Red Sea Reefer 200xl build

[gruenburger]

love it

 

[monti mike]

Here’s what the orange lobo brain looked like before - sorry for the crappy picture! It’s probably the size of a tennis ball now.

 

[monti mike]

love it

Thanks gruenburger!

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

Here’s what the orange lobo brain looked like before - sorry for the crappy picture! It’s probably the size of a tennis ball now.

Gorgeous @monti mike. Looks so good.

 

[monti mike]

Gorgeous @monti mike. Looks so good.

Thanks @Joe Glass Cages ! I appreciate it!

 

[shadow1013]

Are you using 2 MP10s? Are you going SPS with the system?

 

[monti mike]

Are you using 2 MP10s? Are you going SPS with the system?

Yeah I picked up a second MP10 because one wasn’t enough. There was a pretty obvious “dead zone” in the back right corner of the tank - that was even there with reef crest random turned all the way up. So I tried to crank up the return pump first to create more flow, but it made the system way too noisy. I can’t stand the gurgling and splashing and the tanks in bedroom.
So, I really wasn’t planning on getting a second MP10 but that’s how this hobby goes! I’m glad I pulled the trigger though. I’d say 2 MP10s are perfect. Both are set on reef crest random on half power. I’m waiting for the pumps to be Mobius enabled because I want to program them to have different flow patterns through the day. I’m really excited for this tank! Ok my tangent is over!

 

[shadow1013]

Build looks awesome. Felt a little overkill, but it’s basically the same as I was planning for the XL 300. Like the controller cabinet use.

 

[monti mike]

Build looks awesome. Felt a little overkill, but it’s basically the same as I was planning for the XL 300. Like the controller cabinet use.

Thanks @shadow1013 I felt the same way! It’ll be good as the SPS grow out over time. The SO thought I lost my mind when I came home with another MP10. I had the two pumps on opposite sides of each other but had to compromise and move it. The second one was “ugly”. I’m really testing the limits with this build!

 

[shadow1013]

Our builds are basically identical except I have to do a MP40 because of the glass thickness on the 300, and going with 2 XR15s instead of a single XR30 to help spread the light over the 36” length.

 

[monti mike]

I ordered some corals this weekend in my first live sale. It was pretty fun and I got some awesome pieces. They’re coming from Vivid Aquariums so I hope everything ships OK. Time to start checking the weather forecasts...

Pics coming soon when they get here.

 

[monti mike]

Our builds are basically identical except I have to do a MP40 because of the glass thickness on the 300, and going with 2 XR15s instead of a single XR30 to help spread the light over the 36” length.

Very nice! Looking forward to seeing your build too. The controller worked out better than I thought it would. I have all the drivers and cords zip tied up behind the board except for the return pump. I used a Velcro strip for the pump in case I need to take it out and clean it. There’s just enough room in the cabinet and if I need to get to any cords I can easily slide the entire board out to get to everything. I used a 10 foot extension cord to make sure I have enough room to pull the whole thing out and and have a drip loop so water doesn’t get in the controller. To be safe, I have the power strip closest to the cabinet door inside the controller to keep it dry. It’s only a matter of time before something splashes or leaks.
I went back and forth for a while on whether I should get the controller or not, but I’m really happy with how it all turned out. I also picked up the shelf accessory for some more storage. (And maybe a GHL controller/doser down the road?)

 

[Huskereef]

Loving this tank build. I just bought a aquatop reef 40AIO been out of the hobby for 10 years and excited to get back in it. Also planning to use all Marco rock and no live rock to avoid pests and aptasia. Looks like your tank cycled quickly. Any tips on that aspect of it

 

[monti mike]

Loving this tank build. I just bought a aquatop reef 40AIO been out of the hobby for 10 years and excited to get back in it. Also planning to use all Marco rock and no live rock to avoid pests and aptasia. Looks like your tank cycled quickly. Any tips on that aspect of it

