Some of you may remember my beloved 40 Breeder Mixed Reef Build. That system was the OG, taught me pretty much everything I know about the reefing hobby. One of the best things I've ever made and the proudest I've ever felt in the hobby.
The Reefer 200XL? This system is the ugly third cousin no one wants to invite to the family reunion, but still managed to wriggle their way into the family photo.
I didn't think I would write up a build thread for this horror show, but I'm sitting in professional development and need to look like I'm being productive while at work.
July 2022 - The Tank Arrives
The system was ordered through Bulk Reef Supply and delivered to the curb of my apartment on a stupid hot day in July. I managed to get the cabinet assembled and placed the tank on the stand without too much difficulty and began the leak test.
I knew 2 things at this point: 1. I really wanted to make my own aquascape. 2. I really wanted to go bare bottom for this tank. An order of Marco Rock Showed up at some point; then me, a hammer and a flat head screwdriver got to work. The results were... less than spectacular looking back at it, but at the time I thought it looked really cool.
The Leak test showed no issues and since I used RODI water for the fill I started the initial mix in tank and then added the Rock Scape and began the cycle shortly after.
August 2022 - First Fish Added
About a month into the cycle we got the green light to add fish. I knew I wanted to do a fancy pair of clowns, or at the very least not the traditional Occ. Clowns that I've had in the past. I went to my LFS and found 2 Mocha Clownfish that looked healthy and fit the mold of what I wanted. Looking back, I don't have an issue with this decision, but I probably would have gone back to a classic Occ. Pair and be done with it.
Somewhere someone is screaming omg you didn't QT them*blah**blah**blah*.
I don't QT, I agree QT is the best practice but I just do not have the time, energy or patience to do it. I've never had ick or velvet *knocks on wood* and the LFSs I source from have kept good healthy stock for the decade I've shopped with them.
October 2022 - Reefapalooza 2022
Reefapalooza 2022 was a scheduling disaster. Who in their right mind would schedule a convention during the State Fair, during Texas-OU Weekend, and the Cow-pukes were doing well (surely they wouldn’t make that mistake again, right?, RIGHT???). Ton of frags were acquired via a raffle and some others were purchased, no images. Shortly after this event I began to look at my aquascape and realized that I am not very good at building aquascapes. So research into alternatives began.
February of 2023 - Rough Patches
In February I hit a rough patch in my home and work life. I wasn’t in a position to fix what was bothering me outside so I began to look for something I could fix in the Reefer 200XL. But I also just stopped taking photos because I just stopped being happy with the system and didn’t want to have a record of it.
April 2023 - Aquascape Swap #1
While I was originally very proud of my original scape because I made it, I realized that it was far too small for what I wanted this tank to become. The tank had actually matured quite nicely and coralline algae was growing like mad. Most of the rock work was completely covered and it was starting to encrust on to the glass on the floor and sides. In my research for alternate options for a rescape I found the Caribsea LifeRock Tree Kits. Which had the same idea that I was originally envisioning in my head for my scape. Trees were ordered and once I figured out how to align them out with the old scape and in with the new.
At some point between April and May I placed an Order with AquaSD for some Acans, Hammers, and big Sinularia Leather Colony. And the reef started to take a nice shape. For some reason no images at this time.
May 2023 - Aquashella 2023
I believe this was the last aquashella I attended, mainly because it is just stupid crowded and getting down to the place where it is hosted is just a pain sometimes. There is some really cool stuff down there, but not worth it for me.
I believe it was also here that a Fairy Wrasse and a Yellow Canary Blenny was Acquired. I’m still not completely sold on what this Fairy Wrasse wasn't labeled, but looking at some reference images I think it's a Rubripinnis or Adornatus. Some corals were also picked up here but I’m not sure what anymore, probably the Space Invader Chalice you’ll see in the FTS in the next section. Both fish were added and looked good for about a week. The canary blenny though quickly withered away and died.
June 2023 - New Fish Additions
Now that the Reefer 200XL was starting to actually look like a reef tank. I wanted to start adding some livestock to the system. I went to my trusted LFS and acquired a Tailspot Blenny and a Royal Gramma.
So at this point the Stocking look like this:
2x Mocha Clowns
1x Fairy Wrasse
1x Royal Gramma
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Cleaner Shrimp
The Tailspot would disappear at some point between June and October. I also began to notice small polyps growing on my rockwork….
