Johnny Ciotti's Red Sea REEFER 250

[jgarza]

You know, I totally forgot about that. I ran some Chemi Pure Blue for a few weeks to help polish the water. Hooking a reactor up for something that wasn't going to be permanent didn't seem like a good way to spend time.

Makes sense! I've always felt that keeping it simple worked. I'm probably order the biopellet reactor this weekend. Do you not run filter socks? Sorry I'm asking so many questions!

 

[Johnny Ciotti]

Makes sense! I've always felt that keeping it simple worked. I'm probably order the biopellet reactor this weekend. Do you not run filter socks? Sorry I'm asking so many questions!

Never too many questions. If I can answer something that might be of help to another hobbyist I always will.

I do run socks a few weeks out of the month. Sometimes I just don't have time to get to them and I'd rather run no socks than dirty socks.

Link me to you build or post here when you get your reactor up and running.

 

[Johnny Ciotti]

Current view via terrible iPhoneography

 

[diesel3443]

Very nice!

 

[bobbyM]

You're correct. The black vinyl was removed and will be replaced with an opaque frosted clear vinyl and backlit with some controllable RGB LEDs. This should provide for an interesting look that will compliment the layout.

I have an 85 gallon cube I did that to. Just moved in November and have not set it back up.

I enjoyed your talk at MACNA in Denver. I was the guy front row that smelled nice.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

There is too much awesome in this post.

Incomplete Pseudo Timeline to Current Date

Now that I've tried to respond to your posts I'll be attempting to get us up to date. Please be forgiving as nearly all of these photos are from my iPhone.

I didn't keep very good track of the system in the beginning even though I should have. I was overwhelmed with getting work out the door for clients and dealing with the issues that come with a new home in Los Angeles, the aquarium was very secondary and also was being tested in many ways.

So let's get to some pictures already...

This is about a month after the initial setup of the aquarium. Most of the corals had either come from my previous aquarium or donations from Jake Adams, Dave Dreiling, or purchased from Unique Corals. There were a significant amount of SPS frags hiding behind the rock work as I didn't want to look at tiny nublet color sticks and my other half also enjoyed looking at the wavy stuff. Sharing my passion with someone is often times more enjoyable than having the hobby on its own. These things take precedence for me and seeing her happy is the bee's knees.


This is pretty much the entire system at the time. Very simple setup consisting of nothing out of the ordinary other than the Bubble King and the Vertex Libra. But the fundamental elements aren't unusual. I was using a cheap Jebao return pump and a prototype pump utilizing a Jebao controller. The reasons for this was to actually see how "terrible" these pieces of equipment were, and to be honest and you'll see later on, they performed better in the long run that a lot of the other test equipment that came and went. My expectations were obviously different from the results.


The lighting in the beginning was a Current USA Orbit Marine Pro. For a mostly LPS dominant system I couldn't have been happier. (Disclaimer I was given this light by Current to test and give feedback.) For a softy system or mixed LPS/Softy layout it would have been WAY more than enough. comparing it to many other lights on the market I'd have looked no further given my needs at that time. Saying this as unbiased as possible. If I wasn't planning on doing SPS the testing would have stopped here.


Then this happened. As you can see from the picture I was needing a quick solution for the heat issue. We experienced a very hot 116 day in Los Angeles. Our air wasn't working and the tank temperature wasn't much different than the ambient 90+ degree interior. Bags of ice were added to the sump and top off water along with many fans. It didn't help that this heat wave lasted almost two weeks before subsiding.


Good news was that somehow most of the corals and fish lived the ordeal. Many larger LPS colonies and some of the touchy stuff were removed and taken to either friends or Unique Corals to avoid certain death. But, the algae problem that came after the heat was not good.

The rock was rearranged and as you can see the tank was looking much different. Lots of corals moved around and some of the SPS actually being visible (many frags hiding in the back still). The lighting was swapped to the first prototype Nanobox "unibody" Quad and the entire living room was preparing for a makeover that still hasn't been completed. But, running my modified Trition method with tiny refugium, strong skimmer, and now bio-pellets I was determined to not do a water change and defeat the hair algae.


