Prostar Rimless 230 V2 Build

[Shorebreak]

Hello Everyone,

I have been keeping aquariums off and on for about 20 years, from coral to fresh heavily planted tanks, it has turned into a hobby I share with my wife, she enjoys the tanks as well and helps out with the upkeep. When I proposed few years ago, trying to be creative, I put the ring in our reef tank and told her to look for the new coral. Anyways, this forum was helpful for me to decide on the new tank and setup, so I figured I would add one myself for this new one.

I had a 150 gallon mixed reef that had been running for about 5 years; it survived a move about 3 years ago. Unfortunately I got a little lackadaisical, and recently had a heater put the nail in the coffin. It was downstairs, and by the time I realized it felt weirdly hot and humid on that floor the damage was done, lost half the stock and then hair algae took out most of the rest. So. I had a choice to step away for a while, or rebuild. I decided to go all in! This time with a few more gadgets.

With some research I decided that I liked the look of rimless and wanted to go as big as I could for the new location in my home on the main living level, where I walk by it daily. I also didn't like the shape of the 150, it was only 18" deep and 30" tall, it was annoying to clean and work on being that it was taller than it was wide. I found the prostar rimless it seemed to be more bang for my buck as far as rimless setups with stand and sump.

It is a work in progress but some photos below, been wet about 3 weeks. Haven't replumbed anything as my first attempt at a metric to PVC fitting was a partial failure. I Don't have all the controls set up as of yet either.

Here is a list of the build items:
Prostar Rimless 230 V2
(4) Radion XR15 G5 Pros w/ RMS mounts
Apex ATK with 2" Flow meter, and leak probe
Apex W/ E832 energy bar and (4) probes
Apex COR 20 Return
(3) Apex WAV
IceCap Kalk mixing reactor, large IC-KM-200
Innovative marine Top of reservoir, 15 gallon
AI Prime 16 Fuge w/ mount
(2) Brightwell X Port NO3 Plates. Got 2 to maximize skimmer depth, but might only need one. If so ill add the 2nd to the cryptic zone in sump.
24V strip LED light from Amazon to connect to APEX for under stand light
Reef Octopus RO-PS-3000INT (re-used from 150)
IceCap Probe holder
4 stage 100GPD RO, reused and upgraded to 6 stages from 150 setup
(2) 100 gallon vertical storage for mixing station
Blue Sch 40 PVC to replumb the return line with a manifold
3/4” x 20mm couple JIS COO:USA adapter for the Prostar piping to PVC standard (this one didn't work for return)
(2) 1” x 25mm couple JIS COO:USA adapter for the Prostar piping to PVC standard (this one worked for drain)
Roughly 150 lbs of liverock from 150, at least 7 years wet
120lb aragonite sand

Livestock
Mated pair of Clowns with Anemone from 150
Blue Tang from 150
A few pieces of coral on their last leg from 150
(6) new Chromis 1" or smaller

 

[Alexdiaz]

Great choices in equitment! Looks like this build is going to be great!

 

[Shorebreak]

Great choices in equitment! Looks like this build is going to be great!

Thank you sir, my wife just had our 2nd kid so its slowed me down. I have managed to keep it moving somewhat though! I've never had such high tech stuff, I'm really enjoying the controller, one more thing for me to tinker with.

 

[Shorebreak]

Tank is coming along, it never cycled, as much of my rock has been wet for years now, have had some brownish algea lightly dust the white part of the rock that never saw the light of day. Still haven't had a chance to re-pipe, but I dont plan on running a reactor yet, so all the motivation is the apex flow meter to play with. I did realize I didn't need the largest meter. I purchased it based on the manufacturer rated GPH for the tank return, same with using the COR 20. With small size of the single return piping, no way it is pushing 1700 GPH through it. I dont think it needs it either. I have been happy with the water level and sound level.

Decided to purchase a few frags about a week ago, the pipe coral is a transfer from old setup, one of the few corals that survived the meltdown. It seems to be happier now.

