TGs New Build - RSR250 to 270g Planet Aquarium

[tgbaby]

Well after 9 years on R2R I figure it’s about time to start a build thread...

I’ve been in the hobby for ~15yrs with varying degrees of success. Currently I have a rimless 48 x 28 x 20 SPS dominant reef that’s been running for a little over two years.

Specs:
Tank: 48 x 28 x 20
Lighting: Giesemann 36” Spectra (2 x 250w Radium / 2 x ATI Blue+ / 2 x ATI Coral+)
Flow: 2 x MP40QD and 2 x WAV
Skimmer: LifeReef VS2-24
Return: COR-20 through a 3/4” Seaswirl
ATO: ATK
Controller: Apex
Sump: Triton 44
Refugium Light: Zetlight E200
GEO CR618/Kamoer/Carbon Doser
Alkatronic

I moved the tank and inhabitants from our previous home and set it back up in a “quick and dirty” fashion. I initially had all the livestock in a Rubbermaid stock tank and had planned to keep everything there until my wife and I were done updating the main floor, then focus on the tank. Unfortunately I started losing a lot of pieces so I set the tank back up as quickly and easily as possible, which lead to what my wife calls a “science experiment”.

We are now wanting to remodel the basement where the tank is currently residing. There was no way I could convince my wife to let me set it back up on our main floor, so I agreed to downsize to something a little more manageable.

RedSea Reefer 250 with V3 Sump

My goal is to try to keep this build as clean as possible while trying out some new things. I'm looking forward to being able to take my time with this build. I think the toughest part will be deciding what corals to keep.

 

[dbl]

Holy wozzers...what on earth took you so long to post that beautiful tank. I would agree you have a huge challenge ahead of you - deciding which corals will make their way to their new home.

Signing up to follow along on this one.

 

[Jaengle]

Can you please explain what the glass bkx above the sump in your new build is? I can't say I have seen that before.

 

[tgbaby]

Can you please explain what the glass bkx above the sump in your new build is? I can't say I have seen that before.

It’s the ato reservoir. It’s only a couple of gallons so might have to figure something else out.

 

[Jaengle]

I am setting up a tank too, I had a cabinet build to get next to the tank... It's peninsula so I between tank and wall. I am going to put my ato in there I beleive. At least thats the plan right now.

 

[SPR1968]

The tank looks beautiful!

 

[Hemmdog]

Incredible!! Wow !!

 

[tgbaby]

The tank looks beautiful!

Incredible!! Wow !!

Thanks!

 

[Dan Snyder]

Need help getting rid of those frags? Haha nice growth, sure your RSR will take off!

 

[tgbaby]

The most significant change with the new tank is lighting.


I have been using metal halides, T5s or a combination of the two exclusively the entire time I’ve been in the hobby. I still think MH/T5 is a bulletproof lighting choice, but those Bluewave M80 ballasts are huge and would occupy most of the limited space I have.


With aesthetics and performance in mind, I decided to give the Orphek Atlantik V4 a shot. It appears to be the only single fixture able to cover the spread for this tank, which will also be SPS dominant.

The light and mounting kit seem very well built. I was able to quickly set up the gateway and start using the app to program the lighting schedule. Hopefully it will be able to grow and color acros as good as people claim. If not it’s back to the Spectra.

I don’t like the goofy antenna on the side, totally kills the sleekness of the fixture....surely they could have made it internal. Also, I don’t like how the mounting arms tilt the front of the fixture up. I assume this is to counteract any sagging that would occur if you extended the arms to cover a deeper tank.

Channel 1

Channel 2

Channel 3

Channel 4

All channels

 

[tgbaby]

not sure why the last 3 pics keep showing up...i edited the post and deleted them but they keep posting???

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Well after 9 years on R2R I figure it’s about time to start a build thread...

I’ve been in the hobby for ~15yrs with varying degrees of success. Currently I have a rimless 48 x 28 x 20 SPS dominant reef that’s been running for a little over two years.