The fun thing about testing out a nearly destroyed tank is you can get crazy with the lighting. Check out the PAR numbers 301 PAR on this Quad at the sand bed with all channels at 100% and a single Kessil A360W at 100%! While you're at it check out that terrible scape from the top and all that beautiful green algae. I'm looking really pro right about now...

But this is the crazy one. Look at the PAR numbers without the Kessil, over 270!


So still no water changes and still not the final scape. Many corals moved to the frag rack while thinking about what I was actually going to do layout wise. I could have just pulled the Real Reef Rock and put together what I wanted and probably gotten rid of the algae all together but I had a point to prove that it could be done with a skimmer and some bio-pellets.

I'm starting to make a dent in the algae and this is when I deployed "Operation Berry Strainer". Toss some Chaeto in there and zip tied it to the overflow box. Nothing says experienced aquarist like a neon green colander floating in your aquarium display.


While testing the Nanobox Quad, Kessil A360W, and Ai Prime I also swapped the skimmer to a Nyos Quantum 160 (Disclaimer all equipment mentioned was given to me to test by the OEM or Reef Builders) to see if it would do any better of a job than the Bubble King. I won't tell you the results yet as those will be posted to Reef Builders first but, it was interesting. You can also see I was running the IM MiniMax for my EcoBak+* Bio-Pellets (purchased from Marine Depot).


Non-iPhone shots of some Nyos detail.


Nyos installed and breaking in.


While my tank was fixing itself I had done this layout for IM's launch of their new Lagoon series.


Then the new MRC xSeries prototypes showed up. (Disclaimer my brand help with various parts of this product.) So needless to say I was going to be testing the heck out of it.


Some non-iPhone detail.


I also did a bit of Ai testing.


An iPhone close of up of still browned out corals


The layout was actually cleared up relatively quickly of the previous algae issue. All it took was some persistence. The corals had started to fill in and grow. This is many, many months from the previous image. I was holding a large Montipora colony for a friend in the back left so please ignore.


A significant amount of time had passed by from the photo above and then this showed up. I actually paid for the Nyos Reef Cement and I'll tell you that it was worth every penny. Best solution I've found to date for aquascaping marine aquariums.


A few weeks later and this is what she looks like. During this process Jamie (my other half) had grown to enjoy more of the SPS corals. She saw the fun in watching them grow and the struggle of coloring them up from a mishap. This solidified the choice to continue on with that theme and just take the aquarium for what it was. So maybe it isn't the most ground breaking layout ever, but that's the point. This is supposed to be a hobby and I'm determined to make it one. Of course the designer in me is going to tweak the layout and place the corals that are still strewn about, but for now it's a pretty mess that needs maturing. The system is largely the same and I'll update the equipment list in the firs post along with the most recent image of the layout. Biggest change is the final version of the Nanobox Quad and the two Ai Prime LED fixtures.


So stay tuned and more current updates will be coming in as they happen.

Thanks for reading through this long winded post and as always I'll get back to every question on my next visit.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Current view via terrible iPhoneography

Man I LOVE this shot!

 

[Johnny Ciotti]

Very nice!

Thank you.

I have an 85 gallon cube I did that to. Just moved in November and have not set it back up.

I enjoyed your talk at MACNA in Denver. I was the guy front row that smelled nice.

Brilliant! I'm glad you enjoyed that talk, I'm getting pretty excited to cover a workshop at this years MACNA. Are you planing on attending?

Keep me in the loop as I'd love to see your system when it's up and running.

There is too much awesome in this post.

Man I LOVE this shot!

Thanks rev!

 

[kcondon]

Thanks for the thread. I am looking at getting the 250. Overall it sounds like a great tank. I wanted to get your opinion on the AI Prime. I currently have one over my biocube and love the control. My initial plan is to just go with two AI'S for the 250. Will that be enough or do you think 1 AI Hyra 26 HD is better?

 

[Johnny Ciotti]

Thanks for the thread. I am looking at getting the 250. Overall it sounds like a great tank. I wanted to get your opinion on the AI Prime. I currently have one over my biocube and love the control. My initial plan is to just go with two AI'S for the 250. Will that be enough or do you think 1 AI Hyra 26 HD is better?

Hey, thanks for checking out the thread.

Firstly let me tell you that you're going to love the REEFER 250.

