SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

[SuncrestReef]

This weekend I'm hosting my local aquarium club's monthly meeting at my house. During the meeting, Daniel from ReeFi will be doing a demo of his new ReeFi LED Duo Extreme light system. Daniel stopped by today to install one of his lights on my tank for the side-by-side comparison against my Radion XR30 Pro:

The first thing I noticed is how the ReeFi directs all the light straight into the tank without any side glare. It's so much more pleasant to look at when sitting across the room from the tank.

From a design standpoint, these lights are a work of art! They have a beautiful glass mirror finish on the bottom side and a sleek case. He designed an adapter to fit it perfectly to my Radion mount arm.

Another nice touch is the small LCD screen on the front of the unit displaying current settings and network information:

Each light has built-in WiFi and you can control them from any web browser. You can also group lights together to simplify changing settings, or manage them separately if you have them on different tanks.

I set the spectrum and intensity to closely match my Radion, and I immediately noticed the ReeFi had less flicker/disco effect in the tank. PAR readings also showed the ReeFi was about 50 PAR higher both at the top and bottom of my tank than the Radion. I have not yet measured PAR at the maximum intensity, but we'll probably do that during the demo at the Saturday meeting.

Overall, I'm really impressed. These are fantastic lights.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I woke up at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up and looked at my tank. Both my Radion and Daniel’s ReeFi were in moonlight mode, and again I was impressed with how little side glare comes from the ReeFi. The illumination of the corals looked about the same from both even though it hardly looks like his light is on:

 

[Mike Kearns]

Thanks for hosting the event. Your tank is even better in person! And your cooking was good too. I must say your system has inspired me to do much more with my tanks!

 

[SuncrestReef]

While many people consider vermetid snails to be annoying pests in a reef tank, they are pretty fascinating creatures with a very effective method of catching food. Here's a macro video of a vermetid in my tank reeling in its meal. It's amazing how much stuff it captures from the water column.

 

[Trailermann]

I got a new toy today! Here's my new microscope with my Nikon D610 attached:





This came in very handy already. Today I picked up a new goniopora frag, and when I took a macro photo I noticed a bunch of eggs on the frag:



I scraped the eggs off with a tweezer, then took a look at them under the microscope. I was amazed to see live worms wiggling around inside the eggs! Take a look at this video I shot through the microscope:

Scarry!

 

[SuncrestReef]

I frequently discover new things in my tank when I shine a flashlight at night. Tonight I found that my hammer is growing several new heads underneath the main structure where I normally can't see during the day when it's fully extended.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I’ve been wanting a Walt Disney for quite some time, and finally found a nice looking frag for a decent price at my LFS.

I also got a replacement Oregon Tort. My last one got overtaken by a nearby acro colony that was growing too quickly.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Good polyp extension after only 2 hours in my tank:

 

[Daniel@R2R]

While many people consider vermetid snails to be annoying pests in a reef tank, they are pretty fascinating creatures with a very effective method of catching food. Here's a macro video of a vermetid in my tank reeling in its meal. It's amazing how much stuff it captures from the water column.

I actually like my vermetids too.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

That Turbinaria you have is my most Favourite Coral in my Tank.
One of the few Corals that you can get Yellow Colors from without perfection.
Great Glow on the PE under Blue lights.
It's hardy, grows not too slow (so you have to wait forever), but not too fast (so it gets out of control).
Once it anchors down on, you will not able to remove it.
Place it medium/high, but plan some space below for it to grow and cast a shadow.

I just Snagged one from john at @YourReef live sale last month. I hope it does as well as yours. Cheers

 

[RichtheReefer21]

My dual return nozzles have been in use non-stop for over 16 months without any cleaning. Today I decided it was time:

After a few hours soaking in vinegar and going over it with a toothbrush, it looks as good as new:

#inlovewithhusbandry

 

[SuncrestReef]

After doing the demo of the ReeFi LED lights compared to my Radions last week, I decided to switch out my lights. See my post about ReeFi here.

Here's an updated full-tank video under the new lights:

 

[ScottR]

While many people consider vermetid snails to be annoying pests in a reef tank, they are pretty fascinating creatures with a very effective method of catching food. Here's a macro video of a vermetid in my tank reeling in its meal. It's amazing how much stuff it captures from the water column.

