KMitch's Red Sea Reefer 250 "Wrasse Box" Journal

[KMitch]

Greeting N-R Friends!

 

Most of you don't know me, so let me take a moment to re-introduce myself... I started my first nano reef tank over a decade ago, but it has been years since I was active in the hobby. Now that I am finally settled in and no longer moving around the globe every few years, it's time to dive back in.  For reference, when I was last in this hobby, LED lights were only available to aquarists that were comfortable wiring their own DIY system and the NanoCube tank had just been introduced!  At that time, I actually worked in the industry, so I learned a lot about coral and fish husbandry. 

 

Coming back now, it's clear things have changed.  LEDs are now everywhere on the market and there are more choices of all-in-one tanks than I could have ever imagined. Amazing to see the growth in the hobby.

 

Anyway, if there is anything I learned before, it was that planning, patience and moving slow were the most important attributes when building a reef. Remembering that, I have spent the last few months reading this forum and catching back up on all the things that have changed since I was last around. With great care, I have planned out my next tank, and just ordered all the supplies to start the build. 

 

I'd like to give a special kudos to @BulkReefSupply - their videos and BRSTV was a great resource for re-educating myself on the changes to the hobby. I just purchased my tank and supplies from BRS, and will use them for all future equipment needs given their great resources.

 

Equipment:

• Red Sea Reefer 250 System (white)
• 2x EcoTech Marine Radion XR15 G4 Pro lights w/mounts
• EcoTech Marine Vectra S1 DC (1400 GPH) return pump
• EcoTech Marine VorTech MP40 propeller pump
• EcoTech Marine Battery backup
• EcoTech Marine ReefLink wireless controller
• Neptune Systems Apex EL Controller
• Neptune Systems DOS dosing pumps
• Neptune Systems DDR dosing containers
• Neptune Systems ATK auto top off kit
• Neptune Systems IO Breakout Box
• Cobalt Aquatics 150W Neo-Therm heater (primary)
• HMO-200 Finnex heater (backup)
• Bulk Reef Supply 4 Stage 150GPD RO/DI system
• Vertex Omega 150 Protein Skimmer
• Avast Marine 2L Vibe Zeovit reactor

 

Livestock:

• Pair of ORA Half Naked Clowns
• Juvenile Yellow Coris Wrasse
• Juvenile Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse
• Red Headed Fairy Wrasse
• Starry Blenny
• Diamond Spot Goby
• Cleaner Shrimp
• Pulsing Xenia
• Neon green hairy mushroom
• Green striped mushrooms
• Super Shocker Orange mushrooms
• Black sun coral
• Pink Birdsnest coral
• Neon green torch coral
• Red Acan colony
• Leather toadstood
• Mystery green LPS
• Mystery green zoanthids
• Mystery blue SPS
• Red monti plate
• Random assortment of snails and crabs
• 60 lbs Bulk Reef Supply Aquarium Saver Dry Live Rock
• 40 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive Reef Sand
• Red Sea Salt Mix

 

Tank Officially Started:  16 August 2018

 

Current FTS (3 October 2018):

 

 

Early Stages  (21 August 2018):

 

 

Tank Design Plan:

I am planning to build the tank around softies, LPS, and a few pieces of SPS. While I appreciate the look of a SPS tank, there's something to be said for the hardiness, vibrance, and lushness of softies and LPS.  For that reason, I plan to have a nice mix of all of the above. 

 

For fish, I'm going to do some active fish with personalities -- clowns, wrasses, goby, etc. In my previous tanks, I dabbled with some of the "fads" -- mantis shrimps, anemones, etc -- and I can safely say that all that stuff is out of my system! Anything that goes into this tank will be deliberate!

 

In terms of equipment, as you probably noticed above, I am going to use a skimmer for filtration. I had great success before with heavy skimming and will pick up there, but am also planning to expand the filtration to include using the Zeovit system. 

 

BRS estimates my equipment will arrive next week, so pictures will come then. Then we'll start the long, slow, and patient wait for a cycle and curing of rock. Buckle up... we'll be here awhile.

 

-Kristen aka KMitch

 

[Indiana Reefin]

🤤 

What a setup! Can’t wait!! 

[KMitch]

I’d love to say it’s looking more like an aquarium, but it’s not....

 

First batch of supplies arrived today! 

