First Reef Tank- Red Sea Reefer170 Deluxe

ChicagoShoop · Mar 26, 2020

Hey guys!
This will be my first go at a reef tank and im a firm believer in the buy nice or cry twice mentality. Had some great guidance along the way in terms of what i should purchase to get started. I put my order in yesterday, so hopefully it will arrive next week. Here is what i have bought so far:

Octo VarioS-4 Controllable DC Water Pump - Reef Octopus
300 Watt Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller (40-80 Gallon) - Finnex
300 Watt Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller (40-80 Gallon) - Finnex
Reefer DELUXE 170 Aquarium w/ReefLED 90 - Red Sea

Ill pick up test kit, refractometer, rock, sand etc from the LFS once I have an idea as to when this will be delivered. The Reefer170 comes with Red Sea's ReefLED light which i believe is the 90w version. Thinking with this set up i should be able to run just about any corals. Will start with some softies and lps before i dive in to sps.

Once the tank gets cycled ill probably look at purchasing the Vortech MP-10 for my powerhead.

Looking forward to being part of this awesome community, any tips or suggestions to help me get started would be very welcomed!

Tyler Young · Mar 26, 2020

ChicagoShoop said:
Hey guys!
This will be my first go at a reef tank and im a firm believer in the buy nice or cry twice mentality. Had some great guidance along the way in terms of what i should purchase to get started. I put my order in yesterday, so hopefully it will arrive next week. Here is what i have bought so far:

Octo VarioS-4 Controllable DC Water Pump - Reef Octopus
300 Watt Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller (40-80 Gallon) - Finnex
300 Watt Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller (40-80 Gallon) - Finnex
Reefer DELUXE 170 Aquarium w/ReefLED 90 - Red Sea

Ill pick up test kit, refractometer, rock, sand etc from the LFS once I have an idea as to when this will be delivered. The Reefer170 comes with Red Sea's ReefLED light which i believe is the 90w version. Thinking with this set up i should be able to run just about any corals. Will start with some softies and lps before i dive in to sps.

Once the tank gets cycled ill probably look at purchasing the Vortech MP-10 for my powerhead.

Looking forward to being part of this awesome community, any tips or suggestions to help me get started would be very welcomed!

Good luck! Let me know how you like the Red Sea setup! I’m thinking about purchasing it myself!

splitting_lanes · Mar 26, 2020

You’ll like that tank, I love mine.

welcome to reef2reef!

btmedic04 · Mar 26, 2020

Welcome to the party pal! The RS reefer series are very nice tanks.

I would recommend hanna checkers for alkalinity and ulr phosphate. The easier something is to do, the more likely you are to do it testing wise

ChicagoShoop · Mar 26, 2020

btmedic04 said:
Welcome to the party pal! The RS reefer series are very nice tanks.

I would recommend hanna checkers for alkalinity and ulr phosphate. The easier something is to do, the more likely you are to do it testing wise

$50 each sound right to you on those two? I’m all for testing to be easy.

Mr_Knightley · Mar 26, 2020

Welcome to Reef2Reef, and to the hobby! Keep us posted on your progress, we would love to follow along!
Good luck, happy refing and God bless you!

ChicagoShoop · Mar 26, 2020

ChicagoShoop said:
Hey guys!
This will be my first go at a reef tank and im a firm believer in the buy nice or cry twice mentality. Had some great guidance along the way in terms of what i should purchase to get started. I put my order in yesterday, so hopefully it will arrive next week. Here is what i have bought so far:

Octo VarioS-4 Controllable DC Water Pump - Reef Octopus
300 Watt Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller (40-80 Gallon) - Finnex
300 Watt Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller (40-80 Gallon) - Finnex
Reefer DELUXE 170 Aquarium w/ReefLED 90 - Red Sea

Ill pick up test kit, refractometer, rock, sand etc from the LFS once I have an idea as to when this will be delivered. The Reefer170 comes with Red Sea's ReefLED light which i believe is the 90w version. Thinking with this set up i should be able to run just about any corals. Will start with some softies and lps before i dive in to sps.

Once the tank gets cycled ill probably look at purchasing the Vortech MP-10 for my powerhead.

Looking forward to being part of this awesome community, any tips or suggestions to help me get started would be very welcomed!

Forgot to include the skimmer I purchased.

Reef Octopus eSsence S-130 Protein Skimmer - Reef Octopus

btmedic04 · Mar 26, 2020

ChicagoShoop said:
$50 each sound right to you on those two? I’m all for testing to be easy.

Yes, theyre $50 each but there is no guessing colors on a chart or how many drops before the colors changed. the alk test takes about 30 seconds to a minute, and the ulr phosphate takes about 5 minutes. By far my most favorite quality of life improvements ive made for my reef.