October 2023 - Reefapalooza 2023
Really…again with this. Scheduling this event during the State Fair, Texas-OU Weekend, The Rangers march the World Series, and the Cow-pukes faithful were still having hope. It's like the people who organized this event were intentionally making people not want to show up.
Bank records would suggest coral was purchased, but no photos to confirm. Memory serves that it was a fairly conservative shopping spree.
Then Literally Nothing Happened for about a Year….
During this period of nothing happening those small polyps on my rock work began to expand. I didn’t really think about it, at first I thought it was tufts of algae or something but then I began to notice my corals started to recede and started to die off.
August - October 2024 - An anemone and 2nd Restart
I for some unknown reason found myself drawn to a rose-bubble tip anemone at the LFS and having never had an anemone before got it settled in the tank. It was really cool for a few weeks. Then it too died/disappeared.
At some point in August of 2024 I began to realize what these small polyps on my rockwork were blue clove polyps. There are ways to chemically remove them, but It would require me to remove a ton of corals for several weeks while treating the system and that really wasn’t an option. So back to the drawing board and back to researching new aquascape ideas.
Last FTS w. the Life rock Trees
After some thorough research I elected this time I was not qualified to make an aquascape so I reached out to ChandlerRocks to begin work on constructing my rockscape. After a long trip through the mail the scape came through mostly unscathed and was easy enough to recreate and secure with some superglue and epoxy. I also began to rethink everything about this system.
I thought I really liked the bare bottom look. But ultimately I decided that I wanted to go back to what worked for me for so long and get a sand bed back in this tank. I wasn’t going to fully commit to a huge sandbed but just enough to give me some coverage and look good.
Fear of transferring the blue polyps in my new rock work was a big concern for me so every piece of rock and coral was removed. I moved the coral to fresh plugs and sent them to the LFS for some store credit.
So now I had a fresh white tank with a bunch of fish and no corals. Like what am I even doing. The Tank had a small cycle but the fish handled it like champs and no losses occurred. (granted there is like 20 pounds of live rock that's been sitting in the sump for 2 years at this point so there's that.
December of 2024
During the winter break I bought a Yellow not so-Coris Wrasse and and added a Red Sea Reefmat 250 to the system the tank was still coralless but now the system had a vibrant fish pool.
Current Stocking:
2x Mocha Clowns
1x Fairy Wrasse
1x Royal Gramma
1x Yellow not so-coris wrasse
1x Cleaner Shrimp
March 2025 - Reefapalooza 2025
Finally someone figured out that RAP needs to happen in the spring and not the fall for people to come out.
Some really cool corals were purchased this year including a torch, frogspawn, several acans, and a good variety of Zoanthids.
After about 4 months the Euphyllia and Acans were lost but the zoanthids were still fine and were starting to grow new heads. Tests didn’t reveal any noticeable issues here.
During this period the Yellow not so-coris wrasse started to act strangely and stopped diving into the sandbed at night for several days, and then he was dead.
August 2025 - The Dream Fish
In the decade I’ve been in the hobby I’ve always really wanted a Flame Angel like really really badly, but I’ve been to chicken that it would munch on my corals, remember the 40 breeder was 1. Probably on the small side for a Flame, and 2 had a huge collection of meaty LPS. So there was no way A flame was going to allow those to go unscathed.
However I began to look back into the thought of getting one, the Tank really didn’t have any coral in it right now, or at least none that was emotionally invested in. So I could conceivably get a Flame angel and if it was a coral eater then I’d just abandon the reef idea and go full FOWLR.
I took a trip to the LFS and they happen to have in stock a nice size Flame probably 2.5”-3” and they also had a more Yellow not-so coris wrasses in stock as well so I took the plunge and finally purchased what is probably my favorite fish in the hobby and honestly it was totally worth it.
So As of Now the current stocking of the Red Sea Reefer 200XL stands as:
2x Mocha Clowns
1x Fairy Wrasse - probably (Adornatus or Rubripinnis)
1x Royal Gramma
1x Flame Angel
1x Yellow not-so coris wrasse
1x Cleaner Shrimp
There is also an assorted CUC.
Equipment:
1x AI Hydra 26HD
1x Bubble Magus Curve 5 Protein Skimmer
1x ReefMat 250
1x MP40
1x Jebao DCP-3500
1x Tunze 3155 ATO
So what's the plan going forward?
Honestly I’m not sure. I really need to get back into testing ALK, Calc, and Phosphates and Nitrates rhythm again. Eventually we’ll have to start to explore and see what corals I can put here that the flame won’t pick at. But the leading contender right now is probably a softy dominated system with leather corals and zoas being the primary focus. I'm also starting to look at the current equipment like the Return pump and starting to look at new options to upgrade
The Reefer 200XL? This system is the ugly third cousin no one wants to invite to the family reunion, but still managed to wriggle their way into the family photo.
