250 "budget" build

[Randy the reef guy]

Some plumbing sneak peaks... I'll be doing a write up on the plumbing if anyone is interested. Still haven't received my reef octopus 250 ext so we are not 100% plumbed.

 

[Mav2]

Nice setup, will be following along!

 

[Randy the reef guy]

Nice setup, will be following along!

Thank you! Waiting on some additional plumbing parts for the external skimmer and I should be up and running.

 

[Randy the reef guy]

Skimmer is here... waiting on plumbing. Had to set it on the bar because it needs to be higher than the sump.

 

[Randy the reef guy]

Here are some more pics of the skimmer plumbing. We plumbed it in with a slight drop on the return to help it drain. I couldn't find a lot of info on plumbing an external skimmer before I bought it... some tips: it must be higher than your sump and you cannot change the height of the gate valve in the system. Also most will need an additional pump that is not included for the feed line, that pump should be 1.5 to 3x system volume. I chose another DC pump so I can tune.

 

[Randy the reef guy]

The house is a wreck, the tank is cloudy and my equipment looks like an angry birds nest.... I couldn't be happier[emoji2] the system is wet!!!

Born on:1/25/2019!!

 

[Randy the reef guy]

So is should probably go over some tank stats and equipment I am running for reference. I would like to do some in depth product reviews as the build progresses.

Tank: used 250 tall
Lightning: 4x viparspectra 160
Current usa moonlights x5
Wavemakers: h2pro cyclone x2
Return: 4x lock line with random flow generators
Sump: bashsea ss 48
Skimmer reef octopus 250 ext
Skimmer feed pump: dc marine aqua
Return pumps: DC marine aqua x2
Heater: finnex titanium 500w x2
Heater controllers: ink bird x2
Carbon reactor: aqua top
Fuge light: kessil h80
Second fuge chamber light: CF grow 200w
Ice cap ato
Bashsea ato container 5 gal (still waiting for this to come in)

 

[Randy the reef guy]

So I had to call in some help this morning... My cat pixel is helping out in the sump.[emoji3]

 

[Randy the reef guy]

I added 3x bottles of bio spira and one dr Tim's a couple days ago and added dr Tim's amonia to kick it off. I dosed amonia to 1ppm and I'm already down to .25. Not sure if it's the bio spira or the "live" sand but this tank is cycling much quicker than the quarantine I set up a couple months ago that is still reading high nitrites....

I will only be turning on moon light throughout the cycle exept to program my lights. The pic looks way brighter than the moonlights are but I like it better than a dark tank and I dont think the 1 watt moonlights will grow algae.

 

[Randy the reef guy]

Some help needed.... I bought a ice cap ato and it will beep like crazy and fill when I dont want it to fill. I installed the sensors as directed and it is in the fuge chamber of my sump. I did have the h80 running as well, has anyone experienced fuge lighting interfering with their ato? I can get pics of the sensor placement when I get home today, just wondering if this is a common problem.

 

[watdachuck]

Edited....whoops not the same ATO I was thinking of.

 

[Randy the reef guy]

Sooooo... went to the lfs (cuttlefish and corals) to pick up my lightning maroon clowns they have been holding. Left with the clowns, a flame angel some branching gsp and the wife bought a new tank. Jeff hooked her up with a display tank they have had for some time a red sea nano. He threw in the stand some rock, sand and the clean up crew and a mushroom polyp it had in it. All for $500. Couldn't pass that up. Thanks Jeff! I'm using her tank to house the clowns and my gsp at the moment. I think she is going to put seahorses in it when I move my clowns.

 

[Randy the reef guy]

Just a little update. The tank is up and running, fully cycled and I have added my first fish. Jack and Sally the lightning maroon clowns and beezleb the flame angel. Decided to add a portal on my center door that my great grandfather had in his house. The tote by the tank is for my ato until my bashsea reservoir gets here. The ext 250 is working great, really does need the neck cleaner attachment I'll be ordering soon. The wife's tank is doing great and has some coral I got her for Valentine's day in it. Hope she'll give me some frags later[emoji6].

 

[Randy the reef guy]

So I have a question for the smart folks on r2r. I am running 4x viparspectra 165s on 100% blue 10% white. I am not 100% happy with the color and shimmer. Would adding two ai prime hds or kessils be an overkill? Would I get that deep purple and shimmer I'm looking for? Tank dimensions 60x22x40.