I'll be doing a more detailed write up of my recommendations in lighting for this particular system very soon. In the mean time hopefully this will help your questions specifically.

In regard to the Ai lighting I'd break it down like this for suitable fixtures.

2x Ai Primes for Soft/LPS and possibly some less demanding SPS directly under the LEDs
1x Ai Hydra FiftyTwo HD and be pretty happy all around
2x Ai Hydra TwentySix HD would give you optimal spread and punch if you're doing 100% SPS

Given that you already have an Ai prime I'd simply opt for another and if you find yourself needing more light down the road continue to add them inline. You'll get better spread this way and have more control in directing the light to places it needs to be.

To give you an idea PAR and spread wise it took approximately 5x Ai Primes to duplicate my single Nanobox Reef Quad. This makes sense given the type and amount of LEDs with the drives that Nanobox has coupled with them. So the amount of light I have on my layout is pretty close to 7x Ai Primes. Does anyone need that amount of light? The answer is probably not.

I do have to say that as much as I like the Bluefish controller on my Nanobox the Ai interface is still the best in the business, for now.

 

[bobbyM]

85 Gallon tank thread. I'll start posting in it again when I get it started again.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/next-tank-of-frags.212121/

I have a new baby on the way, so I may have to miss again MACNA this year.

90 gallon reef I just moved and still have going. Moved all the corals in to a clients tank for safe keeping until I get everything stable. When you break down full colonies, you just can't put them back. I'll be starting over with frags so I get that grown in look again.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/90-gallons-of-frag.150639/

 

[Johnny Ciotti]

85 Gallon tank thread. I'll start posting in it again when I get it started again.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/next-tank-of-frags.212121/

I have a new baby on the way, so I may have to miss again MACNA this year.

90 gallon reef I just moved and still have going. Moved all the corals in to a clients tank for safe keeping until I get everything stable. When you break down full colonies, you just can't put them back. I'll be starting over with frags so I get that grown in look again.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/90-gallons-of-frag.150639/

Completely understand not attending MACNA with a baby on the way. That'll be more fun anyway, so congrats!

I'd seen images of your last layout floating around the web. Drool worthy growth and color. Great job and I can't wait to see the new build filled in a little more.

 

[bobbyM]

Completely understand not attending MACNA with a baby on the way. That'll be more fun anyway, so congrats!

I'd seen images of your last layout floating around the web. Drool worthy growth and color. Great job and I can't wait to see the new build filled in a little more.

Thanks Johnny. I can't wait to start a new layout. Just like growing bonsai trees. It takes patience.

 

[Fin]

Very nice! An awesome opportunity for learning here. Thanks for sharing your creation here. Will definitely be following along...

 

[Johnny Ciotti]

Very nice! An awesome opportunity for learning here. Thanks for sharing your creation here. Will definitely be following along...

Glad to have a great group of hobbyists to interact with. It's more like contributing rather than following as a successful aquarium takes more than just one person. Thanks for being on board.

 

[Johnny Ciotti]

Double Post.

 

[kcondon]

Thanks! Would love to get your recommended light schedule for the primes. My one complaint is when you turn up the whites it washes out all the blue. I guess it's about personal preference but I'm all ears for a quick reco.

 

[Griff]

I've been following your thread and am excited to watch your build. I'm considering getting the reefer 525xl or 450. Im having trouble deciding on lighting and pumps. I currently have an IM Nuvo 30L with 2 air primes and an mp 40. I love the controller interface that AI currently has. Like you said currently the best in the business. I also like the controllability of the mp 10. So this leads me to the question. If I don't want to be limited in terms of corals and live stock and want to spend the least amount possible what's your recommendation. AI primes how many? AI Hydras 26 HD how many. Lastly radions 2 xr30s, 2 xr 30s and 1 xr15, or 3 xr30s.

In terms of water movement. 1 mp40 2 mp 40s or 1 maxspect razor 150.

It's not that I can't afford the radions but that I'm a value guy. I want the best bang for my buck no point in spending extra if something else will work just as well. Same thought process on the maxspect.

Sorry for the long post but looking forward to your thoughts.

 

[Griff]

Maxspect gyre 150 not razor

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Any updates @Johnny Ciotti?