Red Sea Reefer 300 Build

[ckyuv]

After a few years out of the hobby and a number of life changes that have now stabilized, it’s time for a tank again. I decided to keep it small, basic and inexpensive so I got a 14g biocube. Well, small, basic, and inexpensive was a short term goal apparently. So here we are. 
 

• Aquarium
  • RedSea Reefer 300xl G2+ - 65 gallons - 36"L x 22.6"W x 22"H with 1/2" glass
• Sump
  • 15 gallons - 18.7"L x 18.5"W x 13.5"H
• Filtration
  • Filter socks with the slight desire for a ReefMat 500
• Return Pump
  • EcoTech Marine Vectra S2
• Powerhead
  • EcoTech Marine MP40mQD
• Lighting
  • Kessil AP9X

• ATO 
  • There is a gravity one in the pictures for the tank. I’ll try that for now.
• RODI
  • BRS 5 Stage 75GPD
• Rock 
  • Marco Rock

Im not positive on what all I want to stock with yet. The whole idea(my wife’s idea) was Clowns and Anemones for the kids, but Anemones have never struck me as easy or hands off. I my mind the stock is:

• Fish
  • I want to buy pre-qt only. If you have vendor suggestions hit me! 
  • Black Ice Clowns(required by Sam)
  • Yellow tang would be cool
  • Mandarin would be cool
• Coral
  • Small number of sps(pink lemonade, garf bonsai, and that red dragon Tim always had) 
  • Euphylia garden 
  • Zoas
  • Acans
  • Clam - if easy

• Inverts
  • Starfish - if easy
  • Cleaner shrimp
  • Whatever CUC

Edited May 17, 2023 by ckyuv

[ckyuv]

Alright I started ordering stuff and it has started coming in, so I figured I’d start this to not spam the equipment section with questions as I go haha. I have ordered the tank, pump, light, powerhead, sand, RODI, heater, etc. 

 

I have some rock in in my 14g cube that is 2 weeks into a fallow period (brook got the clowns) with some zoas and euphyllia I plan to move over. Since the fish died it’s now packed to the brim with dry rock to cycle cause why not. 
 

My hopes with this tank are to keep it “easy” and not stock too much while also keeping it interesting for the kiddos.  Heat has also been an issue with the cube so a goal here is to not have too much hardware to the point I have to get a chiller. 

[ckyuv]

I started to get some stuff in today. Got light and pumps. Figured I'd check out the light. I set it on the desk, and turned it on to check out the app. About 2 minutes later I realized it was burning the desk. Oops. Note to self: buy the warranties on stuff. It's me. I'll need them.

 

Also, the area we want to put the tank is in the kitchen table area. The table wasn't going to fit well so we just ordered a new table... With the new table, the light above the table won't be centered so I pulled the light to do a can light... The can light I put in is nice, but the kitchen ones didn't really match so I pulled all those and put in a couple new ones.. I have lots of holes in the ceiling now, so called a painter to come out and fill them in this week hopefully. Also, I couldn't bring myself to put in the old toggle light switches, so I did the newer square looking dimmer ones for the new lights. That turned into replacing all my outlets and switches with ones that match. This is turning into a thing that wasn't supposed to happen just getting a tank. Don't get me started on how my paint is eggshell apparently and I accidentally got satin for the sheet rock repairs, and I like the satin better...

Edited May 17, 2023 by ckyuv
Broken images

[+Grog]

Love to see pics when it gets going.

And I agree.  Nano is tough.  I can totally see how a 14g could have heat issues.   Little things matter a lot in nano tanks.   

IMO 65 will be much more manageable, especially with the Kessil as lighting.   You may need a heater at some point, depending on what target temp you want.  I run a small eHeim heater in my 40 breeder with that same light over it.  It doesn't kick on much, but it does now and again and keeps the tank stable.   (I keep the house at 71 when I'm home.)

[ckyuv]

Yes! Great call. I was actually checking out what I bought when I wrote this and realized I forgot a heater. We turn the house down to 68-70 at night so that’s def something I want. I think my next purchase will be the helio ptc heater which has good reviews and the clearview lids top which appears to take a bit to come in so I should order soon haha. 
 

