Hello everyone!
I've dropped a little intro into the new members section of myself and my journey back into this amazing hobby after a ten year absence.
So now on a wage that could sustain a marine tank properly I decided to take the plunge and opt for a Redsea Reefer 200xl. I felt this size was optimum for my first proper tank and would reduce costs a little with lighting, heating and such like. We are also planning to move to our own house next year and the hassle of our large tank would have been too much really.
So the tank arrived and me and my partner put the stand and plumbing together over a day or so.
Next was the sump setup, I removed just the sock holder using a craft knife and put two Bubble Magus Z5 skimmers in the compartment - they fit like they were made for this system, I really do like them,
I then added a Spears Gate Valve and then plumbed it into a Clarisea.
Next up was adding a 17 litre Ato reservoir upgrade from ND aquatics which fits perfectly down the left side of the sump, this Ato I find needs refilling every 10 days with a mostly open top tank.
I use a RS reef 90 for lighting set at around 30 percent blue and 10 percent white at present.
For the return I use a COR 20 pump which I have built a manifold off to flow through a TMC Vectron UV, the return has an Apex flow meter to target specific issues if required.
Next up I hooked up a TLF phosban reactor to the side of the Ato tank and this takes water from the base of the Clarisea through the reactor and to the back of the dual skimmer setup. I have dual skimmers one of which is used for a few hours every night with Ozone and the other on constantly through a Co2 scrubber.
Finally I hooked up the system to an Apex pro and installed a refregium with a Tunze light, miracle mud and Dsb. Dosing can be done via a RS doser mounted on the door panel when I eventually add some softies.
So I think that's it with regards my current setup, running 9 months now fairly stable overall, it's a Fowlr tank with mostly unsual Scorpion fishes.
I will add to this thread my tank inhabitants and aquascaping shortly along with two difficult things I've successfully dealt with - Procentrum Dinos and Ich....
Equipment List:
RS 200xl Gen 1
Rs LED 90
Custom Acrylic Lid with feeding cutout - Reef Print
Jaebo Slw20 x 2
Spears Valve Upgrade
Apex Pro
Apex FMM and Fs50 flow sensor
Tmc Vectron 200
Cor 20 Pump
Nd Aquatics Ato
2x Bubble Magus Z5 Skimmer
Tunze Refugium Light
Clarisea Sk3000
Jaebo dcs 2000 reactor pump
TLF phosban reactor with NPX bio pellets
Aqua Medic Ozone 90 and air dryer
Redsea 4 Doser with custom doser bottles (Etsy)
Maxspect Bio Bricks
Miracle Mud in 3x tuperwares for easy removal and replacement if required
6x6 inch acrylic cube with Dsb
Battery backup air pump with auto-on in event of power failure
Stock list:
Weedy Rhinopias
Pop Eye Sea Goblin
Antanana Lion
Fu Manchu Lion
Radiata Lion
Leaf Fish
Cockatoo Waspfish
Snowflake Eel
Frog Fish - in the sump with the macro algea
Almost all of the above are fed a live diet of mollys, guppies and ghost shrimp (I breed all of these) with some Octopus and Salmon for the eel. As I want to ensure the best care possible for these fish and with my limited knowledge of them I tend to follow the advice and posts of @lion king who has been invaluable in helping me care for them this far successfully, I've not lost a single one.
Edit - the childlocks on the lid are to stop the Snowflake Eel escaping, he pushed it off one night and I found him dried up on the floor. I popped him back into the tank and he survived thankfully.
I've dropped a little intro into the new members section of myself and my journey back into this amazing hobby after a ten year absence.
So now on a wage that could sustain a marine tank properly I decided to take the plunge and opt for a Redsea Reefer 200xl. I felt this size was optimum for my first proper tank and would reduce costs a little with lighting, heating and such like. We are also planning to move to our own house next year and the hassle of our large tank would have been too much really.
So the tank arrived and me and my partner put the stand and plumbing together over a day or so.
Next was the sump setup, I removed just the sock holder using a craft knife and put two Bubble Magus Z5 skimmers in the compartment - they fit like they were made for this system, I really do like them,
I then added a Spears Gate Valve and then plumbed it into a Clarisea.
Next up was adding a 17 litre Ato reservoir upgrade from ND aquatics which fits perfectly down the left side of the sump, this Ato I find needs refilling every 10 days with a mostly open top tank.
I use a RS reef 90 for lighting set at around 30 percent blue and 10 percent white at present.
For the return I use a COR 20 pump which I have built a manifold off to flow through a TMC Vectron UV, the return has an Apex flow meter to target specific issues if required.
Next up I hooked up a TLF phosban reactor to the side of the Ato tank and this takes water from the base of the Clarisea through the reactor and to the back of the dual skimmer setup. I have dual skimmers one of which is used for a few hours every night with Ozone and the other on constantly through a Co2 scrubber.
Finally I hooked up the system to an Apex pro and installed a refregium with a Tunze light, miracle mud and Dsb. Dosing can be done via a RS doser mounted on the door panel when I eventually add some softies.
So I think that's it with regards my current setup, running 9 months now fairly stable overall, it's a Fowlr tank with mostly unsual Scorpion fishes.
I will add to this thread my tank inhabitants and aquascaping shortly along with two difficult things I've successfully dealt with - Procentrum Dinos and Ich....
Equipment List:
RS 200xl Gen 1
Rs LED 90
Custom Acrylic Lid with feeding cutout - Reef Print
Jaebo Slw20 x 2
Spears Valve Upgrade
Apex Pro
Apex FMM and Fs50 flow sensor
Tmc Vectron 200
Cor 20 Pump
Nd Aquatics Ato
2x Bubble Magus Z5 Skimmer
Tunze Refugium Light
Clarisea Sk3000
Jaebo dcs 2000 reactor pump
TLF phosban reactor with NPX bio pellets
Aqua Medic Ozone 90 and air dryer
Redsea 4 Doser with custom doser bottles (Etsy)
Maxspect Bio Bricks
Miracle Mud in 3x tuperwares for easy removal and replacement if required
6x6 inch acrylic cube with Dsb
Battery backup air pump with auto-on in event of power failure
Stock list:
Weedy Rhinopias
Pop Eye Sea Goblin
Antanana Lion
Fu Manchu Lion
Radiata Lion
Leaf Fish
Cockatoo Waspfish
Snowflake Eel
Frog Fish - in the sump with the macro algea
Almost all of the above are fed a live diet of mollys, guppies and ghost shrimp (I breed all of these) with some Octopus and Salmon for the eel. As I want to ensure the best care possible for these fish and with my limited knowledge of them I tend to follow the advice and posts of @lion king who has been invaluable in helping me care for them this far successfully, I've not lost a single one.
Edit - the childlocks on the lid are to stop the Snowflake Eel escaping, he pushed it off one night and I found him dried up on the floor. I popped him back into the tank and he survived thankfully.
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