Red Sea REEFER 200XL G2+ Mixed Reef Build
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- Thread starter JustinP.
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JustinP.
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Update 10/12/2024: Equipment, wire management, and the cycle begins!
After about 10 days, I was able to add all of the equipment and wire manage everything with the help of coworker. (Thankfully he is much better at wire management than I will ever be lol).
The current equipment that I'm running includes:
1x Sicce Syncra SDC 3.0
2x Ecotech Marine MP10's
1x Ecotech Marine XR30 G6 PRO
1x Ecotech Marine Versa 4
1x Hydros Launch
1x Hydros XP8
1x Tunze Osmolator 3315
1x Avast Marine Plank
I am missing 3 pieces of equipment that will come later on in the build. These include
1x Hydros Maven
1x Reef Octopus Skimmer
1x Red Sea Reef Mat 500
I will probably get the Reef Mat 500 as soon as the cycle is complete. Unless of course, my pH is horribly low.
I do plan on keeping a true mixed reef, but with some torch and acropora dominance.
For now though, I will keep the lights off and let it do it's thing. I did add 18 caps of Microbacter Starter and 1 vial of bioclean and biodigest by prodibio. I also added about 40 drops of ammonia.
While these numbers are higher than the actual tank volume (i used a tank volume of 60 gallons) I wanted to ensure there was enough bacteria to seed the tank and really be able to have a healthy starter colony of beneficial bacteria.
After about 10 days, I was able to add all of the equipment and wire manage everything with the help of coworker. (Thankfully he is much better at wire management than I will ever be lol).
The current equipment that I'm running includes:
1x Sicce Syncra SDC 3.0
2x Ecotech Marine MP10's
1x Ecotech Marine XR30 G6 PRO
1x Ecotech Marine Versa 4
1x Hydros Launch
1x Hydros XP8
1x Tunze Osmolator 3315
1x Avast Marine Plank
I am missing 3 pieces of equipment that will come later on in the build. These include
1x Hydros Maven
1x Reef Octopus Skimmer
1x Red Sea Reef Mat 500
I will probably get the Reef Mat 500 as soon as the cycle is complete. Unless of course, my pH is horribly low.
I do plan on keeping a true mixed reef, but with some torch and acropora dominance.
For now though, I will keep the lights off and let it do it's thing. I did add 18 caps of Microbacter Starter and 1 vial of bioclean and biodigest by prodibio. I also added about 40 drops of ammonia.
While these numbers are higher than the actual tank volume (i used a tank volume of 60 gallons) I wanted to ensure there was enough bacteria to seed the tank and really be able to have a healthy starter colony of beneficial bacteria.
OP
OP
JustinP.
Community Member
Update 11/2/2024: The end of the cycle is near and microfauna has begun to flourish!
For the last 2 weeks I've tried not to test the water, and just let it be. Unfortunately my curiosity got the best of me and strangely enough I was nearing the end of the cycle with 0 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm Nitrite, and about 2-3 ppm of Nitrate. Every other parameter was where I wanted it to be, asides from alkalinity, which was through the roof.
For whatever reason, this cycle felt incredibly quick. Although I dosed alot of ammonia, I think that starting the cycle off with Prodibio (Not just microbacter) helped introduce great strains of bacteria that quickly proliferated.
I've added Reef Genetics signature mix of copepods (Apocyclops, Tisbe, and Tigriopus) into the tank to start their populations off early. Plus I've started dosing a few ml of Tetraselmis to help aid their diet asides from the natural biofilm.
A coworker of mine has been cooking some rubble and I'm also looking forward to getting some other strains of bacteria into the tank and some coralline!
To finish off, I can't wait to slice this OG that I've been cooking up for a few months, and getting it into the new tank once it's ready!
For the last 2 weeks I've tried not to test the water, and just let it be. Unfortunately my curiosity got the best of me and strangely enough I was nearing the end of the cycle with 0 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm Nitrite, and about 2-3 ppm of Nitrate. Every other parameter was where I wanted it to be, asides from alkalinity, which was through the roof.
For whatever reason, this cycle felt incredibly quick. Although I dosed alot of ammonia, I think that starting the cycle off with Prodibio (Not just microbacter) helped introduce great strains of bacteria that quickly proliferated.
I've added Reef Genetics signature mix of copepods (Apocyclops, Tisbe, and Tigriopus) into the tank to start their populations off early. Plus I've started dosing a few ml of Tetraselmis to help aid their diet asides from the natural biofilm.