Since the cube got the fish bugs, I hope to not buy fish until mid to late July and let rock stay fallow. I’ll also be getting corals and stuff so probably do that before getting fish to try and avoid my kids having to name more fish the same thing again. 

[mFrame]

Welcome back into the hobby, looks like you're off to a great start. 

Don't even get me started on the aquarium leading to a new project. We literally built our house around ours, it was the first thing in before we even moved, and it STILL isn't done because of all the other projects it triggered.  We went through major heat issues until the AC register in the fish room was finally installed.  I think you're going to have much more issues with cooling than heat, I only have to turn on the heater a few times in the winter.  Your return pumps and such will help moderate the temp a lot and keep it from going too cold.

I've had clams and love them, the biggest issue with them is not getting fish or inverts that bother them.

Similarly the anemones and clowns have always been the highlight of my tank.

 

There are now a few QT fish sources, I'll see if I can dig them up before someone else chimes in.  But welcome back, and keep the updates coming!

[Timfish]

Looks like a great start to a nice build! 

 

FWIW I wouldn't bother with filter socks or filter rolls.  FIsh poop is an important part of the carbonate cycle on reefs as well as urea , ammonia and phosphates for corals.  (Good to see you don't have a skimmer on your list )  Be sure to use some maricultured live rock (Gulfliverock, tampa bay or KP aquatics) to get sponges and other stuff that can't be stuck in a bottle. 

 

Dr. Reefs Quarantined Fish sells conditioned and quarantined fish as well as Biota's captive raised yellow tangs and other fish (Tigerpyges angels are on sale for $1799.99)

 

 

[ckyuv]

9 hours ago, mFrame said:

Welcome back into the hobby, looks like you're off to a great start. 

Don't even get me started on the aquarium leading to a new project. We literally built our house around ours, it was the first thing in before we even moved, and it STILL isn't done because of all the other projects it triggered.  We went through major heat issues until the AC register in the fish room was finally installed.  I think you're going to have much more issues with cooling than heat, I only have to turn on the heater a few times in the winter.  Your return pumps and such will help moderate the temp a lot and keep it from going too cold.

I've had clams and love them, the biggest issue with them is not getting fish or inverts that bother them.

Similarly the anemones and clowns have always been the highlight of my tank.

 

There are now a few QT fish sources, I'll see if I can dig them up before someone else chimes in.  But welcome back, and keep the updates coming!

Thanks! When I was looking at tanks, I kept bringing up the peninsula you had and was trying to talk Sam into a bigger tank with the peninsula style. I was not successful, but went to find it I saw your awesome tank and can see all the work that went into it. Also, saw that your passing the torch! We can’t comment on the torch passing thread so I’ll hijack my own here to say thanks for all you have done over the years and hope for nothing but the best for ya 🍻

8 hours ago, Timfish said:

Looks liek a great start to a nice build! 

 

FWIW I wouldn't bother with filter socks or filter rolls.  FIsh poop is an important part of the carbonate cycle on reefs as well as urea , ammonia and phosphates for corals.  (Good to see you don't have a skimmer on your list )  Be sure to use some maricultured live rock (Gulfliverock, tampa bay or KP aquatics) to get sponges and other stuff that can't be stuck in a bottle. 

 

Dr. Reefs Quaritined Fish sells conditioned qnd quaritined fish as well as Biota's captive raised yellow tangs and other fish (Tigerpyges angels are on sale for $1799.99)

 

 

I have been going back and forth on high micron socks, or the filter roll or just LR in the sump. My main goal is to mess with the tank less(highly confident that won’t happen) but also I am bad about doing a lot of water changes and historically I have not had enough nutrients because I’m a skimpy fish stocker and feeder. 
 

