Red Sea Reefer 200xl build

[monti mike]

Alright first surprise... the reefer 200 cutting dimensions are NOT in the instructions. An unexpected challenge but nothing I can’t overcome

This is the biggest pain in the behind. You buy the reefer tank because you don’t want to DIY. Why can’t Red Sea just sell you the lid already cut to size for the tank. Not impressed. Rant over

 

[KTrevino]

I had the same issue, mine is not perfect which gets to me a little. Although it works. good luck!

 

[monti mike]

This is the biggest pain in the behind. You buy the reefer tank because you don’t want to DIY. Why can’t Red Sea just sell you the lid already cut to size for the tank. Not impressed. Rant over

Part 1 is done and it definitely looks DIY... sigh

 

[monti mike]

Update: I gave up on the DIY lid for now. I’ll live with the white egg crate for a while. At least it matches the stand.

I rented a PAR meter today from my LFS and took some readings. I’m not expecting it to be super accurate, it’s mostly to get a benchmark for the PAR levels and see how they increase as I ramp up the intensity over time. I’m starting off at 30% intensity because that’s what my tank is currently at. My goal is to work up to 75% intensity following the BRS recommend height and intensity for SPS using the Radion Gen 5 Blue. The highest point in my tank is 9” below the water line and the Radion is 8” above the water line:

Here’s what I found:

 

[monti mike]

I’ve been dosing phytofeast and oyster feast to the tank for about a week now to feed the critters and corals. I was curious if this raised my phosphate at all so I used my seachem phosphate test kit. It’s the type of test where you add water to a small cell and add a drop of the green reagent to the test water and it changes color based off how much phosphate is in the water. I’ve had this test kit for over a year but I never really used it because I didn’t feel like it was that reliable. Not because the test is faulty or anything, I just really didn’t trust myself to read the color. I’m not color blind but this particular test made me really question if I was! I’m working from home for the foreseeable future so I stock on the essentials today and also picked up the Hanna ultra low range phosphate checker. I’ve been pretty pleased with the calcium and alkalinity checkers so I thought I’d give their phosphate checker a chance. The test was super easy and I appreciate the digital display instead of trying to interpret a color. I was a little surprised that my phosphate came back as zero. I have some ‘seagel’ (carbon + phosphate absorber) in my media reactor, I didn’t think it would be so low though. Especially with how often I feed the tank and with dosing phyto. I have been really good with water changes and cleaning the filter equipment so maybe the tank is just “too clean”. I took out the seagel for now and I’ll test again in a few days to see what the results are.

 

[mariano]

Hey, thanks so much! I really appreciate the kind words! I’m on the first floor, but it’s only 10 extra gallons. I’m not responsible for any damages, but what’s an extra 80 pounds, right?! I’ve seen plenty of other people put 55 gallon tanks on the second floor with no issues. Honestly I was sold on the solid plywood cabinet instead of the particle board. The extra inch in depth and height was just a bonus. I love the tank and I’d highly recommend the 200 if that’s what you’re leaning towards. I’m happy to help with any questions you have too! Good luck!

We have decided to go with the 200 xl, the little extra room counts, they have a deluxe that comes with the reefled 90. should we just get the tank or go ahead and get the lights also, if not which lights do you recommend ? thank you in advance and you should post more pics of your tank!, is looking bada.ss!!

 

[g_acosta_02]

The fish are in! It’s surprisingly how tiny the clowns look in the new tank!

I still have the AI prime light over the tank because the new mounting arm for the Radion Blue isn’t in yet. I was supposed to be delivered yesterday but it wasn’t. Should be here tomorrow. I guess I can wait another day.

The plan is to keep the bubble tip anemone on the island to the left. Hopefully it doesn’t get the urge to move and if it does, I hope it stays on that rock. If it moves I’ll deal with it though, that’s just one of the joys of keeping an anemone.

The tall pillar is where the SPS will go. I really tried to leave room for them to grow. It’ll be interesting to see how things look as everything grows in!

The front right island is for zoanthids/pests that the SO thinks are nice. Already have some sunny Ds but I have a feeling I’ll end up with some more misc zoas there. Thats the price of compromise I suppose. Gotta keep the peace!

