New reefer from souther California

Fishy888 · Jan 30, 2023

Hi and welcome to R2R! We’re glad you joined! You’ll find that the community here is friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. Hopefully you’ll start a build thread so we can see your reef as it progresses.

TheAvilasReef · Jan 30, 2023

BamaCoastPyrat said:
Welcome! How old is your daughter? My kids love our tiny reef. I agree with the LFS about leaving the lights off, it will save you some headache on dealing with algae.

Hello, she’s 4 and is already giving me a hard time about where’s the fish . We’re extremely excited about getting the hobby, she’s just having a harder time understanding the process .

BamaCoastPyrat · Jan 30, 2023

TheAvilasReef said:
Hello, she’s 4 and is already giving me a hard time about where’s the fish . We’re extremely excited about getting the hobby, she’s just having a harder time understanding the process .

Oh yeah, my 4 year old had a really hard time with the process. They all had a hard time with it. But now that it is up and running, they love it.

tbrown · Jan 30, 2023

TheAvilasReef said:
Hello everyone my name is Jonathan. I’m new to the hobby , and currently trying to build a tank my daughter has been wanting very much .

I picked up a red sea max 250 , currently got the sand, rock , and filled her up today . Pumps seem to be working ok , but know they will need to be replaced soon. Skimmer turns on but I currently turned it off for startup . My main concern is the lighting , two of the bulbs don’t work and I’ve read those lights need upgrading due to the high heat output . Any recommendations would be appreciated . Also wondering if anyone has experience with the timer and schedule . My l Fs recommended I start the cycle process with the lights off .

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Lighting is an interesting discussion. LED lights tend to run cooler than Metal Halide and T5s, but there are ways to keep things cool.

CoralB · Jan 30, 2023

Welcome !!!

bakbay · Jan 31, 2023

Welcome to R2R - very cool and experienced group of folks here.

I assume you have a Red Sea Max 250, which is a 55g AIO tank, with all the filtration / compartments in the rear of the tank? It comes with 6x39W T5 lights (3x10k, 3 actinics). You can replace the bulbs from BRS or upgrade to some Red Sea LEDs for your tank.

I have a Red Sea Reefer 250, with a sump underneath. I’m running with one Ecotech Radion G4Pro XR30 and pretty happy with it.

Good luck and welcome aboard!

TheAvilasReef · Jan 31, 2023

bakbay said:
Welcome to R2R - very cool and experienced group of folks here.

I assume you have a Red Sea Max 250, which is a 55g AIO tank, with all the filtration / compartments in the rear of the tank? It comes with 6x39W T5 lights (3x10k, 3 actinics). You can replace the bulbs from BRS or upgrade to some Red Sea LEDs for your tank.

I have a Red Sea Reefer 250, with a sump underneath. I’m running with one Ecotech Radion G4Pro XR30 and pretty happy with it.

Good luck and welcome aboard!

Hello. Yes , it’s the 55g AIO tank . It Didn’t have any of the filter components , so I need to figure that part out soon . I got the skimmer to turn on today , and think I tuned it properly . My water was very cloudy , and it helped very much with that . As far as the lights only 4 work due to one of the ballast being blown out . I’m wondering if 4 bulbs would hold up for now (2 white , 2 blues) until I save up for the upgrade . Your tank looks amazing with the led light ! I’ve seen a couple 250 max builds without the hood and not sure if that’s the route I want to go, as I know there’s some cutting and grinding involved . But if that’s what it’s going to take I’ll be more then happy to attempt.

BamaCoastPyrat · Jan 31, 2023

TheAvilasReef said:
Hello. Yes , it’s the 55g AIO tank . It Didn’t have any of the filter components , so I need to figure that part out soon . I got the skimmer to turn on today , and think I tuned it properly . My water was very cloudy , and it helped very much with that . As far as the lights only 4 work due to one of the ballast being blown out . I’m wondering if 4 bulbs would hold up for now (2 white , 2 blues) until I save up for the upgrade . Your tank looks amazing with the led light ! I’ve seen a couple 250 max builds without the hood and not sure if that’s the route I want to go, as I know there’s some cutting and grinding involved . But if that’s what it’s going to take I’ll be more then happy to attempt.

I imagine the hood would probably help keep heat in. So with you being in Fairbanks, you might want to leave that in place.

Edit, I'm mixing up threads. You are not in Fairbanks and probably don't need to worry about keeping extra heat in.

bakbay · Jan 31, 2023

TheAvilasReef said:
Hello. Yes , it’s the 55g AIO tank . It Didn’t have any of the filter components , so I need to figure that part out soon . I got the skimmer to turn on today , and think I tuned it properly . My water was very cloudy , and it helped very much with that . As far as the lights only 4 work due to one of the ballast being blown out . I’m wondering if 4 bulbs would hold up for now (2 white , 2 blues) until I save up for the upgrade . Your tank looks amazing with the led light ! I’ve seen a couple 250 max builds without the hood and not sure if that’s the route I want to go, as I know there’s some cutting and grinding involved . But if that’s what it’s going to take I’ll be more then happy to attempt.

All my recent tanks have been rimless and “topless” so I’m used to the open look. Understand it’s challenging to get rid of the hood on your Max. I saw some LED upgrades (Steve’s lights?) for the Max and it was cost prohibitive IMO - $799?

Anyway, I think having 4 bulbs is more than adequate for now. I imagine you’re not jumping in the deep end right away with SPS frags given it’s your first tank? Easy path (and perhaps cost effective) is to fix the ballast and get 6 lights going — T5 ain’t bad and can still grow corals! Many folks still do and augment with LEDs.

Please let us know on your progress.