I didn't think I would write up a build thread for this horror show, but I'm sitting in professional development and need to look like I'm being productive while at work.
July 2022 - The Tank Arrives
The system was ordered through Bulk Reef Supply and delivered to the curb of my apartment on a stupid hot day in July. I managed to get the cabinet assembled and placed the tank on the stand without too much difficulty and began the leak test.
I knew 2 things at this point: 1. I really wanted to make my own aquascape. 2. I really wanted to go bare bottom for this tank. An order of Marco Rock Showed up at some point; then me, a hammer and a flat head screwdriver got to work. The results were... less than spectacular looking back at it, but at the time I thought it looked really cool.
The Leak test showed no issues and since I used RODI water for the fill I started the initial mix in tank and then added the Rock Scape and began the cycle shortly after.
August 2022 - First Fish Added
About a month into the cycle we got the green light to add fish. I knew I wanted to do a fancy pair of clowns, or at the very least not the traditional Occ. Clowns that I've had in the past. I went to my LFS and found 2 Mocha Clownfish that looked healthy and fit the mold of what I wanted. Looking back, I don't have an issue with this decision, but I probably would have gone back to a classic Occ. Pair and be done with it.
Somewhere someone is screaming omg you didn't QT them*blah**blah**blah*.
I don't QT, I agree QT is the best practice but I just do not have the time, energy or patience to do it. I've never had ick or velvet *knocks on wood* and the LFSs I source from have kept good healthy stock for the decade I've shopped with them.
October 2022 - Reefapalooza 2022
Reefapalooza 2022 was a scheduling disaster. Who in their right mind would schedule a convention during the State Fair, during Texas-OU Weekend, and the Cow-pukes were doing well (surely they wouldn’t make that mistake again, right?, RIGHT???). Ton of frags were acquired via a raffle and some others were purchased, no images. Shortly after this event I began to look at my aquascape and realized that I am not very good at building aquascapes. So research into alternatives began.
February of 2023 - Rough Patches
In February I hit a rough patch in my home and work life. I wasn’t in a position to fix what was bothering me outside so I began to look for something I could fix in the Reefer 200XL. But I also just stopped taking photos because I just stopped being happy with the system and didn’t want to have a record of it.
April 2023 - Aquascape Swap #1
While I was originally very proud of my original scape because I made it, I realized that it was far too small for what I wanted this tank to become. The tank had actually matured quite nicely and coralline algae was growing like mad. Most of the rock work was completely covered and it was starting to encrust on to the glass on the floor and sides. In my research for alternate options for a rescape I found the Caribsea LifeRock Tree Kits. Which had the same idea that I was originally envisioning in my head for my scape. Trees were ordered and once I figured out how to align them out with the old scape and in with the new.
At some point between April and May I placed an Order with AquaSD for some Acans, Hammers, and big Sinularia Leather Colony. And the reef started to take a nice shape. For some reason no images at this time.
May 2023 - Aquashella 2023
I believe this was the last aquashella I attended, mainly because it is just stupid crowded and getting down to the place where it is hosted is just a pain sometimes. There is some really cool stuff down there, but not worth it for me.
I believe it was also here that a Fairy Wrasse and a Yellow Canary Blenny was Acquired. I’m still not completely sold on what this Fairy Wrasse wasn't labeled, but looking at some reference images I think it's a Rubripinnis or Adornatus. Some corals were also picked up here but I’m not sure what anymore, probably the Space Invader Chalice you’ll see in the FTS in the next section. Both fish were added and looked good for about a week. The canary blenny though quickly withered away and died.
June 2023 - New Fish Additions
Now that the Reefer 200XL was starting to actually look like a reef tank. I wanted to start adding some livestock to the system. I went to my trusted LFS and acquired a Tailspot Blenny and a Royal Gramma.
So at this point the Stocking look like this:
2x Mocha Clowns
1x Fairy Wrasse
1x Royal Gramma
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Cleaner Shrimp
The Tailspot would disappear at some point between June and October. I also began to notice small polyps growing on my rockwork….
October 2023 - Reefapalooza 2023
Really…again with this. Scheduling this event during the State Fair, Texas-OU Weekend, The Rangers march the World Series, and the Cow-pukes faithful were still having hope. It's like the people who organized this event were intentionally making people not want to show up.