The Tampa bay rock is so tempting, but the gorilla crabs and octopus and all the hitchhikers have me kinda paranoid. Was thinking maybe RCA had some live rock 😂

The RO/DI came in today from BRS. Got the wrong size valve to hook it up under the sink so had to order another. Got me thinking… can you just hook the thing up to a float valve directly in the tank so anytime the water goes down it will do the ATO work for you? I don’t plan to make my own salt water, Im going to set that sucker to auto deliver from petco or Amazon or whatever. The filter is just for ATO so would like to make it involve me the least amount possible… 

[+Grog]

1 hour ago, ckyuv said:

The Tampa bay rock is so tempting, but the gorilla crabs and octopus and all the hitchhikers have me kinda paranoid. Was thinking maybe RCA had some live rock 😂

Got me thinking… can you just hook the thing up to a float valve directly in the tank so anytime the water goes down it will do the ATO work for you?

If you want the diversity but not a huge risk of odd hitchhikers.  TBS will ship rocks that are basic overnight.   You can get an 8# shipment.    (They call it a Treasure Chest or Rubble Rocks or something.)    Those rocks won't have as much cool critters, or bad critters.   These have been less porous 'base' rock from the shipments I've received.     Less visible stuff but lots of 'bugs' that really clean up a tank.   

I may have a few of rocks I got from them available in ~two weeks.  Not a ton but like 2-4 pieces.   If you are interested PM me, and let me know. Thinking of rearranging a bit and not yet decided on how I want to place things.   (These are more porous rocks with more 'stuff' on them.   About football sized +/-....)   Could be good for tank diversity, but no pressure, your call, HMU if you like the idea.

On the RODI, the BKM to me, is to run a float to stop the flow, not start the flow.     When starting RODI processing the filers and system takes a few minutes to 'stabilize'.   TDS at the start will be very high and your RO membranes and DI media would be blasted with high TDS.    Best is to start it on a purge line, with the initial turbulent water being expelled.   Then look at your inline TDS meter.   once they are low.   (I usually say 50 PPM) I switch to production.   (Open clean water line and close purge line) It will save you a lot of media.

BRS sells all that stuff.   Bypass valves, relays, inline TDS etc.    You could skip the inline TDS and save a few bucks and just say I'm purging for 8 minutes then switch to production.    It would be a 90% accurate solution IMO.   And probably is what i do most of the time.

 

[Timfish]

You can hook you RO/DI directly to your sump but it's risky, sooner or later float valves can have issues.  If you do I'd set up a couple different alarms for going off if the water level gets too high and if water actually makes it to the floor.

 

Over the years I'd say 98% of the pests I've run into have been from other aquarists, not from live rock.  The sponges especially are hugely beneficial for reef ecossytems.  Even if you put rubble like Grog mentioned in your sump the sponges will migrate to your tank.   Once ammonia drops you can start adding easy corals, they'll help mature the system faster by competing against nuisance algae for nutrients.

 

Initially and periodicly you going to want to get in your tank to siphon algae out so don't be afraid of getting into it.  See these threads on algae control.

 

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/34556-hair-algae-a-case-study/?tab=comments#comment-275433
http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/39043-hair-algae-a-second-case-study/?tab=comments#comment-325744

[Timfish]

Here's a bunch of links for you to check out.   The material will be covered on the semester final.

 

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems.  While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R2BMEfQGjU

Changing Seas -  Mysterious Microbes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7hsp0dENEA

Microbial view of Coral Decline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAD26LGERj8

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont
https://youtu.be/DWItFGRQJL4

BActeria and Sponges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oLDclO7UcM

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)
https://youtu.be/dGIPveFJ_0Q

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching
https://youtu.be/oadKezUYkJE

DNA Sequencing and the Reef Tank Microbiome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghxVSmLhxUg

Richard Ross  What's up with phosphate"
https://youtu.be/ZRIKW-9d2xI

15 Answers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqTuQDzjlv4

 

[ckyuv]

I went ahead and swapped the outlet to the tank to a GFI. When checking what else was on that circuit it was just one outlet outside…. Which I have the pond pump plugged into. GFI feels legit here. Holes in ceiling are plugged and textured. I’ll sand and paint tomorrow. 
 

Tank and stand and stuff came in. I got it set up and when I turned on the RODI to start filling water went everywhere in the kitchen. The one I got has a pressure gauge, and where that was connected to the hose was cracked. Took it outside and bypassed the pressure gauge and got it rocking. Ended up getting 40gallons of water from RCA cause I didn’t wana wait, that sucker filters water slower than the grass grows. 
 

