Minimum Cost, Maximum Enjoyment Reefer 250 Build

[DIFish]

I agree, but what will happen when the ugly phase comes, it will.

Thanks for all the advice! I do expect an ugly phase but am going to try and manage through the use of a utilitarian fish squad, full clean up crew, and my UV sterilizer. Will that be enough? Maybe.

Yes they do, but they still need stability to thrive and if this is your first tank you lack the experience to keep it stable in the beginning.
The cheapest tanks are the ones where animals dont die all the time.
I don't see alkalinity, calcium, magnesium and nitrate tests in your shopping list.
From my experience, first time reefers spend a lot in non essencial things, so that may be a cash trap.

Agree with you on keeping the animals alive. I am attempting water stability through weekly changes, dosing as needed, and testing often. I realize there is more to this than just keeping water, but I figure if I can keep the water stable then good things should follow. Am heading into the LFS today to pick up some final testing kits and misc stuff. I found a list of testers to buy and to avoid, and am trying to fill out my kit without overdoing it.

If it was me, and this is just my opinion, I'd set aside a cheap frag tank like a large shallow Tupperware or something with a cheap blue light that you can get nice and close to them. This has the advantage of letting your corals grow out while you muck around with your new tank and allow it to stabilize over months of time. I would challenge you to resist adding your corals to your tank until you see coraline algae growing - typically a really solid indication that corals will thrive in your tank.

And yes to the point of Tavero, corals need clean water BUT they also need essential minerals and adequate lighting to grow and thrive. According to your deadline, you need those corals growing ASAP. I'd set aside a cheap little frag tank so I can monitor them and care for them more easily while my main display tank undergoes its initial setup and establishment phases.

Very interesting build .. I love that you have clearly defined goals .. just be sure you don't get discouraged if some of your goals aren't achieved. Reefing truly does take patience whether we like it or not lol. I will be following your build!

A frag/quarantine/ separate tank would definitely be the way to go by the book. I wonder how long it takes the average tank to develop coraline algae? I plan on keeping "easier" softies and LPS to start. My goals are not absolutely set in stone, but if I take the traditional cycling route, wait to add corals/fish, and generally follow best know practices, it could be 6+months before I get to start seeing results. I appreciate the advice and hope you don't see me on a type of lessons learned thread...if so you warned me!

 

[DIFish]

Very interested to see how you come along with this...would love to hear the good as well as the challenges you face and overcome.

Thanks I will try to update with the entire experience! Not just what looks good in pictures.

I would suggest adding some copepods and phytoplankton to get your microbiome established. The more established these little critters can get in your tank, the less nuisance algae can get a foothold. They are almost like your tank's immune system.

In the beginning, I'm running my lights at 50% to allow the copepods and plankton a chance to get established and thrive before algae begins to grow in. Algae is not the enemy - but it tends to grow quickly and without mercy once it gets going. In a small tank, its easier to combat that. In a larger tank like my own, an algae outbreak can bring everything down.

So in conclusion, add plenty of pods and plankton, stabilize your minerals, and don't hit your tank with full-throttled lights right out the gate.

Do I just buy a bottle and dump them in? Will have to do more research. As for stabalizing minerals, do you do that through dosing or water changes? Trial and error? Do you run UV on any tanks or have much experience combating algae with it? I am hoping to use my small sterilizer to help combat it.

 

[Tavero]

If you can, get a bit ocean life rock. The real stuff from the sea not the ceramic one. It will speed up coraline growth a lot.

 

[DIFish]

If you can, get a bit ocean life rock. The real stuff from the sea not the ceramic one. It will speed up coraline growth a lot.

I am hoping enough comes in off of coral frags to start seeding. Might buy a bottle of the stuff to speed it up. I am very hesitant to add anything like live rock to the tank that has not been cleaned/quarantined. Any type of fish disease or pest could derail my plans so I am trying to play that part safe.

 

[DIFish]

Tank is full of salt water, has been tested, and is "cycling" with ammonia and Dr. Tims.
I visited my LFS and managed to snag a few different test kits and other things to prepare for coral and fish.
The corals are arriving tomorrow and I plan on adding them straight in to the tank after dipping them. I also plan on dosing ammonia to the 0.25-0.50ppm range until my fish arrive. Not sure how I feel about the aquascaping but will let you guys decide when the tank clears up. It was also recommended to me by a forum member that I fully rinse my live sand to avoid any dust. I did not listen and barely rinsed it with warm RODI water to try and keep the bacteria alive, and now my tank is very cloudy. Hoping it clears up soon.

New Supplies-
Tim's one and only 8 oz ( Half added now, adding the rest when I add fish)
Ammonia- 5% by volume, plan on dosing just over 1ml per day
API Reef master test kit (not the best but should get me in the ballpark while I find deals on better ones)
Salifert Magnesium test kit
Coral RX (half used bottle)
I also picked up 2 shelfs to hang the lights from, and the LFS was nice enough to throw in few spoons of Aquaforest Life Source Mud when I inquired about testing a bag. Grabbed a light timer from Amazon too which I am including on the build. All of this ran me about $150 to be added to the total later. The test kits and coral RX were open box and I did not pay for the small amount of mud which I intend on using sparingly to "dose" bacteria to the tank.

Tank Parameters- I purposely left my salinity low and temp high to encourage as much bacteria growth as possible before my corals arrive.
Temp- 82f (Lowering to 77f overnight before corals arrive)
Salinity- 1.019 SG (Raising to 1.025 overnight)
PH- 8.00
Calcium- 420 Ish
Alkalinity- 8dkh
Magnesium- 1400
Phosphate- .276 ppm
Ammonia- .25 ish
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 0

 

[djs4him]

Do I just buy a bottle and dump them in? Will have to do more research. As for stabalizing minerals, do you do that through dosing or water changes? Trial and error? Do you run UV on any tanks or have much experience combating algae with it? I am hoping to use my small sterilizer to help combat it.

