Shaun's 2000 Litre (530 USG) Living Reef & Red Sea Max S 650 LED Design & Build

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SPR1968

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Here’s another comparison picture of a Duncan coral in the new tank

The first picture was taken 15th February 2020 and the second 10th May 2020

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SPR1968

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What are you feeding to make the lyrtails go crazy! I put a group of 5 in my tank few days ago. Haven’t been able to determine which food they love the best!
I feed a frozen mixture of brine and mysis shrimp with added garlic and omega oil around 1pm and then a mix of ocean nutrition small pellets formula 1 and 2 at 6.30pm with the Apex auto feeder

The frozen is variations of this


I try and give the fish a mixed and healthy diet as far as I can
 
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SPR1968

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The ‘accused’ has been found guilty of munching on one of the corals in the S650, the little....!

And I don’t think the coral will win!

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SPR1968

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Here another coral growth comparison

The first picture was taken 17th January 2020 and the second 10th May 2020. You can clearly see the growth

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RichtheReefer21

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The ‘accused’ has been found guilty of munching on one of the corals in the S650, the little....!

And I don’t think the coral will win!

E486F179-6B09-430F-A235-2524CEFAA1EF.jpeg

F07AACE6-390F-4AB9-968C-FECC295B7C20.jpeg
Poo poo paroo
 
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SPR1968

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I’ve been asked for a slightly longer video of the new 2000 litre system so here you go. I hope you enjoy it anyway

The tank is around 5 1/2 months old, has no issues whatsoever.

 

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I’ve been asked for a slightly longer video of the new 2000 litre system so here you go. I hope you enjoy it anyway

The tank is around 5 1/2 months old, has no issues whatsoever.


The tang gang looks so tiny in that display! Happy to hear the stocking process has gone to plan. Looking beautiful Shaun.
 
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The tang gang looks so tiny in that display! Happy to hear the stocking process has gone to plan. Looking beautiful Shaun.
Thank you Rich, the yellow tangs area beautiful to watch as they shoal around together. Their all best friends now.

The stocking hasn’t quiet gone to plan though. With the current situation my main LFS is being well over cautious and only selling foods, despite the other shops being fully open with systems in place to keep apart, so I haven’t been able to add many additional fish. But I’m happy to wait until this madness has subsided

I haven’t really got much to say as everything is running smoothy. To be honest I don’t have much to do apart from changing rowaphos and other bits from time to time, everything is automated. For anyone reading auto water changes with Apex DOS is a game changer it really makes the hobby much more enjoyable and easier. I’m running 2 very big tanks with nothing to do!

I filled the S650 ATO reservoir up today. I flicked a switch on Apex, a pump came to life, and that was that, full for another 2 weeks or so.

The X Filter works brilliantly and the current 32 micron paper lasts around 6-7 weeks wereas the 25 only lasts 4. Once I’ve used all the 25 rolls up I’ll just stick with 32 as I can’t tell any difference with water clarity.
 
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Oh the shame, I can grow fancy, hard to grow SPS, but in both my systems the green star polyp will not extend like the beautiful sea of grass it should be.

I have a feeling it’s because I keep phosphate very low in both systems, which won’t ever change, so.......

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Shaun,
The video is relaxing and it's coming along great.

Who built your custom tank?

That's the best Euro bracing that I have ever seen.
 
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Shaun,
The video is relaxing and it's coming along great.

Who built your custom tank?

That's the best Euro bracing that I have ever seen.
Thanks Freddie

The tank, sump and stand was built by Fit Filtration in Sheffield UK and they made an excellent job of it I’d never buy an off the shelf tank again because the workmanship and design is simply first class.

The stand is made of steel and fabricated by them in their workshops so it’s rock solid which is comforting when your heads under the tank!

There so confident that they don’t leak test the tanks. I did asked the question, and was told that with the sealants and processes they use it’s not necessary and the tank will last a lifetime. However, I will admit this made me a ‘little nervous’ during the initial filling! Lol
 
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I’ve been getting a bit fed up with the same old corals, in particular lack of some of the nicer SPS corals in the LFS’s, so I found Masterfisch, who are based in France with a UK office. I was a little nervous but ordered 4 SPS as a test order, and they arrived today.

It was actually interesting following their journey with UPS from France, to Germany then to Castle Donnington UK and then to me all within less than 24 hours. Very impressive.

I have to say the packaging was superb, all tightly packed in a custom made box and inside that an insulated box, which is nice enough to use to carry cold drinks in! Lol

The corals bags were thick and even had what looked like pieces of carbon inside to presumably absorb and toxins during the journey.

These corals are a descent size for frags, infact large, and we’re half the price you would pay in a shop. I do buy corals from the LFS’s but the vast majority of frags come from online in particular Mail Order Corals who I also use and are very good.

Anyway, I had a email yesterday from them about a 20% sale so I’ve just ordered another 7 SPS corals. What I really like is most of the corals are wysiwyg so you get that exact peace.

The first 3 pictures below, just taken quickly with an iPhone, show the corals from Masterfisch and the bottom picture are the ones delivered last week from Mail Order Corals all acclimatising whilst I decide we’re they will live

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