A coworker of mine has been cooking some rubble and I'm also looking forward to getting some other strains of bacteria into the tank and some coralline!
To finish off, I can't wait to slice this OG that I've been cooking up for a few months, and getting it into the new tank once it's ready!
I'm insanely jealous of how clean this looks. I can not make things look this organized, and my cables are a train wreck.Update 10/12/2024: Equipment, wire management, and the cycle begins!
After about 10 days, I was able to add all of the equipment and wire manage everything with the help of coworker. (Thankfully he is much better at wire management than I will ever be lol).
The current equipment that I'm running includes:
1x Sicce Syncra SDC 3.0
2x Ecotech Marine MP10's
1x Ecotech Marine XR30 G6 PRO
1x Ecotech Marine Versa 4
1x Hydros Launch
1x Hydros XP8
1x Tunze Osmolator 3315
1x Avast Marine Plank
I am missing 3 pieces of equipment that will come later on in the build. These include
1x Hydros Maven
1x Reef Octopus Skimmer
1x Red Sea Reef Mat 500
I will probably get the Reef Mat 500 as soon as the cycle is complete. Unless of course, my pH is horribly low.
I do plan on keeping a true mixed reef, but with some torch and acropora dominance.
For now though, I will keep the lights off and let it do it's thing. I did add 18 caps of Microbacter Starter and 1 vial of bioclean and biodigest by prodibio. I also added about 40 drops of ammonia.
While these numbers are higher than the actual tank volume (i used a tank volume of 60 gallons) I wanted to ensure there was enough bacteria to seed the tank and really be able to have a healthy starter colony of beneficial bacteria.
I’ve see others use that, I need to try it I guess.
OP
OP
JustinP.
Community Member
Update 11/16/2024: The Radion is on, new fish, clean up crew, and coralline!
I've been consistently dosing phyto in every few days to help seed the microfauna and also help the pod population out. I haven't looked into the tank at night to see if there are alot or not, but I do want to dose more in.
As of last week a good coworker of mine helped me collect some coralline heavy snails and rubble to seed the tank. I spreaded the pieces around and I added a few trochus and astrea snails that had coralline growing on it.
Funny enough this specific strain of coralline came from @bubbaque, and for whatever reason, it loves to grow quickly. I hope that is the case. But for safety I decided to scrape some off a snail and put the residue in the water column, hoping that it will settle on the rock and proliferate.
I also added the first fish into the system. I know the photo is crappy, but it's an incredibly nice Pintail Fairy Wrasse from Top Shelf Aquatics.
So far the tank hasn't entered the ugly stage? I'm not entirely sure why that is, but to be fair the light has only been on for a week and the fish was placed in the tank on the 14th. I'm sure that it'll start to grow green algae like normal around week 2 or 3.
I've been consistently dosing phyto in every few days to help seed the microfauna and also help the pod population out. I haven't looked into the tank at night to see if there are alot or not, but I do want to dose more in.
As of last week a good coworker of mine helped me collect some coralline heavy snails and rubble to seed the tank. I spreaded the pieces around and I added a few trochus and astrea snails that had coralline growing on it.
Funny enough this specific strain of coralline came from @bubbaque, and for whatever reason, it loves to grow quickly. I hope that is the case. But for safety I decided to scrape some off a snail and put the residue in the water column, hoping that it will settle on the rock and proliferate.
I also added the first fish into the system. I know the photo is crappy, but it's an incredibly nice Pintail Fairy Wrasse from Top Shelf Aquatics.
So far the tank hasn't entered the ugly stage? I'm not entirely sure why that is, but to be fair the light has only been on for a week and the fish was placed in the tank on the 14th. I'm sure that it'll start to grow green algae like normal around week 2 or 3.
Tank is looking good. I'm stuck in my cycle, doesn't seem to be progressing but I'm just leaving it be.
Just kind of stalled. The ammonia and Nitrite rose as expected and just sat there. I haven't tested in a couple of days just leaving it be. I will probably test later today and see. It's just rock, sand, and water, no lights on.
OP
OP
JustinP.
Community Member
Ah gotcha, cycles are pretty rough for me too. My last tank took a full 2 months to cycle, but it was because I overdosed ammonia lol. I just checked out your thread and man that apex board is wild and your one heck of a DIY'er haha. I'm looking forward to seeing it grow over time!
The apex board is a train wreck, but it does the job. I suck at wire management, but thank you!
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