Show Off and Discuss Your Red Sea Reefer Series

lake985 · Nov 18, 2016

blkhwkz said:
I got the XL425 too and was my first tank with a sump. Now I wish I had started with sumps and not AIO. I was debating about swapping out my JBJ45 for either a Reefer 170 or 250 or an SCA 50 gallon.

That's good to hear. I currently have a 6g fluval edge, so the XL425 will be a significant upgrade for me. I hope I haven't bitten off too much!

T-Bucket · Nov 18, 2016

blkhwkz said:
I got the XL425 too and was my first tank with a sump. Now I wish I had started with sumps and not AIO. I was debating about swapping out my JBJ45 for either a Reefer 170 or 250 or an SCA 50 gallon.

I started 5 years ago with a tank with a sump. Then went to an AIO (Red Sea Max C-130). Then went back to one with a sump (Reefer 450). I will never own an AIO ever again. I like being able to choose all the equipment instead of using what is provided for me. On my AIO I ended up changing almost everything out anyway so I should have just went with one with a sump. What's sad is the owner of my LFS is a good friend of mine and he told me I won't like an AIO and urged me to get a Reefer 170 instead. I should have listened to him but I at least I tried it and now I know it's not for me.

blkhwkz · Nov 18, 2016

T-Bucket said:
I started 5 years ago with a tank with a sump. Then went to an AIO (Red Sea Max C-130). Then went back to one with a sump (Reefer 450). I will never own an AIO ever again. I like being able to choose all the equipment instead of using what is provided for me. On my AIO I ended up changing almost everything out anyway so I should have just went with one with a sump. What's sad is the owner of my LFS is a good friend of mine and he told me I won't like an AIO and urged me to get a Reefer 170 instead. I should have listened to him but I at least I tried it and now I know it's not for me.

I've done the same with my AIO tanks. My wife asked me about an 8 gallon AIO she saw the other day at the LFS she likes. Asked me to make it a softy/lps tank for her desk so I might grab that. Otherwise it is only tanks with sumps from now on for me.

T-Bucket · Nov 18, 2016

lake985 said:
That's good to hear. I currently have a 6g fluval edge, so the XL425 will be a significant upgrade for me. I hope I haven't bitten off too much!

I had a Red Sea Max C-130 (34 gallons) and upgraded to a Reefer 450 (116 gallons) not that long ago. At first I was really stressed out and thought the same as you, holy cow I bit off way more then I can chew. I was originally just going to get a 350 but the wife told me to just buy the one I really wanted and be done with upgrading for awhile. Time passed and it's not bad now, it was just trying to get everything dialed in and set up and maintenance is way more then my old tank was. I still think the 350 would have been a better fit for my living room because lack of space, but I do love my 450 and the extra tank and sump space.

Xclusive Reef · Nov 18, 2016

Placing a order and wanted to get opinions on equipment:
shopping list:

Ro/di: BRS 4 Stage Value Plus RO/DI System - 75GPD
tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Skimmer: Skimz Monzter SM161 Internal Protein Skimmer or Vertx-Omega 180i Protein Skimmer
Return Pump: Syncra Silent 5.0 Pump (1321 GPH) - Sicce
PowerHead: 2 PUMP SET - JEBAO/JECOD PP8 WIRELESS WAVEMAKER AQUARIUM PUMP RW8 or 1- MaxSpect Gyre XF150
Heater: HMX-S Heater w/ Digital LED Controller - Finnex (UNLESS SOMEONE SUGGESTS OTHER MODEL??)
Sand : fiji pink
rock: Pukani dry rock

Lights - (HELP ME DECIDE)

1- 36" T5 Dimmable SunPower Fixture – ATI

1- 36" MATRIXX II T5 Fixture – Giesemann (NOT DIMMABLE)

Xclusive Reef · Nov 18, 2016

blkhwkz said:
BRS is doing 15% off right now on the Reefers.

no they not. i just added the reefer 250 and its not on sale. item is listed for $1104.15 but if you add it to cart it shows up at $1399.. Spoke to someone at brs and they said rsr not on sale this black friday.

blkhwkz · Nov 18, 2016

nycluis718 said:
no they not. i just added the reefer 250 and its not on sale. item is listed for $1104.15 but if you add it to cart it shows up at $1399.. Spoke to someone at brs and they said rsr not on sale this black friday.