Beautiful tank looking in something like that in the future enjoy

 

[monti mike]

Under the moonlight

 

[monti mike]

My LFS had a live sale online today so I picked up:
- Orange zoa
- GI Joe favia
- Pink Floyd acro
- Dippin Dots acro

I just snapped some quick pictures with my phone so they’re not the best quality. The acros look amazing in person.

 

[monti mike]

Test results for today:

0.00 phosphate
449 ppm calcium
7.5 dkh alkalinity

 

[monti mike]

I think I mentioned a popping sound coming from the Radion gen 5 blue light. Well, I saw on another thread that the popping sound was associated with the plastic cracking on the bottom of the unit where the screws are. So I checked the light this morning and sure enough, there are cracks around the screws... bummer. I just sent ecotech customer service an email. I had a pretty good experience with them with replacing the chipped top (100% my fault on that one)

It’s hard to see but there are tiny hairline fractures around the screw:

 

[monti mike]

While I’m in quarantine I’m watching the corals for growth and it’s like watching paint dry. Thankfully everything’s looking pretty good in the tank and I’m seeing some good growth already. The neon green tabling acro browned out but it’s starting to get some color back. It’s pretty normal for a new coral to turn brown from the stress so I’m not too worried about it.
I can’t believe how fast the acro milli is growing. It’s completely covered the frag plug already. I’ll try to get some more close up pictures soon. Here’s two pictures from today. I know they’re not the best quality - sorry about that!

I also took apart the skimmer and cleaned it and it was EASY! One of the reasons I went with the Nyos skimmer is because it’s always been a pain for me to clean the skimmer chamber and get to everything. It was so easy to take it apart and clean the entire skimmer body. Just take a flat head screwdriver and you can disassemble the whole thing. So far I’d give the skimmer a 10/10.

 

[monti mike]

Here’s a picture of the millepora. It doesn’t have any special name... it’s just a mystery millepora. This is 2 weeks growth. It hasn’t grown up yet but it’s definitely spreading out and covering the plug.

I can’t help but laugh at this next one. It’s like a bad what it looks like online vs when it arrives meme.

what it looked like online:

what it actually looks like:

This second guy was brown right out of the bag. Maybe it was super stressed from shipping. I’m really curious to see if it colors up over time and if it does, what it’ll look like. It’s now my ugly duckling coral.

 

[monti mike]

Ecotech replied to my email this morning and they’re going to ship out a replacement part. It’s a little annoying that these new lights have this issue, but thankfully they’re being responsive and have a fix.

 

[Dodgersallday]

Do you have two mp40's or two mp10's. Do you wish you would have gotten two mp40's instead of the mp'10s if thats what you have? I have a reefer 170 and am debating on whether I should get another mp10 or go with a larger mp40.

 

[shadow1013]

From what I’ve seen it’s happened a lot so I’m guessing the first batches will have this problem until the batches when they knew to not tighten them down as much come out.

Ecotech replied to my email this morning and they’re going to ship out a replacement part. It’s a little annoying that these new lights have this issue, but thankfully they’re being responsive and have a fix.

 

[monti mike]

Ecotech just sent the replacement out and sent me a tracking number. I’ve read from others that they asked for a $1 deposit but that wasn’t my experience. I just sent the a picture and the serial number and they sent me the replacement with no questions. Am I a little disappointed that it cracked, sure. It is a new product though and stuff happens- I’m just happy they took care of it and it doesn’t affect the warranty. Overall still satisfied with the light despite being the first time wave guinea pig.

 

[monti mike]

Getting some good growth!

 

[monti mike]

Do you have two mp40's or two mp10's. Do you wish you would have gotten two mp40's instead of the mp'10s if thats what you have? I have a reefer 170 and am debating on whether I should get another mp10 or go with a larger mp40.

Oh shoot sorry for the delay. Totally missed this. I’m happy with the MP10s. I only have them running at 60% power on reef crest random. It gives plenty of flow at the moment and the sand moves just a little bit so that’s how I know it’s my sweet spot. As the corals grow out I may change my mind though!

 

[monti mike]

Here’s a few more pics because we all like pictures