Anyways the gurgle monster is set up, I have some googling to do to make it be quiet. The tank came with a gravity fed ATO and some RedSea ATO+ that’s like ATO/Temp monitor/leak detector. I’m leaning towards the gravity one with the toilet float. I want less plugs and apps. Maybe I can trade it for a coral or something at some point. 
 

Grog, Tim… don’t hate me. I’m going dry rock. I’m sure y’all have the better advice, but I’m stubborn and want to not deal with surprises. I checked the links, and they got a little too science’y for my ADD. I ended up on euphyllia pics that said, I will try and find good sponges and creepy crawly things. I agree on the importance, I just don’t want to let go of my control yet 😂

 

My first actual tank pics. Wana let it run for a week or so before moving biocube water/rocks/stuff over and adding the new rock. 
 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by ckyuv

[Timfish]

13 hours ago, ckyuv said:

 . . . I just don’t want to let go of my control yet 😂 . . .

 

  Like you really have any kind of control of a reef system!!? 

[ckyuv]

12 hours ago, Timfish said:

 

  Like you really have any kind of control of a reef system!!? 

Just let me dream! Until like… Thursday when stuff goes in and I message Grog for rock 😂 I went to RCA today and they had aptasia and bubble algae in their live rock tank. I’m out. Now I’m contemplating dry rock in the tank and LR in the sump if that does much. With no skimmer and stuff it’s essentially an empty 20g tank that I want to grow pods for a mandarin one day. 

[ckyuv]

Sooo, here I go changing my game plan already. I got rid of all my sand and all but 1 rock from the old tank to reduce my chance of moving over the fish bugs. I dosed ammonia and microbacter XLM and it took 6 days to cycle. Not sure if this is cause the bottle of stuff works or cause I had one rock or a combo of both. 

anyways I added a couple of little snowflake clowns and a rainbow bubble tip anemone today. I also added some rubble to the sump as well for both extra rock but also a place to get pods going for a mandarin one day. 

Figured out the gurgling issues as well. 2 things, I played with the möbius app and set a schedule. Every time I adjusted the tank it was turning itself back the the schedule I set on the app. Also, I guess the mp40 controller does stuff to the s2 controller. They are talking wirelessly I guess. When I turn one on/off they change each other. I assume messing with the modes/speed on mp40 was also doing stuff with the return. It’s all where I want it now though so I shall leave it alone. 
 

I plan to just let the system chill for a while and keep testing water to make sure the seemingly short cycle actually did something. I also have a trip at the end of June so don’t want to add any additional bio load till I am back since I know the uglies are headed my way soon. 

[Timfish]

18 hours ago, ckyuv said:

Sooo, here I go changing my game plan already. . .

😱

Just for the record I never have to change any plans I make for one of my tanks. 😏

 

You didn't mention anything about algae eaters but I would go ahead and add an urchin and some hermits, it won't hurt to get ahead of the uglies and they don't need much attention.

 

[ckyuv]

The urchin brings up a good wuestion. Right now I have a turbo snail and a couple margarita snails and astrea (or whatever the star shaped ones are called) 

 

I’ve never had an urchin and always wanted one. Think it’s too early to get one? I assume the algae will come quick so it prob won’t be long but was thinking a tuxedo one would be cool to have. 

[Timfish]

If you have any signs of algae growing on the rock I'd add one.   Tuxedo, Royal or Caribbean short spine pink or green or white would be good choices.  Tuxedo's are captive raised but obvioulsy will be more expensive.

[+Grog]

I had a bunch of the black gulf ones on my rock.  They do the job but I'd really like to add one of those tuxedo's as well.  They look really cool.

[ckyuv]

Ok, I give in to the peer pressure 😝. I just nabbed an urchin and an emerald crab. Wasn’t a tuxedo. I forgot what RCA said it’s called, but it’s a pink one and the girls picked it out. I’ll have to google what it is. 
 

The hammer that I moved from the biocube to the tank has been uber angry. I think one of the heads is a goner, I just moved it to the sand in case my issue is light. At it’s highest I am at 60% and it was at the top of the rocks. I have no clue if that’s a lot or not, but it did burn my desk so I’ll assume that’s kinda a lot. 
 