This may be unconventional, but I broke up a dry rock into small pieces and put them everywhere in my old tank to farm some bacteria on them. Then i took a regular algae scrubber/glass cleaner and rubbed it all over the glass in the old tank and then rubbed it on the glass in the new tank. I felt kind of silly doing this but it’s like a Petri dish swap I thought to myself.
Also did a water change and dumped two gallons of the dirty tank water in the new tank and sump. I scooped out three cups of sand from the old tank and spread it everywhere in the new tank: on the sand bed and all over the white rocks. Next up were three hermits from the old tank - i threw them in and fed them pellets for a couple of days. After a couple of days I moved everything over and used as much of the old rock as I could, breaking the live rock into smaller pieces with a hammer (the rocks I felt were less likely to have aiptasia). I inspected every inch of the LR in and off for about two hours before putting anything in the tank. I’m still inspecting the rocks daily to make sure they don’t have any aiptasia and if they do the small piece is coming out immediately and going in the trash. And the last step was scraping as much good coraline as I could off the rocks and introducing that into the new tank.

So every white rock got two the seed rocks and at least two pieces of old live rock placed on them plus some live sand. There’s also seed rocks sprinkled on the sand bed and in the sump.

I wouldn’t recommend this approach for most, unless you have enough experience to monitor everything very closely. Please don’t sacrifice an innocent damsel fish to start a brand new tank!

update: found a tiny aiptasia on the montipora setosa. I’m not messing with aiptasia x or kalk paste. I took the whole coral out and broke off the lower left third of the tea to remove it all without breaking apart the anemone.

 

[monti mike]

If anyone is curious, the stock auto top off seems to be lasting for 2 -3 days. I filled it to the brim Friday night and it’s pretty low this morning. Not super impressive but it is only a one gallon container and at least it works. I wasn’t realistically expecting it to last a week. I’m a little worried about summer evaporation... I may need to update the ATO to something bigger. That could be an excuse to drill the stock ATO and turn it into a mini refugium

 

[Huskereef]

This may be unconventional, but I broke up a dry rock into small pieces and put them everywhere in my old tank to farm some bacteria on them. Then i took a regular algae scrubber/glass cleaner and rubbed it all over the glass in the old tank and then rubbed it on the glass in the new tank. I felt kind of silly doing this but it’s like a Petri dish swap I thought to myself.
Also did a water change and dumped two gallons of the dirty tank water in the new tank and sump. I scooped out three cups of sand from the old tank and spread it everywhere in the new tank: on the sand bed and all over the white rocks. Next up were three hermits from the old tank - i threw them in and fed them pellets for a couple of days. After a couple of days I moved everything over and used as much of the old rock as I could, breaking the live rock into smaller pieces with a hammer (the rocks I felt were less likely to have aiptasia). I inspected every inch of the LR in and off for about two hours before putting anything in the tank. I’m still inspecting the rocks daily to make sure they don’t have any aiptasia and if they do the small piece is coming out immediately and going in the trash. And the last step was scraping as much good coraline as I could off the rocks and introducing that into the new tank.

So every white rock got two the seed rocks and at least two pieces of old live rock placed on them plus some live sand. There’s also seed rocks sprinkled on the sand bed and in the sump.

I wouldn’t recommend this approach for most, unless you have enough experience to monitor everything very closely. Please don’t sacrifice an innocent damsel fish to start a brand new tank!

update: found a tiny aiptasia on the montipora setosa. I’m not messing with aiptasia x or kalk paste. I took the whole coral out and broke off the lower left third of the tea to remove it all without breaking apart the anemone.

Ahh I see I see. Makes more sense to me now. Sounds like a pretty safe approach swapping from your previous tank. Getting my tank set up currently only using live sand and bacteria. I know this could take some time to cycle but I’m willing to wait. Might buy some LR from a friend that has a pristine setup.

 

[monti mike]

Vivid aquariums shipped the coral order last night and it should be arriving by 10:30am this morning. Hopefully everything shipped ok!

 

[monti mike]

The package arrived and everything looks great so far! The corals were packaged really well and there was a small heat pack in the box. The colors look the same as WSIWYG sale pics and I couldn’t be happier!
Thanks @Vivid Aquariums !

Getting them warmed up to the tank temperature first:

Look at that neon green!

Awesome war paint scoly:

 

[monti mike]

Wow!

 

[monti mike]

This is my PSA to dip your new corals!