 

[KMitch]

I heard from the ground shipping company that the Red Sea Reefer 250 should be delivered to me on Friday, so here's to a perfect delivery and tank without issues.... 

 

As luck would have it, I was cruising the @BulkReefSupply TV channel and working on a cart of a few thing I forgot in my original order, when my inbox got this announcement.... 

 

 

So I also just added an Apex Neptune EL system to this tank! To round it out, I also picked up the DOS and DDR dosing system, breakout box, and auto top off kit for the Apex EL. 

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome back @KMitch, it's great to see you! 👏

 

Can't wait to see what you create with your awesome new system, I like your mixed reef plans. Fingers crossed for a safe tank delivery! 🤞

[KMitch]

1 minute ago, Christopher Marks said:

Welcome back @KMitch, it's great to see you! 👏

 

Thanks Chris! I can't believe how long it's been. I'm sorta afraid to wander into the lounge for fear of what I'll find these days.....

[Christopher Marks]

Hehe, it's quieted down quite a bit in the lounge, but you might still find some familiar faces there. Turns out we all got old! 😄 

 

I caught them talking about baby monitors even!

 

[KMitch]

9 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Hehe, it's quieted down quite a bit in the lounge, but you might still find some familiar faces there. Turns out we all got old! 😄 

 

I caught them talking about baby monitors even!

 

Gosh I wish I had a time machine. Lol

[KMitch]

Tank delivery day today was a massive success...phew! I had seen enough horror stories of tanks delivered broken that I was nervous for what I might get, yet was pleased to find no obvious issues (yet). 

 

The truck driver was even kind enough to get half way down the driveway for us:

 

 

 

Next step will be to assemble the stand and start designing and planning the sump system. I plan to pirate some of the elements from the included sump and build out some extra mods to make the system as low maintenance as possible. Stay tuned!

[Nano Nano Boo Boo]

Somebody tell me how to follow a build because this will be a good one. Great start! Stoked to see how things come together. 

[KMitch]

7 minutes ago, Nano Nano Boo Boo said:

Somebody tell me how to follow a build because this will be a good one. Great start! Stoked to see how things come together. 

Top of the page, the “following” button. Thanks for tagging along!

[KMitch]

Well folks, it's time for something to start happening around this fish box. I spent several hours today prepping the stand and sump area, which I am customizing to better suit my needs.  After unpacking the tank, I was pleased to see I had one of the new version 3 Red Sea Reefers, which has an upgraded sump. 

 

But before I could play with the sump, I had to build the stand. If you've ever assembled anything from Ikea, then this assembly is pretty straightforward, though the hardware supplied by Red Sea is certainly better than most of the Ikea hardware. It took about an hour for the whole stand to be assembled, and I only needed a screwdriver and rubber mallet.

 

The stand parts were flat packed and wrapped in foam to protect them during shipping

 

 

Some of the assembly hardware for the stand

 

Red Sea provides detailed photo instructions. If you have ever assembled anything from Ikea, you'll be just fine here

 

 

The stand includes several nice details, like these soft touch, push activated openers for the doors

 

 

Stand complete! I am very happy with how this came out - I had obviously seen many pictures online of the stand prior to ordering it, but photos don't do it justice for how well put together this thing is. And best of all, the stand and floor were perfectly level, so I don't need to use any of the included shims to fix that. Phew!

 

Next it was time to move onto the sump. I have seen many folks replace the included sump with one from another company, but I haven't identified a reason to do that yet. Instead, I want to customize the stand and equipment around the sump to create the best possible livestock habitat. 

 

Because it's the version 3 sump, the plumbing runs down the side of the stand, and the main chamber for the skimmer has a drop-in divider that can be used to create a 'fuge. I won't be using the refugium option, so I took the divider out and will just have a large area for the heater and skimmer. I also am modifying the ATO tank; rather than mounting it as Red Sea intends above the sump and using the gravity top-off, I am going to use the Neptune systems ATO. As a result, I am moving the glass tank for the ATO to the side of the sump. 

 

Other equipment I need to plumb into the system includes the Neptune Apex DOS/DDR containers where I will keep Calc/Alk supplements and my ZeoVit reactor. To make this all fit in the remaining space, I added some custom cabinets to the inside of the stand. Of note, this will also allow me to build my Neptune Apex EL controller into the stand and hide the cord mess.

