Salty german - RSR250

Inversus

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Hey there,

so I just decided to document my way here on this forum. Im already in the middle of the process (I would say) so why didn't I started earlier?
Well... To be honest my head was already this close to explode from all the things in the reef tank world, that I had no more capacity to write stuff down :) (A little bit overdramatized)
But now I see things differently and thought why not, might be fun and could lead to new things. And also for anger management :)

Anyhow first things first:
I'm Marvin from germany and 28 years old. Except for a small aquarium in my childhood, that my parents kept going, I had no prior experience. Regarding to how I even ended up here... It all started with the idea of a bottled terrarium half a year ago (not sure if thats the right english word, I mean basically a big bottle where you put in a few plants and a bit of water ,then close it and see how things unfold.) To inform myself about it I watched some YouTube videos and from there on it escalated quickly. A few days later my recommendations on YouTube went from those terrariums to reef tanks and I was like oh...oh my. Aaaand yeah here we are :D

Over the past half year I was digging all kind of information on forums, youtube, books or whatever and I have to admit, that the entry in this hobby ain't easy at all.
Espacially with the forums available in germany. I tried my best to get the the theoretical knowledge but I was absolutely clueless about what kind of hardware to use. So I tried asking in a german forum what hardware is recommended for an newbie and all I got was "Everyone is doing it differently, there is no recommendation".

I was like what the heck, thats it? I mean I dont wanted a perfect to-buy-list, but just a tip in what direction I had to go. So I had to admit, that the german community is probably just to small and I looked for internation forums and found r2r.

After I had a general glimpse on how much $$$ I had to spend, my goal was to get as much as possible used. So a big part of the past half year I spend searching/waiting for offers on a big german used-market. But after so much time (for me it felt like decades) I had again to admit, that the community and thus the used market is too small. There where good used offers with complete packages, but way to far away. So the big dream to save a huge amount of money with buying a complete package was gone. But the individual parts market was not so bad after all, it just meant the amount of savings for me are less. For example a complete and well equipped RSR250 was offered between 1100$ and 1600$. Individual parts where obviously cheaper than new ones, but all-in-all still a good chunk more expensive than a complete package

Okay enough chit chat:
Thats the hardware I got:

Tank
- Red Sea Reefer 250 in white (new + good deal)

Light
- Kessil AP9X (used)

Pumps
- 2x Tunze 6055 + Controller (used)
- 1x Tunze 6015 (for mixing water, used)
- 1x Royal Exclusive Red Dragon x85 (new + good deal, I know its way to op for my tank, but running it throttled should be fine)

Skimmer:
- Deltec 400i (used - almost new)

Rodi
- Aqua Medic Platinum Line Plus (new in a really good offer)

Small stuff
- CaribSea Special Grade sand (new)
- Tropic Marine Pro Reef salt (new)
- Tunze Magnet Cleaner (used)
- Red Sea testing kit (new on a used markt)
- Red Sea water cycle kit
- Hydrometer (new)
- 3x Preset heaters (2x for tank, 1x for mixing water, new)
- Aqua Medic Twin Controller (used)
- Arka Reef Rocks


Theres a lot more small stuff I think, because there is so much more needed that you didn't think of. And what I learned the most:
In the areas where you dont expect anything difficult/challenging, its going to be the worst part -.-

I'm planning to go with a mixed reef. To be honest I currently have no fixed list on what corals or fish I want.
All I know is that I want to go with breeded fish as much as possible. I think I have to accept that this is not possible for the most of the CUC. But as far as I could see it, there are many breeded fish here and I only want to go with them.
Reason for that is, that Im recently saw a renowned german marine biologist who stated that most of the saltwater fish are captured in their origins and transported to us. That alone is quite sad and what's worse is, that about up to 80% of fish die on this way.



To be continued


Edit 17.02.22:
Current view:
 
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Inversus

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The first thing I learned, that almost EVERY aspect in this hobby can and most likely will be a rabbit hole :D
Especially in the past few weeks, that cost me quite a bit of energy. Im (sometimes unfortunately) am a type of guy that if Im doing it, Im going all in. Meaning to research the best stuff and don't compromise.
And I sometimes lost myself in the research, because sometimes there isn't just THE best part or way to do it.

The first thing I didn't expected to be that much hustle:
Aquascaping

Well, if I had researched this topic more in the beginning I would have known whats coming :D
I ended up buying a reef rock package of 44 pounds (lbs) with mixed sizied rocks, in the expectation to have all the right rocks to make a perfect aquascape:

IMG_20220112_093408.jpg


Well... That was just not the case ;)
I tried a few things, but in the end it wasn't for my taste and expectation. After watching brstv videos on NSA and HNSA I decided to break down most of my rocks and try to create something similar.

So the rocks from above ended up like this:
IMG_20220124_075645.jpg


It was quite satisfying as I could split them in good forms. I left the two biggest rocks complete, but was able to carve in some caves, which kinda made me proud :) I think I now have a really good base to start with.
I already have cement and going to start in the next few days


The next and till now biggest surprise in things I didn't expect to be a problem:
Leveling the tank.

Holy moly (thats the part of the mentioned anger management in the first post). I was this close to just yeet off everything out of the window.
I didn't know it was possible to build a wood floor that uneven. From the beginning it was planned to place the cabinet on an extra plywood, to not damage the wood and make the landlord happy.
Underneath the plywood I added "insulation", that is supposed to be used beneath wood floors.
It can balance out some uneven things (up to 4mm).