 

[Zagreus]

Tank is coming along, it never cycled, as much of my rock has been wet for years now, have had some brownish algea lightly dust the white part of the rock that never saw the light of day. Still haven't had a chance to re-pipe, but I dont plan on running a reactor yet, so all the motivation is the apex flow meter to play with. I did realize I didn't need the largest meter. I purchased it based on the manufacturer rated GPH for the tank return, same with using the COR 20. With small size of the single return piping, no way it is pushing 1700 GPH through it. I dont think it needs it either. I have been happy with the water level and sound level.

Decided to purchase a few frags about a week ago, the pipe coral is a transfer from old setup, one of the few corals that survived the meltdown. It seems to be happier now.

Looking good and following. I am looking at a Prostar 150. Not alot on Prostar quality on the forums. The prices are very good. How is the quality of your tank, stand and sump please and would you recomemd them and buy again please?

 

[Shorebreak]

Looking good and following. I am looking at a Prostar 150. Not alot on Prostar quality on the forums. The prices are very good. How is the quality of your tank, stand and sump please and would you recomemd them and buy again please?

I would recommend, I am very pleased so far. The tank itself is very nice, seems all look neat and professional. I like that the bottom of the tank has a rim, seems to give it extra support. I liked the sump, its large and allows lots of real-estate to work with. The return section was larger than I needed, so I sectioned it off and added some reef rubble and a brightwell NO3 plate covered up for a cryptic area. It seems to me working well, very low nitrates so far, but I also have the section in front of it with a string fuge light.

I really like the glass panel doors of the stand, gives a real nice modern look I like, plus its easy to wipe down. The stand is wood with aluminum bracing supports, which is nice, seems to be very rigid. The tank is very quiet if you keep the caps on the drain lines, but a slight film can build up. On mine if you take the cap off, it dissipated very quickly.

Some gripes, I didn't really like the metric plumbing, as its a pain to modify, that and the smaller red sea proprittary size sock holder. I wish the drain box was external to help flow and maximize inside dimensions.

That said, overall very happy. I contemplated this, along with the red sea, water box, and the planet aquarium crystaline series. This one left me more money to buy gadgets and lights.

Let me know if you have any specific questions, or of you want a photo of something.

 

[Shorebreak]

Finished my mixing station, but my old little giant external pump has a leaky seal from a stripped screw. Going to see if I can JB weld it to get another year or so out of it. Going to pump clean water up to tank on 2nd floor ro make water changes easier. Tank on left is fed from 5 stage RO, then pumped to right tank to mix and pump to tank.

 

[Zagreus]

I would recommend, I am very pleased so far. The tank itself is very nice, seems all look neat and professional. I like that the bottom of the tank has a rim, seems to give it extra support. I liked the sump, its large and allows lots of real-estate to work with. The return section was larger than I needed, so I sectioned it off and added some reef rubble and a brightwell NO3 plate covered up for a cryptic area. It seems to me working well, very low nitrates so far, but I also have the section in front of it with a string fuge light.

I really like the glass panel doors of the stand, gives a real nice modern look I like, plus its easy to wipe down. The stand is wood with aluminum bracing supports, which is nice, seems to be very rigid. The tank is very quiet if you keep the caps on the drain lines, but a slight film can build up. On mine if you take the cap off, it dissipated very quickly.

Some gripes, I didn't really like the metric plumbing, as its a pain to modify, that and the smaller red sea proprittary size sock holder. I wish the drain box was external to help flow and maximize inside dimensions.

That said, overall very happy. I contemplated this, along with the red sea, water box, and the planet aquarium crystaline series. This one left me more money to buy gadgets and lights.

Let me know if you have any specific questions, or of you want a photo of something.

Very very helpfull. Thank you and will get back to you more soon.

 

[JayPnoy12]

Hello Everyone,

I have been keeping aquariums off and on for about 20 years, from coral to fresh heavily planted tanks, it has turned into a hobby I share with my wife, she enjoys the tanks as well and helps out with the upkeep. When I proposed few years ago, trying to be creative, I put the ring in our reef tank and told her to look for the new coral. Anyways, this forum was helpful for me to decide on the new tank and setup, so I figured I would add one myself for this new one.