 

The new version 3 sump

 

I am still waiting for the last few pieces of equipment to arrive, so in the mean time, I cut out cardboard to the size of the footprint of this equipment so I could work on the arrangement of this gear. 

 

 

Playing around with skimmer placement...I learned after my 3rd or 4th reef tank how vital it is to plan ahead...so I'm planning ahead. Every detail has been thought through to maximize the utility of the space in the stand

 

 

Building my custom shelves. I used pre-fabricated shelves from Home Depot (made by Rubbermaid) and some 90* angle brackets to assemble this system. It's rock solid, and I can shake the heck out of that shelf and it's not moving.

 

 

The "finished" product. The artificial wall on the right side above my shelf is attached via removable clips, allowing me to pull it away when I want to access the cavity behind. That space will be used to store cables and wires to hide them from view, while the front face will have the controllers for the Neptune Apex EL.

 

 

Viola! I also installed an inexpensive cabinet light into the stand. Eventually it will be wired so that whenever I open the door to the stand, the light will turn on. In the mean time, it does a nice job lighting up the sump and giving everything a clean feeling.

 

Still to come.... plumbing! I am modifying the included plumbing and will update on that progress once all of the parts arrive. Stay tuned!

[Indiana Reefin]

Beautiful setup! 

[KMitch]

Sump and tank prep work continued today... I tackled a variety of little tasks including:

 

1) Building an acrylic lid for the top of my ATO tank

2) Removed the built in float valve holder so I can move it into the ATO tank (it will hold a float valve that will tell my Neptune controller whenever my fresh water is low

3) Removed the black backing from the main tank

4) Hung the brackets for the lights

5) Built some switches to control the main return pump, skimmer, lights, and a button to trigger a feed mode. This will all be wired into the Neptune's break out box

 

Now all that is fine and good, but it's even better with pictures!

 

I used some scrap wood to build a switch holder that I will mount inside the tank stand

 

This black glass triangle had come with the tank inside the sump. It was there to hold the float valve that supported the included ATO; however, I have different ATO plans. Rather than throw it away, I'm going to re-purpose this in the ATO tank where it can hold a float valve that will connect to the Neptune Apex EL and will alert me when the fresh water level is low.

 

Removing the backing from the tank. I used a level to cut the backing down the back of the overflow. If the backing was removed from the overflow, you'd be able to see the pipes in the overflow, which I don't want! It was actually very easy to remove the backing. At the end, I used a piece of black electrical tape to make sure the line along the back of the overflow backing was nice and crisp.

 

The end result. Lights hung and backing removed

 

It's a nice looking tank! The cardboard tube you see on the far side of the tank holds the mesh lid that I will put on the tank

 

The switches that still need to be mounted inside the stand, but this is how they will look once they are all wired up. I haven't decided if I want to wait and wire them and then mount it or mount and then wire. It'll be a pain in the butt either way!

 

I have to travel for work this week, so it'll be a few days before there are any more substantive updates, but stay tuned!

[DaveFason]

Great start! You will love that tank. I have been eying the 250 down for a few months as well. 

 

For the switches I would look at having those external. 

[KMitch]

Thanks Dave! I looked at a lot of your threads as I planned out this tank. 

 

Why do you recommend the switches external? It would break up the clean lines?

 

 

[DaveFason]

13 hours ago, KMitch said:

Thanks Dave! I looked at a lot of your threads as I planned out this tank. 

 

Why do you recommend the switches external? It would break up the clean lines?

 

 

Thanks! 

I have found over the years keeping the electrics, switches, etc external to the sump area to the best path. Prolongs equipment. Salt creep is just gnarly stuff. 

[KMitch]

It has been another weekend of hard work, but I have finally gotten the electronics of the tank complete....and the tank is fully stocked with lots of new stick frags.

 

I have wired the entire Apex Neptune EL system, including the Auto Top Off kit, Dosing pump and DDR kit, and Breakout Box. I also connected my lights and arranged all of the wires and cables and "tech stuff" to be clean and safe and organized.

 

The Avast Marine ZeoVit reactor also came in - I got the DIY assembly kit and built that quickly and easily and have it programmed to run on a schedule determined by the Apex controller.