Well they emailed me it is and it shows sale price when went there last night. Now it is not showing them, but they are definitely in the email I have. And I had it pulled up and a 170 in my cart for sale price when I posted that.

Xclusive Reef · Nov 18, 2016

lake985 · Nov 18, 2016

??? I hope BRS honors the sale price I paid this morning.

For what it's worth, I had a Gyre XF250 in my cart at SaltwaterAquarium.com. It was on sale for $271.99, then I refreshed my cart and it's back to full price

.

blkhwkz · Nov 18, 2016

Perhaps it was a door buster or misprint, but there it is.....

pelphrey · Nov 18, 2016

They had the Reefer series tanks listed on sale, but have since removed it. I did get a Tunze 3155 ATO this morning at the discounted price.

jsbull · Nov 18, 2016

lake985 said:
That's good to hear. I currently have a 6g fluval edge, so the XL425 will be a significant upgrade for me. I hope I haven't bitten off too much!

That's funny. My two tanks are a Fluval Edge 6 gallon with just RFA's and sexy shrimp, then my Reefer 450. You'll love the Reefer.

re76 · Nov 18, 2016

nycluis718 said:
Placing a order and wanted to get opinions on equipment:
shopping list:

Ro/di: BRS 4 Stage Value Plus RO/DI System - 75GPD
tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Skimmer: Skimz Monzter SM161 Internal Protein Skimmer or Vertx-Omega 180i Protein Skimmer
Return Pump: Syncra Silent 5.0 Pump (1321 GPH) - Sicce
PowerHead: 2 PUMP SET - JEBAO/JECOD PP8 WIRELESS WAVEMAKER AQUARIUM PUMP RW8 or 1- MaxSpect Gyre XF150
Heater: HMX-S Heater w/ Digital LED Controller - Finnex (UNLESS SOMEONE SUGGESTS OTHER MODEL??)
Sand : fiji pink
rock: Pukani dry rock

Lights - (HELP ME DECIDE)

1- 36" T5 Dimmable SunPower Fixture – ATI

1- 36" MATRIXX II T5 Fixture – Giesemann (NOT DIMMABLE)

Regarding heaters, I REALLY like my Cobalt NeoTherms. A lot of people avoid them because the old 200W model had quality issues. None of the other sizes exhibited any issues. They are super easy to use and take up barely any space in my sump. Temperature is always within .5 degrees of where I have it set.

FWIW I am using 2x 150W Neotherms in my Reefer 450. Eventually I want to get a third so that I can keep the temperature in my house colder at night. I like to turn the heat down to 65ish at night when sleeping, I found though (via Apex monitoring) that the temp would drop 2-3 degrees from the setpoint at night if I did that.

blkhwkz · Nov 18, 2016

nycluis718 said:
Placing a order and wanted to get opinions on equipment:
shopping list:

Ro/di: BRS 4 Stage Value Plus RO/DI System - 75GPD
tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Skimmer: Skimz Monzter SM161 Internal Protein Skimmer or Vertx-Omega 180i Protein Skimmer
Return Pump: Syncra Silent 5.0 Pump (1321 GPH) - Sicce
PowerHead: 2 PUMP SET - JEBAO/JECOD PP8 WIRELESS WAVEMAKER AQUARIUM PUMP RW8 or 1- MaxSpect Gyre XF150
Heater: HMX-S Heater w/ Digital LED Controller - Finnex (UNLESS SOMEONE SUGGESTS OTHER MODEL??)
Sand : fiji pink
rock: Pukani dry rock

Lights - (HELP ME DECIDE)

1- 36" T5 Dimmable SunPower Fixture – ATI

1- 36" MATRIXX II T5 Fixture – Giesemann (NOT DIMMABLE)

For my heaters I have Finnex titanium with controllers. I use 2 in my XL425, 1 is a backup and set to come on at a lower temp in my Apex. I have the standalone controllers set a little higher than the Apex for redundancy. I use the Cobalt NeoTherm in another tank and have no issues with it. I'm using the Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0 in my Reefer, no manifold on my tank, and it is silent and works perfect. For a 250, you might need to turn it down a little if you are not using a manifold for reactors or anything.