I had a 150 gallon mixed reef that had been running for about 5 years; it survived a move about 3 years ago. Unfortunately I got a little lackadaisical, and recently had a heater put the nail in the coffin. It was downstairs, and by the time I realized it felt weirdly hot and humid on that floor the damage was done, lost half the stock and then hair algae took out most of the rest. So. I had a choice to step away for a while, or rebuild. I decided to go all in! This time with a few more gadgets.

With some research I decided that I liked the look of rimless and wanted to go as big as I could for the new location in my home on the main living level, where I walk by it daily. I also didn't like the shape of the 150, it was only 18" deep and 30" tall, it was annoying to clean and work on being that it was taller than it was wide. I found the prostar rimless it seemed to be more bang for my buck as far as rimless setups with stand and sump.

It is a work in progress but some photos below, been wet about 3 weeks. Haven't replumbed anything as my first attempt at a metric to PVC fitting was a partial failure. I Don't have all the controls set up as of yet either.

Here is a list of the build items:
Prostar Rimless 230 V2
(4) Radion XR15 G5 Pros w/ RMS mounts
Apex ATK with 2" Flow meter, and leak probe
Apex W/ E832 energy bar and (4) probes
Apex COR 20 Return
(3) Apex WAV
IceCap Kalk mixing reactor, large IC-KM-200
Innovative marine Top of reservoir, 15 gallon
AI Prime 16 Fuge w/ mount
(2) Brightwell X Port NO3 Plates. Got 2 to maximize skimmer depth, but might only need one. If so ill add the 2nd to the cryptic zone in sump.
24V strip LED light from Amazon to connect to APEX for under stand light
Reef Octopus RO-PS-3000INT (re-used from 150)
IceCap Probe holder
4 stage 100GPD RO, reused and upgraded to 6 stages from 150 setup
(2) 100 gallon vertical storage for mixing station
Blue Sch 40 PVC to replumb the return line with a manifold
3/4” x 20mm couple JIS COO:USA adapter for the Prostar piping to PVC standard (this one didn't work for return)
(2) 1” x 25mm couple JIS COO:USA adapter for the Prostar piping to PVC standard (this one worked for drain)
Roughly 150 lbs of liverock from 150, at least 7 years wet
120lb aragonite sand

Livestock
Mated pair of Clowns with Anemone from 150
Blue Tang from 150
A few pieces of coral on their last leg from 150
(6) new Chromis 1" or smaller

@Shorebreak thank you for sharing this information about the 230 Gallon ProStar Rimless. Since I see few people in this forum have this type of tank. I was trying to decide which tank I want to purchase when I built my Mix Reef Tank. I like the Peninsula style. First when I saw the Red Sea model I was hook up with the tank. I told myself I want the Red Sea. Then I saw the waterbox style. When I read different review I got hook up again with the style. So change my mind again and put the waterbox as my first list. Then I was searching in LiveAquria to see if waterbox price has change thats where I saw this Prostar Rimless. I was amazed how much cheaper as far as price than the Waterbox. After seeing picture of other people in this forum using this type of aquarium this will give an idea which tank I want to purchase once I'm ready to built mine. At least now I know if I purchase this 230 Gallon ProStar Rimless Peninsula style I have wiggle room money to buy other gadget like what you said. What I like about this is you have room to change thing up like if you want to change sump by using different one. Compare to the Red Sea and Waterbox give small foot print if you want to change the Sump. I have two question about the tank first the stand since it made of Lightweight and durable aluminum is that heavy like know metal stand? The other question what is the dimension of the sump? can you give measurement so that I will have an idea what size I can get when I replace the sum with different one. This will also give idea if the sump that I want to get will fit inside the stand.

Again thank you for sharing this info and great build so far and looking forward to see the progress in the future.

