Salsa's Reefer XL 300

[Salsa30]

Hi, I guess this is part intro, part build thread.

I dipped my toes in the hobby around 2010-2011 with a 29 gallon, hang on skimmer, T5 fixture. I was buying grocery store RO water, had clowns, cleaner shrimp, GSP, duncan, hammer corals and more xenia then I knew what to do with. Moves and life got me out of the aquarium game for a while.

I got a Red Sea Reefer XL 300 a few weeks ago and finally got it set up. Beginning gear so far:

Reefer XL 300
Varios 4 return pump
2x MP40 powerheads
Finnex 300W heater
Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite skimmer
Hydra 32 HD light (I'll be getting another one, I'm giving my wallet a breather.)

I'm going to give the Dr. Tim's fishless cycle a shot and see how that goes I guess.

Only weird thing I've run into so far is the temperature. I had the heater set to 80F (not using a controller) and the display was sitting around 76F. I'm not sure if it is just the built in thermostat being wonky or maybe my return pump flow isn't high enough? I've got the Varios 4 set to 80%, I could bump it up to 100% and see if that helps. But first I am moving the heater temp up to 84F to see where that gets me. I'll be getting a heater controller soon so I don't inadvertently cook my tank.

Here is a picture of rocks:

Here is a picture of rocks AND water:

 

[Idoc]

Looks nice! I would bet the internal thermostat or the device reading the tank's temperature is off slightly...or the temp gauge is actually away from the heaters. For instance, heaters are in the return chamber of the sump, but the temp reading gauge is in the first section of the sump. I wouldn't sweat it too much...76 degrees isn't crazy off.

The varios pumps are awesome....so quiet. I have a varios6.

 

[Ranjib]

following along . I got the same tank

 

[ReefRondo]

Me too!

 

[revhtree]

Hi, I guess this is part intro, part build thread.

I dipped my toes in the hobby around 2010-2011 with a 29 gallon, hang on skimmer, T5 fixture. I was buying grocery store RO water, had clowns, cleaner shrimp, GSP, duncan, hammer corals and more xenia then I knew what to do with. Moves and life got me out of the aquarium game for a while.

I got a Red Sea Reefer XL 300 a few weeks ago and finally got it set up. Beginning gear so far:

Reefer XL 300
Varios 4 return pump
2x MP40 powerheads
Finnex 300W heater
Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite skimmer
Hydra 32 HD light (I'll be getting another one, I'm giving my wallet a breather.)

I'm going to give the Dr. Tim's fishless cycle a shot and see how that goes I guess.

Only weird thing I've run into so far is the temperature. I had the heater set to 80F (not using a controller) and the display was sitting around 76F. I'm not sure if it is just the built in thermostat being wonky or maybe my return pump flow isn't high enough? I've got the Varios 4 set to 80%, I could bump it up to 100% and see if that helps. But first I am moving the heater temp up to 84F to see where that gets me. I'll be getting a heater controller soon so I don't inadvertently cook my tank.

Here is a picture of rocks:

Here is a picture of rocks AND water:

Congrats on the new tank!