Specs:
Tank: 48 x 28 x 20
Lighting: Giesemann 36” Spectra (2 x 250w Radium / 2 x ATI Blue+ / 2 x ATI Coral+)
Flow: 2 x MP40QD and 2 x WAV
Skimmer: LifeReef VS2-24
Return: COR-20 through a 3/4” Seaswirl
ATO: ATK
Controller: Apex
Sump: Triton 44
Refugium Light: Zetlight E200
GEO CR618/Kamoer/Carbon Doser
Alkatronic

I moved the tank and inhabitants from our previous home and set it back up in a “quick and dirty” fashion. I initially had all the livestock in a Rubbermaid stock tank and had planned to keep everything there until my wife and I were done updating the main floor, then focus on the tank. Unfortunately I started losing a lot of pieces so I set the tank back up as quickly and easily as possible, which lead to what my wife calls a “science experiment”.

We are now wanting to remodel the basement where the tank is currently residing. There was no way I could convince my wife to let me set it back up on our main floor, so I agreed to downsize to something a little more manageable.

RedSea Reefer 250 with V3 Sump

My goal is to try to keep this build as clean as possible while trying out some new things. I'm looking forward to being able to take my time with this build. I think the toughest part will be deciding what corals to keep.

Thanks for sharing, beautiful, comrade

 

[tgbaby]

Thanks for sharing, beautiful, comrade

Thank you!

 

[Alemoki]

Your previous setup was an absolute beauty.

I'm sure this one will be just as nice

Those Orpheks are really great lights. An acquaintance of mine runs two on his SPS dominant tank and the colour and spread is unbelievable. You won't be disappointed.

 

[tgbaby]

Your previous setup was an absolute beauty.

I'm sure this one will be just as nice

Those Orpheks are really great lights. An acquaintance of mine runs two on his SPS dominant tank and the colour and spread is unbelievable. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you!

That’s good to hear about the Orpheks. I couldn’t find a lot of reviews, but the ones I did read were very positive.

 

[Alemoki]

https://orphek.com/orphek-atlantik-v4-arrived-to-south-africa-and-wow/

Here is a link to that guys tank with the Orpheks on it. Can honestly say it looks the same if not better than the photos in person

 

[tgbaby]

At first I was 100% going to use legit live rock from TBS or KP Aquatics, but I’ve always loved the look of Tonga and unfortunately that’s not an option with either company.

IMO there were two options, Caribsea Liferock or Real Reef Rock. Both seemed to have equal reviews, good and bad, so I went with the cheaper of the two. I ended up ordering 40lbs of the branch and 20lbs of the shapes.

Even though carefully packed, many pieces were broken during shipping. Not a huge deal for me but may be to others.

I have some rock from KP Aquatics that’s been in my current tank for 6months that I’ll use to seed the new tank.

 

[tgbaby]

Final aquascape

 

[Alemoki]

Awesome scape! Love it

 

[clabern]

At first I was 100% going to use legit live rock from TBS or KP Aquatics, but I’ve always loved the look of Tonga and unfortunately that’s not an option with either company.

IMO there were two options, Caribsea Liferock or Real Reef Rock. Both seemed to have equal reviews, good and bad, so I went with the cheaper of the two. I ended up ordering 40lbs of the branch and 20lbs of the shapes.

Even though carefully packed, many pieces were broken during shipping. Not a huge deal for me but may be to others.

I have some rock from KP Aquatics that’s been in my current tank for 6months that I’ll use to seed the new tank.

I also chose life rock for my new 250. Went with 40 lbs of base and 20 lbs of shapes. My Shapes were packaged really well with bubble wrap and packing peanuts with minimal to no breakage. The base on the other hand was just packaged with paper and had a bit of breakage. Overall it wasn't too bad though and a bit of superglue seems to have worked to correct most broken pieces.