 

The Apex itself is hidden yet accessible; I don't know why a lot of people "display" them prominently. Given the limitations of the size of the tank stand, I have a false wall in the back that is held up by magnets that hides the dosing pumps and Apex controller. It's all still accessible, just tucked away. 

 

I sealed up the ATO tank and added my float switch to notify me when the water level is too low in the ATO tank. Combined with my acrylic lid, the ATO water tank is now sealed up so I won't suffer more evaporation than needed.

 

The last component needed for plumbing the tank should arrive Wednesday, and if all goes well, the tank will get wet this week.

 

My ATO tank. Same tank that was included with the Reefer 250, just modified to sit next to the tank vice on top.

 

I bought a ton of these little cable ties on Amazon for $5. They have allowed me to get the tank wires cleanly and safely organized.

 

The DOS reservoir 

 

Controllers for the EcoTech S1 Return Pump and MP40 Powerhead. The MP40 is also wired to the battery backup module

 

Full Sump Shot. You can see the wall and shelf situation I custom built on the right side

 

Sump with skimmer, two heaters (one backup, one primary), dosing cables, return pump and all that other jazz

 

Clean cord management = safe cord management

 

Zeo reactor and EcoTech controllers

 

Reactor, ATO Tank and Neptune DDR tank

 

Zeo Reactor --- still needs to be plumbed, but that will happen this week

 

FTS... tank is fully stocked with lots of new sticks!

[FISHnChix]

Doing a similar build!! Loving the set up. I am trying to figure a way out to build a shelf system and some wire management stuff too.. I will be following alone now😎.. I like your switches but have you looked into the American dj power strip? It's cheap and has build in switches.. just an idea cant wait for this thing to get wet!

[KMitch]

5 hours ago, Weikel said:

Doing a similar build!! Loving the set up. I am trying to figure a way out to build a shelf system and some wire management stuff too.. I will be following alone now😎.. I like your switches but have you looked into the American dj power strip? It's cheap and has build in switches.. just an idea cant wait for this thing to get wet!

Yeah, there are some nice pre-fab switch systems out there,  it the key for me was that this had to work with the Neptune Breakout Box, and I didn’t want to buy a commercial system that I would then have to hack apart. Not seen in the above photos is also a switch plugged into the doors, so that when I open either cabinet door, the light inside the stand turns on and off. 

 

I used pre-fab shelves from Home Depot to build my setup. You can see the mounting hardware in some of the photos if you look closely. For me, the lack of shelving built in had to be rectified. It was one reason I even considered opting for the bigger thank, as the 350 models have something similar built in. 

[FISHnChix]

8 hours ago, KMitch said:

Yeah, there are some nice pre-fab switch systems out there,  it the key for me was that this had to work with the Neptune Breakout Box, and I didn’t want to buy a commercial system that I would then have to hack apart. Not seen in the above photos is also a switch plugged into the doors, so that when I open either cabinet door, the light inside the stand turns on and off. 

 

I used pre-fab shelves from Home Depot to build my setup. You can see the mounting hardware in some of the photos if you look closely. For me, the lack of shelving built in had to be rectified. It was one reason I even considered opting for the bigger thank, as the 350 models have something similar built in. 

Oh I see . I was wondering what anyone would use the Apex breakout box for!! I didn't see any reason for having discreet i/o.. makes sense now bc I am like you I would much rather quickly hit a button to stop for feeding etc. than have to use the app ..

[KMitch]

Correct. The switches via breakout box allow me to manipulate the equipment I will most commonly turn on and off for maintenance without opening the Apex Fusion app. 

 

‘The rest of my plumbing parts are all slated for delivery soon... hopefully water goes in on Wednesday and Thursday

[FISHnChix]

18 minutes ago, KMitch said:

Correct. The switches via breakout box allow me to manipulate the equipment I will most commonly turn on and off for maintenance without opening the Apex Fusion app. 

 

‘The rest of my plumbing parts are all slated for delivery soon... hopefully water goes in on Wednesday and Thursday

Super cool.. stoked for you hope all goes as planned!! 

[KMitch]

Water at last! The tank was officially born on 16 August after 10 hours of cooking RO water. But before water was plumbing. 

 

I heard enough people express issues they had with the Red Sea included plumbing that I wanted to liberate myself from their stock system. And I also wanted to have the flexibility for things like the zeovit reactor to be plumbed into the tank vice a separate system. I want to run the Zeo reactor off the main pump return, and that would require some modifications.