Also I know that your tank comes with an ATO, but i would consider a standalone unit and a container with a 5 gallon volume. 5 gallons lasts my 40b about a week before i need to refill.

lastly, the reef octopus essense s-130 is an awesome skimmer. I have mine running in about 7.5" of water on setting 14 and it pulls skimmate out like a champ. Just be aware that it will take a week or so to break in

ChicagoShoop · Mar 26, 2020

btmedic04 said:
Yes, theyre $50 each but there is no guessing colors on a chart or how many drops before the colors changed. the alk test takes about 30 seconds to a minute, and the ulr phosphate takes about 5 minutes. By far my most favorite quality of life improvements ive made for my reef.

Also I know that your tank comes with an ATO, but i would consider a standalone unit and a container with a 5 gallon volume. 5 gallons lasts my 40b about a week before i need to refill.

lastly, the reef octopus essense s-130 is an awesome skimmer. I have mine running in about 7.5" of water on setting 14 and it pulls skimmate out like a champ. Just be aware that it will take a week or so to break in

Yea i agree, those will make test a breeze. Happy to hear that i picked up a good skimmer, so many options out there. In regards to the ATO, my original plan was to keep the stock one as is, at least until i get to the point where i can start adding corals. At that point, i would change the ATO to a refug and run a seperate ATO outside the tank.

ChicagoShoop · Mar 26, 2020

Looks like everything will be delivered early next week. What do you guys suggest for this size tank? Should i purchase a RODI for my water or should i start by just buying water from my LFS. Thanks!

Dub · Mar 26, 2020

ChicagoShoop said:
Yea i agree, those will make test a breeze. Happy to hear that i picked up a good skimmer, so many options out there. In regards to the ATO, my original plan was to keep the stock one as is, at least until i get to the point where i can start adding corals. At that point, i would change the ATO to a refug and run a seperate ATO outside the tank.

Not sure you can use the ATO as refugium. I have the RS Reefer 170 and the ATO is a separate tank that sits on top of the sump and space in the cabinet is very cramped only room for 3 qt bottles to sit along side the sump. Otherwise I love the system

ChicagoShoop · Mar 26, 2020

btmedic04 said:
Yes, theyre $50 each but there is no guessing colors on a chart or how many drops before the colors changed. the alk test takes about 30 seconds to a minute, and the ulr phosphate takes about 5 minutes. By far my most favorite quality of life improvements ive made for my reef.

Also I know that your tank comes with an ATO, but i would consider a standalone unit and a container with a 5 gallon volume. 5 gallons lasts my 40b about a week before i need to refill.

lastly, the reef octopus essense s-130 is an awesome skimmer. I have mine running in about 7.5" of water on setting 14 and it pulls skimmate out like a champ. Just be aware that it will take a week or so to break in

This might be a really dumb question but say I buy the Hannah alk and phosphate checker, I also need to pick up a refractometer. Should I purchase a marine test kit to check the rest of the parameters?

Dub · Mar 26, 2020

ChicagoShoop said:
This might be a really dumb question but say I buy the Hannah alk and phosphate checker, I also need to pick up a refractometer. Should I purchase a marine test kit to check the rest of the parameters?

there are several tests you might need to perform based on the inhabitants you keep. Many test for nitrate, calcium, magnesium, thermometer And PH meter on a regular basis. Of course there many other tests you could also run. If no has mentioned it to you I would suggest a good RODI unit equipped with 3 way TDI and pressure gauge

Dub · Mar 26, 2020

Dub said:
there are several tests you might need to perform based on the inhabitants you keep. Many test for nitrate, calcium, magnesium, thermometer And PH meter on a regular basis. Of course there many other tests you could also run. If no has mentioned it to you I would suggest a good RODI unit equipped with 3 way TDI and pressure gauge

That should have been 3 way TDS meter

btmedic04 · Mar 26, 2020

Yep, get a ro/di. You wont regret it!

A refractometer is a must, the digital ones are nice too, but I have both to ensure they're accurate. If one is reading grossly different than the other, it's time to recalibrate both.

You can pick up other test kits for calcium, magnesium and nitrate, but a simple api saltwater master test kit will be good enough for the cycle

ChicagoShoop · Mar 26, 2020

btmedic04 said:
Yep, get a ro/di. You wont regret it!

A refractometer is a must, the digital ones are nice too, but I have both to ensure they're accurate. If one is reading grossly different than the other, it's time to recalibrate both.

You can pick up other test kits for calcium, magnesium and nitrate, but a simple api saltwater master test kit will be good enough for the cycle

Thanks. Thats what I figured. Actually looks like my freshwater test kit will work for the majority of things during the cycle. Just have to print out a different color chart.

ChicagoShoop · Apr 1, 2020

Alright everyone. Tank is built and plumbed. Waiting on sand to run clear under water as I type this. Need thoughts on this scape. Has plenty of caves and hiding spots as well as high and low areas for different coral needs. Any feed back would be appreciated!