That’s an amazing video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SuncrestReef]

For those of you who have seen my tank, the right side of the back wall was completely covered in coralline because scraping that side was inconvenient due to the angled wall. But lately I've notice several areas growing colonies of bubble algae, and an attempt to pluck them off ended up cracking a large section of the coralline. It turned out the coralline was really thick, but not actually attached to the back wall, so it came off in large chunks:



I didn't remove all of it, and I'm sure it will grow back quickly.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

For those of you who have seen my tank, the right side of the back wall was completely covered in coralline because scraping that side was inconvenient due to the angled wall. But lately I've notice several areas growing colonies of bubble algae, and an attempt to pluck them off ended up cracking a large section of the coralline. It turned out the coralline was really thick, but not actually attached to the back wall, so it came off in large chunks:



I didn't remove all of it, and I'm sure it will grow back quickly.

Beautiful Fts

Awesome scape.

 

[WallyB]

While many people consider vermetid snails to be annoying pests in a reef tank, they are pretty fascinating creatures with a very effective method of catching food. Here's a macro video of a vermetid in my tank reeling in its meal. It's amazing how much stuff it captures from the water column.

Cool....BUT
I hate them.
I've seen their effect. SPS coral Damage, and eventually Death.
As soon as I see the web from one, I don't stop till I find it and remove the spot (carving out the rock deep to ensure 100% it's gone).
If ONE Vermitid can do that much damage, I have nightmares thinking about what many could (and I understand they do multiply)

 

[Trailermann]

As I previously promised, here is an overview of how I converted my stock Red Sea ATO reservoir into a refugium.






Once the silicon has set, I will place the refugium on top of the sump and attach my Neptune PMUP to the 3/8" feed line, and attach my ChaetoMax grow light on top. I'll configure the Apex to turn on the refugium lights on the opposite schedule of my display tank lights.

I once got some advice from Neptune regarding a PMUP I tried to use to feed my calcium reactor. As I remember, they said the PMUP is not designed for continuous running.

 

[Trailermann]

Now that my tank has been fully operational for 6 months, it's time to do some scheduled maintenance. Today I cleaned my Aqua UV sterilizer quartz tube for the first time and inspected the unit. Here's what this involved:

1. Turn off the UV outlet in Apex Fusion.
2. Open the bypass valve on my return line.
3. Close the input and output valves on the UV sterilizer.
4. Unscrew the bulb assembly and remove the UV bulb.
   
   
5. Place a drip pan below the sterilizer to catch the remaining water as it drains out.
6. Unscrew the quartz tube assembly and let the water drain out. You can see the tube is covered in deposits.
   
   
   
7. Wrapped the quartz tube with a paper towel soaked in vinegar to dissolve the built up deposits.
   
   
8. After 30 minutes in vinegar, the deposits wiped off easily with a dry paper towel.
9. Inspect the quartz tube for any cracks or damage.
   
   
10. Reassemble the whole unit.
11. Open the input and output valves.
12. Close the bypass valve.
13. Turn on the UV outlet in Apex Fusion.

I'll check the tube again in three months since it obviously was pretty dirty after six. I'll also replace the UV bulb every 12 months. It costs $50.

Sometime soon I will do my first maintenance cleaning of the COR-20 pump and my Nyos skimmer. Stay tuned.

According to "tony" at Aqua UV, the ports need to be oriented facing up in order to purge the cylinder of air and maximize the sterilizer's efficiency. This of course makes for excessive elbows and takes up much more real estate. Did you consider this? What are your thoughts?

 

[WallyB]

For those of you who have seen my tank, the right side of the back wall was completely covered in coralline because scraping that side was inconvenient due to the angled wall. But lately I've notice several areas growing colonies of bubble algae, and an attempt to pluck them off ended up cracking a large section of the coralline. It turned out the coralline was really thick, but not actually attached to the back wall, so it came off in large chunks:



I didn't remove all of it, and I'm sure it will grow back quickly.

Tank looks Great.

As far as that slab ofCoraline. In some ways its good you removed it. Mine flakes off all the time and you never know...some day you may have had a Coraline Wall avalanche.

Now that you did... if you broke it up and packed it in tiny baggies, it would sell like hotcakes. for folks who are starting up new tanks.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I once got some advice from Neptune regarding a PMUP I tried to use to feed my calcium reactor. As I remember, they said the PMUP is not designed for continuous running.

Neptune's own website says the PMUP can be used to feed reactors. Perhaps the support guy should talk to the marketing guy to get their stories straight.

My PMUP has been running 24/7 for over a year on my refugium with no problems. (taken offline for routine cleaning every six months)