 

My tank came with 2 options for ATO. It has the gravity/float which I really like but it only lasts about 4 days. I think it’s 3.3 gallons? It also came with a ATO+ thing that has sensors and plugs and things I don’t care about, but now I am kinda thinking about it so I can do like 10g of water for ATO. I’m trying to keep the tank simple and low on power because when it gets cold outside and Texas breaks I want the tank to run off the Jackery. Also I have a kessil app and a mobius app. Adding a Red Sea one and having 3 apps seems excessive for a fish tank… anyways, now I have to see if I can make a custom ATO thing that is bigger to fit on the sump mounts or go with more gadgets that I don’t want. 
 

[Timfish]

Will a bucket or tank sit next to your sump?   FWIW I always have issues ATO issues with sensors, pumps and with float valves if left too long with out maintenance.  I used to wait until they had issues to bother with them and gone years with some but it's less hassle to plan on a good cleaning every six months to a year, the amount of ambient light can be a variable too

 

Your urchin is a caribbean species generally called a pincushion, collector or pink short spine.  It's likely Lytechinus variegatus and has a range of colors from green to pink to white.   They can carry a lot of stuff but from what I've seen there does seem to be individual preferences which is curious as thy don't have brains, at least not a brain as as we think of it.  You can get hats for them online.

[ckyuv]

Oh man, sea urchin hats. That’s hilarious, I just looked them up and will have to let the kids pick one out. I kinda hope they pick a gold Viking hat now… Right now it’s wearing a thermometer and a snail lol. 

My wife wants to do shelves and potted plants and stuff next to the tank so maybe I can figure out how to fit water storage into her plans. If I stop being lazy and figure out my wire clean up, there is also enough room in the stand for 2x of the 5g water jugs. Could maybe put a tank in there as well. At some point I would like to potentially throw a light on the sump and grow chaeto so I have to save a little space 

[Timfish]

You can probably get several in a package and let your urchin decide for itself what it wants to wear any particular day (or evening ;D).

 

I wouldn't bother with cheato, grow cryptic sponges.  Sponges are essential recyclers on reef systems.  Macro alga on the other hand compete with corals and while chaeto isn't as bad as turf and hair alga for releasing the DOC that causes issues with corals it still releases some.

[ckyuv]

I like your style. I think we have settled on a pink cowgirl hat or a mini mouse hat with ears for the urchin. For the ATO, I got a big ol "heck no" for a container by the tank, everything has to be in the stand. I was looking around and I have ~13" side to side and 24" front to back space in the stand. I think I might go with something like this and use the read sea ATO pump even though I don't want more electronics: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/ruby-ato-10-gallon-reservoir-trigger-systems.html 10 gallons should buy me plenty of time between having to refill.

 

For the sump, the sponge is a great idea. I'll have to do a little reading. Ultimately the #1 goal for me in the refugium is to have rocks for filtration and pods so I can get and sustain a mandarin one day(my dream fish). I have never had much luck keeping any decent sponges outside the blue one I scored from aquadome at one point. I might have some learning to do to get them set up as filtration. Presumably Ill need to wait till I get more fish/bioload. The kids really want dory, and I really want a yellow tang. They usually win though unfortunately. I have a trip to New Orleans coming up then Kentucky so we have a few weeks to duke it out.

[Timfish]

That ATO looks nice and a cover is a big plus.  Your dimensions look like a generic 10 gallon tank would fit and be cheaper even if you have to get or cut an acrylic a cover for it.

 

Cryptic sponges are easy, jsut get some live rock from Gulf Live Rock, Tamp Bay or KP Aquatics.  Tyree has a couple ebooks out you might be able to get ahold of.  He demonstrated some prescience advocating sponges back in the 90s.  Work by de Goeij showed cryptic sponges remove the labile DOC that can have serious ramifications for corals 1000X faster than the bacterioplankton (which is only partially removed by skimmers).  You can still put a small light to establish a day/night cycle but it wouldn't have to be nearly as bright as what you would need for macro algae.