Yup I bought a jar from Algae Barn (I'll probably add another jar or two eventually) and added them directly to the tank. I don't run a UV sterilizer and have no experience with them thus far but I'm not closed to the idea of using one when necessary. As for minerals, I use Red Sea Foundation Calcium+ which adds Calcium, Strontium, and Barium for coral skeleton growth. Haven't played with my magnesium levels yet but Red Sea is a solid brand for just about all your supplement needs.

 

[djs4him]

Your setup looks beautiful. Definitely loving the rimless tank!

 

[DIFish]

Your setup looks beautiful. Definitely loving the rimless tank!

Thanks I definitely like the look… unfortunately I am going to need a lid to keep fish from jumping which will partially ruin the aesthetic. It is starting to clear up so here’s a better pic. Going to have to go figure out how to use the camera better as the room lights are on in this pic and to my eye there are barely any blue lights.

 

[BetterJake]

Thanks I definitely like the look… unfortunately I am going to need a lid to keep fish from jumping which will partially ruin the aesthetic. It is starting to clear up so here’s a better pic. Going to have to go figure out how to use the camera better as the room lights are on in this pic and to my eye there are barely any blue lights.

I ended up going with ClearView for my lid on my 250. It's definitely more expensive vs RedSea DIY option but certainly helps it to maintain a lot of the rimless aesthetic. And I got mine in two weeks from order to delivery.

 

[DIFish]

I saw that on your build. Looks really good without ruining the aesthetic and the price is not as bad as I thought it would be. Wish I would have found them sooner, but unfortunately I started a DIY option to be completed sometime next week. Will post the results once it is in place but could see myself throwing it away and buying a clear view anyways.

 

[bakbay]

I saw that on your build. Looks really good without ruining the aesthetic and the price is not as bad as I thought it would be. Wish I would have found them sooner, but unfortunately I started a DIY option to be completed sometime next week. Will post the results once it is in place but could see myself throwing it away and buying a clear view anyways

 

[bakbay]

Congrats on the build. My second tank is also a RedSea Reefer 250 but in black. I also bought it used and yes, I did something similar: tap water + Prime and cycle with Dr Tim’s. I cheat a little by seeding some old rocks from my main tank.

What I’ve found: softies would be fine during the cycle & ugly phase but my little test Digi frag didn’t like it. One acro frag turned brown and one RTN’ed.

Good luck!

 

[bakbay]

Also, perhaps you’ll have better luck than me with sand. I went BB with 2 MP40s on Reef Crest facing each other. I’ve found that BB is easier to maintain but the first few months can be challenging.

 

[DIFish]

Congrats on the build. My second tank is also a RedSea Reefer 250 but in black. I also bought it used and yes, I did something similar: tap water + Prime and cycle with Dr Tim’s. I cheat a little by seeding some old rocks from my main tank.

What I’ve found: softies would be fine during the cycle & ugly phase but my little test Digi frag didn’t like it. One acro frag turned brown and one RTN’ed.

Good luck!

Good to see others have had success! Tap water seems crazy to me. How do you keep parameters in check? Any long term issues with tap water that are hard to manage?

 

[DIFish]

Corals arrived and have been dipped in Coral RX and put in the tank. I believe they are all alive and healthy but I am not sure how to check. Saw a few small things fall off that looked like mini bristle stars while dipping.
First impressions- they are way smaller and more dull that I expected. They always look big and vibrant in the LFS and hoping when I turn the lights on tomorrow they all pop under the blues. I am having a hard time even knowing which is which. Definitely an interesting experience and hoping this is normal.

 

[bakbay]

Good to see others have had success! Tap water seems crazy to me. How do you keep parameters in check? Any long term issues with tap water that are hard to manage?

tap + Prime initially. For evaporation, I use kalk in my ATO, which is hooked up to a RODI outside the house.

 

[bakbay]

I noticed that you have wood [like] flooring? Have you thought about putting some sorts of vinyl/clear pvc mat for protection? Water will eventually spill on the floor and the wife gets annoyed..well, at least mine does! To keep my reefing addition, I've used something below on all my tanks to check the "Happy-Wife-Happy-Reef-Life" box!

https://a.co/d/4a0cChL

 

[DIFish]

I noticed that you have wood [like] flooring? Have you thought about putting some sorts of vinyl/clear pvc mat for protection? Water will eventually spill on the floor and the wife gets annoyed..well, at least mine does! To keep my reefing addition, I've used something below on all my tanks to check the "Happy-Wife-Happy-Reef-Life" box!

https://a.co/d/4a0cChL

Yeah you might be on to something there. Laminate flooring but have already spilt a few gallons so far. Not sure it will hold up very well long term.

 

[DIFish]

Corals look much better today and under the lights! Time to decide where I want them to be in the tank.
Went a little overboard with dosing ammonia and am sitting around 0.75ppm on API. Going to wait until Nitrates/Nitrites start showing up to dose anymore.
I ordered fish last week when I purchase my coral and was hoping they would be here soon but they said it could be another 1-2 weeks of quarantine.

 

[BetterJake]

Corals look much better today and under the lights! Time to decide where I want them to be in the tank.
Went a little overboard with dosing ammonia and am sitting around 0.75ppm on API. Going to wait until Nitrates/Nitrites start showing up to dose anymore.
I ordered fish last week when I purchase my coral and was hoping they would be here soon but they said it could be another 1-2 weeks of quarantine.

Nice! Probably a good thing the fish wont be coming for a bit, not sure what the limit is for ammonia but I'm sure they will appreciate it being zero once they arrive.