Red Sea Reefer 170 - Low Maintenance Goals

PugsAndFish · Dec 3, 2018

I am planning to fill my Red Sea Reefer 170 today after over a year of learning and planning. I contemplated whether to get into the hobby and make the investment since I live in an apartment, move every few years, and plan to go back to school sometime soon. The challenges of reefing made me question whether I'd be able to keep a successful tank. During this year long period of learning, I set up a 10 gallon nano tank with HOB equipment as a "trial" and I've found the entire process to be challenging but very fun and rewarding. I've had ups and downs (alk swings, dino) but the tank is looking great and maintenance is now a breeze. I've also gathered all of my equipment during this time and was able to piece together some nice equipment at discounts by waiting for deals.

My goal is to set up a low maintenance reef tank. I have time to take care of the tank now but may not have as much free time soon so I want to make sure I can let the tank run on its own with minimal maintenance. Reason I got a controller after telling myself I don't need one lol.

Tank: Red Sea Reefer 170
Return: Varios 4
Powerhead: MP10qd
Light: Hydra TwentySix HD
Rock: Marco
Substrate: Bare bottom
ATO: Tunze 3155
Controller: Apex El

My tank came in with a few defects. The silicone on the bottom side of the tank was sloppy. The tank would have been fine but being that it was new, I wanted one with clean seams. Red Sea said okay and the new tank is coming in today. (Will have the original up for sale BTW).

I've also made the mistake of buying cheap. The nicer equipment is pricey but I feel a bit better knowing that I purchased at a discount after hunting for promos for a year lol. For example, I bought 2 Jebao OW10 pumps for my 10 gallon and planned to move them to the larger tank when I first bought them. One pump just never even worked from the beginning lol. So I just bought an mp10 since if I would've saved $75 bucks if I bought right the first time anyways.

My first question is how do I transfer the live stock in my 10 gallon to the new tank? I bought 30 pounds of new dry Marco rock and BioSpira. I plan to use that. I wanted a new scape so I just went dry to take time to make a scape I liked rather than having to throw in old rock immediately. My plan is to cycle as if the tank is entirely new but I'm wondering if I can just throw the old rock in my 10 gallon into the sump and then transfer livestock right away. My only concern is the potential for a new cycle and carrying over things I don't like from my old tank. I don't have major pests but there are some sponges I just don't like although they are supposedly good. I think I have some bristleworms but haven't seen the guy in a month actually. There was some odd alien like tentacle that used to come out during feeding that I could never ID or get a picture of but I don't think anything has been affected lol.

Anirban · Dec 3, 2018

You need to cycle it with or without the old rock in the sump. The new rocks will kick in a small cycle once you shift your thing. So its better to do a cycle and then shift your stuffs just to stay on safer side.

PugsAndFish · Dec 3, 2018

Anirban said:
You need to cycle it with or without the old rock in the sump. The new rocks will kick in a small cycle once you shift your thing. So its better to do a cycle and then shift your stuffs just to stay on safer side.

Once I cycle the new tank, can I put in all my fish and corals or do I have to wait a few months after the cycle finishes to put in the coral again?

Anirban · Dec 3, 2018

Once the cycle over you can transfer you fishes first then after a month transfer your corals.

Raptor72 · Dec 10, 2018

Following along. I just picked up a 170 on Black Friday and want to take this slow. Of course, my 750 keeps me busy meanwhile.

PugsAndFish · Dec 17, 2018

Cycle should be complete around the weekend. I'll move a few fish over and a test coral (one I don't like lol). If all goes well, I will move the rest. I need to do this before the end of the month since our pug will be arriving.

I also scaped with the thought of seeing the tank on all 3 sides but I had to move it to make room for our expected pug. His bed will be right next to the tank lol

PugsAndFish · Dec 25, 2018

Retiring the 10 nano..

All live stock transferred. Frags left on the floor. I'm trying to determine where to found the corals. Thinking torches and hammers on the top right, zoas on bottom right, sps on the top left, and misc corals (duncans, candy canes, acans, etc) on the bottom left.

Also going to keep some zoas unattached to the main rocks for easy fragging. For each type of zoa I mount onto the rock, I plan to keep a frag or colony on a tile on the ground for ease of propagation. Not sure if this is the best way to do it so any ideas appreciated. Goal is to be able to frag here and there easily as things grow.

PugsAndFish · Apr 11, 2019

FTS update. Things are looking good. Switched up the left rock scape because the tall tower made placement hard. The new orientation helps with increased coral real estate.

Zoas are growing well and I kind of got suckered into the sticks. I thought they were boring at first but now I'm hooked. Started with an ORA Blue Voodoo (which I killed while changing the rock scape). Other sticks though are doing well - green slimer, strawberry shortcake, wwc yellow tip, cali tort, stylo, birdsnest, bonsai, pc rainbow, red planet, leprechaun, ent, frogskin. LPS like euphyllia and acans are moving along, probably the ones that seem to handle swings the best. For some reason, mushrooms don't do well. Had a red discosoma the size of a quarter shrink to the size of a dime. My baby jawbreaker disappeared lol. Ricordea are tiny.

IMG_3236

PugsAndFish
Apr 11, 2019

PugsAndFish · Apr 11, 2019

Also got this black widow during in a trade with the lfs. I had a rainbow bta that split that I gave back. The black widow has been looking bleak today for some reason and I hope it'll be back to normal tomorrow.