I'm also using the Pukani rock, but I highly suggest a muriatic acid bath to clean the rock when you get it. Besides, it's fun having the neighbors stare at you and your ventilation mask while stuff is bubbling out of the container in your driveway

I did the MA bath and then let them cure in the garage with every other day Lanthanum Chloride dosing to pull out the phosphates for about 9 weeks.

For light on this tank I am using the ATI dimmable 48" and love it. First T5 fixture, my other tanks are all LED. I did recently add a Reefbrite XHO strip for a little shimmer.

DT Prime · Nov 18, 2016

nycluis718 said:
Placing a order and wanted to get opinions on equipment:
shopping list:

Ro/di: BRS 4 Stage Value Plus RO/DI System - 75GPD
tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Skimmer: Skimz Monzter SM161 Internal Protein Skimmer or Vertx-Omega 180i Protein Skimmer
Return Pump: Syncra Silent 5.0 Pump (1321 GPH) - Sicce
PowerHead: 2 PUMP SET - JEBAO/JECOD PP8 WIRELESS WAVEMAKER AQUARIUM PUMP RW8 or 1- MaxSpect Gyre XF150
Heater: HMX-S Heater w/ Digital LED Controller - Finnex (UNLESS SOMEONE SUGGESTS OTHER MODEL??)
Sand : fiji pink
rock: Pukani dry rock

Lights - (HELP ME DECIDE)

1- 36" T5 Dimmable SunPower Fixture – ATI

1- 36" MATRIXX II T5 Fixture – Giesemann (NOT DIMMABLE)

I have the vertex 180i in my 250, which was recommended by a local guy who builds and maintains tanks for businesses, and while I like it a lot so far I will warn you it takes up the vast majority of the skimmer chamber of the sump. It doesn't really matter for me but it's actually too big to rotate without taking the skimmer cup off (which is huge and very easy to take off and one of the things I like) and lifting it clear of the baffle between the skimmer and return pump chambers, and your choices for the intake nozzle to face are either the front left or rear right corners. Also took me a bit to get it dialed in even after the break-in period.

That said so far it's been working great for me, I feed heavily and only run one filter sock about half the time and my water still stays super clear and nitrates/phosphate negligible, and the cup doesn't need to be cleaned often thanks to the aforementioned size. I'm sure the 150 would be fine too though, and a smaller footprint would be nice especially if you're going to run a reactor etc. Either way Vertex omega are all 20% off on MD today so good time to buy if you want to go that way.

powers2001 · Nov 18, 2016

nycluis718 said:
Placing a order and wanted to get opinions on equipment:
shopping list:

Ro/di: BRS 4 Stage Value Plus RO/DI System - 75GPD
tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Skimmer: Skimz Monzter SM161 Internal Protein Skimmer or Vertx-Omega 180i Protein Skimmer
Return Pump: Syncra Silent 5.0 Pump (1321 GPH) - Sicce
PowerHead: 2 PUMP SET - JEBAO/JECOD PP8 WIRELESS WAVEMAKER AQUARIUM PUMP RW8 or 1- MaxSpect Gyre XF150
Heater: HMX-S Heater w/ Digital LED Controller - Finnex (UNLESS SOMEONE SUGGESTS OTHER MODEL??)
Sand : fiji pink
rock: Pukani dry rock

Lights - (HELP ME DECIDE)

1- 36" T5 Dimmable SunPower Fixture – ATI

1- 36" MATRIXX II T5 Fixture – Giesemann (NOT DIMMABLE)

For powerheads I don't know much about the Gyre but the Jebaos are Chinese junk. I had a Jebao return pump in a nano tank and had a lot of trouble with it. It didn't start half the time and if it had any air in the volute it wouldn't start either.