Red Sea 425 XL

Sato · Feb 25, 2019

Hi All,
I have decided to take the plug into reefing i have purchased the following

425 xl reefer
2x hydra 26 hd
red sea skimmer 300
neptune cor 15
colbalt 200w heater
Apex EL
maxspect gyre 350

I have 40 lbs of CaribSea arag-alive black Hawaiian sand but not sure if this is a good choice.
I could use some suggestion for a beginner level?
a) should i dose ?
b) should I setup automatic water changes?

hdsoftail1065 · Feb 25, 2019

Welcome to R2R @Sato!
Congrats on the new tank.
A little bit of reading to get you started. Excellent reads by the way, and please don't be afraid to ask questions there are thousands of reefers willing to help!

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

Cycling an Aquarium

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/

Beginners Guide to Acclimation and Quarantine

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/beginners-guide-to-acclimation-and-quarantine.304980/

#welcometor2r

Geebs19 · Feb 25, 2019

Welcome to R2R!! Looks like @hdsoftail1065 got you pointed in the right direction.

Sato · Feb 25, 2019

hdsoftail1065 said:
Welcome to R2R @Sato!
Congrats on the new tank.
A little bit of reading to get you started. Excellent reads by the way, and please don't be afraid to ask questions there are thousands of reefers willing to help!

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

Cycling an Aquarium

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/

Beginners Guide to Acclimation and Quarantine

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/beginners-guide-to-acclimation-and-quarantine.304980/

#welcometor2r

I'm definitely going to take my time. In the middle of buying a new house.

hdsoftail1065 · Feb 25, 2019

A new tank and a new house! Double congrats! There is nothing wrong with slow. I took 3 months to set mine up and another 3 to cycle. It's not a race my friend. I can't wait to see pics!

Sato · Feb 25, 2019

I'm even debating if I should just cure the dry rock now and then cycle it in a brute bin

spiraling · Feb 25, 2019

Sato said:
I have 40 lbs of CaribSea arag-alive black Hawaiian sand but not sure if this is a good choice.

I had the same. I kept killing EVERYTHING and after several triton tests with elevated nickel (bad like lead poisoning) and vanadium I figured out it was the sand. It looks awesome with the black background, but a bad batch can nuke your tank. My advice is STAY AWAY. It was also a big pain in the butt to remove.

There is a thread on here by turtle with peoples experiences. Mine was the CaribSea arag-alive black Hawaiian sand.

I have the 525 XL! good luck, its a great tank set up.

hdsoftail1065 · Feb 25, 2019

Sato said:
I'm even debating if I should just cure the dry rock now and then cycle it in a brute bin

That would give you a nice jumpstart.

hdsoftail1065 · Feb 25, 2019

spiraling said:
I had the same. I kept killing EVERYTHING and after several triton tests with elevated nickel (bad like lead poisoning) and vanadium I figured out it was the sand. It looks awesome with the black background, but a bad batch can nuke your tank. My advice is STAY AWAY. It was also a big pain in the butt to remove.

There is a thread on here by turtle with peoples experiences. Mine was the CaribSea arag-alive black Hawaiian sand.

I have the 525 XL! good luck, its a great tank set up.

Must have been a batch gonna wrong, we have the caribsea black hawiaan with no issues.

hdsoftail1065 · Feb 25, 2019

You guys have great tanks! 525 and a 425, Im jealous! My wife is scoping the reefer 250 right now.

spiraling · Feb 25, 2019

hdsoftail1065 said:
You guys have great tanks! 525 and a 425, Im jealous! My wife is scoping the reefer 250 right now.

just say Yes

nice build quality.

Sato · Feb 25, 2019

hdsoftail1065 said:
You guys have great tanks! 525 and a 425, Im jealous! My wife is scoping the reefer 250 right now.

It took a lot of yes and no due to cost. But in the end I think these tanks are done nicely.

spiraling · Feb 25, 2019

hdsoftail1065 said:
Must have been a batch gonna wrong, we have the caribsea black hawiaan with no issues.

yep, I saw some threads before I used it and it appeared that the tahitian had an issue. I absolutely had the problem with the hawaiian. i couldn't figure out what was wrong until i did an ICP test, then spent another several months of water changes and trying to find rusted parts in the setup. As soon as I got rid of the sand the levels went down.

hdsoftail1065 · Feb 25, 2019

It won't be long, she is selling a bunch of her nems. She should be able to cover the cost when she's done. She's pretty excited, but that will put me maintaining 4 tanks. Uhgg

hdsoftail1065 · Feb 25, 2019

spiraling said:
yep, I saw some threads before I used it and it appeared that the tahitian had an issue. I absolutely had the problem with the hawaiian. i couldn't figure out what was wrong until i did an ICP test, then spent another several months of water changes and trying to find rusted parts in the setup. As soon as I got rid of the sand the levels went down.

That's to bad, it does look great and the corals pop. Sorry you got ahold of some bad stuff. I went figi pink in my big one, it looks a little more natural to me than the black. I seen a large tank with the black and it looked outstanding.

Sato · Feb 25, 2019

hdsoftail1065 said:
That's to bad, it does look great and the corals pop. Sorry you got ahold of some bad stuff. I went figi pink in my big one, it looks a little more natural to me than the black. I seen a large tank with the black and it looked outstanding.

I think I got the black sand as an impulse buy. Well not really a buy it was free from the store owner. It look great in his display tanks

hdsoftail1065 · Feb 25, 2019

Sato said:
I think I got the black sand as an impulse buy. Well not really a buy it was free from the store owner. It look great in his display tanks

Free is a good price!

Correct me if I'm wrong @spiraling but some of the issues on the black sand people were talking about was some of it had magnetic properties that may have caused some issues? I checked ours after reading it and didn't have that problem.

Sato · Feb 25, 2019

hdsoftail1065 said:
Free is a good price!
Correct me if I'm wrong @spiraling but some of the issues on the black sand people were talking about was some of it had magnetic properties that may have caused some issues? I checked ours after reading it and didn't have that problem.

Do you have any pictures of your tank ?