The title can be misleading because there are much bigger tanks out there; however, I upgraded from a Red Sea Max C-250, thus the name "GOLIATH." I'd been running my 250 since 2012 and of course, got the "itch" to upgrade roughly 2 years ago. After reading a lot of amazing threads on R2R and conducting a lot of independent research; I was leaning towards a custom aquarium but could never pull the trigger because the 650 kept calling my name. I've been extremely content with the quality of my 250 so when "the boss" told me to get what I wanted with no regrets; I went with the 650.
It arrived roughly 2 weeks ago and was finally liberated yesterday as my wife and I transferred the 250 over to "GOLIATH." The transfer was fairly seamless (except for a couple of union leaks) and all livestock seem happy. Delightfully surprised on how much cooler Goliath runs campared to the 250.
The only concerns / questions I have at this time are:
1) How do I take "better" pictures ... I'm using my iPhone and all pics tend to be blurry and washed-out in blue
2) How loud should I expect the "trickle" to be as the water overflows into the mesh socks? I don't hear it in other rooms but when closer, I hear a soothing waterfall trickle.
3) Is it normal for the water level in the return pump chamber to be slightly lower than the rest of the sump?
Current Specs:
- Red Sea Max S-650 LED ... running stock at the moment with the exception of a Reef Octopus Varios 8 (running on the 2nd lowest setting)
- Additionally; created a refugium with just under a cubic ft of MarinePure 2" Cubes
- 100 lbs of CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand ... 1" or so sand bed
- Roughly 100 lbs of live rock from previous tank ... created a semi-artificial aquascape with a sunken ship theme
- ClearView Lid ... Tsunami ... in process
Current Coral Stock:
- GSP ... 1 large island / 1 small island
- Button polyps ... small colony
Current Live Stock:
- Emperor Angelfish - juvenile (GO BLUE!)
- Flame Angelfish
- Purple Tang
- Premium Goldflake Maroon Clownfish (GO NOLES!)
- MochaVinci Clownfish / Black & White Clownfish - Captive bread "pair" (HOOK'em HORNS)
- Blue Green Chromis x 1 (can't seem to keep a shoal / school)
- Yellow Watchmen Goby
- Tiger Pistol Shrimp
- Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
- Small, randomized CUC
Future Live Stock ... these are under consideration but won't all be purchased ... any input / experience would be greatly appreciated:
- 3-5 Anthias ... not sure on which specific one yet ... recommendations welcome (Blotched is kind of a dream
)
- Angelfish (large) ... Magestic or Regal or Spotbreast (male/female)
- Angelfish (dwarf) ... Bi-Color or Cherub or Potters
- Blue Throat Trigger ... possibly male / female
- Diamond Watchman Goby
- Green Mandarin
- Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang
Whats next ... Phase 1 (next 1- 4 weeks):
1) Figure out how to take better pictures in order to post
2) Finish refugium (add 5280 Pods / OceanMagik Phytoplankton / Chaeto) with Tunze Eco Chic Refugium Light
3) 2 ReefWave 25 (maybe) ... Flow seems to be good thus far ... I like the idea of the ReefWaves from an automation perspective. Thoughts?
4) Weekly 10% water changes
5) Do a better job monitoring Alk / CA / MG than I did on 250 ... would like to be able to diversify my coral list
6) Have fun!
Thanks for following and being such a welcoming platform!
Todd
It arrived roughly 2 weeks ago and was finally liberated yesterday as my wife and I transferred the 250 over to "GOLIATH." The transfer was fairly seamless (except for a couple of union leaks) and all livestock seem happy. Delightfully surprised on how much cooler Goliath runs campared to the 250.
The only concerns / questions I have at this time are:
1) How do I take "better" pictures ... I'm using my iPhone and all pics tend to be blurry and washed-out in blue
2) How loud should I expect the "trickle" to be as the water overflows into the mesh socks? I don't hear it in other rooms but when closer, I hear a soothing waterfall trickle.
3) Is it normal for the water level in the return pump chamber to be slightly lower than the rest of the sump?
Current Specs:
- Red Sea Max S-650 LED ... running stock at the moment with the exception of a Reef Octopus Varios 8 (running on the 2nd lowest setting)
- Additionally; created a refugium with just under a cubic ft of MarinePure 2" Cubes
- 100 lbs of CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand ... 1" or so sand bed
- Roughly 100 lbs of live rock from previous tank ... created a semi-artificial aquascape with a sunken ship theme
- ClearView Lid ... Tsunami ... in process
Current Coral Stock:
- GSP ... 1 large island / 1 small island
- Button polyps ... small colony
Current Live Stock:
- Emperor Angelfish - juvenile (GO BLUE!)
- Flame Angelfish
- Purple Tang
- Premium Goldflake Maroon Clownfish (GO NOLES!)
- MochaVinci Clownfish / Black & White Clownfish - Captive bread "pair" (HOOK'em HORNS)
- Blue Green Chromis x 1 (can't seem to keep a shoal / school)
- Yellow Watchmen Goby
- Tiger Pistol Shrimp
- Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
- Small, randomized CUC
Future Live Stock ... these are under consideration but won't all be purchased ... any input / experience would be greatly appreciated:
- 3-5 Anthias ... not sure on which specific one yet ... recommendations welcome (Blotched is kind of a dream
)- Angelfish (large) ... Magestic or Regal or Spotbreast (male/female)
- Angelfish (dwarf) ... Bi-Color or Cherub or Potters
- Blue Throat Trigger ... possibly male / female
- Diamond Watchman Goby
- Green Mandarin
- Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang
Whats next ... Phase 1 (next 1- 4 weeks):
1) Figure out how to take better pictures in order to post
2) Finish refugium (add 5280 Pods / OceanMagik Phytoplankton / Chaeto) with Tunze Eco Chic Refugium Light
3) 2 ReefWave 25 (maybe) ... Flow seems to be good thus far ... I like the idea of the ReefWaves from an automation perspective. Thoughts?
4) Weekly 10% water changes
5) Do a better job monitoring Alk / CA / MG than I did on 250 ... would like to be able to diversify my coral list
6) Have fun!
Thanks for following and being such a welcoming platform!
Todd