Always,

Jay

 

[Shorebreak]

@Shorebreak thank you for sharing this information about the 230 Gallon ProStar Rimless. Since I see few people in this forum have this type of tank. I was trying to decide which tank I want to purchase when I built my Mix Reef Tank. I like the Peninsula style. First when I saw the Red Sea model I was hook up with the tank. I told myself I want the Red Sea. Then I saw the waterbox style. When I read different review I got hook up again with the style. So change my mind again and put the waterbox as my first list. Then I was searching in LiveAquria to see if waterbox price has change thats where I saw this Prostar Rimless. I was amazed how much cheaper as far as price than the Waterbox. After seeing picture of other people in this forum using this type of aquarium this will give an idea which tank I want to purchase once I'm ready to built mine. At least now I know if I purchase this 230 Gallon ProStar Rimless Peninsula style I have wiggle room money to buy other gadget like what you said. What I like about this is you have room to change thing up like if you want to change sump by using different one. Compare to the Red Sea and Waterbox give small foot print if you want to change the Sump. I have two question about the tank first the stand since it made of Lightweight and durable aluminum is that heavy like know metal stand? The other question what is the dimension of the sump? can you give measurement so that I will have an idea what size I can get when I replace the sum with different one. This will also give idea if the sump that I want to get will fit inside the stand.

Again thank you for sharing this info and great build so far and looking forward to see the progress in the future.

Always,

Jay

Hi Jay,

No Problem, glad it has been helpful. I have been very happy with the setup so far. Like I mentioned, I looked at those other manufacturers too, and the build quality of prostar appears to be comparable. I think the stand may be better; I am glad I didn't have to put it together, that was a plus for me. I have never owned the other brands, so my experience is limited there, I have just from seen a few of them in stores and of course read a few peoples builds.

The stand is nice, I like the glass doors. The stands vertical framework is aluminum, it appears to be reinforcing wood composite bottom and side panels, it is not aluminum throughout. From what I can tell this opens up the inside of stand, as the sump is large, see photos, looked to be about 49x19.5, (rim to rim of the sump bracing). It is spacious, the sump fills 2/3 of the bottom, leaving one section for controls, power, etc. As far as weight, I helped the movers and it was light compared to the tank itself which is a beast, I didn't help with that one. The manufacturer has it listed as 434 for the tank and 242 for the stand and glass sump. I bet the stand is about 175 of that weight, not too bad. My guess is the aluminum makes it lighter and takes up less room. The sump is strapped in with clips, they look easy enough to remove. You would have to unlock it to get it out. I was going to place my dosing tube clip down that back side, but was afraid I would loose the magnet and it would be too much of pain to ever retrieve.

Let me know if this helps or if you want a photo of something.

 

[Shorebreak]

Some updates:

So most of my Coral is looking healthy, I did loose 2 corals quickly, both Montipora. My guess is I was not expecting the Alk draw to pick up so fast. Strangely enough, I had 2 other Monitipora frags and they look fine I had been checking once a week. It dropped pretty low. I have sense started dosing 2 part and brought it back up. I am not sure if its the Brightwell NOX plates, or the Refugium light, but I have had undetectable Nitrate and Phosphate on Salifert test kits. the glass stays very clean. I was worried about being too clean for the coral, so I have feed heavier, even with reef roids, turned off the skimmer and dosed Red Sea AB+. I have never had the too clean water problem.

Since fixing the ALK, I bought a Apex DOS and plan on setting it up to dose Calk / ALk, its my next project. I believe I am seeing a dusting of coraline, and some of the coral is encrusting. The Hammer has about 3 new heads sprouting.

Still need to repipe the plumbing, I will probably purchase an extra bulkhead from Prostar, too deep now to cut the installed factory one up if I mess it up. Want to swap the complete repipe with the flow meter.

Lost a chromis too, down to 5, but picked up a yellow tang. They all appear to be healthy.

I purchased a phytoplankton culture kit from Mercer of Montana, had a successful 1st bath, have been happy with the setup. they have pretty good instructions. I am culturing Nanno and Tetra. Got a cheap LED strip light from amazon, has worked well so far.

 

[JayPnoy12]

Hi Jay,

No Problem, glad it has been helpful. I have been very happy with the setup so far. Like I mentioned, I looked at those other manufacturers too, and the build quality of prostar appears to be comparable. I think the stand may be better; I am glad I didn't have to put it together, that was a plus for me. I have never owned the other brands, so my experience is limited there, I have just from seen a few of them in stores and of course read a few peoples builds.