 

i bought all my plumbing hardware from @BulkReefSupply, including three metric to US plumbing adapters, but I still needed a few special metric slip couplers. The resource for those was CoralVue, and it took a few weeks to assemble all of the correct pieces from these vendors. But on Tuesday I had it all, and I was just a matter of gluing it and bringing it to life.  I was able to use the stock plumbing as a rough template and in a few hours had everything in and ready to go. I really like the gate valve I used too - allows for very fine tuned adjustments of the flow from the main tank. 

 

Final sump setup

 

After that, it was time to aquascape the tank. I laid out all the dry rock and spent a few hours pulling pieces around the tank. I had several photos for inspiration - one idea had been to create some sort of channel, but I wasn’t getting it to come together just right. Eventually I built something that invokes the spirit of Iwagumi. It’s not exactly the same, but I think it has the same principle of balance and calm. Plus it offers a good amount of open water for swimming and coral placement locations. I will do a more involved post on the scape soon, so stay tuned. 

 

Rock ready for Aquascaping 

 

a moonlight view of the tank, full of water and running

 

I realize these aren’t the best pictures to see the scape, but I will add more soon. Stay tuned. 

 

As as mentioned before, it too all day for me to brew up enough RO water to fill the tank, but at last I got there. When I first turned the tank on and go see it come alive was very rewarding. It’s so easy to rush in this hobby...people are always looking to speed up cycles or cut corners. But I was patient and deliberate and so far, I couldn’t be happier with the result.

 

Since filling, I added a bacteria starter and have the Apex working overtime to get everything to equilibrium for temps, etc. After everything has run for a few days, I will fine tune the plumbing to remove all the noise and start carbon, zeo, etc. But for now I am just letting everything settle and to give the bacteria a chance to get established. 

 

 

[KMitch]

It's been several days since the tank was filled, and slowly everything is coming online. 

 

After filing the tank and getting the salinity set, I added a bottle of Dr. Tim's bacteria to help colonize the dry reef rock with some good bacteria. I kept the lights and skimmer all off during this time, letting the flow settle in and bacteria seed without the skimmer and the like pulling it back out. It took three days of making small adjustments to the return pipe before I got it all dialed in and silent.  Once I was sure everything was set with the main system plumbing, it was time to start the Zeovit "14 day cycle".

 

I put "14 day cycle" in quotes because that assumes you cycled with live rock, which I am not. So I am not expecting for the tank to be fully at equilibrium in the next two weeks - especially if the phosphates are out of control. But we'll find out soon enough!

 

So today I started the cycle with ZeoVit. According to the instructions, I run the lights and skimmer on now, and the only thing I'll add later is the carbon.

 

I began dosing ZeoBak, ZeoStart, and ZeoFood last night, and have the ZeoVit rocks in the reactor, which is controlled by my Apex. 

 

As far as the aquascape is concerned -- I tried to channel my inner Iwagumi and model the scape after something he did with a freshwater system. It's hard to see the resemblance right now since it's just a pile of rocks, but I swear it's there! I am pleased with how everything came out, as I have lots of space to place corals in different flow and lighting areas, and have spaces for growth. I threw some extra rubble in the sump so it can be curing now and can later serve as frag plugs for when I need to glue a frag. 

 

Anyway, enough babble. Time for more photos!

 

Sump all setup and running. I heard some horror stories of folks struggling to get the skimmer dialed in, but so far, it's come together quite nicely. In fact, all of the plumbing came together well except for one of the lines from the Zeovit reactor which had a small leak. But I fixed it in just a few seconds and all better now.

 

Speaking of the Zeovit reactor.... here she is with approximately 500ml of Zeo rocks

 

The Neptune DDR and my ATO tank. I haven't filled the DDR with calc and alk yet since I am still cycling, but will test those soon and start bringing the tank up to the right levels.

 

The Zeovit products which I have started dosing

 

A view of the tank in the living room.... complete with dog!

 

Better tank view

 

My old iPad mini setup to run Apex Fusion Dashboard next to the tank.

 

FTS and a better view of the aquascape

 

It'll be slow for updates over the coming weeks as I just wait for things to progress, but I'll try to keep some notes about how the ZeoVit cycle goes. Thanks for following along.