Bank records would suggest coral was purchased, but no photos to confirm. Memory serves that it was a fairly conservative shopping spree.
Then Literally Nothing Happened for about a Year….
During this period of nothing happening those small polyps on my rock work began to expand. I didn’t really think about it, at first I thought it was tufts of algae or something but then I began to notice my corals started to recede and started to die off.
August - October 2024 - An anemone and 2nd Restart
I for some unknown reason found myself drawn to a rose-bubble tip anemone at the LFS and having never had an anemone before got it settled in the tank. It was really cool for a few weeks. Then it too died/disappeared.
At some point in August of 2024 I began to realize what these small polyps on my rockwork were blue clove polyps. There are ways to chemically remove them, but It would require me to remove a ton of corals for several weeks while treating the system and that really wasn’t an option. So back to the drawing board and back to researching new aquascape ideas.
Last FTS w. the Life rock Trees
After some thorough research I elected this time I was not qualified to make an aquascape so I reached out to ChandlerRocks to begin work on constructing my rockscape. After a long trip through the mail the scape came through mostly unscathed and was easy enough to recreate and secure with some superglue and epoxy. I also began to rethink everything about this system.
I thought I really liked the bare bottom look. But ultimately I decided that I wanted to go back to what worked for me for so long and get a sand bed back in this tank. I wasn’t going to fully commit to a huge sandbed but just enough to give me some coverage and look good.
Fear of transferring the blue polyps in my new rock work was a big concern for me so every piece of rock and coral was removed. I moved the coral to fresh plugs and sent them to the LFS for some store credit.
So now I had a fresh white tank with a bunch of fish and no corals. Like what am I even doing. The Tank had a small cycle but the fish handled it like champs and no losses occurred. (granted there is like 20 pounds of live rock that's been sitting in the sump for 2 years at this point so there's that.
December of 2024
During the winter break I bought a Yellow not so-Coris Wrasse and and added a Red Sea Reefmat 250 to the system the tank was still coralless but now the system had a vibrant fish pool.
Current Stocking:
2x Mocha Clowns
1x Fairy Wrasse
1x Royal Gramma
1x Yellow not so-coris wrasse
1x Cleaner Shrimp
March 2025 - Reefapalooza 2025
Finally someone figured out that RAP needs to happen in the spring and not the fall for people to come out.
Some really cool corals were purchased this year including a torch, frogspawn, several acans, and a good variety of Zoanthids.
After about 4 months the Euphyllia and Acans were lost but the zoanthids were still fine and were starting to grow new heads. Tests didn’t reveal any noticeable issues here.
During this period the Yellow not so-coris wrasse started to act strangely and stopped diving into the sandbed at night for several days, and then he was dead.
August 2025 - The Dream Fish
In the decade I’ve been in the hobby I’ve always really wanted a Flame Angel like really really badly, but I’ve been to chicken that it would munch on my corals, remember the 40 breeder was 1. Probably on the small side for a Flame, and 2 had a huge collection of meaty LPS. So there was no way A flame was going to allow those to go unscathed.
However I began to look back into the thought of getting one, the Tank really didn’t have any coral in it right now, or at least none that was emotionally invested in. So I could conceivably get a Flame angel and if it was a coral eater then I’d just abandon the reef idea and go full FOWLR.
I took a trip to the LFS and they happen to have in stock a nice size Flame probably 2.5”-3” and they also had a more Yellow not-so coris wrasses in stock as well so I took the plunge and finally purchased what is probably my favorite fish in the hobby and honestly it was totally worth it.
So As of Now the current stocking of the Red Sea Reefer 200XL stands as:
2x Mocha Clowns
1x Fairy Wrasse - probably (Adornatus or Rubripinnis)
1x Royal Gramma
1x Flame Angel
1x Yellow not-so coris wrasse
1x Cleaner Shrimp
There is also an assorted CUC.
Equipment:
1x AI Hydra 26HD
1x Bubble Magus Curve 5 Protein Skimmer
1x ReefMat 250
1x MP40
1x Jebao DCP-3500
1x Tunze 3155 ATO
So what's the plan going forward?
Honestly I’m not sure. I really need to get back into testing ALK, Calc, and Phosphates and Nitrates rhythm again. Eventually we’ll have to start to explore and see what corals I can put here that the flame won’t pick at. But the leading contender right now is probably a softy dominated system with leather corals and zoas being the primary focus. I'm also starting to look at the current equipment like the Return pump and starting to look at new options to upgrade
