SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

[SuncrestReef]

I'm so glad my tank is thriving again after the setback in December & January. Everything is happy and growing, so I've been adding more corals recently. Here are my newest additions today:

Oulophyllia


Favites

 

[SuncrestReef]

Updated full tank shot:

 

[NY_Caveman]

Beautiful. Love the Lobophyllia.

 

[408Dartfish]

Your tank looks awesome. I’m such a fish guy I’d have to add a few more fish to your reef.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I got tired of reaching my whole arm into the tank to pick up knocked over frags or to retrieve shrimp molts, so I ordered a set of giant tweezers. At 19”, they don’t quite reach all the way to the bottom of the tank, but I only get wet up to my knuckles now, so it’s a big improvement. Pretty good deal for only $17 on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EFYG5HS

Here they are compared to a normal tweezer:

 

[SuncrestReef]

I’ve had my diamond goby for a couple months now and he’s been doing a great job keeping the sand clean. Unfortunately over the past week he’s developed a new habit of building large sand piles next to his borrow, and in the process burying some corals.

Here’s how things looked 2 weeks ago. Notice the nice fluffy alveopora:



This week he was burying the alveopora every day and I kept cleaning the sand off it. I finally decided I better move it, and in the process I discovered pieces of sand lodged in many of the skeleton openings. I got most of them out, but it looks like several sections died off. I hope it will recover:



Last week I also added a new oulophyllia that I put on the sand about 8” from the burrow:



Today he decided to move the burrow and buried it:



I predict I’ll need to move the scoly soon, too.

While I appreciate how clean the sand is, this goby is starting to get annoying.

 

[datBme150]

As much as I liked the personality of my diamond goby, I didn't rush out to replace him when he died. It's kinda nice to not have to constantly move stuff or uncover corals he didn't like.

 

[DoctaReef]

So after using it for all this time, are you still happy with the design of your ATO/Fuge? Would you change anything about it, and have you had any issues with syphoning with where you drilled the intake? Setting up a RSR 425XL now and was thinking of doing the same...

 

[Jaysushi]

@SuncrestReef Your tank is looking nice! This makes me not miss having sand in my current tank. I hated how sand would get on everything and either kill sections of the coral or tick it off bad lol

 

[SuncrestReef]

So after using it for all this time, are you still happy with the design of your ATO/Fuge? Would you change anything about it, and have you had any issues with syphoning with where you drilled the intake? Setting up a RSR 425XL now and was thinking of doing the same...

Yes, I'm still pretty happy with the refugium conversion. I'll be honest, I'm a bit jealous of the new Reefer v3 sump with its integrated refugium chamber simply because it's larger than my 3.5 gallon ATO conversion. But other than that, it's been working great and my chaeto grows like crazy along with a ton of copepods breeding inside which keeps my pipefish happy. It does siphon slowly if the pump is off, but I've tested my sump water level with everything powered off, and I have just over 1/4" room to spare without overflowing, so I'm not concerned.

Good luck with your build!

 

[ngoodermuth]

Love the pictures! I’ve considered a diamond goby, but seeing the size of that sand pile gives me second thoughts lol

 

[SuncrestReef]

Love the pictures! I’ve considered a diamond goby, but seeing the size of that sand pile gives me second thoughts lol

Thanks! It's odd that the goby was a perfectly good citizen for months and then last week started building the huge sand piles. Hopefully it's just a phase that will pass.

 

[SuncrestReef]

My Radion XR30 Pro's run the AB+ spectrum at 80% with diffusers installed. Here are some of my PAR readings:

 

[SuncrestReef]

I love having spare pumps and powerheads for easy maintenance. Every three months I swap out the dirty units with spare clean units, then soak them in vinegar to clean them up before putting them on the shelf for next time. Each powerhead is only off for about 2 minutes each during the swap, so my corals stay happy.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

 

[SuncrestReef]

I’m off to Paris with my wife for our anniversary! My tank sitter/dog sitter/house sitter is all lined up, so my stress level isn’t too bad. The last time I was away from my tank over the holidays the tank was already showing signs of problems, so by the time I got back things were ugly. Luckily this time everything looks very healthy and things have been stable, so I’m not worried.

I’ll post updates when I return May 1st.

 

[SuncrestReef]

OK, I'm back from an amazing vacation in France. It was a bit stressful for me being away from my reef but my house sitter/dog sitter/aquarium sitter did a great job, including sending me photo updates of how everything looked in my tank. Adding to my stress was my Apex salinity probe flaking out, after a year of accurate readings it suddenly started fluctuating between 35 and 29 ppt right before my trip and continued to flake out while I’m away. My tank sitter confirmed the salinity is normal, but it’s still unnerving to see such low readings on my Apex.

On a funny note, in Paris I got excited when I saw this store:



only to be disappointed when I discovered it’s just a printing shop.

I'd highly recommend it if you ever have the opportunity to go!

 

[SuncrestReef]

While I was away, several cool things happened:

My two clownfish who have kept to themselves in the upper corner of my tank for the past 11 months finally decided to explore the anemone! I had given up hope and almost sold the anemone last month because I assumed they weren't interested. But I was amazed when I got home last night to see the anemone hosting the clownfish:



The other cool thing is that my Avast Marine custom porthole arrived. My Nikon 200mm macro lens is really long and the focus working distance makes it impossible to do top-down photos of corals in shallow water using stock camera portholes. I contacted Dan at Avast Marine and ordered a custom extra-extra-long porthole. Here it is alongside the normal and XL porthole:



Now I'm able to position the camera far enough away from the coral while still having the porthole submerged:







Now I just need to do some basic maintenance (change carbon & GFO, change filter fiber, and pluck a bit of algae that's growing on one problematic rock) before I try to catch up on sleep. (23 hours of taxis, airports, and layovers to get home!)

 

[SuncrestReef]

My largest hermit crab, Lefty (shown below) was outgrowing his shell and needed a new home.



I put out a request on my local area club forum and a fellow reefer came through with an assortment of empty shells for me. Within 10 minutes of putting the shells in the tank, Lefty had made a selection and moved into his new digs:

 

[SuncrestReef]

It's sunny and 83 degrees in Portland, Oregon today. I love our sudden onset of summer weather, but my tank temperature started rising rapidly this afternoon. I brought the portable fan in from the garage and set it up on my Apex. It always amazes me how quickly a basic fan can lower the tank temperature:

 

[SuncrestReef]

Woo Hoo!!!!! I just ordered my Trident! I'll post details on setting it up when it arrives.