RL6723's Red Sea 250

[RL6723]

After lurking the forums here at R2R, (especially the for sale forums) its time for me to contribute my new build thread.

A little bit about me, ive been in the hobby for about 8 years now, starting with a ten gallon nano with HOB equipment and a black box.
My most recent real build was a 24" rimless almost cube which was taken down when I purchased my current home.

Which brings me to my current build. When the Reefer series came out I knew I had to have one. The goal of my build was to be the best equipment my budget would allow. Knowing this, Ive scored a lot of good used equipment here in anticipation of this build.

Current equipment I have:
Red Sea Reefer 250 in white
2x XR30 G4 pros
Varios 4
2x mp10
1xmp40
Apex with WXM, Trident, DOS

Goal for this tank is going to be SPS dominant for sure, as for as a fish list, im not too sure just yetHere is the location where the tank will go in my office

 

[RL6723]

First order of business once the tank arrived was to build the stand. Red Sea did a good job with the 250, but i still had this doubt about the cam locks while building it. Especially once i snapped on off, and I was not even wrenching down on it. I also noticed once built that the plugs they provide will not fit in all the holes due to the position of the cam locks. Both no big deal and if thats the only problems I can deal with it.

Here it is in its new home.

Overall the stand feels sturdy and I am confident in it

 

[RL6723]

Of course as soon as I got the stand together I called my brother over to help me set the tank. We got up no problem and everything looks great. The tank is really well made and every seam looks flawless. I am very impressed with these tanks and cant wait to get it wet

 

[NShirke]

looks great!

 

[RL6723]

Next up was to put the sump and plumbing in which was way easier than when Ive plumbed tanks in the past. Im still nlt sure if I will end up building a manifold or not, but I will have time later to switch that up if I decide.

Which brings us to where Im at today, i am waiting now for a replacement cam lock as well as my shipment of MarcoRocks and mortar so that I can scape the tank.

 

[RL6723]

looks great!

Thank you!! Im pretty excited to see how it looks once its wet!

 

[powers2001]

@RL6723 you will love this tank !!!! I'm subscribed. Have you used an Apex before? They are awesome. Let me know if you need any help with your Apex.

 

[Brent Behringer]

Nice! Waiting for my 250 in black to arrive.

 

[RL6723]

@RL6723 you will love this tank !!!! I'm subscribed. Have you used an Apex before? They are awesome. Let me know if you need any help with your Apex.

Yea, i actually have my apex on my holding tank right now, but I will definitely ask if I have any questions. Thank you!!

 

[RL6723]

Nice! Waiting for my 250 in black to arrive.

Awesome, youll love it, im very impressed with the tank so far!!

 

[RL6723]

Today I worked on some aquascaping, I ordered 60 lbs of MarcoRocks, which ended up being 20 lbs of foundation rocks, 20 lbs of reef saver, and 20 lbs of shelf rocks. This is the scqpe im most happy with but im going to sit on it for q bit before I decide to cement it with the E 400. Any feedback on the scape would be awesome!!

 

[RL6723]

I also did some work to the sump area and set some of my equipment in place. A lot of my inspiration for the cabinet came from @Eight. I loved the super clean equipment cabinet look. I was hesitant on drilling into my stand so I built a free standing equipment cabinet. All controllers for the Vortechs, return pump etc will be mounted to the front door, and eb832, modules and trident will go inside the cabinet.

Also a big thanks to everyone who has given me ideas and motivate me with the awesome tanks here. Ive watched hours of @pelphrey videos, and will be using a lot of ideas from him.

 

[ajm83]

Two XR30s on a 250, wow! Any idea what PAR you'll be targetting? Or is it more for spread (or another reason)?

Love what you've done with the cupboard.

 

[RL6723]

Two XR30s on a 250, wow! Any idea what PAR you'll be targetting? Or is it more for spread (or another reason)?

Love what you've done with the cupboard.

Yea, a little overkill I know lol but my goal for the tank is going to be sps dominant. I also want to be able to place anything, anywhere in the tank and not have to worry. Im going to shoot for 350-400 at the top of the rocks, but my main reason for xr30s is spread. I was between 3 xr15s or 2 xr30s, and in the end I decided 4 pucks would give me better spread. I usually will oversize everything on my builds and run everything at a lower level. I believe it helps with longevity of the equipment rather than running everything at 100%.

 

[RL6723]

One of the last things to do for today was to install these camlock covers. The problem i had with the red sea cam lock covers was that the rubber was a little too thick in places and i could not install them all. So what I did was order these waterproof hole covers. I was able to cover all of the holes which is a small thing but i felt like they needed to be covered to prevent water from getting in the mdf.

 

[RL6723]

Tomorrow i will be cutting drywall out in order to install a box for my AWC and I will try to get my scape cemented. If all goes well id like to get the tank wet by next weekend and begin the cycle!

 

[Brent Behringer]

Looks great. I think I’m gonna ditch the stock sump and go with a CL-34 Synergy sump which will take up most of inside cabinet space. I’d like more sump volume and room for my equipment. I’ll put my ato and controls cabinet beside the stand. Still working out the details.

 

[RL6723]

Looks great. I think I’m gonna ditch the stock sump and go with a CL-34 Synergy sump which will take up most of inside cabinet space. I’d like more sump volume and room for my equipment. I’ll put my ato and controls cabinet beside the stand. Still working out the details.

Awesome choice, I love the work synergy does. I think down the road a may switch the stock sump out and re plumb everything. I really wanted to do an external equipment cabinet as well, but with the space i have the tank in it just wouldnt have worked out. So my plan is to get a thinner Advanced Acrylics ato reservoir and put that to the side of the tank

 

[powers2001]

Looks great. I think I’m gonna ditch the stock sump and go with a CL-34 Synergy sump which will take up most of inside cabinet space. I’d like more sump volume and room for my equipment. I’ll put my ato and controls cabinet beside the stand. Still working out the details.

@Brent Behringer you have a PM.

 

[Eight]

Wow looking awesome!!