjoy.

Jake270 · Apr 24, 2018

Everyone out and about

Jake270 · Apr 25, 2018

So the single Mp40 set on the lowest setting was just murdering my new Wellso and def keeping some of the tissue pushed against the skeleton. So I tried moving it around several different places and yeah its just way too much in this tank. I was worried about the MP10 not being strong enough to stick to the glass but have read where several people have no issues unless it is bumped. So I stopped today and snagged an MP10 and will see how it goes. If it works out ok will add another soon.

powers2001 · Apr 26, 2018

Looking good, I have a RSR 250 too!!

Jake270 · Apr 26, 2018

Thanks great tanks

Jake270 · Apr 26, 2018

Starting to show some potential

Jake270 · Apr 27, 2018

MP 10 Holding strong. Should have tried that out to begin with. Guess Ill be trying to offload a basically brand new MP40

Savo · Apr 30, 2018

Great to hear the MP10 worked out for you. Are you going with one? I'm in the process of building a rsr250 and was planning on two of them.

Reefer Deez · Apr 30, 2018

Tank looks great! I also had trouble with that same skimmer but once it broke in it works like a champ. I haven't had any other problems with it as long as I keep up the maintenance on it.

Rick Krejci · Apr 30, 2018

I have a RSR250 with 2x MP40s. I put them on the back wall running at about 25-30%. Blows the gravel a little, but all in all really gives nice circulation. The MP40's and return all combine to make a back-to-front gyre circulation pattern

Jake270 · Apr 30, 2018

Savo said:
Great to hear the MP10 worked out for you. Are you going with one? I'm in the process of building a rsr250 and was planning on two of them.

Yeah I do plan to add another but it all depends on the corals you have. I plan on the second one just to get flow going in the other direction and not running the pumps at the same time. I honestly think with some of my softies and LPS that the flow would be too much. But def see the benefit in running flow from the other side of the tank. Just have to watch my branching bubble coral.

Reefer Deez said:
Tank looks great! I also had trouble with that same skimmer but once it broke in it works like a champ. I haven't had any other problems with it as long as I keep up the maintenance on it.

Thanks. I hope I can find the patience to let this thing break in. I don't know why its giving me so many problems. Any pointers I'll take em.

Rick Krejci said:
I have a RSR250 with 2x MP40s. I put them on the back wall running at about 25-30%. Blows the gravel a little, but all in all really gives nice circulation. The MP40's and return all combine to make a back-to-front gyre circulation pattern

Wow yeah its not that it was really blowing sand although I could def make it do that, but pushing LPS tissue back against the skeletons badly. I couldn't imagine 2 running at that speed. but hey Glad its working for you.

Jake270 · Apr 30, 2018

So we went crazy on coral yet again but hey oh well, gotta spend money of something sometimes. Got a little pearly jawfish that has set up the absolute perfect burrow in the dead front center of the tank at Acan Atol (my absolute favorite spot) sometime ya just get lucky! Here a few quick shots of some old and some new and a FTS

Jake270 · May 3, 2018

So the wife absolutely had to have a puffer fish. ( scroll down for short version) I am really trying to get her into the hobby, she doesn’t mind the tanks loves them in fact, and is starting to learn corals as well. But she just says yup I like that want that. So I figured it would help to get her a little more involved and said “you can pick out ANY” fish you want that doesn’t get too big and is at least Reef safe with caution, and you have to research it. Well she spent time online and looking in the stores then more research and I was pretty impressed. Then she said it Valentini Puffer. And she reminded me I said anything she wanted so against my better judgement he came home with us. Well a week in he starts nipping at all the LPS in the tank. Acans, lobos, wellso etc so she notices and goes oh no he’s got to go! Yeah why don’t you just tell him to get out he can’t be doing that. I warned her he wouldn’t care how much we spent on a particular piece of coral or that was her favorite one it was a chance putting him in there. So then came the fun of trying to explain that it’s not that easy to just scoop a fish out of a tank with 60 pounds of rock and corals attached all over them.

Long sorry short had to catch him and didn’t want to move any rock. Also didn’t want to let it go a month until we move. Tried to catch him at feeding time and was a total disaster. Waited till lights out. He sleeps up high and in the front of the rock work. Got a red light and a net and just put it right over him, he never moved was shockingly easy. As soon as he was in the net I turned all the tank lights on and just scooped him out. Into the acclimation box he went and he will venture back to LFS this weekend.

powers2001 · Jun 29, 2018

@Rick Krejci do you have a build thread for your RSR 250?

mosash · Jul 23, 2018

I'm working on setting up a Reefer 250. Love your idea of converting the given ato into a fuge. How did you go about doing that? How is water coming in and out, via separate pump?

Great job!