The stand is nice, I like the glass doors. The stands vertical framework is aluminum, it appears to be reinforcing wood composite bottom and side panels, it is not aluminum throughout. From what I can tell this opens up the inside of stand, as the sump is large, see photos, looked to be about 49x19.5, (rim to rim of the sump bracing). It is spacious, the sump fills 2/3 of the bottom, leaving one section for controls, power, etc. As far as weight, I helped the movers and it was light compared to the tank itself which is a beast, I didn't help with that one. The manufacturer has it listed as 434 for the tank and 242 for the stand and glass sump. I bet the stand is about 175 of that weight, not too bad. My guess is the aluminum makes it lighter and takes up less room. The sump is strapped in with clips, they look easy enough to remove. You would have to unlock it to get it out. I was going to place my dosing tube clip down that back side, but was afraid I would loose the magnet and it would be too much of pain to ever retrieve.

Let me know if this helps or if you want a photo of something.

@Shorebreak:

Thank you very much for taking time for measuring the Sump on your busy time or schedule. Yes, this will really help a lot. The reason why I asked because I want to make sure when I buy my custom sump the dimension that I'm visioning will fit the dimension.

I'm still on planning stage. I have not made any purchase cause I'm still doing a lot of reading and researching ideas for my plan to built Mix Reef Tank.

Again thank you so much for that measurement. Looking forward on your progress of your reef.

Always,

Jay

 

[Super Fly]

Following. amazing price and quality looks pretty good too!

 

[Shorebreak]

Following. amazing price and quality looks pretty good too!

Thanks! I've been very happy so far with quality.

 

[Shorebreak]

Some updates, overall everything looks good and seem to be happy. I have had the skimmer off for over 3 weeks and nitrate and phosphate are undetected on salifert kit. Even checked with red sea nitrate pro kit, which had the slightest hint of color, but could have been my imagination.

I did loose another monitipira, I looked closely and it looked like it may have had the montipora eating nudibranch, so I threw it out as it was too far gone and have somehat isolated the others.

A current tank shot:

 

[Shorebreak]

My next project, as I've been dosing alk by hand throughout day, working from home had perks.

 

[Shorebreak]

Some coral shots, these were about dead from old tank and are starting to turn the corner:

 

[Shorebreak]

Here are some new frags coming along:

 

[Two Tides Aquarium Supply]

Some updates, overall everything looks good and seem to be happy. I have had the skimmer off for over 3 weeks and nitrate and phosphate are undetected on salifert kit. Even checked with red sea nitrate pro kit, which had the slightest hint of color, but could have been my imagination.

I did loose another monitipira, I looked closely and it looked like it may have had the montipora eating nudibranch, so I threw it out as it was too far gone and have somehat isolated the others.

A current tank shot:

Sorry to hear about the other monti @Shorebreak...those darn nudis are really resilient once their established, if you have some. When we talked about it that's what it sounded like to me.

If you wanna check the tank for the new frags sake, here's some photos of what you're lookin for. There are a few different species, but most of the nudis themselves as well as their eggs either look like tiny white snowflakes, or tiny white clumps of cavier.

I've heard of hobbyists and professionals having success with taking a toothbrush to the adults and the eggs. If it's a more delicate monti, you can try a Waterpik turned down all the way (picture attached). It's nice because you can easily control the pressure on the coral with the pressure dial and how far away the nozzle is away from the coral. They also come with nozzles that make different flow patterns, and one is a toothbrush attachment so best of both.

The hosing that the pik comes with isn't very long (I can get 3 ft out of the one I use if I really stretch it), so may need to get a bit creative. If you do decide to go with a Waterpik, make sure to use tank water to not mess up levels. I wouldn't expect the pik to last forever because it's saltwater, but if it's the difference between prized montis perishing or surviving, I'd say it's worth it.

Hope this helps in the battle, let us know how the progress goes.

 

[Two Tides Aquarium Supply]

Here are some new frags coming along:

Solid mixed tank in the making right there Love that acro and the hammer as well. @Shorebreak May the coral growth gods be with you this holiday season