Ez pz I thought. But realized quickly that it's a bit off. From back to front about 3/16" and same from right to left.
In my perfectionism (and beside that, you should level a tank no matter what) I tried my best and I dont know how many times I took of the cabinet from the plywood, made arrangements and put it back on.
Jesus christ...

Long story short:
I ended up putting two "insulation" layers beneath the plywood and placed the cabinet + tank on it.
With the hope that it will level out when the load comes.

To test it, my job today is to carry as much buckets as possible to the tank and fill it with tap water to see how load changes the leveling. And how everything is reacting to the load in general.
If everything is fine, I have to get the water out again and can build the rest of the tank (sump, doors, pipes). If not... Maybe the yeet part.
Maybe I will call some pro's that will do it for me, because I seriously have no nerves for this anymore xD

Here the progress:

IMG_20220124_071647.jpg

The cables in the background are just temporary (rearranged my room for the tank) and the visible insulation will be cut off once the test is done

I think thats it for today
 
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Inversus

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Okay, the Tank is now filled to the max for about 10 hours and basically it didnt changed anything about the leveling.

I measured the waterlevel of all corners and going to shim the cabinet tomorrow using the numbers I got (+Level Tool ofc) . Well, depending on Amazon is keeping their Word about next day delivery
 
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Inversus

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I got my shims and a friend came by. And a bit math and many shims later... The Tank is leveled!
At least with cabinet and Tank only. I will fill it half full and see how it will react
 

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Beside work and sport I managed to fill the Tank in the morning, made a bit of aquascaping and installed the doors + sump on the rsr250.

Tank is still leveled while beeing full.
So everything is going good so far.

Except for the return pump, everything is here. Canceled the order (ordered a month ago and they still cant delivery), but still waiting for the conformation on that, before ordering elsewhere
 

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Inversus

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Nice tank. Congratulations. I enjoy my 250.
Thanks, Do you have the v3 sump?
I have difficulties to understand the right flow and where to put what. Unfortunately that part isnt documented at all. The Videos i found are either not v3 or pretty custom.

Edit:
To clarify i made a pic:
IMG_20220127_131134.jpg


To my understanding:
- Water comes from the drainage (or emergency drainage) to part 1
- From there it fills till it flows to chamber 2/3. Why is it like that it will flow to chamber 2 and 3 simultaneously? Makes no sense in my eyes

I think the skimmer placement is right? Where should I put the return pump (chamber 3 or 4)?
 
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Inversus

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I think its clear now... Or i will See sooner or later. Dont think there is much to Do wrong.

Anyhow, today the return pump arrived (what a beast (size)) and coral scaper.
BUT the included Adapters are to big for the Stock pipes on the rsr250.
So I thought a bit on it and decided to Just replace the whole pipe with a silicone Tube.
For that I ordered a Adapter (1 1/4" with 32 mm Hose barb) that will hopefully fit on the Red sea pipe.

So waiting again for stuff :D
But I still need to Do the aquascape. I think I have the general base but if I Look at it I still think theres missing the special catch.
Also Im not really satisfied with the reef cement I have. Its gets Hard Quick but I have the feeling it does not connect really Well with the reef Rock itself. Needed a few try and errors and ended up with blasting it with cement to hold... I think you Just have to push and rub it really in so it connects with the Rock.

Also I went out of cement and ordered New one. If everything is going according to Plan I will have enough left to make a more liquid cement to "paint over" the dryed out cement and then throw all the reef Rock Sand on it I collected while busting them to smaller bits.



P. S. Sorry for the weird small and uppercase words. But auto text on phone with a german keyboard get weird results


Have a great weekend and stay safe
IMG_20220128_190217.jpg
 
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Inversus

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Okay things are moving much slower as hoped.
Red sea uses a special thread for the pipe connection, which you cant buy in the free market. Tommorw I'll try to get the one union nut on the return pipe loose with a heat gun. I ordered the hose barbs from royal exclusiv which fits perfectly on the pipe and will mount them with the Union nut. But the barbs will be deliviered in monday :(


Anyhow I think my aquascape is done. What do you guys think? Is it high enough? Enough rocks? Good living space for fish?

 

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I like it. Maybe bring the pillar on the right forward a little to open that area up a bit. Nice balance of swimming space and room for coral growth.
 

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Here you are, paying more than 1k for a reef tank and youre rewarded with a sticker from hell
IMG_20220127_080905_1.jpg



As an early bird I managed to finished the tubing and did a bit more aquascape (pictures later)
Nice build, thanks for all the detail and pix. Keep them coming. This tool will help get rid of that sticker in no time.

2022-02-04_12-27-53.jpg
 
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Inversus

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I like it. Maybe bring the pillar on the right forward a little to open that area up a bit. Nice balance of swimming space and room for coral growth.
Thanks :)

Nice build, thanks for all the detail and pix. Keep them coming. This tool will help get rid of that sticker in no time.

2022-02-04_12-27-53.jpg
Yeah I have something similar but that was a really though sticker and I couldnt get it off with it (also was a bit scared to chop into the silicone). I googled tricks to get rid of it (lemon jucie doesn't help!) and butter (or just any fat) helped a lot.
 
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Today I managed to free the union nut.
Paired with the hose barb from the royal exclusiv and a thicker sealing Ring its not an optical but a perfect fitting match. This way I can directly attach the tube to the Red sea pipe.

IMG_20220205_112423.jpg
 
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Inversus

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Almost done with filling my Tank up :D
Sand got conpressed a bit... Now I think it could be almost not enough. What do you guys say? Should I add more Sand or is it okay like this?
 

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A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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